Railroad Weed-Burner (open access)

Railroad Weed-Burner

Patent for "a railroad weed-burning device in which a large sheet-iron shield is suspended underneath and between the trucks of any ordinary railroad car for the purpose of confining the flame and heat produced by oil-atomizing burners or other means to direct and maintain continued contact with grass and weeds on the ground between and along the outside of the rails" (lines 9-18).
Date: May 11, 1897
Creator: Hancock, Geroge A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle. (open access)

Bottle.

Patent for a bottle that has a mechanism near its opening, and when the cork is pulled out, it becomes impossible to refill the bottle and use it again. The point of this bottle is so that after it has been sealed, it cannot be opened and emptied without apparent evidence that it has been opened.
Date: May 4, 1897
Creator: Phillips, George C.
System: The Portal to Texas History