AN IMPROVED PORTABLE CANTEEN ADAPTED FOR USE IN THE ARMY, AND FOR VOLUNTEERS TOURISTS AND OTHERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Mead, of Bethnal Green Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Tin Plate Worker and Japanner, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PORTABLE CANTEEN ADAPTED FOR USE IN THE ARMY, AND FOR
VOLUNTEERS TOURISTS AND OTHERS
"
Sealed the 31st October 1861, and dated the 2nd May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Mead at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1861.
I, GEORGE MEAD, of Bethnal Green Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Tin Plate Worker and Japanner, do hereby declare the nature of the said.
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE CANTEEN ADAPTED FOR USE IN THE
ARMY, AND FOR VOLUNTEERS, TOURISTS, AND OTHERS," to be as follows:-
My improved portable canteen is arranged so as to permit the liquor it
contains being conveyed to the mouth while on the march or on horseback
without the necessity of touching the canteen with the hands. It is divided
into compartments to contain liquor, sandwiches, a tobacco pipe, tobacco, or
cigars, and also matches. A small tube is fixed in the compartment for con-
taining liquor reaching nearly to the bottom. The other end of the said tube
projects above the top of the canteen, and has attached to it a flexible suction
tube (for drawing the liquid into the mouth) provided at its extreme end with
a mouth-piece. The canteen is slung over the right shoulder by a belt, and

page_text: hangs suspended on the left side of the wearer. The said suction tube is
passed up through loops under the said bolt so as to hang within reach of the
mouth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Mead in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MEAD, of Bethnal Green Road, in the County of Middlesex, Tin Plate Worker
and Japanner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Mead, Her special licence that I, the said George Mead, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Mead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE CANTEEN
ADAPTED FOR USE IN THE ARMY, AND FOR VOLUNTEERS, TOURISTS, AND OTHERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Mead, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Mead, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My said improved portable canteen is arranged so as to conveniently permit
the liquor it contains being conveyed to the mouth while on the march or on
horseback without requiring assistance from the hands. The said canteen is
divided into. compartments to contain liquor, sandwiches, a tobacco pipe,
.

page_text: tobacco or cigars, and also matches. A small tube is fixed in the compartment
for containing liquor, one end of which reaches nearly to the bottom of the
same, the other end projects outside the canteen, and has attached to it a
flexible tube and mouth-piece, through which the liquor can be drawn up
into the mouth. The said canteen is slung over the shoulder by means of a
strap or belt, and hangs suspended by the side of the wearer. The flexible
tube passes up through loops under the said strap or belt so as to hang within
reach of the mouth.
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 1 is a front and side
view of the said canteen, and Figure 2 is a side and back view of the same.
Letter (a) is the compartment for containing liquor; (6) is for sandwiches
(c) is for a tobacco pipe; (d) is for tobacco or cigars; and (e) is for matches.
The liquor is poured in at the mouth or nozzle (ƒ); letter (9) is the tube
through which the liquor is drawn up; and (h) is the flexible tube for conveying
it to the mouth; letter (1) is the strap or belt.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above-recited Letters Patent I claim the use and application of a flexible tube
to portable canteens constructed in the manner and for the purposes herein-
before described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Mead, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
B. WALKER,
71, Fleet Street, London.
GEORGE MEAD. (L.S.)