The Forked Fire Tongs: Curved Prongs for Coal, and Stops That Keep Them From Crossing

Flat-ended fire tongs made for wood fires slip off lumps of coal and clinker, and cannot let the ashes fall away. James M. Meschutt of New York received US 22,086, dated 16 November 1858, for tongs for coal fires in which, "In place of the ordinary flat ends to the legs, I make use of fingers or curved prongs d, d, which setting opposite to each other enable the party using the same to take hold of coals, clinkers, cinders and similar articles with great facility", with projections e, e close to where the hand holds them, "to prevent pressure by the hand, forcing the prongs or fingers d, d, past each other so as to overlap and stick or bind together". This rung works out how the stops set the prongs' closest approach and how much of the squeeze reaches them, then forges the tongs from steel rod with forked prongs and stops, and sorts cold clinker and coal with them.