Mr. Harvey Prentice Dwight was an exceptional man who was closely involved with early-day Canadian telegraphy. Beginning as an operator with the Montreal Telegraph Co. in the mid-1800s, he rose quickly in the organization to become their Western Superintendent. In the 1880s when Montreal Telegraph and Dominion merged with Great North Western Telegraph, Dwight was made the general manager of that far-flung network.

(Drawing is by Clay Salzman) 

The insulator that is named after Mr. Dwight is somewhat different than most CD 143s, being somewhat shorter than others. It has a large wire groove and comes in two different base style one that slopes outward, and one that is fairly flat and is grooved. Both base styles are rather unique features, although the use of a grooved base has been found in 143s issued earlier by the Montreal Telegraph Co. and by the Great North Western Telegraph Co. Because Mr. Dwight worked for both firms, it is entirely possible that the earlier grooved-base types were experimental models that later appeared as a production feature of the "Dwight Pattern." 

Earliest examples of the "Dwight Pattern" were embossed "G.N.W." also. Shortly thereafter the G.N.W. was blotted out, leaving only "Dwight" on the front and "Pattern" on the back. Existing molds were continued in production and most insulators show sign of the blot-out. In fact, I don't believe that new molds were ever made. There are some Dwights which show no blot-out, but I am convinced that this was only because the blot-out was exceptionally good. I note some variance in the shape of the letter "W" which identifies some molds and also the fact that there seem to be no copies of the Dwight Pattern on which the word "Dwight" is centered on the front; In every case it is off-center (because it originally had been preceded by "G.N.W.")

Although two base styles were made, they appear to have been produced concurrently and details of each mold were carried forth consistently. One mold began with the embossing "G.N.W. Dwight" and there were high crossbars on both letters . This mold produced the slope-out base and it was also the mold which produced later green and SCA examples. This mold is also the one on which the blot-out of G.N.W. is invisible in subsequent production. A second mold had the same slope-out base but only one crossbar was high on the letter . Since the blot-out on this one is very visible, it must have produced a "G.N.W." variety at one time, but none have been found so far. 

There was a third mold that featured a normal "W" that produced a slope-out base, and a fourth mold (at least) that produced a normal "W" and a grooved base. This latter mold first produced a "G.N.W. Dwight" and after the G.N.W. was blotted out had a reverse "2"embossed on the dome. 

All of this rambling and excruciating detail has a purpose. Let me draw a chart of all of this:

	Slope-out base			Grooved Base
G.N.W. variety?	yes	?	?	yes
Blot-out shows?	no	yes	yes	yes
SCA variety?	yes	no	yes	no
Green variety?	yes	no	no	yes

The whole purpose of this is to pose several questions: Why aren't there "G.N.W." Dwights in the second and third molds? They were obviously made that way to begin with!! Why should there be no SCA variety in the grooved base type? Why are there no green varieties in the second and third mold? I'll bet that someone has varieties that we haven't seen that would come close to filling in the empty spots! 

By the way, speaking of colors, I have a Dwight from the third mold that is in Steel Blue! If you have something like it, please let me know. Steel blue has not appeared in the Dwights before, and I would like to confirm that it exists elsewhere before I list it, because it is entirely possible that mine has been given a treatment of hanky-panky! If you have one, let me know! 

The Dwights are all from what I call Mold Style #5. They have large wire grooves, and the groove is approx. 1-3/4" from the base. The actual "W" style is shown in parenthesis. 

Mold Style #5A has a very short body, but the protruding inner edge of the slope-out base raises the height considerably. 

Mold style #5B has a taller body, but the base is flat and grooved. Overall the height is approximately the same as the overall height of style #5A. 

Prices: The G.N.W. Dwights are extremely scarce and are priced way too low in the book. The Dwights in aqua are common and priced a little too high. The SCA Dwights are scarce, but they are still overpriced although the popularity of the color keeps the price up. The green varieties are very tough and should sell for more.