Even though the St. Charles National is only memories (albeit good memories for most), there were several unreported and seldom seen porcelain insulators that surfaced and, until now, we have not taken time to recognize them.

A very exciting old find for Macomb collectors was on the sale table of John Biesemier (NIA #2318). It is a new style of Macomb and has been assigned U-244B by Jack Tod. John said that he found three of these several years ago along the Des Moines river at the old coal mining and brick and tile town of Lehigh, Iowa south of Fort Dodge.

Dennis McHenry (NIA #34) had also found one in Iowa. At this time, these are the only four known. The photo below shows the U-244B flanked on the left by U-244 and on the right by U-244A. This makes nine different styles of marked Macomb insulators.

The U-244 is fairly common and the U-244A is very scarce if not rare. However, many were found in the old San Jauquin Light & Power Company as reported by Robert Chiantelli (CJ, 1-83-32) , but few made it into Macomb collections.

Another new style was discovered at a sale table and Jack assigned it U-519. It was passed up by those not expecting to find an unreported LIMA, N. Y. On my third or fourth pass, I decided to buy it with the few coins I had left and did not realize its rarity until I got home. Any LIMA, N. Y. marking is rare. The photo below clearly shows the unusual deep crown dimple extending through most of the tie-wire groove. The marking LIMA, N. Y. is deeply incused in the flat part (bottom) of the conductor groove.

Chris Hedges (NIA #*15) found a friendly "Bee" to lug home the beautiful 14" Fred Locke multi pictured top of the following page. The cream colored top skirt has the Fred Locke 7-1 marking. The bottom section is not attached and is actually a pin sleeve (marking 1-1). The unit has three pieces cemented together with a porcelain ring glazewelded to the top skirt in the usual manner to receive the center section. It was probably made between mid-1902 to early 1903.

Dee Willett says these were found on a line from Tehachapi, CA to Los Angles. About six undamaged units were found and packed out by mule. From the looks of this one, it was well worth the trip.

Chris also picked up another rare jewel which he thought was an unmarked U-966. He later discovered a clear New Lexington, O. on the earl

Another rare showing was a Fred Locke No. 307 on the sales table of Michael Johnson (NIA #243) . It has an unusually small 6-1 marking, 7-1/2 inch skirt and cemented pin sleeve. This is a cousin to the Locke No. 306 which is commonly described as the two-spout. These were part of a series that included the No. 316 10-1/2 inch porcelain eave drain with glass base. Do any of you remember the Locke No. 304 (7-1/2 inch spouted porcelain top with short glass base) that was briefly shown Friday night at the Cedar Rapids National?

Michael also had the Fred Locke U-339A with marking 1-8 (?). It was found several years ago by John DeVolder while digging for bottles in an old dump (CJ, 9-73-24).

Robert Winkler and Ken Stefan showed up with two early unmarked glazedweld units. In the two photos below, on the left is U-957 (Robert's) and the on the right is U-954 (Ken's). Both looked like Fred Locke's handiwork.

A big surprise to me was finding a brown U-944 on the sales table of Mike Bliss (NIA #lO9) . Mike said that five of these were found in Clear Creek County Colorado. I have been after this one for several years and it is the only one I have ever seen in the flesh. The picture below shows the brown U-944 next to a white one.

So you never know what will turn up at a National show. Always be alert to the unexpected such as a new LIMA, N. Y. or Macomb. What better place to add to your collection whether it be common, color or rarity. The excitement of the search and of course meeting old friends and making new ones all make for a good show. The Saratoga Springs National should be one of the best. Can't wait to see all the goodies in the "Seldom Seen" display. Don't forget to pre-register your seldom seen, rare or unusual insulator by May 1. See you there!

The following ad is from the June 30, 1900 issue of "Electrical World and Engineer".