Insulator found imbedded in tree

Glass Van Winkle

This glass insulator is a celebrity. Forty years ago it was taken, bright and new, from the shelves of the Western Electric Company and placed on a Douglas fir tree near Eureka, California, as a part of a local telegraph line through the forest. Later the line was abandoned and its wire, insulators and brackets were salvaged. But this insulator and its bracket were overlooked because the tree had grown around them and had gradually embalmed them in resin and woody material. A few weeks ago the tree was felled to be made into barrel slaves. The sawmill waked the glass Rip Van Winkle into vivid life and the sudden screech it gave revealed presence.