IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON FENCES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Elsdon, of Number 76, Manor Road, New
Cross, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON FENCES."
Sealed the 25th March 1875, and dated the 25th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Elsdon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1874.
I, ROBERT ELSDON, of No. 76, Manor Road, New Cross, in the County
of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON FENCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates partly to strained wire fences, partly to con-
tinuous and defined length bar fences, and partly to the manufacture of
hurdles.
According to one part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing, in which the wire is passed through holes in the sides of
angle iron or other hollow trough like standards, instead of employing

page_text: permanent wedges driven between the wire and the inner surface of the
angle iron or other hollow standard in order to fasten the wire thereat,
I employ temporary wedges of a peculiar form to give the necessary
curvature to the wire, and I then fill the space between the wire and
the standard with molten lead, and afterwards remove the temporary
wedge when the lead has consolidated.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing, in which the wire is passed through the web of a kind of tee
iron with a curved table composing the standard, wedges being driven
between the wire and the inner surface of the said curved table in order
to secure the said wire, instead of employing a tee iron with the before
mentioned curved table I employ an ordinary tee iron standard with
straight members. I pass the wire through a hole in the web of such
plain tee iron standard, and I then insert between the strained wire and
the inner surfaces of the table of the tee iron standard studs having
stems which take into holes made in such tee iron table, the studs
projecting far enough therefrom to give the curvature or kink to the
wire necessary to prevent it from shifting in the standard. Or instead
of this arrangement I pass the wire through the web of the plain tee
iron, and I then pass a short piece of channel iron through another hole
in the web of the tee, so as to nearly encircle the wire; and I then drive
keys or pins through two opposite sides of the channel iron in front of
the wire, thus bending it backwards on each side of the hole through
which it passes, so as to give it the necessary curvature or kink before
described.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing, in which the wire passes through a standard of flat bar or tee
iron, I drive a ferrule of larger size than the wire tightly into a hole in
the standard and pass the wire through the ferrule. I then insert in the
middle of the length of the ferrule, and behind the wire, a small stud or
projection, or I form such stud or projection in the ferrule or attach it
thereto before passing the wire through it. I then drive into the ends
of the ferrule plugs or wedges in such manner as to bend the wire
back on both sides of the before-mentioned stud, thus producing the
necessary curvature or kink in the wire, as before mentioned. Instead
of plugs or wedges in the ends of the ferrules pins or keys may be driven
into holes in the ferrule in front of the wire to effect the same object.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire

page_text: rencing of the kind, first above referred to, instead of employing separate
permanent wedges for each wire, as heretofore practised, I drive down
between the standard and the wire a long rod of round, square, oblong,
or any other suitable section, and of sufficient length to extend from the
uppermost wire to the lowermost, and if preferred to enter the ground at
the bottom. This rod serves to give the before-mentioned curvature or
kink to all the wires, and being in contact with several strained wires it
cannot be so readily withdrawn as the small separate wedges heretofore
employed. I also employ two of the above-mentioned rods in connection
with strained wire passed through the webs of tec iron standards, whether
such tee iron standards have plain backs or tables thus T,
backs or tables thus T. And in order to prevent the said rods from
or curved
slipping out from between the strained wire and the inner surface of the
tee iron table, when such table is not curved I use any required number
of clip or distance pieces passed through holes made in the web of the
tee iron, the rods being passed down one on each side of the said web
through the said clips and between the strained wire (which also passes.
through a hole in the web, as before mentioned) and the inner surfaces
of the tee iron table.
According to a part of my Invention relating to continuous bar
fencing, instead of employing round bar iron for the horizontal rails I
employ flat bar angle iron, angle iron with a broad side, hollow half
round or tee iron, the lengths being ferruled together by suitable ferrules
and passed through the ordinary flat bar or tee iron standards and inter-
mediates; but I prefer to use tec iron standards, passing the horizontal
rails through the web thereof. By employing iron of the sections above
mentioned much greater stiffness and strength may be attained with
the same or even a lesser quantity of material than with round or flat
bars.
According to another part of my Invention relating to fencing made
of defined lengths of bar I employ flat bar, angle iron, angle iron with
a broad side, hollow half round, or tee iron, horizontal bars cut to length
and passed through flat bar or tee iron intermediate standards, and
jointed at tee iron principal standards by means of a scarfing plate of
flat, channel, or angle iron, which being passed through a hole in the
web of the tee iron standards is keyed to the ends of two adjacent hori-
zontal bars by means of wedges or keys driven through holes or notches
formed near the ends of the said horizontal bars and in the scarf plate.

page_text: Or the said keys may be driven through the scarf plate and made to
wedge the horizontal bars against the inner surfaces of the table of the
tee iron standard, the ends of such horizontal bars being in some cases
bent or enlarged, so as to prevent their withdrawal without first removing
the keys.
According to another part of my Invention relating to fencing made
of defined lengths of bar iron I use horizontally or vertically disposed
flat iron, angle iron, angle iron with a broad side, hollow half round bar
or tec iron, the ends of which are bent at an angle and passed through
suitable holes punched in the two tables of angle iron standards, the
bent ends projecting through such holes into the angular space or hollow
of the angle iron, being secured therein by wedges, or the continuous
rod before described, driven down between the ends of the horizontal
bars and the inner surface of the angle iron, or by pins or keys driven
through holes in the said horizontal bars behind the tables of the angle
iron standards; or in order still further to prevent the withdrawal of the
horizontal bars endwise from the angle iron standard notches may be
formed in the former at the parts where they pass through the holes in
the latter, such notches taking over, say, the lower edge of the hole,.
small wedges or slips are then inserted through the hole in the standard
above the horizontal bar, and being turned up or burred at the ends the
horizontal bar cannot be withdrawn until the wedge or slip is removed.
The above described horizontal bars may have the usual flat bar inter-
mediate standards applied thereto when necessary.
According to another part of my Invention relating to the manu.
facture of hurdles, instead [of round iron horizontal bars shouldered
and rivetted into flat vertical standards I employ angle iron, angle iron
with a broad vertical side, tee iron, or hollow half round horizontal
bars shouldered and rivetted into such flat vertical or into angle iron
vertical standards.
I also sometimes employ angle iron horizontal and vertical bars bolted
or rivetted together by means of holes punched through their respective
tables; and in order to produce greater solidity I prefer to punch the
transverse tables of the vertical bars with holes corresponding in shape
to the section of the horizontal bars, and to drive the ends of the latter
bars into the said holes in the vertical bars before rivetting or bolting
them together.

page_text: When the hurdles are made with angle iron vertical bars, as above
described, they may be jointed together in the usual way by means
of bolts or rivets passed through the tables of the vertical angle iron
bars.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Elsdon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
ELSDON, of No. 76, Manor Road, New Cross, in the County of Kent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Elsdon, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert Elsdon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Elsdon, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON FENCES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert Elsdon, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing, under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Elsdon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom

page_text: panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates partly to strained wire fences, partly to
continuous and defined length bar fences, and partly to the manufacture
of hurdles.
According to one part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing in which the wire is passed through holes in the sides of angle
iron or other hollow trough-like standards, instead of employing
permanent wedges driven between the wire, and the inner surface of the
angle iron or other hollow standards in order to fasten the wire thereat
I employ temporary wedges of a peculiar form to give the necessary
curvature to the wire, and I then fill the space between the wire and the
standard with molten lead, and afterwards remove the temporary wedge
when the lead has consolidated. Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings
illustrate this part of my Invention. A represents the angle iron or
other trough-like standard; B, the wire or wire rope strained through
the holes in the sides thereof; C, the temporary wedge (preferably
made of steel) driven in place behind the wire in order to give the
curvature or kink thereto in the manner shown; D represents the lead
run into the spaces between the sides of the wedge, the standard, and the
wire, any suitable known means being employed to prevent the molten
lead from dropping out of such spaces before it has solidified therein.
The wedge C is formed with a picce C¹ which projects above the lead D.
After the latter has solidified the wedge C is to be driven out downwards
by means of a drift applied to the said piece C¹ leaving the lead in position
to preserve the curvature or kink.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing in which the wire is passed through the web of a tee iron
composing the standard, wedges being driven between the wire and the
inner surface of the table of such tee iron. In order to secure the said
wire instead of employing a tec iron with a curved table as heretofore
sometimes used I employ an ordinary tec iron standard with straight
members, I pass the wire through a hole in the web of such plain tee
iron standard, and I insert between the strained wire and the inner
surfaces of the table of the tee iron standard studs having stems which
take into holes made in such tee iron tables, the studs projecting far
enough therefrom to give the curvature or kink to the wire necessary to

page_text: prevent it from shifting in the standard. Figures 3 and 4 of the
Drawings illustrate this part of my Invention. A represents the tee
iron standard; B, the wire passed through a hole in the web thereof;
C, C, the studs having stems which take into holes in the table of the
tee iron; D, a wedge driven into the hole in the web of the tee iron in
front of the wire in order to kink the wire between the two studs C, C,
in the manner shown
prevent it from shifting in the standard. Figures 3 and 4 of the
Drawings illustrate this part of my Invention. A represents the tee
iron standard; B, the wire passed through a hole in the web thereof;
C, C, the studs having stems which take into holes in the table of the
tee iron; D, a wedge driven into the hole in the web of the tee iron in
front of the wire in order to kink the wire between the two studs C, C,
in the manner shown
Or instead of this arrangement I pass the wire through the web of
the plain tec iron, and I then pass a short piece of channel iron through
another hole in the web of the tcc so as to nearly encircle the wire, and
I then drive keys or pins through two opposite sides of the channel iron
in front of the wire, thus bending it backwards on each side of the hole
through which it passes so as to give it the necessary curvature or kink
before described. In Figures 5 and 6 of the Drawings A is the tee iron
standard; B, the wire as before; C, the short piece of channel iron or
iron of other suitable section passed through a hole in the web of the
tec iron, the said hole being made so as to conform nearly to the shape
and size of the said piece of channel iron so as to leave a part D of the
web of the tec iron adapted to project into the hollow or trough of the
channel iron, as shown. The hole through which the wire is passed is
made in this part of the web, and keys or pins E, E, are then driven
through holes in the opposite sides of the channel iron in front, or (if
preferred) behind the wire so as to give it the curvature or kink, as
shown. Figures 7 and 8 show a modification of the plan shown in
Figures 5 and 6, specially applicable in cases where the material of
which the tec iron standards is made is not of sufficiently good quality
to admit of holes of the shape shown in Figures 5 and 6 being punched
in them, similar letters referring to similar parts in each of the
Figures 5, 6, 7, and S. In this case the hole in the web of the tee iron
through which the short piece of channel iron is passed is punched out
of a square or oblong form without leaving the part of the web of the
tec iron to enter the hollow or trough of the channel iron, as in
Figures 5 and 6, the wire being merely passed through the hollow of the
channel iron, and kinked by means of keys or pins E, E, against the
back edge of the large hole in the web through which the channel iron
is passed. The arrangements shown in Figures 5, 6, 7, and S, are also
applicable to some other kinds of standards besides tec iron, such as for
example, flat or angle iron. Instead of employing separate pairs of pins

page_text: :
or keys for each wire and its corresponding piece of channel iron carried
by a standard, a pair of continuous rods similar to those herein-after
described in reference to Figures 11 to 15 may be driven through the
whole series of channel iron pieces at each standard, being driven into
the ground at the bottom or otherwise secured if necessary.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing, in which the wire passes through a standard or flat bar or tee
iron, I drive a ferrule of larger size than the wire tightly into a hole in
the standard and pass the wire through the ferrule. I then insert in
the middle of the length of the ferrule, and behind the wire, a small
stud or projection, or I form such stud or projection in the ferrule, or
attach it thereto before passing the wire through it. I then drive into
the ends of the ferrule plugs or wedges in such manner as to bend the
wire back on both sides of the before-mentioned stud, thus producing
the necessary curvature or kink in the wire, as before mentioned.
Instead of plugs or wedges in the ends of the ferrules, pins or keys may
be driven into holes in the ferrule in front of the wire to effect the
same object. Figures 9 and 10 of the Drawings illustrate this part of
the Invention. A is the standard; B, the wire; C, the ferrule passed
through the web of the standard; D, the stud or projection inside the
ferrule and behind the wire; E an example of the wedge or plug
driven into the end of the ferrule; and E' an example of a pin or
key, both the wedge or plug and the pin or key being driven in in
front of the wire, so as to kink it back on each side of the stud or pro-
jection D.
According to another part of my Invention relating to strained wire
fencing of the kind first above referred to, instead of employing
separate permanent wedges for each wire as heretofore practised I drive
down between the standard and the wire a long rod of round, square,
oblong, or any other suitable section, and of sufficient length to extend
from the uppermost wire to the lowermost, and if preferred, to enter
the ground at the bottom. This rod serves to give the before-mentioned
curvature or kink to all the wires, and being in contact with several
strained wires it cannot be so readily withdrawn as the small separate
wedges heretofore employed. Figures 11 and 12 illustrate this part of
the Invention. A, the standard; B, the wire; and D, the long or con-
tinuous rod of round, square, oblong, or other suitable section extending
from the uppermost to the lowermost wire, as before explained, or

page_text: if preferred, the rod D may be made of sufficient length to embrace
only any two or more of such wires. Figures 13, 14, and 15, illustrate
the application of the long rod to the kinking of wires passed through
hollow cast or wrought iron standards of various sections. Similar
letters referring to like parts in all the Figures 11 to 15.
I also employ two of the above-metioned rods in connection with
strained wire passed through the webs of tee iron standards, whether such
tec iron standards have plain backs or tables thus, T, or curved backs
or tables thus, T ; and in order to prevent the said rods from slipping
out from between the strained wire, and the inner surfaces of the iron
table when such table is not curved I use any required number of clip
or distant pieces passed through holes made in the web of the tec iron
standard, the rods being passed down one on each side of the said web,
through the said clips and between the strained wire (which also passes
through a hole in the web, as before mentioned) and the inner surfaces
of the tee iron table. In Figures 16 and 17, 18 and 19, 20 and 21,
respectively A represents the tee iron standard; B, the wire passing
through a hole in the web of the standard; C, a clip or distance piece
passed through a hole in the web of the standard above or below that
through which the wire is passed; D, D, the continuous rods passing
down behind or in front of the wire as the case may be, kinking it as
shown, such rods D, D, being prevented from slipping out from between
the strained wire and the table of the tee iron standard, by being passed
through the aforesaid clip pieces, as shown.
According to a part of my Invention relating to continuous bar fencing
instead of employing round bar iron for the horizontal rails I employ flat
bar angle iron, angle iron with a broad side, hollow half round, or tee
iron, the lengths being ferruled together by suitable ferrules, and passed
through the ordinary. flat bar or tec standards and intermediates; but I
prefer to use tec iron standards passing the horizontal rails through the
web thereof. By employing iron of the sections above mentioned much
greater stiffness and strength may be attained with the same or even á
lesser quantity of material than with round or flat bars. The several
diagrams in Figure 22 illustrate this part of the Invention. In each
of the diagrams the letter A indicates the continuous bar above
referred to; B, the ferrule for uniting the lengths composing the
continuous bar, and in the case of using a circular ferrule to unité

page_text: lengths of hollow half round iron; C, represents a short filling piece of
solid half round or other suitable section, forming a strengthening piece
inside the ferrule to secure rigidity at the joint.
According to another part of my Invention relating to fencing made
of defined lengths of bar, I employ flat bar, angle iron, angle iron with
a broad side, hollow half round, or tee iron horizontal bars cut to length
and passed through flat bar or tee iron, intermediate standards and
jointed at tee iron principal standards by means of a scarfing plate of
flat, channel, or angle iron, which being passed through a hole in the
web of the tee or channel iron standard is keyed to the ends of two
adjacent horizontal bars by means of wedges or keys driven through
holes or notches formed near the ends of the said horizontal bars, and in
the scarf plate, or the said keys may be driven through the scarf plate
and made to wedge the horizontal bars against the inner surface of the
table of the tee iron standard, the ends of such horizontal bars being in
some cases bent or enlarged so as to prevent their withdrawal without
first removing the keys. Figures 23 to 32 of the Drawings illustrates this
part of the Invention; Figures 23, 25, 27, 29, and 31 represent plan
views partly in section of various methods of jointing the lengths of iron
at the tee iron standards by means of various kinds of scarfing plates,
Figures 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 representing corresponding side clevations,
partly in section of such joints; Figures 23 and 24 refer to flat iron
horizontal bars with a channel iron scarfing plate, Figures 25 and 26, to
an angle iron horizontal bar with a channel iron scarfing plate, Figures 27
and 28, to a hollow half round horizontal bar with a tubular scarfing
ferrule, Figures 29 and 30, to a tee iron horizontal bar with a channel iron
scarfing plate, and Figures 31 and 32, to an angle iron horizontal bar
with an angle iron scarfing plate. In each of the Figures A represents
the standard; B, the horizontal fence bar; C, the scarfing plate passed
through a hole in the standard; D, D, keys or pins driven behind the
horizontal bar, or through holes or notches formed near the ends thereof,
and in the scarfing plates, such keys or pins being by preference
arranged so as to wedge the horizontal bars either against the inner
surface of the table or against the scarfing plate. When the channel,
iron, or tubular scarfing plate is employed, the ends of the horizontal bars;
cannot be lifted up, nor can they fall down; but when an angle iron
scarfing plate is used, as in Figures 31 and 32, the horizontal bar may in
some cases become displaced. In order to prevent this a pin or key E
is driven through the web of the standard just above the horizontal bar.

page_text: Instead of employing separate pairs of pins or keys for each of the joints
at a standard, a pair of continuous rods similar to those above described,
and illustrated in Figures 11 to 21, may be passed through the scarfing
plates of any number of joints at each standard, being driven if required
into the ground at the bottom, or otherwise secured.
According to another part of my Invention relating to fencing made
of defined lengths of bar iron, I use flat iron, angle iron, angle iron with
a broad side, hollow half round bar or tee iron, the ends of which are
bent at an angle and passed through suitable holes punched in the two
tables of angle iron standards, the bent ends projecting through such
holes into the angular space or hollow of the angle iron, being secured
therein by wedges, or the continuous rod before described driven down
between the ends of the horizontal bars and the inner surface of the
angle iron, or by pins or keys driven through holes in the said horizontal
bars behind the tables of the angle iron standards; or in order still
further to prevent the withdrawal of the horizontal bars endwise from
the angle iron standard notches may be formed in the former at the
parts where they pass through the holes in the latter, such notches
taking over, say, the lower edge of the hole. Small wedges or slips are
then inserted through the hole in the standard above the horizontal bar,
and being turned up or burred at the ends the horizontal bar cannot be
withdrawn until the wedge or slip is removed. The above described
horizontal bars may have the usual flat bar intermediate standards
applied thereto when necessary. Figures 33 to 36 of the Drawings
illustrate this part of the Invention as applied to flat bar iron, it being
understood that other sections of iron such as those enumerated above
may be treated in a similar manner, but I have deemed it unnecessary
to illustrate the arrangement as applied to other than flat bars.
Figures 33, 34, and 34, illustrate the plan as applied to flat bars.
disposed vertically as to their width, and Figures 35 and 36 as applied
to flat bars disposed horizontally as to their width, such latter disposition
being sometimes employed in fancy fencing. In each of the Figures A
represents an angle iron standard (but other sections such as channel
iron may be employed); B, B, the horizontal bars with their bent ends
passing through holes punched in the tables of such angle iron standard,
being secured therein by a simple pin or key C, or if preferred by means
of a notch G formed in the edge of the bar, which takes over the edge
of the hole, being secured in that position by a wedge or key E, as seen

page_text: more clearly at Figure 34ª, or by means of the continuous rod D driven
down in the angle of the angle iron standard behind the bent ends 'of
the horizontal bars, as shown in Figure 35.
Figures 37 to 40 show other means of applying the before-mentioned
continuous rod or key to securing the joints of defined lengths of bar
iron of various sections at angle iron or other standards. In Figure 37
the horizontal bars B, B, are round in section, butt jointed, and srcewed
by a rod of half round iron D driven down in the angle of the standard A
behind the joint, forcing the notches G, G, formed in the bars against
the outer edges of the holes, through which the bars pass. In Figure 38
the bars B, B, are of angle iron lap jointed, and secured by continuous
rods D, D, driven down one on each side of the standard A (which may
be of flat angle or tec iron) through any required number of joints. In
Figure 39 the horizontal bars B, B, are of flat iron lap jointed, passed
through and notched against an angle iron standard A, being secured
therein by a continuous rod D driven down in the angle of the standard,
as shown. In Figure 40 the horizontal bars B, B, are flat iron, lap
jointed, passed through and notched to the web of a tee, angle, or
channel iron standard, being secured by a single continuous rod D driven
down between the table of the tee iron standard, and in notches G¹ cut
in the bars B, B, as shown.
According to another part of my Invention relating to the manufacture
of hurdles, instead of round iron horizontal bars shouldered and rivetted
into flat vertical standards, I employ angle iron, angle iron with a broad
vertical side, tec iron, or hollow half-round horizontal bars shouldered
and rivetted into such flat, vertical, or into angle iron vertical standards.
I also sometimes employ angle iron horizontal and vertical bars bolted
or rivetted together by means of holes punched through their respective
tables, and in order to produce greater solidity I prefer to punch the
transverse tables of the vertical bars with holes corresponding in shape
to the section of the horizontal bars, and to drive the ends of the latter
bars into the said holes in the vertical bars before rivetting or bolting them
together. When the hurdles are made with angle iron vertical bars, as
above described, they may be jointed together in the usual way by means
of bolts or rivets passed through the transverse tables of the vertical
angle iron bars. Figures 41 to 45 of the Drawings illustrate this part
of the Invention. In Figures 41 and 42 A represents one of the flat
vertical standards of a hurdle; B and C respectively hollow half-round

page_text: Seventhly. The means for jointing and securing lengths of bar iron at
the standards, arranged and applied substantially as herein described and
illustrated by Figures 23 to 32 of the Drawings.
Eighthly. The means of jointing and securing lengths of bar iron at
angle iron standards, arranged and applied substantially as herein 5
described and illustrated by Figures 33 to 36 of the Drawings.
Ninthly. The application and use of the continuous rod or rods for
securing lengths of bar iron at the standards, substantially as hercin
described and illustrated by Figures 35 to 40 of the Drawings.
Tenthly. The construction of hurdles as herein described and illus- 10
trated by Figures 41 to 45 of the Drawings.
In witness whercof, I, the said Robert Elsdon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.