A new clothing case for the soldier / by W. Thornton Parker.

  • Parker, William Thornton, 1849-1925
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

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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    British soldier, whose coat and blanket are lighter are about fifty- five pounds ; the French, seventy-two and one-half pounds; the German, about seventy pounds; the Russian, about seventy pounds; the Austrian, sixty pounds; the Italian, seventy-five pounds. The mean of the European armies is sixty-six pounds. But in fact the American soldier will roll his blanket into a long cylinder and tying the ends together caiTy it en echarpe. Within this roll he sometimes carries extra under-clothing. He may roll his overcoat and shelter tent and carry them also but at the best these are cumberous. * * * * A very recent suggestion by Dr. W. Thornton Parker, of New- port. R. T.. for a Clothing Case to contain spare articles for the march, and to be carried cither rolled within the blanket or inde- pendently over the shoulder, seems practicable and useful. This is a piece of light waterproof material four feet six inches long bv sixteen inches wide. It is folded longitudinally so that a margin of two inches is left along one edge for a flap. It is divided transversely into three equal compartments bv two sets of stitches. The two inch margin is buttoned over on six buttons, the button holes being in the flap and the buttons on the farther edge and reverse side of the case. * * * This will hold shirts, drawers, stockings, towels and small articles for easy transportation on the march and for convenient disposal in camp. (Figure i repre- sents the Case ready to receive its contents.) The less weight a soldier carries and the better it is distributed the more effective he is. For small columns clothing can generally be carried in wagons —in large armies each man must carry his own. It is probable that the judicious use of pack animals may make this problem of transporting personal necessaries less embarrass- ing but this has never been attempted on a large scale. The mobility of an army is an important factor in military success. Marching infantry is generally fighting infantry but neither marching or lighting can be well done when the soldier is home down by heavy weights badly distributed.
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