Wade insulator

[Trade Journal]

Publication: Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers

New York, NY, United States
vol. 27, no. 1, p. 246-247, col. 1


HIGH-TENSION TRANSMISSION DISCUSSION AT NEW YORK

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Ralph W. Pope: I have here an insulator presented to the Institute by one of our charter members, E. P. Roberts of Cleveland. The inscription on the insulator is as follows:

Insulator taken from old telegraph pole in Northern Wyoming about 1887 or 1888, by Wilbur C. Knight, mining engineer, and presented to E. P. Roberts, member of the A. I. E. E. The telegraph line was the first transcontinental and was built by Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University.

This type of insulator is peculiar. The early insulators were simply of glass; this insulator is of glass inside, and covered with a wooden shield. The object of the wooden shield is interesting. It was found that the glass insulators formed an excellent target for the marksmen of the plains, and the shattering of the glass was a never-ending source of amusement when the marksmen hit the insulator. Hence, this form of wooden shield was devised, so that the glass would not shatter. Consequently this type of insulator was generally used all through the plains. It was commonly known as the "nigger head" insulator.

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Keywords:Glass : Jeptha Wade : Wade Insulator
Researcher notes: 
Supplemental information: 
Researcher:Elton Gish
Date completed:February 13, 2023 by: Elton Gish;