Today in 1879, US Patent 222696 A was issued, an invention of Albert Grossmann, for his “Improvement in Apparatus for Pitching Beer-Casks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

I have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Pitching Beer-Casks, of which in the employment, within the keg, cask, or barrel, of a pitch-consuming device, by which the pitch is prepared or melted and fitted for use, the apparatus employed consisting, in the instance here given, of an extensible tube mounted upon a suitable base and adapted to extend to or near the bottom of the keg, cask, or barrel, so as to permit the ingress within the keg of a fire to melt the pitch, a suitable chimney being provided for the escape of the smoke or vapor, and means employed for regulating the extension of the tube and for stopping the consumption of the pitch.