Boot or Shoe Brace. (open access)

Boot or Shoe Brace.

Patent for a new and improved brace for shoes and boots. This design "relates to a brace adapted to be applied to boots and shoes, and is designed as a brace for the counter, heel, and instep; and it has for its object to provide a brace . . . which shall be simple in its construction, one that may be readily and easily applied, and manufactured and supplied at a slight cost" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 5, 1885
Creator: Awalt, Jessee C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a suitable frame having a fly-wheel mounted in bearings thereof, and a wrist-pin on said fly-wheel, of the lever pivoted to the frame at one end" (lines 95-98). Further, it consists in "carrying a pivoted dasher at its other end, said lever having a slot or opening to receive the wrist-pin, a crank-arm, a treadle pivoted to the frame at one end, and carrying a handle at its other end, and a rod connecting the treadle and crank-arm" (lines 1-6).
Date: May 5, 1885
Creator: Rogers, William Joseph
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Dasher. (open access)

Churn Dasher.

Patent for a new and improved churn dasher. This design, "[a]s an article of manufacture, [consists in] the conical or concavo-convex churn dasher having a circular rim, the air cups or cells, the arms, and the raised nave or center portion, all of concavo-convex shape in their transverse sections" (lines 28-33).
Date: May 5, 1885
Creator: Hale, James F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to a car-coupling constructed with draw-heads having stationary hooks and recesses in their sides, and provided with pivoted hooks held in place by springs, and provided with a trip plate and lever, and with chains and a lever, whereby the cars will couple themselves when run together, can be readily uncoupled, will uncouple themselves when thrown from the track, and can be prevented from coupling when run together" (lines 23-32).
Date: May 5, 1885
Creator: Griffin, James Lee
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal-Trap. (open access)

Animal-Trap.

Patent for improvements in animal-traps that would be capable of catching two animals; to set the trap, bait is placed upon the hooked ends of the bait-hooks, the jaws are elevated and retained in a position by the link-catches, which have the lower hooked ends engaging the trigger, which has its free end engaging the eye at the inner end of the bait hooks, thus setting the trap, (lines 66-73) ready to catch animals. Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Anderson, Henry Clay
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Balance-Staff for Watches. (open access)

Balance-Staff for Watches.

Patent for improvements in balance-staffs for watches by “strengthen and increase the durability of the pivots or journals of the staff while reducing the friction to a minimum” (lines 16-19), included illustration.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Cooper, Jonathan H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machinery For Pressing Cotton. (open access)

Machinery For Pressing Cotton.

Patent for improvements in machinery for facilitating the pressing of cotton; and it relates particularly to mechanism in which cylinders and pistons are used, under the influence of fluid or liquid, such as steam, air, water, or gas under pressure to operate the follower-block of a bailing-press. (Lines 12-18) Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Bachman, Joseph A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Propeller for Boats. (open access)

Propeller for Boats.

Patent for improvements in propellers for boats by “having a pair of hinged propeller-blades adapted to swing toward and away from each other, combined with fixed prongs; which are engaged with the propeller blades and hold them from displacement.” (Lines 60-65) Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Gillespie, Lewis
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Measuring and Proportioning Machine. (open access)

Measuring and Proportioning Machine.

Patent for "a device by which the mixing of various ingredients in certain desired proportions may be easily and accurately accomplished" (lines 8-11). It is meant for industrial measuring.
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: Collins, Alonzo G.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Speed-Recorder. (open access)

Speed-Recorder.

Patent for an improvement in speed-recorders or device meant especially for street-cars, meant to protect the streets from reckless driving. The machine punches tape, recording the time the trolly takes to travel each block and how long the trolly takes at each stop.
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: Spence, James, Jr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Strainer for Coffee-Pots. (open access)

Strainer for Coffee-Pots.

Patent for a strainer "by which the steam from the fluid coffee which has passed through the percolating-cloth to the base of the coffee-pot can rise above the strainer, there condense, and then return again through the strainer, thus causing a thorough extraction of the strength of the coffee" (lines 9-15).
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: Massey, Andrew J. & Stallings, James W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for an improved plow which is attached in the usual manner to the standard of a suitable beam, when the device is used for cultivating young crops, the fender is place in position and will serve to prevent the loose, dirt from tumbling over upon the growing plants. When the plants grew larger, the fender can be removed and a portion of the loose soil will thus be permitted to cover. (Lines 65-73) Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Haynes, Leonard Franklin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Jointing, Gaging, and Setting Saws. (open access)

Device for Jointing, Gaging, and Setting Saws.

Patent for a new and improved device for jointing, gauging, and setting saws. This design consists "[i]n a saw-jointer and gage . . . the body-plate or block, having laterally extending arms, a groove extending entirely through the said arms, overhanging flanges extending from the said arms, a slot in the bottom of the groove forming an open space between the flanges, and a flat spring secured in the groove, facing the flanges" (lines 28-35).
Date: May 5, 1885
Creator: Cummings, Virgil T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus. (open access)

Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus.

Patent for improvements in cotton conveying and cleaning apparatus by using the combination of “a rearwardly-open feeder and a conveyer in position to receive cotton discharge at the rear of the feeder” (lines 103-105), as a result when a conveyer bring “cotton to the feeder, it would provide a branch in position to take up the cotton delivered by the conveyer” (lines 106-108) thus preventing undue accumulation of excess cotton and continuous movement of the cotton in all the parts. Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Elam, William E.; Thomas, Robert S. & Hardwick, Saunie W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Register, Volume 20, Number 34, Pages 3277-3389, May 5, 1995 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 20, Number 34, Pages 3277-3389, May 5, 1995

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: May 5, 1995
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Intelligence Issues for Congress (open access)

Intelligence Issues for Congress

To address the challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. In December 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458) was signed, providing for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with substantial authorities to manage the national intelligence effort. The legislation also established a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Osama bin Laden's Death: Implications and Considerations (open access)

Osama bin Laden's Death: Implications and Considerations

This report discusses issues and questions related to the killing of Osama bin Laden (OBL), which are multifaceted and may have operational, regional, and policy implications. Operational policy issues include congressional notification, legal considerations, and current and future military activities.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Rollins, John
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Insourcing Functions Performed by Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues (open access)

Insourcing Functions Performed by Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues

Recent Congresses and the Obama Administration have taken numerous actions to promote "insourcing," or the use of government personnel to perform functions that contractors previously performed on behalf of federal agencies. Among other things, the 109th through the 111th Congresses enacted several statutes requiring the development of policies and guidelines to ensure that agencies "consider" using government employees to perform functions previously performed by contractors, as well as any new function.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Maskell, Jack
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Building the Capacity of Partner States Through Security Force Assistance (open access)

Building the Capacity of Partner States Through Security Force Assistance

This report provides the following elements: An overview of the SFA rationale focused primarily on Department of Defense support for and relations with foreign security forces. Description of the possible employment of U.S. conventional forces and platforms in support of the SFA mission. Exploration of current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Resident training capability in U.S. forces as a tool for geographic combatant commanders. Issues Congress may consider. The report summarizes congressional reaction to SFA proposals and provides a detailed account of the issues raised by SFA concepts and programs.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Livingston, Thomas K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance (open access)

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai, to address corruption within the Afghan government. The report also includes discussion of election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Climate Change Financing: Needs, Sources, and Delivery Methods (open access)

International Climate Change Financing: Needs, Sources, and Delivery Methods

This report discusses the domestic and international efforts to increase foreign assistance to address climate change. Proponents maintain that such assistance could help promote low-emissions and high-growth economic development in lower-income countries, while simultaneously protecting the more vulnerable countries from the effects of a changing climate. The fundamental dispute concerning international financing for climate change centers upon who should pay for it and how.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K. & Leggett, Jane A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Environmental Financing: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) (open access)

International Environmental Financing: The Global Environment Facility (GEF)

This report provides an overview of one of the oldest international financial institutions for the environment-the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-and analyzes its structure, funding, and objectives in light of the many challenges within the contemporary landscape of global environmental finance.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Climate Change Financing: The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) (open access)

International Climate Change Financing: The Climate Investment Funds (CIF)

This report provides an overview of two of the larger and more recently instituted international financial institutions for the environment-the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)-and analyzes their structure, funding, and objectives in light of the many challenges within the contemporary landscape of global environmental finance.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Lattanzio, Richard K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Traumatic Brain Injury Among Veterans (open access)

Traumatic Brain Injury Among Veterans

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has been defined as "an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force." In the general population, TBI results mainly from falls, motor vehicle/traffic accidents, assaults, and other instances in which the head is struck by or strikes against an object. In military service members, TBI may also result from improvised explosive devices, mortars, grenades, bullets, or mines.
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: Bagalman, Erin
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library