Pushcart

“ Tiny dolls may be made to represent the people, and tiny pushcarts, wheelbarrows, milk wagons, and automobiles for the street and alley. Larger pushcarts and wagons may be made as separate projects from time to time, but in the one under consideration everything must be on a small scale. ”

“ Instead of having articles for sale in any room or hall, we are going to send them all around town, in pushcarts or wagons, each in charge of a peddler. These peddlers will be young people dressed in fancy costumes, and each will try to sell his load of wares by calling from house to house. ”

“ I made my attendants place the coffin upon the bed, and dismissed them with a shilling apiece. I then locked the door and crept to the window. I was just in time to see, through a slit in the shutter, the greengrocer's cart set off at a swift trot towards London. Cautiously raising the sash I pushed aside the blind and craned out my head. No, I had not been misled. The road ran straight, and although I watched the cart until it was swallowed up in a maze of other vehicles, near a thousand yards away, neither of the costers seemed to find it worth while to look back. ”

“ The country carts, in which they transport their produce from the interior, deserve notice. They are the most awkward, heavy and singular vehicles ever seen; and one of them passing through our streets, would attract as much notice as a moving menagerie. The cart is, in fact, about the height of a two story house, the sides and roof formed of flags and cane, but the bottom of hard and solid wood, which, with the wheels, are monstrously clumsy. ”

“ The girl thought a moment; then, with the faintest flush, said:
"No, thank you. I will leave my luggage; there will be something, some cart——"
"Carrier's cart goes to the Court every evening!" broke in the porter, and, seizing the bag and the parcel, and dropping them in a corner with that sublime indifference to the safety of other people's goods which only a railway porter can adequately display, hurried off to the other passenger. ”

“ To travel in a cart seemed to me so humble a mode of progression, that it really did not matter very much whether it were broken or not, indeed a broken cart seemed more to me like going the whole hog, and roughing it thoroughly while we were about it. But with the men it was different, a cart was a most dignified mode of conveyance, and to enter a big town in a broken one was as bad as travelling in a motor with all the evidences of a breakdown upon it, due to careless driving. ”

“ Mary Jane and the policeman bent down to inspect the brake. No, it wasn’t fastened.
“It wouldn’t take much of a breeze to blow that cart off the porch, young lady,” said the officer, laughingly, “and so I suggest that if you ever want to leave your doll in the cart, you’d better be sure the brake is locked. You might have a smashed doll instead of a lost cart to report and then things wouldn’t be so easy to straighten out!” ”

“ From old times it was common to make wooden rings, sockets, or bearings underneath the cart for the axle to turn in, much as children's toy-carts are made, as has often been remarked. But a drawing of a modern bullock-cart, taken near Lisbon, represents only a pair of pieces of wood acting as stops, so that the body of the cart can be lifted off its wheels. In looking at these clumsy vehicles, we certainly seem to have primitive forms before us. ”

“ In modern times carts are used in many countries for agricultural purposes. The one-horse cart is employed by carriers all over Scotland. In France and Germany the carrier's cart is a somewhat heavier vehicle. Long in the body, very strong in construction, and poised on two high wheels with broad rims, this Continental cart carries enormous loads. The dump-cart is a vehicle so constructed that it can be unloaded by simply tilting the body of the vehicle. ”

“ We arranged ourselves under the side of the car, just outside of the rails, on the opposite side from where the guard sat. Just then a guard cried out, "The Yanks are a-trying to escape from car number four" (the car directly behind the one we were under) . Lighting another torch, a detail of the guard came down the track and we had to get out of sight. Two of the men got back into the car, but the remaining five of us were compelled to crawl under the trucks and lie there. The guard came on, stopped and looked into our car, also number four and, apparently satisfied, reported, "All's well." ”

“ Horrid little carts—common carts—canary-coloured carts!'
"What are we to do with him?" asked the Mole of the Water Rat.
"Nothing at all," replied the Rat firmly. "Because there is really nothing to be done. You see, I know him from of old. He is now possessed. He has got a new craze, and it always takes him that way, in its first stage. He'll continue like that for days now, like an animal walking in a happy dream, quite useless for all practical purposes. Never mind him. Let's go and see what there is to be done about the cart." ”

“ The only way to keep your arms and head from being broken by the top, is to wedge yourself in with quilts and pillows. Passenger carts are usually drawn by two mules, one in the shafts and the other directly in front, hitched by two long ropes to the axle—one passing on each side of the shaft mule. The driver either walks, or rides on the back part of the shafts.... I took one ride in one of these big carts, which I shall remember while I live. We had all gone to a country station, one hundred and twenty miles from Tengchow, to a meeting of Presbytery. ”

“ The thunderous noises of the pushpots taking off made the mess hall quiver. Joe said between mouthfuls: “Funny way for anything to take off, riding on—it looked like a truck.”
“It is a truck,” said Talley. “A high-speed truck. Fifty of them specially made to serve as undercarriages so pushpot pilots can practice. The pushpots are really only expected to work once, you know.” ”

“ As you glance down any one of the neighboring streets, the long rows of carts and donkey-barrows seem interminable in the distance. They are of all kinds, from the greengrocer's taxed cart to the coster's barrow—from the showy excursion-van to the rude square donkey-cart and bricklayer's truck. ”

“ Several coats of paint will give this pushmobile a good appearance and it will then be ready for use.
One boy on the seat steers the machine, while another grasps the overhanging edges of the long board and pushes as he runs behind. On level sidewalks or streets a good run and push will send the car along at a good speed and the pusher can then jump on behind. When going downhill both boys can ride, and if the driver has his hands full with the wheel and shaft the boy behind can reach forward and operate the brake. ”

“ Though constructed in various ways, the simplest type for goods is two-wheeled, topless and springless; but as a general term “cart” is used in combination with some more specific qualification (dog-cart, donkey-cart, road-cart, polo-cart, &c.) , when it is employed for pleasure purposes. The “dog-cart,” so called because originally used to convey sporting dogs, is a more or less elevated two-wheeled carriage, generally with scats back to back, in front and behind ”

“ Carts are hired as coaches, to remove goods and merchandise from one part of the town to the other, whose rates are also fixed, and are very reasonable; and for small burdens or parcels, and to send on messages, there are porters at every corner of the streets, those within the City of London and liberties thereof being licensed by authority, and wearing a badge or ticket; in whose hands goods of any value, and even bills of exchange or sums of money, may be safely trusted, they being obliged at their admission to give security. ”

“ Vasantasenā. [Feels her right eye twitch [1] as she enters the cart.] Why should my right eye twitch now? But the sight of Chārudatta will smooth away the bad omen. [Enter Sthāvaraka.]
Sthāvaraka. I've cleared the carts out of the way, and now I'll go ahead. [He mounts and drives away. To himself.] The cart has grown heavy. But I suppose it only seems so, because I got tired helping them with that wheel. Well, I'll go along. Get up, bullocks, get up!
A voice behind the scenes. Police! Police! Every man at his post! ”

“ The “American woman,” as foreign residents facetiously translate the word, is a two-wheeled cart with a plain open box on top, on a corner of which sits the driver, apparently wholly inured to the jouncing with every step of the horse and every unevenness of the road which the passenger or two beside him seldom gives evidence of enjoying. ”

“ This cart, pulled by men, was known as the jumper—a name widely used among early volunteer firemen and so applied because, when the puffing and blowing enthusiasts drew the cart after them, by means of ropes, the two-wheeled vehicle jumped from point to point along the uneven surface of the road. ”

“ Pruitt’ll answer. Tell him you got to have a car for a night trip some’r’s and that you’ll furnish your own driver. Say it’s Job Arnold, or Colonel Chiswick, or any o’ them big bugs, talkin’. Pruitt’ll bite. As soon as he leaves, I’ll steal a car and pick you up on First Av’noo, cornder Hackberry. That’s clost, and you can get there easy.’
“‘I’m off,’ says Number One, and I hear him crossin’ the room and gettin’ through the winder. Bymby—seemed like a year to me, fighting for air in that blanket—some un pounds on the door leadin’ into the garage.
“‘Hey, you helper!’ calls a voice. ”

“ And after laboriously straining at our light cart up the rise, the oxen would go floundering down this declivity in a wild scramble, slipping, falling, and dragging each other and the cart in a jumble of confusion till they reached firmer footing below. To ride was impossible; indeed everything on the cart had to be made fast, or it stood a great chance of being thrown out and lost. In any case, however, we rode but seldom, ranging out on either side of the path all day with gun and rifle, hoping for the chance of a shot that seldom came. ”

“ The tank-carts employed are at all hours of the day filled at the doorways of the houses, and shamelessly hauled through the public streets, jolting and slopping their foul contents, marking their route by a train of filth on the roadway, while a column of stench in the air, that lingers long after the pestilence-breeding ox-cart has lumbered away in the distance, proclaims adherence to the practices of the dark ages, and defiance to the rules of decency and the laws of health. ”

“ As they have no tires, and the section of the wheel part or crowd together, according to the moisture, a train of these carts bringing in the products of the hunt is a strange sight. Each cart has its own peculiar creak, hoarse and grating, and waggles its own individual waggle, graceless and shaky, on the uneven ground. ”

“ A handcart is a contrivance propelled along railway metals by pumping at a handle. The handle connects with the wheels by a crank and cogs through a slot in the centre of the platform, and you get five miles an hour out of it, while the crew continues. For sixty miles, in that heat, it was impossible. Yet Hill persisted; the cart was put on the metals, five half-breeds manned the 339 pump handle, three facing the track ahead, two with their backs to it. We three passengers sat on the sides and front of the trolley. ”

“ A long line of vehicles in the adjoining lane--principally dogcarts. Most of them seem to be as full as they can hold, occasionally fuller. Philipson informs me that the occupants of these vehicles intend to follow the hunt by road; he adds that they will probably see more of it than we shall. His observation occasions me surprise. If it be possible to hunt in a comfortable dog-cart, along decent roads, in a civilised manner, why should he have induced me to spend a guinea on the hire of an animal which, I am convinced, is of uncertain temper? ”

“ An essential feature of a good dog-cart is a mechanical or other device whereby the body or weight may be shifted on the frame so as to secure a proper balance and consequent ease of traction for the horse by removing the weight as much as possible from his back. The gadabout is a somewhat low form of dog-cart, while the Whitechapel cart is generally built of considerable height and is largely used for tandem driving. The gig, a two-wheeled cart with a single seat, modern types of which are known as tilburies and stanhopes, also belongs to this class. ”

“ Then a train of Anamese carts passed, empty, the solid wooden wheels creaking frightfully round the ungreased axles, each cart being drawn by two buffaloes, each pair being attached to the cart in front by a rope through the nostrils, so that one driver sufficed for eleven carts. The native men could not be said to be clothed, but, as I remarked before, the mercury was above 90 degrees. ”

“ There are also numerous other types of two-wheeled carts known as road-carts, which, while not possessing a high degree of comfort, are useful and convenient and are easy on the horse. Certain of these are specially designed for breaking colts and others for exercising trotting horses. ”

“ To their amazement, however, just as they are about to arrest the delinquent it vanishes, leaving in its place a countryman’s cart, in which a smock-frocked farmer and his wife are seated. When the pursuers are at a safe distance, the cart changes back to the motor, and makes good its escape. ”

“ Is it any wonder, then, that, after all these difficulties, no complaint is made against the rickety, slat-seated carts, with wheels that seem to bar the entrance of the passenger; against the sorry-looking quilez,—that attenuated two-wheeled ’bus, where the four passengers must sit with interwoven legs, getting the more implicated as the cart goes bounding on? No; the Americans are glad enough to ride in almost any kind of vehicle. ”