Afkul 12, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



209 



SOME EXPIRED REEL PATENTS. 



THE first patent ever granted by the United States for a 

 fishing-rod reel was issued to John A. Bailey, of New 

 Jersey, Aug. 5, 1856. 



His invention consists in having the crank-shaft work 

 laterally in a .socket attached to the end plate of the reel, 

 and having a bevel wheel attached to the crank-shaft, acted 

 upon by a spring, so that when not pressed inward by the 

 person holding the reel, it will be kept out of gear with the 

 reel. 



In the cut (Fig. l.)A represents the reel frame, of the usual 

 form and construction. B is the reel pivotally fitted in the 

 frame A. To one em! of the axis or Shaft, C, of the reel, a 

 beveled pinion, I), is attached, and E is a spring which is 

 attached to the end plate, </, of the frame. This spring has 

 a circular aperture, a, made through it, so that it may yield 

 without interfering with the pinion, D, the spring being a 

 fiat metal plate. An aperture, b, is also made through the 

 outer part of the spring, and a pin, c, attached to the plate, 

 a, passes through the aperture, b. The crank-shaft, F, is 

 hollow and has a beveled wheel, G. on its inner end. The 

 Shaft is allowed to slide laterally in a collar, d, attached to the 

 end plate, t, of the frame. The spring, E, bears against the 

 bevel-wheel, G, and keeps it out of gear with the pinion, D. 

 The pin, <-, fits into the end of the shaft, F. II represents 

 the operating crank. 



By this arrangement the reel, B, when the crank-shaft, F, 

 is not pressed inward, is free therefrom, and the line may 

 consequently be thrown outward a greater distance than 

 where the usual reels are employed, because there is no 

 friction to overcome except, that occasioned by the rotation 

 of its own shaft or journals. 



Before the date of this invention the reels generally used 

 were permanently connected by gear wheels with the oper- 

 ating: handle, and consequently'the friction therefrom offered 

 considerable resistance to the line as it was thrown out. 



The next invention, granted Feb. 10, 1857, to Edward 

 Deacon, was for effecting the same purpose as that above 

 described. 



Referring to the cut (Fig. II., u) A is the reel fitted within 

 a frame formed of two plates, a, a, connected by rods. b. 

 The frame has the usual box, B, at one side to inclose the 

 gearing, C 1). A sleeve, G, is placed on the crank-shaft, F, 

 within a socket, 6, on the outer side of the box, B. In the 

 sleeve, G, a slot, d, is made, having side notches, e, e, as 

 shown (in Fig. II. , b). The pin, f, of the socket, e, fits in 

 the slot, d. 



The crank, H, is secured by a nut, {/, The crank-shaft is 

 shoved in or out, so that its" wheel, D, may be in or out 

 of gear with the pinion of the reel-shaft by merely shoving 

 the sleeve inward or drawing it outward. "The notches, e, e, 

 serve to lock the wheel, D, in either position. Deacon avers 

 that the pressure upon the crank in the Bailey reel, above 

 mentioned, renders the winding up of the line a difficult 

 operation, and that a person is liable to forget that pressure 

 upon the crank is requisite in order to connect the crank 

 with the reel-shaft. He says the spring also is liable to lose 

 its elasticity, and the parts may thus be rendered inoperative. 



August. 9, 1859, William Billinghurst, of New York, de- 

 vised a fishing reel so constructed that when the line is 

 wound up it shall form a ring instead of a cylinder, thus pro- 

 viding efficiently for its drying without the necessity of un- 

 winding the line and spreading it out, while at the same 

 time the weight and cost of the reel are reduced. 



From the plate, A (Fig. III. , <i), attached to the rod in the 

 usual manner, projects the pin, P. The disk, D, rotates 

 thereon and carries the divided rings, REE (shown by the 

 drawings, Figs, III., a, b and a). These rings form the skele- 

 ton of a tubular ring, in the inside of which the line is very 

 easily coiled through the openings. To guide the line in its 

 winding and unwinding, and preveut the escape of any 

 loose coil, if such should exist, the opening formed by divid- 

 ing the rings is filled, in all but a small portion of its extent, 

 by means of the ring, a. This ring is kept from rotating by 

 means of the braces, e, /, which are attached to the plate, A 

 (seen in Fig. III. , b). One of these braces is forked, and 

 has attached a loop or guide through which the line passes. 



Aside from the great reduction in weight and cost over a 

 reel constructed in the ordinary manner, the general form 

 is much more convenient for carriage in the pocket, as the 

 w T hole thing, line and all, forms a flat disk of no very great 

 dimensions; but the great advantage consists in the com- 

 plete exposure of the line, whereby it is enabled to dry rap- 

 idly and thoroughly, and is prevented from decaying. In the 

 common form, when the line on the reel becomes wet, either 

 from complete submersion or from winding wet portions of 

 the line over it, it is difficul t for the central portions of the line 

 to dry, covered, as they are, by the outer layers. In this 

 reel there is but a small portion "of the line covered, and the 

 whole surface is fully exposed to the air. It would seem 

 that the line can be wound with rapidity, thus dispensing 

 with the complicated and expensive gearing for that purpose. 

 The inventor asserts that one turn of the handle takes up 

 more than seven inches of line. 



The "Palmer reel ' (1860) employs a traveling or recipro- 

 cating line-guide attached to the reel, and operating auto- 

 matically in such a way as to cause the line as it is wound 

 up to be" adjusted evenly on the shaft of the reel. Figs. IY , 

 a and b. 



The reel. A, is of ordinary construction, a being the frame 

 and b the box which contains the multiplying gear, o d, 

 through wdiich the reel-shaft is rotated. The operation of 

 the reel is as follows : In order to wind up the line evenly 

 on the reel, A, the upper end of the lever, <j, is shoved up- 

 ward and retained in that position by the nut, m, being 

 serewed up against the outer side of the box, b. In this posi- 

 tionof lever, //,the pinion,j, is in gear with the wheel, o, and as 

 the crank, e, is rotated a rotary motion is communicated to 

 the shaft, B, and which, through the medium of a half-nut 

 attached to guide, B, gives a reciprocating movement to the 

 line-guide, D, the latter moving the whole length of bar, C, on 

 which it is allowed to slide freely. The screws at each end 

 of the shaft, B, unite with each other and the half-nut in 

 consequence of being attached to the pivot, p, of the line- 

 guide, D, is allowed to incline itself in either position to con- 

 form to the pitch of the screw-threads of shaft, B, and thereby 

 permit the change of movement of the guide at each end of 

 the shaft. This reciprocating movement of the guide causes 

 the line to be wound evenly on the reel-shaft. When the 

 line-guide is not required— as, for instance, in casting out 

 the line — the upper end of lever, g, is shoved down the inner 

 end of socket, h, thereby elevated, and the pinion, J, conse- 

 quently thrown out of gear with the wheel, ft The line-guide. 

 D, is forked at o for the passage of the line between. 



The »bject of Dougherty's invention is to provide an effi- 

 cient means for controlling the delivery of the line, so ar- 





"ft fl I 



/=}f y~> 



ranged that it does not interfere with the winding-up 

 mechanism, and so that also the angler may operate the 

 device for controlling the delivery by the same hand which 

 controls the rod. 



The frame of this reel has two shallow heads (Fig. V.), 

 A B, connected by crossbars, </, one of which forms the 

 base by which the reel is connected to the fishing-rod, C. 

 The spool, D, on which the line is wound, is of the usual 

 form. One of these heads, A, contains the winding mechan- 

 ism, consisting of a cog-pinion secured to the spool arbor, 

 and a cog-wheel attached to a counter shaft which extends 

 through the head, and is fitted with the hand-crank, E, for 

 winding the line. The other head, B, of the frame contains 

 the friction brake, consisting of a spring, m, partially en- 

 circling a smooth-rimmed wheel, F, secured to the arbor of 

 the spool, D. One end of this spring brake is fastened to 

 the reel-frame, and the other to the outer end of an arm, 

 h, secured to one end of a brock-shaft, (/. This rock-shaft 

 extends from one head of the reel to the other, and is fitted 

 at its center with an upright thumb-plate, G, so that the 

 thumb-plate, rock-shaft, and arm, u, constitute a lever by 

 means of which the spring, Hi, may be made to engage the 

 wheel, F, to control the unwinding" of the line. The device 

 is so arranged that the angler can apply his thumb to the 

 brake without removing his hand from the rod. This 

 thumb-plate has a sot-screw, e, so arranged as to vary and 

 limit the distance to which the former can be moved, 

 whereby the brake power and degree of strain upon the line, 

 can be adjusted to the strength of the line. 



With a'reel thus constructed the angler may hold the rod 

 with his hand in such a position that the thumb of that hand 

 can be applied to the thumb-plate of the controlling mech- 

 anism, so that he can control the running out of the line 

 the instant he ceases to wind it up by the application of his 

 other hand to the crank-handle. F. B. Brock. 



..v, D, C, 



| TO BE CONTINUED.] 



month of Man 

 The only si- 

 have made! 

 crows, whic 

 always remained here all ^ 



Weaufish Coming.— Phila., Pa.— The hard crab is 

 showing himself in numbers; this is a sure sign of the near 

 coming of the weakfish to the waters of Delaware Bay. — 

 Homo. 



THE ADIRONDACKS. 



IN reading your editorial in last week's issue in relation 

 to the trout fishing to commence on Long Island to-day, 

 I could not help noticing, residing as I do on the northern 

 borders of the Adirondacks, the great contrast that there is 

 between the two localities in regard to the forwardness of 

 the season. There, you say, the ice has been out of the 

 streams for a month ; while here the streams and ponds are 

 no freer of ice than they were, in January, and the snow in 

 the woods is from four'and a half to five feet deep, The 

 thermometer here yesterday morning, April 1, stood only 6° 

 above zero at 7 A. "31. Sleighing has been good here up to 

 within a day or two, and has been since December 1. The 

 past winter' has been the coldest for many years, and the 

 "lest and most stormy of any. 

 ! yet are a robin or two that 

 during the last week, and the 

 a week or two. They have 

 ter heretofore, but this winter 

 was too much for them, and they left sometime near Jan- 

 uary 1 for a warmer clime. The English sparrows that for 

 several winters previous to this have been here in large flocks 

 in the Streets and dooryards, have all disappeared this last 

 Winter, Whether they have gone south, where it is warmer, 

 or have perished with" the severe cold, I cannot say. As 

 none have yet returned I think very likely that they all 

 perished. In place of sparrows and crows we have a new 

 kind of bird, which I never saw before this winter. It is a 

 brown bird, somewhat smaller than a robin. They come in 

 flocks of from ten to twenty. Some of them have a reddish 

 head, which I take to be the cock bird. They do not seem 

 to care for the cold, for they will sit on the trees in the 

 dooryard and sing or whistle a plaintiff note when the cold 

 is beiow zero. 



I do not hear that the ruffed grouse have been injured or 

 have perished by the cold weather to any extent. The snow 

 has been very deep in the woods all winter, and the ruffed 

 grouse has a way of burrowing under it in cold Weather, 

 where they keep from the cold. 



While there has been a great- complaint of the scarcity of 

 the ruffed grouse in most all other parts of the country for 

 the last tew years back, they have been very planty here in 



