IMPROVEMENTS IN WELL-SINKING TUBES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WELL-SINKING TUBES."-A communication
from abroad by Hiram John Messenger, Stephen Brewer, and Byron
Mudge, all of Cortland, in the State of New York, United States of
America
Sealed the 16th January 1866, and dated the 24th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th August 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WELL-SINKING TUBES," to be as
follows:-
The present Invention relates to the sinking of wells in and below the
surface of the ground so that by attaching any ordinary but suitable lifting
pump to the upper end of the well water or other liquids can be raised or
brought to the surface. The Invention consists in the use of a conducting

page_text: tube made of iron or other suitable material constructed either in sections or
one continuous piece. This tube is provided at one of its ends and for a short
distance of its length with a series of perforations or small holes, so as to form
a communication between the outside and inside thereof, and has also inserted
in or otherwise properly attached to the same end a sharp conical-shaped drill
point or head, whereby the tube can be freely driven into and below the
surface of the ground to any 'desired depth, the perforations in its lower end
allowing the water, when it is reached, to freely enter the tube, from whence
it can be pumped up and delivered at its upper end. As such well tubes are
especially adapted to be driven into loose or sandy ground it is of course obvious
that their perforations might possibly be stopped or closed by the sand or dirt
entering the same, and in order to obviate and prevent any such occurrence
the lower or perforated end of the tube is provided with a moveable protecting
shield or sleeve cylinder which is capable of being moved round horizontally,
so that while the tube is being driven its perforations may be protected by the
shield, and when a water stratum has been reached in the ground the tube
can be turned sufficiently around in the protecting shield or sleeve to establish
the desired communication for the water with the interior of the same..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WELL-SINKING TUBES," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The present Invention relates to the sinking of wells in and below the
surface of the ground so that by attaching any ordinary but suitable lifting
pump to its upper end water or other liquids can be raised or brought to the
surface. The Invention consists in the use of a conducting tube made of iron
or other suitable material constructed either in sections or one continuous
piece. This tube is provided at one of its ends and for a short distance of its
length with a series of perforations or small holes so as to form a communi-
cation between the outside and inside thereof, and has also inserted in or
otherwise properly attached to the same end a sharp conical-shaped drill
point or head, whereby the tube can be freely driven into and below the
surface of the ground to any desired depth, the perforations in its lower end
allowing the water, when it is reached, to freely enter the tube, from whence
it can be pumped up and delivered at its upper end. As such well tubes are
especially adapted to be driven into loose or sandy ground it is of course
obvious that their perforations might possibly be stopped or closed by the sand
or dirt entering the same, and in order to obviate and prevent any such
occurrence the lower or perforated end of the tube is provided with a move-
able protecting shield or sleeve cylinder which is capable of being turned
round horizontally, so that while the tube is being driven its perforations will
be protected by the shield, and when a water stratum has been reached in
the ground the tube can be turned sufficiently around in the protecting shield
or sleeve to establish the desired communication for the water with the interior
of the same.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side view of the perforated tube

page_text: with its sharp-pointed end or drill piece; Fig. 2 is a similar view shewing it
made in sections; Fig. 3 is a view showing the protecting sleeve applied to
the outside of the tube and covering its perforations; and Fig. 4 is a view
with the tube raised, so as to open communication with the interior.
a, a, represent a tube made of metal and of one continuous length, or in
sections, which are joined together in any proper manner to form air-tight
joints, it being only necessary to form the tube in sections when it is intended
to drive it to a considerable distance in and below the surface of the ground,
in which case the sections are applied to each other in succession as they are
driven nearly to the surface of the ground or below it. This formation of the
tube also allows of a well being sunk in the ground in localities and places
where there is not sufficient space for driving tubes of long length, the advan-
tages and importance of which are obvious. The lower end of the tube is
provided with a series of small perforations or apertures b, b, b, and c, of any
desired number and extending for a short distance of its length, and has also
inserted in such end, or otherwise properly fixed therein or attached thereto, a
sharp-pointed drill point or plug c of a conical or other suitable shape to
facilitate its penetration of the ground when driven into it. The tube thus
provided with perforations and drill point, as above explaned, is (when desired
to sink a well for procuring water) driven into the ground until a stratum of
water is reached, when a pump being attached to its upper end the water can
be lifted or raised up at any and all times and delivered therefrom for use.
A sleeve or shield cylinder / is placed upon the lower end of the tube a, and
so as to tightly fit about and around the same, entirely encasing and sur-
rounding its perforations, so that when the tube is driven into the ground it
will prevent the sand or dirt from stopping or closing up its perforations,
which would destroy communication through them with the interior of the
tube. When water is reached the tube is to be drawn up through the sleeve
so as to open its perforations to the water, the length of such movement being
regulated by the vertical slot o of the sleeve and the pin p of the pipe.
In lieu of driving the tube into the ground a solid rod may be first driven
into the same and then withdrawn and the tube inserted, which it is obvious
in solid and close ground would be quite desirable and advantageous.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me as
aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,―
The use of a perforated pipe either made of continuous length or in sections
(secured together with a pointed or drill end) for the purposes specified.

page_text: In combination with the above I claim the use of the protecting covering
shield or sleeve for the perforations of the tube for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)