AN IMPROVED COVERING FOR ROOFS AND WALLS
Year: 1860

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 "AN IMPROVED COVERING FOR ROOFS AND WALLS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Rufus S. Lewis, of Lowell, Massachusetts,
in the United States of America.
Sealed the 9th November 1860, and dated the 16th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th July 1860.
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 "AN IMPROVED COVERING FOR ROOFS AND
WALLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention of an improved covering for roofs and walls has for its
object to produce an article which, when properly applied to roofs or walls,
will render them air and water tight. To this end, pieces of canvas or felt, or
any other suitable fabric, and of convenient dimensions, or coated or covered
on both sides with a preparation or composition consisting principally of pitch,
tar, asphaltum, gums, resin, or any equivalent substances in a molten or fluid

page_text: state. On one side, while the composition is warm and soft, common beach
sand, pulverized stone, or other equivalent substance is to be sifted in such a
manner as to cause the sand to imbed itself in the composition. The other
side of the sheet, while the pitchy composition is in a plastic state, is to be
covered with paper, and this paper surface, when the covering is used for walls,
may be the external surface, which may then be ornamented in any manner
that may be required.
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 16th January 1861.
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 Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1860,
in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Willian 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 Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of "AN IMPROVED COVERING
FOR ROOFS AND WALLS," a communication to him from abroad by Rufus S.
Lewis, of Lowell, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 is a view of the article as it appears put up in rolls for transportation
and sale; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the
new article, showing the different layers of which it is composed, and their
relative arrangement to each other. a represents a canvas, cloth, or felt, or any
of their equivalents, the object of which is to give the requisite strength to the
manufactured article, and to serve as a base, to which is united on each side,
for the purpose of rendering the article waterproof, any suitable waterproofing
material or composition of pitch, tar, resins, or oils. This waterproofing is
represented by b, and is fixed upon the cloth a in about equal layers on each
side by passing the cloth through the waterproofing made liquid by heat, the
superfluous material being pressed out by passing the cloth through rollers as
it comes out of the kettle containing the waterproofing. While the water-
proofing is still in a hot semi-liquid state, a layer of common beach sand or its
equivalent (c, Fig. 2) is spread upon one side of it. The sand embeds itself
into the waterproofing, and forms that side of the article which is presented to
the action of the weather. The other layer (b) of the waterproofing, while it is
yet in a warm and plastic state, is covered with paper, the papered side of the
article being that which is placed in contact with the surface to be covered.
Any suitable mixtures of coal or vegetable tar, rosin, or oils, with plaster of
Paris, earths, or equivalent matters may be employed for the purpose of water-
proofing the cloth or felt employed.
I do not confine myself to the use of any particular compound; gas tar
boiled to such a consistency that it will not run in hot weather, or the follow-
ing composition may be used for the purpose:-Coal or gas tar 40 gallons,
powdered quick lime 12 pounds, beeswax 6 pounds. The tar and wax to be
melted together, and the lime added thereto; likewise any fabric having the
requisite strength to endure the handling to which it is subjected in the manu-
facture and while it is being applied to the roof will answer, but I prefer to
use a strong closely woven cotton cloth for the
purpose.
It has long been a desideratum to produce a waterproofing which, by being
complete in itself, could be applied like the old metallic, slate, and wooden
roof coverings, simply by the use of nails, and which, like such coverings,
could be transported ready for application by men ordinarily skilled in building
or repairing operations.
'
The present method of applying composition or mastic, or otherwise styled
similar roof coverings, involves the use of fire upon the premises where the

page_text: application is made, which is highly dangerous. It involves also the trans-
portation of melting kettles, and requires the services of men particularly con-
versant with the trade, and who are only to be found in somewhat populous
places. The fumes also which arise from the melting and the application of
the hot melted composition are often offensive.
My Invention is best and most economically completly prepared for use
and for sale away from the places where it is finally located, and where, by
proper appliances, skilled labor, and the manufacture of large quantities, it
can be produced at the minimum cost, and where, if the waterproofing is of a
nature to emit disagreable fumes, no one is inconvenienced except those
employed in the manufacture. My roof covering can be packed-in rolls of
size and weight convenient for handling; the sanded and papered surfaces
coming into contact in the roll do not adhere together, and the article requires
no boxing in transportation. It is nailed to the surface to be covered, the
edges and ends of one sheet overlapping the edges and ends of other sheets,
and this may be done in such a manner as to-cover the nails. The over-
lapping portions are wet with spirits of turpentine upon the papered side
previous to securing the sheet in its place; this causes a softening of the
waterproofing, and permits the removal of the paper so that a union can be
effected by pressure between the sheet which has been secured and the one
overlapping it.
It will be obvious that my Invention can be applied as a waterproof covering
by any carpenter or slater, or, indeed, by any person person who can drive nails
with a hammer. I do not herein intend to claim any particular process of manu-
facture, any particular composition of materials forming the waterproofing (b),
or any plan or system of the application of sheets of waterproof covering, as all
of these may be greatly varied without departing from my Invention,
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under
the above recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
1st., a transportable roof covering made of a foundation of cloth or its
equivalent covered on both sides with a waterproofing material, and having
its surfaces protected from adhering the one to the other for the purpose
described.
2nd., I claim a transportable roof covering, consisting of a central layer or
web of cloth or its equivalent, covered on both sides with adhering layers of
waterproofing, the outward side of one of which is covered with a layer of
paper fixed thereto by contact with the waterproofing while it is in a warm

page_text: and plastic state, while upon and embedded in the outward side of the other
layer of waterproofing, while in the state just described, is a layer of sand or
its equivalent, forming the uppermost or weather surface of the article.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)