Chimney-Cowl. (open access)

Chimney-Cowl.

Patent for improvements in chimney-cowls by providing a “self-operating smoke-conductor especially adapted for use in all windy climates, to be placed over the discharge-opening of the flues.” (Lines 10-13) So that a “smoke-conductor can be automatically reversed or turned by the wind in any and all directions” (15-18) to carry the smoke away. Illustration is included.
Date: September 1, 1891
Creator: Gardner, Perris W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes Washer. (open access)

Clothes Washer.

Patent for a new and improved clothes washer "in which air is driven by the action of a piston through the clothing and the water surrounding it"(lines 9-11), includes instruction and illustration
Date: September 22, 1885
Creator: Gardner, James D. & Brumbelow, James N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burial Vault (open access)

Burial Vault

Patent for novel burial vault to produce an inexpensive sectional receptacle or vault capable of easy assembly and transport that forms an indestructible, air-tight chamber of continuous homogeneous structure.
Date: September 10, 1901
Creator: William Sink Parker
System: The Portal to Texas History