Soldier's Cart Page: 6 of 8
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417,017
tent, for which Letters Patent No. 394,262
were granted to me December 11, 1888. In
applying these tent-poles to use as shafts
for the cart one end of each pole is slipped
5 through the ring E, which is large enough to
allow the end nut fof the pole to pass through
it, and the perforated lugf' of thenut is then
slipped onto the reduced threaded end of the
axle-stud b, and the nut b' is then applied to
o0 the stud above the pole or shaft, whereupon
a key G, which is held conveniently at hand
by a chain g, held to the cart-body, is slipped
into the ring E over the body of the shaft to
keep it from shaking, and as will be under-
T5 stood from Figs. 7 and 12 of the drawings.
The shafts of each cart are each provided
with a couple of rings f', to facilitate coup-
ling of two carts side by side by a stay-bar, as
hereinafter explained. Two pairs of straps
20 H HII, held in grooves in the under side and
inner edge of the body-cleats a a, provide for
strapping to the cart-body the remainder of
the poles and braces of the soldier's tent. A
pair of straps I I, held to the front of the cart-
25 body and between it and its cleats by bolts
i i, are provided with buckles for attachment
of the draft-straps J J, by which the soldier
pulls his cart and the accouterments thereon.
The pull-straps J J (most clearly shown in
30 Fig. 11 of the drawings) consist of a pair of
straps, two ends of which are crossed before
the.four ends are secured together in pairs
at j j, where they have series of holes to re-
ceive the tongues of the buckles of the cart-
35 straps I I. Where the two straps are crossed
they will be secured together by a button j',
which comes over the soldier's back between
his shoulders, and the parts j'j' of the straps
which come over the shoulders and under the
40 arms of the soldier are preferably bent into
a round tube, which is stuffed with any suit-
able filling and does not chafe the soldier
while he is pulling the cart. The dotted lines
in Fig. 11 of the drawings, and indicating
45 the soldier's body, illustrate how the straps
are adjusted so as to cross his back and pass
around under his arms and leave his chest free,
and also leave his arms and hands entirely
free for handling his gun to protect himself
50 while on the march. The soldier may very
quickly slip the straps from his shoulders,
and to prevent the straps from falling onto
the ground when not in use to pull the cart
I have provided for each strap J a tie-strap K,
55 which is engaged with the adjacent cart-shaft
F and holds it up clear of the dust, mud, or
dirt of the road. (See Figs. 7 and 10 of the
drawings.)
To the axle B of the cart are fixed two
60o pairs of hooks b' b', each pair being fastened
one at the front and the other at the rear of
the axle near each end of it. To each of
these hooks is connected a chain L, thus al-
lowing the axles of two carts to be connected
65 by coupling the two chains L L at each side
together by means of a snap-hook l, carried
by one of the chains. This allows the canvasbottom M of the tent, before mentioned, to
be hung by cords i between the shafts and
opposite pairs of connected chains L L, as 70
shown in the inverted plan view, Fig. 4 of the
drawings, to allow a wounded or disabled
soldier to be drawn off the field or to be helped
on the march, the canvas forming a com-
paratively-comfortable cot-bed for him, and 75
he may be quickly and safely moved or car-
ried on the two carts by one man pulling the
forward cart. It will be understood that the
forward ends or nuts f' of the shafts F of the
rear cart are coupled to short chains fs, which So
are connected or hung from hooks b3, fixed in
the axle B of the front cart; hence the strain
of pulling the rear of the two carts comes on
the axle of the front cart, and the chains L,
whether the canvas bottom Mi is stretched be- 85
tween them or not, form draft-connections
which relieve the axles of the carts of con-
siderable strain.
When the chains L are not used for coup-
ling the carts or to stay the cut-canvas, the 90
chains connected to the hooks b' at one side
of the cart will be hung onto the hooks at
its other side, as shown in Fig. 4, or both of
the front chains L may be hung onto a hook
fastened at the front center of the cart-body, 95
and both the rear chains may be hung onto a
hook secured at the rear center of the cart-
body, the latter disposal of the chains being
shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. When two
carts are used for carrying a disabled soldier too
on the canvas cot, the two ration-boxes D of
the carts will be moved apart as far as possi-
ble on the cart-bodies A to give ample room
on them for the head and feet of the soldier
or for his clothing-bag or other articles for o105
his comfort, and the baggage and accouter-
ments of the wounded man will be carried on
one of the carts, while the goods of the other
soldier pulling him will be packed on the
other cart, both men thus having their ra- o10
tions and all necessaries with them. The cot-
canvas M may be tied directly to the straps
of the rear cart, if preferred, and in this case
the chains L will assist the shafts to carry the
cot-canvas and its occupant. i q
Before describing the manner of coupling
a number of the carts to each other and to
the mule-cart I will explain the construction
of the ration-box D, with more special refer-
ence to Figs. 1, 2, 13, 14, and 15 of the draw- 120o
ings, as follows:
The ration-box, besides its end flanges d d,
which fit between the body-cleats a a, is pro-
vided with a rear projecting lip or plate d',
having a hole through which a pin N, held by 25
a chain a to the box, may be passed into any
one of a series of holes o made in a metal
plate O, fixed to the cart-body A, to hold the
box at any required position on the body to
nicely balance the load on the cart-axle. The 30
holes o preferably extend through the cart-
body. The body is made with a hinged lid
d', to which are fixed a couple of straps d",
for binding the soldier's baggage on top of
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Reference the current page of this Patent.
Gentzen, Herman. Soldier's Cart, patent, December 10, 1889; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth172228/m1/6/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.