Brace for Bedsteads. (open access)

Brace for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bedsteads. This design has for its object "to provide an attachment for bedsteads whereby the side rails are prevented from springing outward or expanding from any cause, and thus allowing the slats to fall through" (lines 14-18).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Holmes, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined or Covertible Tool. (open access)

Combined or Covertible Tool.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a screw-driver, its blade having a hole and a lug, and its handle having in its end a socket with a slotted reversible tool, pointed at one end and formed for a screw-driver at the other end adjustably held against one side of the screw-driver by means of a screw and nut and the lug, and adapted to fit in the socket when out of use" (lines 63-71).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Barber, Edwin L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Sand and Gravel Washer (open access)

Combined Sand and Gravel Washer

Patent for "a combined gravel and sand washing box which shall effectually serve as a means for practically removing all sand and dirt from gravel and stones and all mud and fine dirt from sand" (lines 30-34).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot and Shoe Box. (open access)

Boot and Shoe Box.

Patent for a new and improved box for boots and shoes. This design is "to be arranged beneath the counter, between the guide-strips upon the floor, and mounted on wheels, and provided with mechanism connected to the hinged lids of the boxes to raise the lid as the box is pulled out, and to close it when the box is pushed back to place again. This may be accomplished in several ways" (lines 26-33).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Veterinary Medicine. (open access)

Veterinary Medicine.

Patent for "medical compounds for internal application in diseases of sheep and other animals, and it is especially designed to cure the sheep disease known among sheepmen as ‘lombriz’" (lines 8-12) which lists the ingredients, measurements, and instructions for making and use. According to http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=lombriz “lombriz” can be translated as intestinal worm. According to https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/as/as-573-w.pdf “By far the most deadly internal parasite to small ruminants in the Midwestern United States is the gastrointestinal roundworm Haemonchus contortus, also known as the barber pole worm and a variety of other names.”
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Green, Furney Fold
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Destroyer. (open access)

Insect Destroyer.

Patent for a new and improved pest trap. This design "consists in the combination of a suitable fire chamber provided with a cover at its top, a pipe which passes through its side to admit a blast of air, a removable bottom, which is supported inside of the bottom of the chamber upon suitable supports, and a removable pipe through which the products of combustion are forced . . . when these parts are destroyed they have only to be replaced by new ones" (lines 14-28).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Melcher, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Miter and Framing Square. (open access)

Miter and Framing Square.

Patent for a new and improved miter and framing square. This design "consists in the improved arrangement and construction of graduated scales, whereby I attain superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, inexpensiveness, and general efficiency" (lines 11-15).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Bolles, James H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design "consists, first, in the combination of an adjustable support which is pivoted to the side of the beam, and which has secured to its lower end a series of revolving arms which terminate in broad cutters, for cutting the sod as it is turned over by the mold-board as the plow is drawn along; second, in the revolving cutter, which runs along upon the land side and cuts the sod where the next furrow is to be cut, and thus takes the place of the usual colter, which runs in advance of the plow and cuts the sod just as it is about to be turned over" (lines 13-25).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Pinter, Francis T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Power Attachment for Treadle Machines. (open access)

Power Attachment for Treadle Machines.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for treadle machines. This design "consist[s] of the frame provided with the bearings and adapted to support the machine to be driven, the shaft journaled in the said bearings and provided with the arms, the roller journaled between the outer ends of the said arms, and the pulley secured on the said shaft" (lines 85-92).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Von Boeckmann, Eugene
System: The Portal to Texas History
Odorless Dry Outhouse and Apparatus for Use Therewith (open access)

Odorless Dry Outhouse and Apparatus for Use Therewith

Patent for "an outhouse which will be adapted for use in localties where water is scarce, or where it is either or both impracticable or undesirable to use water for flushing or draining" (lines 32-36).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Double Point for Plows. (open access)

Double Point for Plows.

Patent for a new and improved double point for plows. This design consists in "[t]he plow-point having the central rectangular bend at the back, the wings shelving outward, downward, and forward, the long parallel-sided end, the lateral angles, and the marginal edges inclined upward and toward each other, the said portion being substantially as long as the share-edge" (lines 71-77).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Schuster, Rudolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Coring and Halving Machine. (open access)

Fruit Coring and Halving Machine.

Patent for a new and improved fruit corer and halver. This design consists "[i]n a fruit cutter, the combination of the pivoted knives having laterally-concaved facing sides and curved inward to the edges at the upper ends, the arms extending from one side of said knives near their lower end, and the vertically-moving guide-plate provided with the longitudinal guide-grooves parallel at their upper and lower portions and curving inward to meet at their centers, into which grooves the ends of said arms enter for the purpose of opening and closing said knives" (lines 22-32).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History