Valve. (open access)

Valve.

Patent for a new and improved valve. This design is "to provide a . . . valve . . . to cut off the supply of water upon the outside of the induction-port and to drain all water from the valve-body and the connecting-pipes above the same, thereby preventing freezing of the same" (lines 10-15). It consists in "[t]he valve casing or body having oppositely-located ports and provided with a perforated interiorly-threaded lug or projection, in combination with the flanged bushing seated in said valve-casing and having a valve-seat at its outer end, and perforations extending through the flange" (lines 93-99).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Morrison, James John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tobacco Substitute. (open access)

Tobacco Substitute.

Patent for a tobacco substitute "compounded of gentian, licorice, prickly-ash bark, and sassafras (lines 37-38).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Rose, William Percy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dress Stay. (open access)

Dress Stay.

Patent for a new and improved dress-stay. This design "is to avoid the use of paste or stitches in connection with the application of the stay, as well as to provide a stay which may be readily detached and reattached in case it be desired to change the location of the seam in order to make the garment either larger or smaller. To this end the invention consists in a stay-body of steel, whalebone, or some other resilient material inclosed within a suitable casing, and wire fasteners passing through said body, through the outer side of said casing, and through the edges of the seam at either side" (lines 10-23).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Dacus, Augusta
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design's "objects are, first, to couple cars of various altitudes; second, to couple the cars automatically; third, to uncouple from the top or side of the car; [and] fourth, to dispense with pins" (lines 16-20). It consists in a "draw-head [that] is provided with an elastic cover having a link-lifting arm secured thereto, a lever for oscillating said cover, performing the duplex function of disengaging the link and permitting its egress, a sloping projection from the base of said draw-head engaging the link on contact, and the bent link" (lines 51-58).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Burns, John Calvin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clasp (open access)

Clasp

Patent for a new and improved clasp. This design "compris[es] a base and a reversely bent or inclined retaining or clamping arm formed of a single continuous wire with an eye at one end thereof and a bend or enlargement at the other end thereof, the frame or base being substantially rectangular, and the upward bent arm extending through the eye at one end of the base and having the bend or enlargement at the other end arranged near or against the end bar at the opposite end of the frame" (lines 66-76).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Anderson, Henry C.
System: The Portal to Texas History