A new clothing case for the soldier / by W. Thornton Parker.
- Parker, William Thornton, 1849-1925
- Date:
- 1887
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A new clothing case for the soldier / by W. Thornton Parker. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![[Army and Navy Register, Washington, D. C, August 15th, 1885.] SOLDIER'S CLOTHING CASE. We publish with pleasure the following description of a Clothing Case for soldiers, to be worn inside the folded blanket, by W. Thornton Parker, M. D., late Act. Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army: It was the experience of many Army officers during the war of the Rebellion, that soldiers invaribly on long marches, threw away their knapsacks, together with the clothing contained in them. Or else if determined to save some clothing, did so by wrapping it up in the folded blanket which they wore over the left shoulder. During the Franco-Prussian war, many regiments transported their clothing wrapped in blankets and worn suspended from the left shoulder. The ends of the blanket were secured by straps or cords at the right side. The right shoulder remained free for the carrying of the rifle and an easy movement of the right arm. The different forms of knapsacks which I have examined, in use in the German, Austrian, French, Italian, Swiss, English and American Armies, are clumsy, heavy and too fatiguing for the soldier's use. The German government recognizes these defects, in the present system of transporting clothing, and a prize has been accordingly offered for the best mode of carrying the soldier's extra clothing while in the field. The American knapsack and clothing bag are exceedingly faulty, and must necessarily weary and lame the soldier and be thrown away whenever an opportunity offers. Undoubtedly a good plan is needed for carrying the extra clothing when in the field. To remedy some of the defects which I have mentioned, I have devised and applied for letters patent for a Clothing Case which many officers of the Regular Army have kindly examined and approved of. The Case is made of light canvas rubber cloth, or waterproof cloth. It weighs seven and one-half ounces. A strip of cloth four feet six inches long, and six-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2229403x_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
