IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ANTISEPTIC AND WATER-TIGHT COFFINS, ORNAMENTS, AND SIMILAR OBJECTS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frank Wirth, of the Firm of Wirth and Com-
pany, Patent Agency, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the Empire of
Germany, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING
ANTISEPTIC AND WATER-TIGHT COFFINS, ORNAMENTS, AND SIMILAR OBJECTS.”-
A communication from Eugen Von Seoger, Manufacturer, residing
at Stuttgart, in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg.
-
Scaled the 28th August 1874, and dated the 4th March 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frank Wirth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th March 1874.
I, FRANK WIRTH, of the Firm of Wirth and Company, Patent Agency,
of Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the Empire of Germany, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU-
FACTURING ANTISEPTIC AND WATER-TIGHT COFFINS, ORNAMENTS, AND SIMILAR
OBJECTS," a communication, to be as follows:
―
I prepare plates from one-eight of an inch to one inch in thickness of
a mixture of clay, lime, sand, etc., and vegetable and animal fibres.

page_text: After these plates have been dried they are thoroughly impregnated with
asphaltum, bitumen, and coal tar. I also prepare plates of several sheets
of paper or paste, which are first impregnated with a mixture of
asphaltum, bitumen, and tar, and then pressed together. These plates,
made in either of the above ways are while in a warm condition pressed
into the desired forms. Tops and bottoms of coffins are now closely
fitted together; the corners and joints are provided with hooks and eyes
or other fastenings, which are fixed with bituminous putty.
I use also soft wood, which is impregnated with creosote, tar, and
bitumen. Coffins thus prepared are coated inside with asphaltum, and
can be provided with metallic ribs inside to strengthen them, while the
outside may be ornamented with colored or gilt ornaments.
If the ornaments are desired to be black they are prepared of the
above-described plates, and are pressed in a warm condition into the
desired forms.
Ornaments of light colors are made of the above-described mixture of
clay, lime, etc., or of paper, and paste impregnated with a solution of
resins and fatty substances and pigments in powder, by which the paper
and paste are joined. The manipulation of forming and pressing these
ornaments is the same as above set forth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Frank Wirth in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd September 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANK
WIRTH, of the Firm of Wirth and Company, Patent Agency, of Frank- 2
fort-on-the-Maine, in the Empire of Germany, send greeting.
I
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and 3
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Frank Wirth, Her
special license that I, the said Frank Wirth, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frank Wirth, my

page_text: 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 makė, 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 MANUFACTURING ANTISEPTIC AND WATER-TIGHT COFFINS,
ORNAMENTS, AND SIMILAR OBJECTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Frank Wirth, 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 Frank Wirth, 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 :-
I prepare plates of from onc-eighth of an inch to one inch in thickness
of a mixture of clay, lime, sand, and vegetable and animal fibres. After
these plates have been dried they are thoroughly impregnated with
bitumen and coal tar, or a mixture of both. I also prepare plates of
several sheets of paper or paste, which are first impregnated with a
mixture of asphaltum, bitumen, and tar, and then pressed together.
These plates, made in either of the ways above mentioned are while
warm pressed into the desired forms. The tops and bottoms of my
improved coffins are closely fitted together, the corners and joints being
provided with hooks and eyes or other fastenings, which are secured by
a bituminous putty.
In the construction of these coffins I sometimes use soft wood, which
is impregnated with creosote, tar, and bitumen. Coffins thus prepared
are lined inside with a coating of asphaltum. The coffins above described
can also be provided inside with metallic ribs to strengthen them, while
the outside may be ornamented, and such ornaments may be colored or
gilt, as well as the coffins themselves.
The said ornaments, which can also be used for architectural purposes,

page_text: are prepared in the following manner:-If black ornaments are desired
they are prepared from the above-described plates, and are pressed while
warm into the desired forms.
Ornaments of light colors are made from plates of the above-
mentioned mixture of clay, lime, etc., or of paper and paste impregnated.
with a solution of resins and fatty matters of a lighter color, and of a
composition of clay, lime, sand, etc., and the same resins and fatty
substances and pigments in powder, by which the paper and paste are
joined together. The manipulation of forming and pressing these orna-
ments is the same as above set forth.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me, and shown how the same may be carried into practice, I claim,―
First. The manufacture of water-tight and antiseptic coffins, sub-
stantially as described.
Second. The preparation of ornaments of waterproof and antiseptic
materials, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frank Wirth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
TD ANTZ WIDT