IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOXES FOR HOLDING, AND IN APPLIANCES FOR PLAYING, THE AMERICAN GAME OF 15.
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Duncan Macfarlane at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th May 1880.
THOMAS DUNCAN MACFARLANE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOXES FOR HOLDING, AND
IN APPLIANCES FOR PLAYING, THE AMERICAN GAME OF 15."
This Invention relates to certain improvements connected with the American
game or puzzle of "fifteen," which are designed to render the same more generally
suitable for private, family, or card parties, and for public entertainment in hotels,
clubs, and other places of resort. The improvements comprise the application and
use of certain new materials not hitherto employed for the moving dice or
numbered squares, and the means or appliances for moving or changing these from
square to square on the board or box, which is also of a new or improved
construction.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consist, first, in making the "dice"
or moving numbered squares of plain or coloured glass, porcelain, china, or other
similar ware, numbered as usual from 1 to 15, and ornamented with designs,
portraits, or scenic effects in relievo, or otherwise cut or moulded of any ordinary
size or shape; second, in cutting or moulding small holes or tapered indentations
in these "dice," so that they can be moved from square to square by sliding only
without being lifted or touched, by means of a neat handle or rod with forked or
pointed ends entering these indented holes, so that unfair manipulation of the
dice" by hand is avoided; and third, in constructing the box or boxes of hard or
fancy polished wood, ebonite, or vulcanite, or partly or any of these, but mainly so
that they can be closed by a sliding or hinged folding cover, or when made in pairs
so that they can be folded together, whilst the dice are kept from falling out or
being mixed by a sliding plate or cover immediately over them.
"
In one modification of the improved construction of box, in which two players
may be seated to play simultaneously at one table, the "dice" or squares are
arranged in two shallow wooden boxes only a little deeper inside than the "dice,"
and binged at one side or edge so as to be capable of being closed up and locked as
a single case or box. Two or three of the sides or edges are grooved inside to
admit a sliding cover, which may be of glass if preferred, and be almost in contact
with the dice it covers; and inside the casing or box, but divided by a partition
from the squares of the board, a small compartment is left or made for the insertion

page_text: of the "dice" moving rod or handle, whilst a similar small compartment is left at
the opposite side for numbers or indicators of the games played, and for the blank or
spare dice-block or square of each board which is not used, or is removed whilst
the game is being played.
When the board or box is intended for four players, the box described is simply
doubled in one direction with a dividing ridge or partition between each pair,
which are closed simultaneously when desired on their hinges as one case or box.