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Letter to Editor
September 25, 1809
The National Intelligencer And Washington Advertiser
Washington, District Of Columbia
What is this article about?
Joseph Coppinger from Baltimore describes two inventions in a letter dated September 22, 1809: a machine for threshing small grain without damaging straw and a new distilling method using enamelled cast iron stills to perform the entire process efficiently. He references a prior letter and seeks public encouragement if experiments succeed.
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Full Text
Baltimore, 22d Sept. 1809.
GENTLEMEN,
In my letter of the 20th of May last addressed to you on the subject of some improvements (I will not call them discoveries, there being nothing new under the sun) it was stated I was then about taking out three patent rights, and that I would probably soon have it in my power to give you information of others that were only then contemplated. To fulfill that promise is now the object of this letter. The first is a machine for getting out small grain, of all kinds, without injuring the straw, while at the same time it is screened and completely prepared for market by one operation, in a way likely to be useful to the farmer, as it is expected to unite cheapness, expedition, economy and effect. It may also be applied as a mill for grinding apples, if the cylinders are made of cast iron or very hard wood. The other is a new method of conducting distilling operations, by which it is proposed to perform the whole process in the still itself without the use of casks or mash tubs, substituting cast metal instead of copper stills; these stills are to be enamelled on their inside so as to prevent injurious contact between the spirit and the iron. Seven stills may be worked by one fire, and the whole started when at the highest point of their fermentation without danger of dispersing or wasting the pure alcohol, the preservation of which is so essential to the perfection of distilling operations. If this theory be correct, and I trust it will be found so, the produce might be expected of the best quality and in the greatest possible quantity from a given measure of grain or sweet. Here are fine promises you will allow, it only remains to be seen whether they can be fulfilled by the test of useful experiment. In that case only do I desire or wish for public encouragement.
I am, sir,
Your obt. servant,
JOSEPH COPPINGER.
P. S. It is proposed where it is wished for to have double bottoms to these stills, the outer one so placed to be put on or taken off as wished for.
GENTLEMEN,
In my letter of the 20th of May last addressed to you on the subject of some improvements (I will not call them discoveries, there being nothing new under the sun) it was stated I was then about taking out three patent rights, and that I would probably soon have it in my power to give you information of others that were only then contemplated. To fulfill that promise is now the object of this letter. The first is a machine for getting out small grain, of all kinds, without injuring the straw, while at the same time it is screened and completely prepared for market by one operation, in a way likely to be useful to the farmer, as it is expected to unite cheapness, expedition, economy and effect. It may also be applied as a mill for grinding apples, if the cylinders are made of cast iron or very hard wood. The other is a new method of conducting distilling operations, by which it is proposed to perform the whole process in the still itself without the use of casks or mash tubs, substituting cast metal instead of copper stills; these stills are to be enamelled on their inside so as to prevent injurious contact between the spirit and the iron. Seven stills may be worked by one fire, and the whole started when at the highest point of their fermentation without danger of dispersing or wasting the pure alcohol, the preservation of which is so essential to the perfection of distilling operations. If this theory be correct, and I trust it will be found so, the produce might be expected of the best quality and in the greatest possible quantity from a given measure of grain or sweet. Here are fine promises you will allow, it only remains to be seen whether they can be fulfilled by the test of useful experiment. In that case only do I desire or wish for public encouragement.
I am, sir,
Your obt. servant,
JOSEPH COPPINGER.
P. S. It is proposed where it is wished for to have double bottoms to these stills, the outer one so placed to be put on or taken off as wished for.
What sub-type of article is it?
Informative
Persuasive
What themes does it cover?
Agriculture
Science Nature
What keywords are associated?
Grain Machine
Distilling Operations
Patent Rights
Inventions
Baltimore 1809
Agricultural Improvements
What entities or persons were involved?
Joseph Coppinger
Gentlemen
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Joseph Coppinger
Recipient
Gentlemen
Main Argument
coppinger details two inventions—a grain threshing machine and an improved distilling process—and seeks public encouragement only if experiments confirm their efficacy.
Notable Details
References Prior Letter Of May 20
Mentions Taking Out Three Patent Rights
Proposes Enamelled Cast Iron Stills Workable By One Fire
Postscript On Double Bottoms For Stills