A NEW OR IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR STOPPING RUNAWAY HORSES."
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Emile de Fauconnet at the Offico of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th March 1877.
EMILE DE FAUCONNET, of Célos, in the Department of the Basses Pyréneés and
Republic of France. "A NEW OR IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR STOPPING
RUNAWAY HORSES."
The apparatus the subject of my Invention is when not in actual use enclosed in
a sheath or case attached to the carriage. The sheath may be secured by two
screws upon the splash board in front of the coachman, or, if there is no splash board,
under the scat, or at the end of the feet, as may be desired.
When the apparatus is closed up a handle attached to a tube projects from the
sheath. I propose to make this handle about 41/, inches long by a little more than
3 inches thick. At the other end of the sheath pass the remainder of the tubes,
which shut the one in the other, the tube of smallest diameter being provided with
a hook having an opening of, say, 6 inches and a curve of, say, 14 inches; this hook
is round, so as not to wound the horse.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawing shows an apparatus of my Invention, as
above set forth.
Mode of using the apparatus
=
1°. Taking the most simple; driving at a season when flies are troublesome,
if the horse in trying to drive away a fly happens to get the left or the right rein
under his tail, it is sometimes difficult to release it; with my apparatus nothing
is more simple. The coachman rapidly passes the right rein into his left hand,
stoops towards the splash board, seizes the apparatus by the handle, draws it towards
him, and once out of the sheath raises it and gives a sharp jerk, rapidly extending
his arm to the right. The tubes then driven by this jerk run out the one after the
other, stopping at each collar or joint. The tubes being opened out he has only to
cast the hook over the fore hand, " avant-mains," if he is driving two horses, over
the check reins if only one horse, or he may hook it to the bit, and as my tubes are
flexible he finds himself with a second rein in hand; he may then stop his horse or
horses, and alight to repair the accident.
2°. The horses frightened from any cause give a jerk, one of the reins break either
at the fore hand or at the bit; the coachman executes the same manoeuver as above

page_text: described, and he may drive home with two reins, as my apparatus replaces the
broken one.
3°. One or two horses harnessed to a carraige run away, a case which unfortunately
happens somewhat frequently; with my apparatus there is no danger. Directly the
coachman finds that he is no longer master of his horse or horses he must grasp the
reins firmly in his left hand, rise a little from his seat, and if he has room before
him throw with the right hand the tubes armed with the hook upon the upper
part of the fore leg of the horse, there exercising a pressure regulated somewhat by
jerks or starts of the horse. The leg hindered in its movement will by degrees
compel the horse to stop, and will neutralise the power of his companion, who is
free, 'tis true, but will be compelled to stop in his turn, as he will have to drag
both horse and carriage.
If there is but one horse the method is more simple, although in effect the same.
If when the horses run away the coachman has no space before him, that is to say,
if he finds a carriage, a river, or a wall in front, instead of throwing the tubes upon
the upper part of the fore leg of the horse he will throw them towards the pastern,
and at the first jerk the horse will fall.
The hook not being pointed may be thrown upon the horse's nostrils, and by their
compression the horse or horses may be gently stopped.
The apparatus may be made of copper, brass, or other suitable metal or
material.
Instead of making my apparatus with the handle turned upon one side only I
may make it of a T shape, as shown, Figure 4 of the Drawing.
I may also make in each of the tubes a small notch or slot, say, from an inch to
an inch and a half in depth, to keep them from shutting upon each other again
when thrown out by the coachman. Thus if the space is too restricted to perinit
the coachman to unfold the apparatus by a single jerk he may place it between his
knees, and by putting a foot upon each end of the handle extend the apparatus
almost as quickly as by the mode above described.
To keep each end of the tubes fixed in position it is only necessary to turn the
tube slightly to the right, so that the slot or notch A receives the stud or pin B.
To close the tube this movement will be reversed.