CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES, AND OTHER THE LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE FEET
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOIN
WRIGHT and RICHARD WRIGHT, both of Richmond, in the County of York,
Boot and Shoe Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of July, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Ierself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said John
Wright and Richard Wright, Her especial license, that we, the said John
Wright and Richard Wright, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said John Wright and Richard. Wright, our exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS
AND SHOES, AND OTHER THE LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE FEET;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging us, the said John Wright and
Richard Wright, by an instrument in writing under our or one of our hands
and seals, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same
to be enrolled in Iler said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto Lad,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Wright and Richard Wright, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention to consist,-
First, in making boots, shoes, and other the like coverings for the feet,
of leather prepared in manner herein-after described.
Secondly, in doing away with the separate pieces of leather commonly
called welts, and ordinarily used in boot and shoe making, and in substituting
for the same an extension of the upper leather of the boot or shoe.
And, thirdly, in the application of certain strips of neat leather for the
purpose of concealing certain of the stitches which would otherwise be visible
in our mode of manufacture.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, we, the said John Wright
and Richard Wright, do hereby describe the manner in which our said
Invention is to be performed, by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon:-
And first, as the preparation of the leather of which our boots, shoes,
and other the like coverings for the feet are to be made.
When the skin
or bide is taken out of tan, and before it is subjected to any currying process,
we oil the grain with good clean oil; we then stuff the fleshy side with
good oil and tallow, well mixed with a portion of turpentine, and hang it up
to dry. After this we take and sam it, and shave and well scour it; we
then stuff it again lightly with good oil and tallow, and when again dry and
in order we whiten and finish it for use. The present mode adopted by
curriers is, as soon as the skin or hide is taken out of tan to sam, shave, and
scour it, without subjecting it to the previous process of oiling and stuffing;
and the advantage of our improved method over the old mode of currying is
this: the leather is left soft and pliable to the last, the stuffing being absorbed
in the leather, and effecting that; whereas by the old mode the pores of
the leather are closed in the process of scouring and smoothing the grain, so
that the stuffing cannot then effectually restore it.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents the cross section of a strong heavy shoe, shewing the
manner of connecting the upper leather A, colored purple, and the inner
sole B, colored light brown, by the sewing C, C, colored yellow, according to
our improved method, without any welting, the parts J, J, being an extension
of the upper leather substituted for the welt, and to which the outer sole is
afterwards to be sewed.

page_text: Figure 2 is a cross section of the same strong shoe, shewing the manner of
connecting the upper leather A and the middle sole D, colored black, and
the outer sole D', colored dark brown, by the sewing E, colored yellow. This,
then, is the second part of our said Invention, and by this arrangement it
will be seen that the welt, ordinarily so called, is entirely dispensed with,
while a much more firm and efficient fastening of the upper leather to the
outer sole is effected in a more simple manner, effectually preventing any
letting in of water between the inner sole and outer sole, which so frequently
happens when welts are used.
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate our third improvement, which consists in sewing
in with the stitch that fastens the extension of the upper leather to the inner
sole a small neat strip of neat leather, marked G, and colored red in Figure 3.
By this arrangement it will be seen that when the stitch which sews the outer
sole to the extended portion of the upper leather is passed through the strip of
leather colored red, as shewn at Figure 4, it draws that strip of leather over
the stitches which unite the upper leather to the inner sole, thus concealing
them, and leaving only one row of stitches to be dealt with by the finishing
iron, which is an object in light or dress shoes, where neatness is of importance.
Figure 3 represents the cross section of a light shoe, shewing the manner of
connecting the upper leather A, the inner sole B, the lining F, colored blue,
and the strip of neat leather G, colored red, by the stitch H, colored yellow,
according to our improved plan. Figure 4 is a cross section of the same shoe,
shewing the mode of connecting the upper leather A and the strip of neat
leather, colored red, with the outer sole D by the stitch E, colored yellow.
Having now described the nature of our said improvements, and the
manner in which the same are to be performed, we hereby claim as our
Invention,
First, the preparation of the leather herein-before described.
Secondly, the doing away with the ordinary welt in boots, shoes, and other
the like coverings for the feet, and the substituting, in lieu thereof, of an exten-
sion of the upper leather, to which the various soles are to be sewed, in
manner herein-before described; and,
Thirdly, the introduction of the thin strip of neat leather shown in Figures
3 and 4, and there marked G, and colored red, in manner and for the purpose
herein-before described.
And such our Invention being, to the best of our knowledge and belief,
entirely new and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, we do hereby declare

page_text: this to be our Specification of the same, and that we do verily believe this our
said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore we hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to our said Invention.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Wright and Richard Wright,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
RICHARD (L.S.) WRIGHT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid John Wright and Richard Wright
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand