APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CHIMNEYS. 34-9 



V. 



Description of an Apparatus used at Sheffield for cleaning 

 Chimneys: hy Mr. Samuel Roberts, Chairman of a 

 Committee appointed at that Place for encouraging the 

 Sweeping of Chimney s without the use of Climbing-boys*. 



JL HE two brushes, Plate X, fig. 1, and 2, are those Apparatus for 



Vrhich at present appear to answer best the intended pur- '^''^^'""5^ 



, , . ^ chimneys. 



pose. big. 1 IS the easiest to work in difficult chimneys; 



but in those which are tolerably s(raight No. 2 will be 



found the more convenient, as it clears itself better of the 



soot in ascending. Soldered on the inside of the iron hoop 



A, at 6 is a hollow iron tube, going through the woodea 



balls B. The nut C screws upon the upper end of the 



hoHow tube, through which the rope passes, and fastens 



the whole together. The balls B are put upon the tube ia 



separate parts, divided at d, for the conveniency of putting 



in and replacing the brush part F, which is composed of 



bristles, whisk, aud whalebone. The whisk (which should 



be well selected for the purpose) is in the middle, on each 



side of which, above and below, is a row of whalebone, 



split thin, with the flat sides towards the whisk, and above 



and below the whalebone are bristles. Care must be takea 



that the whole is not too thick and strong, otherwise it 



will be difficult to get in and out of the pipes on the tops 



of the chimneys ; where they are pressed together between 



the balls B, they should not be thicker than three eighths 



of an inch. Great care must also be taken, that the parts 



of the brushes are well fastened together, and firmly fixed 



between the balls B, so as not to be loosened in working. 



The diameter of the balls B is three inches. The distance 



* Abridged from the Trans, of the Soc. of Arts, vol. xxvii, p. 

 209. The Society, anxious to relieve the sufferings of humanity, 

 have attended with much pleasure to the ender^vours of the inha- 

 bitants of Sheffield, and cooperate with them in their attempts to 

 supersede the necessity of employing climbing boys; they have, 

 therefore, immediately on receiving the following communication, 

 ordered it to be inserted in their volume, and an explanatory en- 

 graving of the machinery employed to be annexed. 



betw^eea 



