CONSTRUCTING CANAL-BOATS FOR CONVEYING THE HORSES BY WHICH THEY ARE TOWED - United States Patent 676

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JNO. H. LONG, OF LEWISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONSTRUCTION OF CANAL-BOATS FOR CONVEYING THE HORSES BY WHICH
THEY ARE TOWED.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 676, dated April 5, 1838.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John H. Long, of Lewistown, in the county of
Mifflin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful
improvement in the construction of canal-boats for conveying the
horses by which they are towed in order to have one or more of
them at rest or at feed on board while one or more are towing,
which is described as follows, reference being had to the annexed
drawings of the same, making part of this specification.

The nature of this improvement consists in partitioning off a
space about the middle of the boat, on either side, forming a
stall or crib of suitable length and breadth to receive the
horses, extending from the deck of the cabin to the bottom of the
boat in which is suspended from the upper deck a platform by
blocks and tackle for sustaining the horses and for lowering them
to the bottom of the boat when taken on board and raised to the
gunwale when they are to be removed�said stall being furnished
with a rack and trough and every article necessary for the
accommodation of the horses�and the platform ledged around its
edges and made water tight to prevent any dirt or filth escaping
over or through it to the bottom.

A, Figure 1, represents the boat. B, the upper deck to which the
platform is suspended. C, the gunwale of the boat. D, Fig. 2 the
platform upon which the horses are sustained. E, the blocks and
tackle for raising and lowering the platform.

In order to put the horses on board the platform must be raised
to the gunwale of the boat by drawing the ends of the ropes F, by
horse or manual power. The horses then step upon the platform,
which is lowered with the horses to the bottom of the boat. This
operation may be performed while the boat is in the lock or in
any other convenient situation�thus requiring no additional time
for change of horses. When the horses are to be changed the
platform is again raised in the manner before described while the
boat is in the lock or in any convenient changing place and the
horses step from the platform on shore and other horses take
their places, on the platform.

By this arrangement an individual owning only two, four, or six
horses can compete with another having many horses stationed on a
line of canal. Besides, having his stable on boar�his horses
always under his eye�ready for quick changing which can be
performed in the night as well as the day enabling the boat to
travel without cessation night and day. Avoiding the necessity of
having many horses and attendants stationed on the line who are
not always in readiness�the danger of a want of horses, on the
arrival of several boats at a changing place�the neglect of the
horses by the attendants�irregularity of movement great expense,
&c. Besides requiring very little room for the horses and
subjecting them to less inconvenience from the jar of the boat by
the central position of the stall less movement being at the
center than at the ends.

What I claim as my invention and which I desire to secure by
Letters Patent consists in�

The before described construction of the stall in combination
with the suspended platform in canal boats for conveying the
horses by which they are towed, so as to have one or more of them
at rest on board while the others are towing.

JOHN H. LONG.

Witnesses: Wm. P. Elliot, Edmund Maher.