Two of my friends and myself got together last January and decided that we
were going to build a telephone pole, just for the sake of having a telephone
pole to display insulators on and to climb on. So we found an old pole behind a
public service substation and cut off about three feet, and painfully rolled it
home. One of my friends (Barry Cirillo) lives by the C. & S. R. R. , and we
thought this would be the best place to put our pole. We dug a hole about 4 feet
deep. We found braces, crossarm, bolts, nuts and pegs. Eventually we had all the
parts, and we put it together while it was still on the ground.
Then on the night of February 8th we erected our pole. We had no equipment to
do this except our own bare hands, and our pole is not up to public service
regulations, but when we put it up we put cement and bricks in the hole to pack
it in tight, so it is very sturdy. We each put two insulators on, and they were
stolen by a lineman a few months later. For the picture we took, we used rarer
insulators; but after the picture was taken, we put up the common ones we
usually have on the pole. Between the time we put them back up and wrote this
letter someone stole them also. Anyway, that is more or less the story of our
pole. The reason we wrote is because one of us said, "We should write Crown
Jewels of the Wire, since they are always interested in what people do with this
hobby of ours." Anyway, this is one thing we've done, and we hope this will
be of interest to you and other insulator collectors.
In the picture we enclosed the people are as follows. Standing on the ground
is Barry Cirillo. On the pole (right to left) are Jerry Witulski and Pat Sumner.
We hope you can use the photograph for your magazine.
Thank you for your time.
The Polecats of Colorado
P. S. We enjoy your magazine very much.
Patrick Sumner
This little news item was sent in by Robert Winkler.
Text of article: Shoot Crow, Not Insulators
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) - In its effort to stop hunters from shooting at glass
insulators on its utility poles, the Nebraska Public Power District is handing
out paper targets with the silhouette of a crow imprinted on them.
The statewide power firm has to spend about $20,000 a year to replace broken
insulators.
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