Latimer patentIn 1886, a U.S. patent was issued for an “Apparatus for Cooling and Disinfecting” to African-American Lewis H. Latimer. (No. 334,078). It consisted of a suitable fabric stretched between a water reservoir and a drip-pan to saturate it and present “a large evaporating surface to cool air about passing over it.” It could be placed in a window frame so that air passing through it would be cooled by evaporation of the water. In neighborhoods with unpleasant odors, deodorizing or disinfecting liquids could be added to or substitute the water, using “chemical agents - such as carbolic acid, bromochloralum, &c.,” to destroy such odors or germs. His first patented invention was for a water-closet for railroad cars (10 Feb 1874, No. 147,363).« |
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