AN IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING TELEGRAPHIC WIRE WHICH IS COATED WITH GUTTA PERCHA IN ORDER TO RENDER IT MORE CAPABLE OF RESISTING HEAT, AND IN LAYING DOWN TELEGRAPH WIRES. IN THE SEA.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macintosh, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
PREPARING TELEGRAPHIC WIRE WHICH IS COATED WITH GUTTA PERCHA IN
ORDER TO RENDER IT MORE CAPABLE OF RESISTING HEAT, AND IN LAYING DOWN
TELEGRAPH WIRES. IN THE SEA.
Sealed the 14th May 1858, and dated the 14th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macintosh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
November 1857..
I, JOHN MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN PREPARING TELEGRAPHIC WIRE WHICH IS COATED WITH GUTTA PERCHA IN
ORDER TO RENDER IT MORE CAPABLE OF RESISTING HEAT, AND IN LAYING DOWN
TELEGRAPH WIRES IN THE SEA," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object "an improvement in preparing telegraphic.
wire which is coated with gutta percha in order to render it more capable of
resisting heat, and in laying down telegraph wires in the sea. For these pur-
poses, when the wire has been coated with gutter percha the same is subjected
to the action of sulphuric acid on its surface and then to water, or to the action
of chloride of a sulphur and a solvent, by which the coating will be so changed
as no longer to be liable to be injured by tropical heat or like temperatures.

page_text: In laying down electric telegraph cables a series of friction holders are used,
through which the cable passes more or less freely, according as the holders
may be adjusted, and in addition to the friction holders being elastic in them-
selves, they are attached to the vessel or apparatus carried thereby by vul-
canized india-rubber connections, which admit of being considerably extended,
so that when the telegraph cable is suddenly acted on, the holders will retain
hold of the cable more strongly, but at the same time they will be drawn forward
with the cable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Macintosh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Macintosh, Her special licence that I, the said John
Macintosh, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Macintosh, 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 Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING TELEGRAPHIC WIRE WHICH IS COATED WITH GUTTA
PERCHA IN ORDER TO RENDER IT MORE CAPABLE OF RESISTING HEAT, AND IN LAYING
DOWN TELEGRAPH WIRES IN THE SEA," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Macintosh, my executors or administrators, by an instru
ment 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 imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Macintosh, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to. be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-..
This Invention has for its object an improvement in preparing telegraphic
wire which is coated with gutta percha in order to render it more capable of
resisting heat, and in laying down telegraph wires in the sea.
For these pur-
poses, when the wire has been coated with gutta percha the same is subjected
to the action of sulphuric acid on its surface, and then to water, or to the action
of chloride of sulphur and a solvent, by which the coating will be so changed
as no longer to be liable to be injured by tropical heat or like temperatures.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe, firstly, the methods in
which I prefer to employ in preparing telegraphic wire.
When covering wire with gutta percha by the ordinary process of express-
ing the gutta percha through a die, it is usual to cause the covered wire as it
issues from the die to pass into a long trough containing water; this trough I
divide into two parts; the division next the covering machine I make about
six or seven feet long, and I fill it with commercial sulphuric acid of as great
a specific gravity as it is ordinarily made; the other part of the trough con-
tains water, as heretofore. The partition between the two parts of the trough
has a hole through it for the passage of the covered wire, and is packed round
the wire with asbestos, or is otherwise made fluid-tight, or nearly so; or, in
place of applying sulphuric acid in this manner, the covered wire may be coiled
up and dipped in the acid, in which it is allowed to remain a few instants; it
is then removed and plunged into water. I have found in practice that with
the description of acid above mentioned an immersion in the acid of about ten
seconds will produce the desired effect.
In place of sulphuric acid I sometimes employ chloride of sulphur mixed
with a solvent by sulphuret of carbon, to which from two to four per cent. of
chloride of sulphur has been added, is very suitable for the purpose. I cause
the covered wire to pass through this mixture after it has come from the water
trough and when its surface is free from water. The speed at which the
covered wire passes through the liquid is so regulated as to remain therein
about two seconds.
The second part of my Invention consists of improvements in submerging
telegraphic cables, whereby I keep the rate of delivery from the coil approxi-
mately uniform without risk of crushing the soft core of gutta percha, injuring
the electrical condition of the conducting wire, or dangerously increasing the
strain on the cable.
.
In order to render this part of my Invention more clear, I will first state

page_text: the defects against which it is intended to provide, and refer to known methods
by which it has been attempted to remedy these defects.
In the ordinary paying-out apparatus the cable is retarded by revolving
brakes over which it passes from the coil into the sea. This arrangement will
do very well in fine weather, and so long as. the sea remains free from un-
dulation the cable will be paid out with uniform velocity: and strain; but
in stormy weather as the vessel rises and falls by the action of the waves,' the
delivery of the cable must necessarily be very irregulár. The sudden strain on
the cable from the rising of the stern or veering and surging of the ship in a
heavy seaway is partially remedied by easing the breaks and allowing 'the
cable to run to waste and so relieve the strain, or by cutting the cable and
buoying it until the weather moderates. The additional power required to
overcome the inertia of the revolving drums and breaks must be obtained by
greatly increased strain upon the cable, and the reverse of this will be the case
when the stern of the ship falls. These remedies are therefore very defective
in their action, and involve great waste of cable and irregularity in the rate of
delivery. The object of my apparatus is to pay out the cable, varying con-
tinuously with the demand, in such a manner as to prevent the crushing or
flatening of the soft core of gutta percha containing the electrical conductor
(by the sudden jerks the cable is subjected to in passing over the pullies
caused by the irregular motion of the vessel), and at the same time obviating
the necessity of easing the breaks and the consequent irregularity in the rate
of delivery from the coil, and thus lessening the risk of fracture and the great
waste caused by slack. According to my Invention, in laying down electric
telegraph cables a series of friction holders are used, through which the cable
passes more or less freely, according as the holders' may be adjusted, and in
addition to the friction holders being elastic in themselves, they are attached
to the vessel or apparatus carried thereby by vulcanized india-rubber connec-
tions, which admit of being considerably extended; so that when the telegraph
cable is suddenly acted on, the holders will retain thold of the cable more
strongly, but at the same. time they will be drawn forward with the cable
The elastic holder which I prefer to employ consists of a wooden or metal box
about three feet long and one foot wide and deep, open at the top and having
holes through the centre of each of its ends through which the cable. änd
these holes, which are of a size just to allow the cable to pass freely through
them, are bushed with steel to prevent them being worn away by 'the friction
of the cable. In connection with the first box a second box is employed, less
in depth than the first and just sufficiently smaller in length and breadth to.
allow of its entering within the first box. When the cable has been passed
.passes,

page_text: through the holes in the ends of this box, the box is filled up around the cable
with balls of hard wood about the size of bullets; the second box is then placed
in an inverted position within the first, and its bottom is weighted to any desired
extent, and according as the weight is more or less so will the balls within the
box be pressed against the cable to a greater or less extent, and the friction be
varied in a similar degree. In cases where it is desirable to reduce the weight
of the restraining apparatus as much as possible, I substitute springs for these
weights. These friction holders (I prefer to use more than one, three is a
convenient number,) I mount on the deck of the ship in such a manner that
they are capable of turning to and fro in the direction of the cable, and to
attach the friction holders to the ship. I employ two or more strong springs
of vulcanized india-rubber, each attached at one end to the deck and at the
other to the outer box. As the cable runs out through these boxes-each of
them offers a certain amount of resistance to its passage, dependent on the
weights applied and on the speed at which the cable is running out; if this
speed increases, then the friction holders will retain hold of the cable more
strongly, and will consequently be drawn forward with the cable by the yield-
ing of the springs by which the apparatus is attached to the deck. To prevent
the resistance offered by the friction holders from increasing to an extent
dangerous to the cable, either in consequence of a sudden strain on the cable
or otherwise, I attach a spring or springs at one end to the deck of the ship
near the point where the other springs in connection with the same apparatus
are attached, and at the other end to a cord which passes over a pulley (carried
by a standard on the deck) to the weight on the bottom of the inner box, so
that as the friction holder moves with the cable this spring tends more and
more to lift the weight and relieve the strain; and if the strength and length
of this spring are adjusted in a suitable manner, as will be easily understood,
it will prevent any dangerous increase of strain, but will still so long as it is
safe to allow the friction holder to offer an increasing resistance to the passage
of the cable as the speed of delivery becomes greater.
In order to prevent the wooden balls within the friction holders from heat-
ing, I keep the box containing them full of water. In order to decrease the
risk of damaging the cable by the strain to which it is subjected crushing it
while it is passing over the delivery pulley, I cause it to pass through a friction
holder after it comes from the delivery pulley, and this friction holder I con-
struct in the following manner: I take a tube of strong canvas, about eight
inches in diameter and eight feet long, and introduce into each end of the tube
a ring of cast steel, to which the canvas is then firmly attached by binding or
otherwise; the cable passes through the canvas tube and through the rings at

page_text: its ends, which are just of a size interiorly to allow it to pass freely; the
canvas tube is filled with balls of hard wood, and the whole is enclosed in a
case formed of two troughs of wood or metal, which are by springs drawn
towards each other, so as to nip firmly the canvas tube and the cable passing
through it. This friction holder is towed by the ship to which it is connected
by strong vulcanized india-rubber springs or otherwise. It will be seen that
all the resistance this apparatus offers to the passage of the cable is so much
taken from the pressure on the pulley.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macintosh, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE.
JOHN MACINTOSH. (L.S.)