The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

680 CONSTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN LINES.
stump or otherwise. This key is a small iron in the shape of a
button, with a groove through the flange from the side to the
centre. The wire passes into this groove and a small piece of
iron is driven into it, which binds the wire. Another mode
is, simply tying upon the wire two or more nails, with a small
wire, which will prevent the line wire from passing through the
insulator farther than the nails.
On' some routes the wire-men can be dispensed with, by
boring holes in the arms of the x ends (fig. 11) of the reels.
By placing an iron rod into these holes, the rod serves as a
lever, so that, with a catch wheel attached, the teamster alone
can rewind the wire on the reel, arranging the wire as taut as
required. On railways a reel of this kind can be fixed upon a
hand-car, and employed for the purposes above described. Ordinarily, however, to avoid accident, the common wagon is the
best to be used on any kind of road.
Such is the organization of a wire squad, and the mode of
putting up the wire, on most of the lines that have been constructed in America. Such an organization can put up from
six to ten miles of wire per day, a speed little faster than the
speed of the digging of the holes and the erection of the poles.
It has been usual to allow the poles to be put up some miles in
advance, so that the whole line will be finished at about the
same time. The speed of putting up of the wire can be reduced
by dispensing with a part of the force.
FIXING THE INSULATORS ON THE POLES.
In consequence of there being no uniform insulator employed
on the telegraph lines, a description of the adjustment of the
pole for insulation can not be other than but general. I will
therefore refer briefly to the manner of arranging the two different classes of insulators, viz., 1st, the open groove insulator,
and 2d, the tie insulator.
The open groove insulators are put upon lines where it is
desired that the wire shall not be made fast or tied at each
pole. In the use of this class the pole must be adjusted for the
glass before erection. In the case of fig. 13, a square groove is
morticed through the top of the pole. This is done by boring
an auger hole, the size of the glass to be used; with a saw a
block is cut out from the end of the pole to the auger hole, so
that the glass can rest in the groove, with its upper side even
with the top of the pole, as seen in fig. 14. When the pole is
thus prepared it is ready for erection. The adjustment of the
pole for the glass is usually done after they are distributed at
the holes.