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TENT
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TENT . A tent is a portable habitation or See also:place of shelter, consisting in its simplest See also:form of a covering of some textile substance stretched over a framework of cords and poles, or of wooden rods, and fastened tightly to the ground by pegs: Throughout the greater See also:part of the interior of See also:Asia the See also:pastoral tribes have of See also:necessity ever been dwellers in tents—the scantiness of See also:water, the consequent frequent failure of herbage, and the violent extremes of seasons compelling a wandering See also:life. Tents have also been used in all ages by armies in See also:campaign. In See also:ancient See also:Assyrian sculptures discovered by See also:Layard at See also:Nineveh the forms of tent and tent-furnishings are similar to those which still prevail in the See also:East, and it appears that then as now it was a See also:custom to See also:pitch tents within the walls of a See also:city. The See also:ordinary See also:family tent of the Arab nomads of See also:modern times is a comparatively spacious ridged structure, averaging from 20 to 25 ft. in length, but sometimes reaching as much as 40 ft. Its covering consists of a thick See also:felt of See also:black See also:goat See also:hair (cp. Cant. i. 5—" black as the tents of Kedar "), or sometimes of alternate stripes of black and See also: The sides are made up of sections of laths, which expand and See also:contract in lozenges, on the principle of lazy See also:tongs, and to their upper extremities ribs are lashed at See also:regular intervals. Over this framework a heavy covering of felt is thrown, which is either weighted down with stones or, when necessary, stitched together. In Western countries tents are used chiefly in military encampments, by travellers and explorers, and for temporary ceremonial occasions and public gatherings. The material of which they are composed is commonly a See also:light See also:linen See also:canvas or See also:navy See also:duck; but for tents of small See also:size stout See also:cotton canvas is employed, being light, strong, elastic, and sufficiently water-See also:proof. These tents vary in size from a See also:low-pitched covering, under which a couple of men can with difficulty creep, up to spacious marquees, in which horticultural and agricultural shows are held, and which can accommodate thousands of persons. The marquee is distinguished from the tent by being a ridged structure, devoted to show and social uses; but the humblest tent made—the tente d'abri or shelter tent of the See also:French See also:army—is also ridged in form. The tente d'abri affords sleeping See also:accommodation for six men, and consists of a rope stretched over three low poles and fixed into the ground. Four See also:separate squares of canvas buttoned together are thrown over the rope and pegged to the ground on each side so as to form a low ridge. Two other squares are used for covering the ends, being thrown over the slanting rope ends by which the poles are pegged to the ground. Each of the six men using the tent carries one of the squares of canvas besides his See also:quota of the poles, rope and pegs. In the See also:British service tentes d'abri are often improvised by fastening together blankets or waterproof sheets over a stick. The See also:gipsies and travel-See also:ling tinkers of See also:England have an equally unpretentious tent, which consists of a framework, of See also:hazel rods See also:bent so as to, form a See also:series of low ridges, the ends being See also:stuck into the ground, and over this frame blankets or other coverings are thrown and pegged down. The simplest, but at the same See also:time the least convenient, of ordinary tents is the conical, consisting of a central See also:pole with See also:ropes and canvas radiating from it in an unbroken slope to the ground. The See also:common army See also:bell tent is of this type, but the conical roof terminates at about i ft. 9 in. from the ground, and from it there hangs vertically a See also:curtain which is loosely pegged to the ground or looped up to allow of the See also:free circulation of See also:air when the tent is unoccupied or the See also:weather is favourable. This form, however, covers much ground in proportion to the accommodation it affords, as the space See also:round the circumference is of little value. A tent, therefore, which has sides or a fall is a much more convenient structure. The counterpart of the conical is the pyramidal tent, the four equal sides sloping to the ground; and this form with a fall or sides makes the square tent, which is both convenient in shape and See also:firm in structure. Small tents are also made, modified from the Arab form, with a central pole and two See also:lower lateral poles. In the See also:umbrella tent the roof is supported by a set of ribs which radiate from the pole, precisely as the ribs of an umbrella spread out from the stick.
The tents and marquees in use in the British army are the following: The bell tents (single or See also:double thickness) 16 ft. in circumference, accommodating in active service 3 See also:officers, 7 sergeants or 15 men each; the See also:Indian See also:general service tents, of various sizes, square with pyramidal See also:roofs, the Indian " E.P." and " See also:Staff-sergeants' " tents, which are much roomier than the tents used in See also:India on active service, " See also:hospital marquees " and " operating tents. "
In former See also:wars, when small professional armies were employed and it was customary to pay extraordinary See also:attention to the soldier's comforts, the See also:train of an army included a full tent equipment, which helped to diminish the already small degree of mobility. of which it was capable. Under the Revolution and See also:Napoleon, and generally in the 19th See also:century, the See also:system of See also:housing armies in the See also: A tent equipment (of the tente d'abri type) was introduced into the See also:German army about 1888, and the troops of See also:Austria and Switzer-See also:land also possess tents. In the See also:Russian army See also:cavalry and engineer troops are excepted from the otherwise universal issue of canvas shelter. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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