AN IMPROVED METHOD PREVENTING HORSES AND OTHER BEASTS OF BURTHEN FROM SLIPPING OR FALLING ON ASPHALTE OR OTHER ROADS
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Joseph Ney at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
November 1871.
I, JOHN JOSEPH NEY, of the Town of Galway, Ireland, and 23,
Pentonville Road, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD
PREVENTING HORSES AND OTHER BEASTS OF BURTHEN FROM SLIPPING OR
FALLING ON ASPHALTE OR OTHER ROADS," to be as follows:-
OP
My improved method consists of the contrivances herein-after particu-
larly described, by which sand or gravel or other gritty substance or
material is conveyed and distributed on the road or street from an
omnibus, van, waggon, or other like vehicle or carriage, in front of the
horse or horses attached to and drawing such omnibus, van, waggon, or
other vehicle or carriage, and thereby enabling such horse or horses to
retain its or their foothold, be the ground slippery from water, fog, snow,
or ice, or the ordinary street traffic, or from all these combined.
According to my said improved method I affix at a sufficient height
to give a gradual incline to the fore part of such omnibus, van, waggon,
or other like vehicle or carriage, and under the seat or feet of the driver

page_text: of such omnibus, van, waggon, or other like vehicle, a box or re-
ceptacle made of iron, or zinc, or wood, or other suitable material, and
such box or receptacle is fashioned like a hopper or funnel, so that its
contents will run freely towards an orifice in the centre of its lower part.
Attached to this box, and on its outside firmly affixed to this orifice, is a
stop-cock or valve, the nozzle of which stop-cock or valve is screwed,
and to this stop-cock I attach by means of a union or ball-and-socket
joint, or piece of flexible tubing, a piece of iron or other piping of
sufficient length to reach from such stop-cock, and extend an inch or
two over and beyond the pole or shaft of such omnibus, van, or other
vehicle or carriage, and on the outer end of this piece of iron or other
piping I affix (if required) a valve which is kept closed by means of a
spring, and which may be opened by means of a cord, or rod, or wire,
one end of which cord, rod, or wire is attached to the valve, and the
other end leading along the piping and coming up through the foot-
board, and under the control of the hand or foot of the driver of such
omnibus, van, or other vehicle or carriage. The outer end of this piping
is confined to the pole or shaft by means of a strap (of any flexible or
inflexible material) or other ligature or band, which can be readily
opened or closed at pleasure.
My reasons for having this iron or other piping attached to the nozzle
of the stop-cock, by means of the union or ball-and-socket joint, or
flexible tubing, are to prevent the injury which would accrue to a fixed
body (such as this box or receptacle would become when attached to the
piping by an ordinary rigid screw) from the oscilation of the shaft or
pole, or from the turning of the vehicle, to which such apparatus is
attached. An ordinary rigid nut and screw will suffice to connect the
piping and box or receptacle, where the shaft or pole is permanently
attached to the omnibus, van, or other vehicle or carriage. By means
of this screw the piping can be connected or disconnected with or from
the box or receptacle at will; where there is a leading horse (or horses)
in advance of the pole horses, I affix a piece of iron or other tubing
suitably prepared to the collar of such horse (or horses), and I connect
this tubing at the collar to one end of a piece of flexible tubing, the
other end of this flexible tubing being connected to the box or receptacle
containing the sand, by means also of another stop-cock, and at or about
one-third of the length of this flexible tubing from the driver I affix
one end of a piece of cord, and the other end of this cord is under the

page_text: control of the driver; when the sand is turned on by means of the stop-
cock, the flexible tubing can be shaken by this cord, and the sand driven
through instantaneously. The sand, or gravel, or other gritty substance
that I use, I thoroughly free from moisture by kiln drying or partially
roasting, so as to permit it to run freely through the piping. With this
sand, or gravel, or other gritty substance, I fill the box or receptacle to
be used as occasion may require, and then cover the box or receptacle
closely down.