IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CARTRIDGES EMPLOYED IN BLASTING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Webb, of St. Austell, in the County of Corn-
wall, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CARTRIDGES EMPLOYED
IN BLASTING."
Sealed the 11th October 1860, and dated the 12th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Webb at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th April
1860.
I, JOHN WEBB, of St. Austell, in the County of Cornwall, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CARTRIDGES
EMPLOYED IN BLASTING," to be as follows:-
The improvement consists in using for the case or body of the cartridge
cloth made waterproof by any well-known method, the seams and joinings of
the same being also made waterproof by means of any suitable cement, and in
providing at the junction of the fuse and cartridge a material which will not
take fire and smoulder in the event of the direct fire from the fuse not
reaching the charge in the cartridge.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Webb, Her special licence that I, the said John Webb, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Webb, 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 CARTRIDGES EMPLOYED IN BLASTING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Webb, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Webb, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The improvement consists in using for the tube or case of the cartridge
cloth made waterproof by any well-known method, the seams and joinings of
the same being also made waterproof by means of any suitable cement, and
in providing at the junction of the fuse and cartridge a material which will
not take fire and smoulder in the event of the direct fire from the fuse not
reaching the charge in the cartridge.
The practical construction and application of my said Invention will be
more fully understood and explained by the following description thereof:-
The first part of my Invention consists in employing instead of, as is usual for
the cartridge, a case made of paper, which is liable to be destroyed or damaged
by the force employed in placing it in the bore hole, or by the action of water,
where the hole is wet, and thus allow the charge of gunpowder contained
therein to be spoiled or damaged, and consequently useless or of reduced
effect, or otherwise, the case being made of cotton, linen, or other unprepared.
cloth, particles of the powder are liable to escape through the interstices of the
material of which the case is composed, by which means a dangerous train
may be produced, and if the same is used in a position where water is present,

page_text: the gunpowder may become wetted owing to the porous nature of the material
of which the case or cartridge is made, and thus the power of the charge be
weakened or entirely destroyed. For the purpose, therefore, of avoiding such
accidents, I employ thin cloth made waterproof by means of boiled linseed
oil, solution of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable material, and I
cement the junctions at the side and one end of the same by means of such
cement, leaving the other end open to receive the charge of gunpowder, and
then to be tied tight round the fuse so as to produce a cylindrical bag or case
proportioned to the diameter of the bore-hole, and of a length sufficient to
contain the necessary quantity of gunpowder.
The second part of my Invention consists in employing a bunch of cow
hair, flannel, or other similar loose woollen material as a wadding between the
tamping and the charge, and which is most conveniently and effeciently
arranged by being bound round or attached to the fuse immediately adjoining
the case or cartridge; this provision I find effectually prevents (in the event
of the fuse being defective) the fire from the fuse smouldering, and at a long
interval reaching the charge in the cartridge, and thus producing accidents ;
the effect of the woollen material being to smother and extinguish any fire
still smouldering in the damaged fuse, and thus to prevent its reaching the
charge, except by the direct action of the powder in the fuse.
I claim as my Invention the employment of a waterproof textile material
for the tubes or cases of cartridges employed to contain the charge of gun-
powder used in blasting operations, and the employment of a tuft of cow hair,
wool, feathers, loose woollen fabric or like substance as a wadding between the
cartridge and tamping.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Webb, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this 11th day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand