Page 330 - The Ashley Book of Knots

MISCELLANEOUS HOLDF ASTS

1963. The "Black Boy" hitching post. This was taken from the

familiar cast-iron hitching post representing a Negro jockey whose

business it was to hold your horse.

1964. An iron gondola-mooring hook from Venice, which operates

on the same principle as 'I/: 1959, 'I/: 1961, 'I/: 1963.

1965. A hitch to the eye' of a hook, that was found in modern

hay hoisting gear.

1966. A SINGLE HITCH to a stud on a tennis-net winch. Sometimes

the stud is countersunk so that the rope will not be bruised in the

winding.

1967. Peg and hole. A method employed in caning chairs and

stringing racquets. For temporarily holding a string or gut in a hole,

thrust in either an awl or a pricker in the direction shown here for

the wedges. Shellac or glue may be added to hold the gut secure.

1968. A window-shade pulley for raising and lowering large

shades. The window-shade cord leads through this pulley, which is I <J 61

screwed to the wall. Raise the shade to the required height, hold the

cord off center, either to the right or left, and continue to lower.
,~66

The cord will switch to the side track and jam. To lower: Pull

down to loosen the cord, then hold the cord straight up and down

and lower away.

1969. This buttonlike fitting is almost always found on Venetian

blinds and jalousies. A few turns of the cord around the disk-shaped

head hold the cord secure. Several cords may be wrapped parallel o

with each other to the same anchor.

Ansted, in his Dictionary of Sea Terms (Glasgow, 1917), shows

what he calls sheet clips, that are the same as the Venetian-blind

catch except that the disk or button is at right angles to the screw

plate. He recommends them for use with jib sheets in single-handed

sailing. I have not heard of their being employed in America.

1970. There have been many attempts to produce a perfect

clothesline fastening. But it would seem that the average laundress

is not mechanically minded. Number 1972, patented many years ago,

is still the favorite, although the ordinary wire nail runs a close

second.

,\""
The appliance shown is a variety of pinch cleat and the rope is
""")1

made fast with one or two round turns. I am not certain just how

old this is, but as it is better made than 'I/: 1972 it is probably older.

1971. A cheaper, newer and perhaps as efficient a pinch fastening

is made of heavy bent wire. A couple of turns around the horn

should hold the clothesline adequately .

•
1972. This patented cleat of fifty years or more ago will hold,

no matter how the turns in the clothesline are taken, provided they

are sufficient in number. The maker's name and the patent number

both indicate that the hook or cleat should be fastened in the po-

sition in which it is here drawn. The hook at the top, to which the •

•
•
line is first led, appears to belong logically in this position. But I •

•

have never seen one so placed. Evidently laundresses are unwilling •
•

to jeopardize their luck, as the horseshoe is always secured with the •
•

• ,\ ,
other side up.

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