English

Noun

night cart ‎(plural night carts)

1. (historical) A cart used to remove the contents of privies by night.
   • 1729, Daniel Defoe, The Secrets of the Invisible World Exposed, London: J. Clarke, A. Millar and J. Green, p. 395

     But above all I would beg my reading merry Friends of the thoughtless kind not to be so much surpriz'd at the Apparitions of their own Brain; not to start and be frighted when they first make Devils by Day-light, and then see them in the dark; and as they may be assur'd they will hardly ever see any thing worse than themselves, so let them resolve not to be scar'd at Shadows, or amus'd with Vapours; mistaking the Devil for an Ass, and tell us of the Saucer Eyes of a Pink-eyed Bear; not fancy they see a Hearse with headless Horses, and take the Night Cart for a fiery Chariot, which one would think they might distinguish by their Noses, unless they will own that their Fear gave them a worse Smell than that of the Devil.

   • 1869, San Francisco Municipal Reports for the Fiscal Year 1868-9, ending June 30, 1869,

     No person shall use or drive any of the vehicles, commonly known as "Night Carts," in any portion of the city and county lying east of Van Ness avenue, south of Market street, and north of Corbett street, except between the hours of twelve o'clock midnight and five o'clock in the morning; and no person shall use any such vehicle or swill cart, at any time, unless the same be perfectly staunch, tight, and closely covered, so as wholly to prevent leakage or smell.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, Chapter VII, p. 106,

     "Do the men get a chance to work like whitemen? Look, the only halfcastes of all the thousands in this country who are regularly employed are those who work on the night-cart in town. […] "

   • 1965, Wole Soyinka, The Interpreters, New York: Africana, 1972, p. 108,

     Round the corner of the Renascent High School it lay, some yards from the first bus stop entering Abule Ijesha. Sagoe encountered first the deserted night-cart and trailer; some dis­tance behind, its contents were spread on the road. To recon­struct the accident—the enormous porthole had flown open and the driver had not stopped fast enough. Over twenty yards were spread huge pottage mounds, twenty yards of solid and running, plebeian and politician, indigenous and foreign ****.

Alternative forms

• night-cart