IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF CONVEYING LETTERS AND PARCELS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Sang, of 42, Charing Cross, Artist, and
Thomas Webster Rammell, of 16, Spring Gardens, both in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OF CONVEYING LETTERS AND PARCELS FROM ONE PLACE TO
ANOTHER."
Sealed the 7th January 1859, and dated the 9th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Sang and
Thomas Webster Rammell at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 9th July 1858.
We, FREDERICK SANG, of 42, Charing Cross, Artist, and THOMAS WEBSTER
RAMMELL, of 16, Spring Gardens, both in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF CONVEYING LETTERS AND PARCELS FROM ONE PLACE TO.
ANOTHER," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the means of conveying letters and parcels from
one place to another through tubes, by means of atmospheric pressure.
The
letters, &c., to be conveyed are placed in suitable receptacles or carriages to

page_text: travel within tubes, and will be propelled in the desired direction by the
superior pressure of the atmosphere behind the carriages over that in front,
which is rarified to the requisite degree by pumping engines, so that by these
means the carriage or train of carriages within the tube are conveyed from
one station to another.
A peculiar feature of this Invention is the division of a main or through line
of communication into separate sections of convenient lengths, with stations at
the points of junction of the several sections, and arrangements for the inter-
change of the carriages, so that they may be passed from one section to
another, whereby a continuous and simultaneous up-and-down communication
may be maintained throughout the whole line, and also the putting in
and taking out of letters, &c., be effected at each station with every train.
Branch or cross lines, also divided into sections, if requisite, may be made to
communicate with a main line at any station, with similar facilities for the
interchange of carriages, and the putting in and taking out of letters, &c., and
thus a complete network of rapid communication be established in any town
or district. At every station means will be provided for the instantaneous
application of the propelling power to the station on either side, the air within
the intervening section or sections of tube being drawn off through a separate
system of pipes communicating with one or more pumping centres.
SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Sang and Thomas Webster Rammell in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 8th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
SANG, of 42, Charing Cross, Artist, and THOMAS WEBSTER RAMMELL, of
16, Spring Gardens, both in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Frederick
Sang and Thomas Webster Rammell, Her special licence that we, the said
Frederick Sang and Thomas Webster Rammell, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick Sang and Thomas Webster
Rammell, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 MEANS
OF CONVEYING LETTERS AND PARCELS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Frederick Sang and Thomas
Webster Rammell, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, 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 Thomas Webster Rammell, 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 :-
This Invention consists in the means of conveying letters and parcels from
one place to another through tubes, by means of atmospheric pressure. The
letters or parcels to be conveyed are placed in suitable receptacles or carriages
to travel within tubes, and will be propelled in the desired direction by the
superior pressure of the atmosphere behind the carriages over that in front,
which is rarified to the requisite degree by pumping engines, so that by these
means the carriage or train of carriages within the tube is conveyed from one
station to another.
A peculiar feature in this Invention is the division of a main or through
line of communication into separate sections of convenient lengths, with
stations at the points of junction of the several sections, and arrangements for
the interchange of the carriages, so that they may be passed from one section
to another, whereby a continuous and simultaneous up-and-down communi-
cation may be maintained throughout the whole line, and also the putting in
and taking out of letters or parcels be effected at each station with every train.
Branch or cross lines, also divided into sections, if requisite, may be made to
communicate with a main line at any station, with similar facilities for the
interchange of the carriages, and the putting in and taking out of letters, &c.,
and thus a complete network of rapid communication be established in any
town or district. At every station means will be provided for the instan-
taneous application of the propelling power to the station on either side,
the air within the intervening section or sections of tube being drawn off

page_text: through a separate system of pipes communicating with one or more pumping
centres.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Webster Rammell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.
T. W. RAMMELL. (L.S.)