Water Mill. (open access)

Water Mill.

Patent for a new and improved water mill. This design "relates to current water-mills, the object being to provide a mill of inexpensive and durable construction, having a wheel adapted to rise and fall with the tide, and thus to maintain a constant revolution and working of the mill. The invention consists in the combination of parts" (lines 11-18).
Date: August 28, 1883
Creator: Steinhagen, Cristofer Friderich Carl
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Press Mat. (open access)

Oil Press Mat.

Patent for a new and improved oil press mat. This design "relates to mats between which cakes of ground cotton or other oil-yielding seed are held while being subjected to the action of the press which separates the oil from the cakes. The invention has for its object to provide certain improvements in the construction of such mats, whereby they are made more efficient and durable than those in general use" (lines 9-17).
Date: May 1, 1883
Creator: Mann, Frederic C. & Schumacher, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a sulky having a loop secured to its axle, of a pair of hoes secured to a pair of pivoted bars, which are adapted to slide up and down in the loop, and a spring arranged between the bars to hold the hoes in a closed position . . . [and] provided with foot-rests for the driver, whereby the hoes may be forced into the ground" (lines 55-67).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Craig, William Sinclair
System: The Portal to Texas History