IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pier Alberto Balestrini, of Brescia, Italy, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS."
Sealed the 27th March 1857, and dated the 23rd January 1e57.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pier Alberto Balestrini at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd January 1857.
I, PIER ALPERTO BALESTRINI, of Brescia, Italy do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS," to be as
follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to a means of connecting the ends
of submarine telegraphic cables to the shore, and in protecting them from
rubbing against rocks or on the shore. For this purpose the cable is passed
through a series of cylindrical blocks of wood placed at short distances apart
around each of which a bar of steel is wound spirally, the blocks of wood
being held together by chains. One end of the series of blocks of wood is
fixed to the shore, and the other end to the cable.
The second part of this Invention consists in a means of joining the ends
of two or more submarine telegraphic cables together. For this purpose a
cylindrical box is used, over which a suitable cover is bolted, on the top of
which there is a hook for lowering the box into the water. The ends of the
cables to be joined together are passed through small tubes fixed in the cylin-
drical box, and are held there firmly by a clamp or by other suitable means,
Prore 83

page_text: the openings through the tubes being closed perfectly water-tight. To the
end' of these tubes may be hinged a series of small tubes jointed together,so
as to allow the cables to adjust themselves without forming angles. In the
interior of this cylindrical box there is fixed another smaller box, in the sides
of which there are a number of small holes, through which the ends of the
telegraphic wires of the cable are passed, a communication being made
between the wires opposite each other by clamping them between plates of
copper. In order perfectly to insulate the different wires from each other,
the interior of the box is filled with resin or other nonconducting material,
leaving room for the movement of the upper plates of copper when it is
required to unclamp the different wires, the box being covered in water-tight
by means of a suitable lid. On the outside of the cylindrical box are a
number of projecting arms, through.the ends of which a circular bar passes,
and when it is required to raise the box from the water an anchor is let down,
and made to catch in the bar.
The third part of this Invention consists in winding around the centre core
of submarine cables, on which the insulated wires are laid, a thin copper wire
in long open spirals, in order to carry off the induced electricity from the
insulating material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pier Alberto Balestrini in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIER
ALBERTO BALESTRINI, of Brescia, Italy, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me the said
Pier Alberto Balestrini, Her special licence, that I, the said Pier Alberto
Balestrini, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Pier Alberto Balestrini, my executors, administrators, aud 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Pier Alberto Balestrini, 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 Pier Alberto Balestrini, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:
The first part of this Invention relates to a means of connecting the ends
of submarine telegraphic cables to the shore, and in protecting them from
rubbing against rocks or on the shore. For this purpose the cable is passed
through a series of cylindrical blocks of wood placed at short distances apart,
around each of which a bar of steel is wound spirally, the blocks of wood
being held together by chains. One end of the series of blocks of wood is
fixed to the shore and the other end to the cable.
The second part of this Invention consists in a means of joining the ends
of two or more submarine telegraphic cables together. For this purpose a
cylindrical box is used over which a suitable cover is bolted, on the top of
which there is a hook for lowering the box into the water. The ends of the
cables to be joined together are passed through small tubes fixed in the cylin-
drical box, and are held there firmly by a clamp or by other suitable means,
the openings through the tubes being closed perfectly water-tight. To the end
of these tubes may be hinged a series of small tubes jointed together, so as
to allow the cables to adjust themselves without forming angles. In the
interior of this cylindrical box there is fixed another smaller box, in the sides
of which there are a number of small holes, through which the ends of the
telegraphic wires of the cable are passed, a communication being made
between the wires opposite each other by clamping them between plates of
copper. In order perfectly to insulate the different wires from each other,
the interior of the box is filled with resin or other non-conducting material,
leaving room for the movement of the upper plates of copper when it is
required to unclamp the different wires, the box being covered in water-tight
by means of a suitable lid. On the outside of the cylindrical box are a
number of projecting arms, through the ends of which a circular bar passes,
and when it is required to raise the box from the water an anchor is let down,
and made to catch in the bar..
The third part of this Invention consists in winding around the centre core

page_text: of submarine cables, on which the insulated wires are laid, a thin copper
wire in long open spirals, in order to carry off the induced electricity from
the insulating material.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a part of a series of cylindrical blocks of wood for protecting
submarine telegraphic cables from rubbing against rocks or on the shore.
a, a, are the cylindrical blocks of wood, around each of which a bar of
steel b, b, is wound spirally; the cylindrical blocks of wood are connected
together at short distances apart by means of links or chains c, c. Through
the centre of each of the cylindrical blocks there is a hole through which the
cable d passes. Figure 2 is a section, and Figure 3 an end view, of one of
the cylindrical blocks a on a larger scale, shewing a part of the cabled passing
through the hole in the block a, and also shewing the manner in which the
links or chains are connected to the blocks of wood a. In order to connect
the ends of a submarine telegraphic cable to the shore, the end of the cable
is passed through a series of these blocks of wood, and one end of the series
of blocks of wood is fixed to the cable and the other end to the shore.
I will now proceed to describe more fully the apparatus for joining the
ends of two or more submarine telegraphic cables together.
Figure 4 is a section of an apparatus suitable for joining the ends of two
submarine telegraphic cables together; Figure 5 is a side view, and Figure 6
an under-side view. a, a, is the cylindrical box, over which there is a suit-
able cover b, and the two are bolted together by means of bolts passing
through projections on the cover b, and through projections d on the box a,
The ends of the cable to be joined together are passed through small tubes e, e,
fixed in the sides of the cylindrical box a, and are held there firmly by being
wound around a roller in the interior of the box u, being afterwards held by
a clamp; or the ends of the cable may be attached to the box a by any other
suitable means, the openings through the tubes being closed perfectly water-
tight. To the end of the tubes e are fixed a series of small tubes ff, jointed
together, as shewn in the Drawing. In the interior of the box a there is
fastened a smaller box g, in the sides of which there are a number of small
holes, through which the ends of the telegraphic wires of the cable are passed.
This box is shewn separately on a larger scale at Figures 8, 9, 10, 11;
Figure S being a section, and Figure 9 a perspective view, of the box
complete Figure 10, a plan of the box, with the cover removed; and

page_text: Figure 11, an under-side view of the lid. h, h, are the holes through which
the telegraphic wiresi, i, covered with insulating material, are passed, and the
holes are filled up, so as to be perfectly water-tight. The ends of each of
the telegraphic wires of one cable are connected to the ends of the telegraphic
wires opposite to them of the other cable by means of two plates of copperjj,
which are clamped together by means of small screws and nuts, le, k, as shewn.
In order perfectly to insulate these wires from each other, the interior of
the box g is filled with resin or other non-conducting material, and the lid
is also filled with the same material. When the ends of the telegraphic cables
have been fixed in the box a, and the ends of the telegraphic wires i, i, have
been connected together in the box g, the cover bis bolted on to the box a,
and the joint is made perfectly water-tight. The box a may then be lowered
into the water by means of a chain hooked on to the hook on the top of
the lid b. When the box a touches the bottom it rests securely on feet m, m,
and by continuing to lower the chain it becomes detached from the hook l,
and falls into the ring n,n, around the lid b, which prevents it from catch-
ing in any other parts of the box. On the top of the box a there are a
number of projections o, o, through which a bar p passes, so that when it
is required to raise this box an anchor is let down, which catches in the
bar p, when the box can be hauled up.
The third part of the Invention consists in winding around the centre of
the core of submarine cables, on which the insulated wires are laid, a thin
copper wire in long open spirals, in order to carry off the induced electricity
from the insulating material. The ends of this thin wire may be connected
to earth-plates, or one of the ends may be connected with an earth plate
and the other end with one pole of a battery, the other pole of the battery
being in connection with the earth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pier Alberto Balestrini, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
T. BASSET.
PIER ALBERTO BALESTRINI. (L.S.)