November 16, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
181 
The Subscription List will open on Saturday, November 16tb, 1895, and will close on or before November 19th, 1895, and 20th for Country. 
(Incorporated under Companies Acts, 1862 to 1890 .) ^ ^ 
SHARE CAPITA L-£ 10,000, 
Divided into 10,000 Shares of £1 each, of which £7,000 will be Reserved for Working Capital. 
Payable a,s follows 
31- per share on application. 5/- per share on allotment. 
31- per share in one month from date of allotment. 3 /- per share in one or more calls as required. 
Directors: 
JAMES FREETH, High Street, West Bromwich, Provision Merchant. 
STEPHEN H. MARTIN, Ludgate Hill, Birmingham, Hardware Merchant. 
JOHN SHAW, Park Vale, Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham. 
HENRY STRANGE, Tenby Street, Birmingham, Brassfounder. 
Managing Director : 
* WILLIAM ARTHUR DAWKINS, of Homestead, King's Norton, Near 
Birmingham. 
* Will join the Board after allotment. 
Bankers : 
LONDON & MIDLAND, Birmingham, and its Branches. 
Solicitor : 
T. EDWARD SILVESTER, 8, Church Street, Birmingham. 
Auditors : JAMES RHODES & CO. 
Secretary : WILLIAM PERKINS. 
Patent Agent : W. P. THOMPSON & CO., London and Birmingham 
Registered Office : 40, Edmund Street, Birmingham. 
PROSPECTUS. 
The Company has been formed to acquire and carry on the established business of Mr. Wm. Arthur Dawkins (known as W. A. Dawkins & Co.), manufac¬ 
turers of Photographic Cameras and Apparatus, Optical and Lime-light Lanterns, Horticultural Apparatus and Garden Specialities, and Petroleum Lamps, now 
carried on at 58, Caroline Street, Birmingham, and at the Wholesale and Retail Depot, 40, Edmund Street, Birmingham, including the following Patent Rights : — 
(1) An invention in and relating to Petroleum Lamps. Granted to Thomas William Wilson and Harry Butler, jointly, on March 8th, 1892, and numbered 
4,583, and contracted to be sold to the vendor. 
(2) An invention in and relating to Garden Syringes, entitled "Improvement in Syringes." Granted to the vendor, May, 1891, and numbered 8,418. and 
subsequently superseded and re-granted as improved June 13th, 1895, and numbered 11,502. 
(3) An invention for improvements in and relating to Photographic Cameras. Granted to the vendor June 22nd, 1895, an d numbered 12,119. 
It will be seen that the business comprises three distinct departments : — (1) Manufacture of Photographic and Optical Lantern Apparatus and Accessories ; 
(2) Manufacture of Horticultural Implements ; (3) Manufacture of Lamps, and for every four shares to his or her name a shareholder will be entitled to purchase 
from the Company £10 worth of goods per annum at special discounts, varying from 10 per cent, to 30 per cent., according to the nature of the goods purchased, 
the higher rates of the discount being allowed on goods manufactured by the Company. 
The successful working of the principle of mutual benefit to shareholders has been proved, as is well known, by the wonderful strides made during the 
past decade by Co-operative Societies in all branches of Trade, and the business of this Company is one admirably adapted to the application of this principle. 
The enormous increase in the use of the Photographic Camera as a popular companion by amateurs and tourists, aided by the present day facilities for 
cheap Railway Tours and Excursions, leads the Directors to believe that the trade produced by the demands for this class of Apparatus among the Shareholders 
alone will ensure to the Company a large output of Cameras annually, while a large demand may be expected for the Optical or Magic Lantern by patrons of the 
Camera as a means of showing their photographs during the winter evenings. 
The fact of the Company being the actual manufacturers of nearly all the articles sold in this department, will enable the Directors to give the Shareholders 
the benefit of manufacturing profits, and at the same time to save the considerable profits hitherto solely enjoyed by agents and middlemen. 
The Directors have also decided to add to the already extensive Lantern-Slide Lending and Hiring Department opened by the vendor, a complete set of 
popular ancient and modern subjects, tours, and numerous slides of high-class quality. The Shareholders will be entitled to hire slides and apparatus at half the 
rate charged to the public. 
In the Horticultural Department, also, of the Company's business, it is anticipated that there will be a large annual demand for Horticultural Specialities 
among the Shareholders. The Patent Syringe is already well known to many amateur gardeners. In connection with the Patent Syringes and other distributing 
apparatus the Company have acquired the formula of a reliable speciality, well known as " Garden Pest Exterminator,” and which has for some time past been 
manufactured and supplied by the vendor. 
The Directors beg to call special attention to the principle and construction of the Patent Petroleum Safety Lamps, an illustration of which accompanies 
the prospectus. It will be seen the object is to provide an improved means of attachment of the burner to the vessel containing the oil by means of a straight guide, 
at the end of which is a bold coupling screw, which renders cross-screwing in attachment impossible, and forms a securely locked joint. In case of any accident or 
upsetting of the lamp the burner retains its relative position, and any possibility of explosion or fire is prevented. Users of Petroleum Lamps will have doubtless 
observed that ordinary Lamps of present make are provided, with a connection by means of either a small tapered screw or side catches. In the former case the 
great disadvantage is that the frequent crossing of thread or screw deceives the operator, as the screw does not engage and no connection is therefore made. By 
frequent repetitions of this process the thread is ultimately destroyed. If under such circumstances the Lamp by any means be upset the burner immediately 
separates from the vessel and the lighted wick ignites the spilled oil, and this is the cause of the majority of Lamp fatalities. The latter a rrangement, viz., side 
catches, is even more uncertain, as frequently while one catch is being watched in connection, the other unobserved fails to grip, and leaves no alternative but a 
certain catastrophe in case of upsetting, and renders explosion by ignition extremely probable. The great features of the Improved Safety Connection principle are 
its simplicity and consequent cheapness in manufacture, its ease in manipulation, and its absolute safety. This Lamp has been exhibited at two Exhibitions only, 
and has gained the following awards :—(1) Certificate of Merit, at the Trades’ Industrial Exhibition at Birmingham, Spring, 1892 ; (2) First Prize, Gold Medal at 
Trades’ Industrial Exhibition at Lincoln, December, 1892, and January, 1893. The vendor has submitted the Patents Specification to Mr. J. Fletcher Moulton, 
Q.C., the eminent authority on Patent Law, for his opinion as to the validity of the Paten.). The following is a copy of his opinion. 
I am of the opinion that the title to the Patent, No. 4,583, of 1892, sufficiently discloses the nature of the invention, that the Title, the Provisional Specification and the Complete Specification 
refer to the same invention, that the Specification and claims are sufficient, and assuming that the invention is new, I am of opinion that the inventors have a valid patent. 
(Signed) J. FLETCHER MOULTON, Temple. 
The Directors anticipate large and substantial returns from the manufacture of this Lamp, and also from grants of Licenses to manufacturers under the 
Company’s Patents. The wholesale market has not been tested, nor has any advertising been done. A number of lamps have been offered for sale by retail, and the 
result of the vendor’s experiment in this direction was highly satisfactory. 
The vendor finds that to reap the full benefit of the Patent, labour-saving tools must be procured, and this his limited capital will not enable him to do. 
He has, however, expended considerable time and money in developing the manufacture of the Lamp, and tools have been designed by him which will reduce the 
cost of manufacture to a minimum. His general business is now also ripe for further development, and would well warrant the introduction of further capital. 
The Plant, Stock-in-Trade, Fixtures, Manufacturing Machinery and Tools, have oeen valued by Mr. T. S. Fallows (Mayor of Birmingham), who reports as 
follows; 
Dear Sirs, 59, Temple Row, Birmingham, 27th September, 1895. 
I have attended at your works and retail premises, Caroline Street and Edmund Street, Birmingham, and have in detail a complete inventory of the whole of your finished and unfinished 
Stock-in-Trade, Plant, Machinery, Tools, Patterns, Shop, Office, and Warehouse Furniture and Fixtures, and have made a careful valuation of the same. I find the value of the whole, taken as a 
going concern, amounts to the sum of One Thousand Two hundred and Seventy Pounds One Shilling and Threepence. 
Messrs. W. A. Dawkins & Co., Yours Truly, THOS. S. FALLOWS. 
Photographic Instrument Makers, Edmund Street, Birmingham. t 
The Pateatshave been valued by Mr. W. P. Thompson, M.I.M E., F.R.S., the well known Patent expert who reports as follows : 
Dear Sir, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, 2nd November, 1895. 
In accordance with your instructions I have carefully examined the Patent, No. 4.583. of 1802. I understand from you that a search has been made, and that nothing militating against its 
novelty has been discovered. Assuming, therefore, the novelty of the invention, and as far as I can judge it is new, I am of opinion that the Patent is valid and covers the invention claimed. I 
also think the invention a good one for the purpose for which it has been designed, and that 3d. would be a fair Royalty to pay on these Lamps. On the basis of this Royalty, and a reasonable 
valuation for extra trade profits owing to the monopoly, I should value the Patent at £3,260. The American Patent, which I understand has now been applied for, should also be very valuable. I 
value the inventions and Patents for the Syringe and your Photographic Camera at £190. Yours truly, WM. P. THOMPSON. 
W. A. Dawkins, Esq., 40, Edmund Street. 
The purchase price fixed by the vendor for the Plant, Machinery, Stock-in-Trade, Patent, and other rights is £2,060 ; payable as to £1,460 in cash, as to 
£600 in fully paid up Shares. 
The Directors have secured the services of Mr. Wm. Arthur Dawkins, the vendor, as Managing Director for a period of 5 years, upon terms mentioned in 
an agreement, dated the 6th day of November, 1895, and made between John Henry Smith, as Trustee for and on behalf of the Company of the one part, and the 
said W. A. Dawkins of the other part. In his agreement of sale the vendor undertakes that all improvements in connection with the existing Patents that he may 
hereafter discover shall be the property of the company without further consideration. 
After payment of the purchase money and the promotion expenses it will be seen that upwards of £7,000 will remain for working capital, and having 
regard to the smallness of the purchase money as compared with the valuation of the Lamp Patent alone, the Company should meet with success. 
The vendor is the promotor, and will be repaid the promotion expenses by the Company in pursuance with the terms of agreement No. 2 set out below. 
The following agreements have been entered into, viz :— 
(1) An Agreement dated the 3fd day of September, 1895, and made between Wm. Wilson and Harry Butler of the one part, and William Arthur Dawkins of the other part. 
(2) An Agreement dated the 6th day of November, 1895, and made between the said W. A. Dawkins of the one part, and John Henry Smith, as trustee for and on behalf of the Company, 
of the other part. 
(3) An Agreement dated the 6th day of November, 1895, and between J. H. Smith, as trustee for and on behalf of the Company of the one part, and the said W. A. Dawkins of the 
other part. Whereby tbe said W. A. Dawkins agrees to serve the Company for 5 years. 
Application for Shares should be made on the form supplied, and forwarded to the Secretary with the amount of deposit. If no allotment is made the 
deposit will be returned in full, and when the number of shares allotted is less than the number applied for, the balance will be applied towards the amount 
due on allotment and any excess returned to the applicant. 
Copies of prospectus and forms of application can be obtained at the Registered Offices 01 the Company, or its Bankers, Auditors, and Patent Agents. 
Forms of application, copies of prospectus, memorandum and articles of Association, agreements, and the original valuations can be seen at the offices of the 
Solicitor to the Company. 
Samples of the Lamp may be seen at the Registered Offices. 
