Apparatus for Towing, Laying Submarine Cables, &c. LETTERS PATENT to James Maze Kilner, of No. 3, Saltney Road, Chester, Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR TOWING SHIPS OR VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES."
London: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode 1867. First Edition. 14 pages plus three sheets (folding). Disbound. 11 x 7 1/2 inches (measured with illustrations folded). Minor mis-folding/tearing to the illustration sheets. Very Good. Disbound. [29412]
A provisional specification left at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on April 4, 1867 and sealed Oct 7th, 1867. The invention has multiple uses including better vessel towing, laying submarine telegraph cables, and others.
Ever since the invention of the telegraph in 1839 business owners dreamed of stretching the cables under water for long distances to connect their ever widening business empires. There were many technical challenges to overcome - insulation, proper cable construction, how to deal with water movement against the bottom of the water, and others. Many small successes were realized from the 1850s to the 1860s but problems remained. Wikipedia notes: "In 1858, the steamship Elba was used to lay a telegraph cable from Jersey to Guernsey, on to Alderney and then to Weymouth, the cable being completed successfully in September of that year. Problems soon developed with eleven breaks occurring by 1860 due to storms, tidal and sand movements, and wear on rocks. A report to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1860 set out the problems to assist in future cable-laying operations."
This patent application is dated shortly after the first commercial transatlantic cable was laid by the huge ship SS Great Eastern in 1867/68. The invention is fairly straightforward with the inclusion of a tube or passage going downwards from the deck of the vessel and out the bottom with a variety of mechanisms for controling how fast cables were laid out, retrieved, and otherwise worked with.
Price: $125.00