When I was preparing the article on Withycomb and his ridged insulators (August, 1987 Crown Jewels), I could find plenty of insulator patent material to discuss, but little on the man himself. This Dwight story is much the opposite, with more information on Mr. Dwight being available but little on the insulators on which his name appears.

Harvey Prentice Dwight was born in the village of Belleville, Jefferson County, New York on December23, 1828. At 14 years of age, he left local school to seek his fortune, and like many young men of the day, he took to the magic of the telegraph. Drifting eventually to Belleville, Ontario, he began working as a telegrapher until 1847 when he moved to Montreal, Quebec, and became chief operator for the recently formed Montreal Telegraph Company. By 1850, he was transferred to Toronto to take charge of M.T.CO.'s office there, and in 1865 he became their western superintendent. After the Great Northwestern Telegraph Company amalgamated with the Montreal Telegraph Company under the G.N.W. charter in 1881, Mr. Dwight became the general manager. In 1892, Mr. Dwight rose to the presidency of G.N.W. but also continued his role as general manager until 1903.

Mr. Dwight was a very energetic and highly respected businessman who continued to act as consultant and director of various businesses. He was the 1st vice president of the Canadian General Electric Co., vice president of the London Electric Light Co., and a director of the Toronto Electric Light Company at the time of his death in 1912 in his 84th year. The book, CANADIAN MEN AND WOMEN OF THE TIME, by Morgan (1912) states... "nobody like him. An able, experienced and upright business manager. Doubly gifted with a keen scientific instinct on the one hand and a rare business capacity on the other." The CYCLOPEDIA OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY, Volume 1, by Rose (1886) says that... "under his direction, telegraph lines have been laid in every portion of the country where roads made it practical to establish them." Obviously Mr. Dwight was quite a man, and Canada was fortunate to have been the recipient of his many talents.

Is there a collector out there who hasn't seen a CD 143 embossed 'DWIGHT! PATTERN"? These insulators were made by the millions, and most of them are quite common insulators within the hobby today. In fact, some of these insulators can still be seen on the poles. There are two basic styles of CD 143 Dwight insulators. One of these is often called the "short-boy" Dwight (Figure 1). This style has an outside beveled skirt face extending from the base to about 1/2" up the skirt side. The reason for the "short-boy" nametag is that when the insulator was removed from the mold and put right side up on the base, there was a tendency for the insulator to sag slightly while on this narrow base. Thus, compared to the other Dwight style, they are often a bit shorter. The beveled skirt to the base idea really represents for all practical purposes, one continuous drip point to shed water.

The second Dwight style is more often recognized by the grooved base (Figure 2). This groove, or really an indentation, runs in the center of the base and results in a not very prominent double continuous drip ring. Of the many dozens of mold styles available in the CD 143's, there are only four insulators with any apparent intentional drip ring design. They are the ridged base M.T.CO., the grooved base G.N.W. and both styles of Dwights. It is quite plausible that Mr. Dwight is the common thread between these four designs and two companies.