The Magnetic "Egg" -- C.D. 700 and C.D. 700.1 (C.D. EGG and C.D. EGG.1)
by Shirley Patocka

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", June 1978, page 17

Arise, all owners of the magnificent Magnetic Egg! We who have one of these embryo pieces of telegraphic history in our collections are the privileged possessors of a truly special insulator! It was around away back in the days when Morse and his co-workers were trying to get the telegraph in a workable condition that was economically worthwhile. Let's get down to facts with a brief history of the Magnetic Telegraph Company. 

In March 1843, Samuel Morse began a campaign to raise funds for the development of a telegraph company. He figured he would need about $15,000. An act of incorporation for a company was granted by the State of Maryland in May of 1845, and a line between Philadelphia and New York was begun. Small poles with 30 inch cross arms were erected 200 feet apart. Ezra Cornell's glass bureau-knob insulators were mounted on the upper ends of the arms, and No. 14 unannealed copper wire was strung. The glass knobs were not too efficient, and little boys with rocks and big boys with guns thought they made great targets. (Just like today!) The copper wire failed the test, too, and was replaced by iron wire, which rusted and also caused problems. An agreement with the railroad was not made until a few years later, so this line followed the wagon road between Philadelphia and New York. 

The stockholders finally met for an organizational meeting on January 14, 1846, and chose the first Board of Directors. The line between Philadelphia and Baltimore was built in 1846 with more "trial and error" construction. The entire length of iron wire was coated with tar by hand. Insulation on the poles consisted of a rubber cloth wrapped around the wire, which was wedged into grooves in the pole arms with plugs of wood. When this did not pan out, little blocks of grooved glass were tried. About this time galvanized wire was imported from England, and someone thought of improving the joints by soldering the wire, so at least the wire problems were getting solved!

Not so the insulator! In 1850 a new type was tried on a line between Washington and New York. James D. Reid, author of the 1879 book on American Telegraphic History, was on the scene at the time. He stated that this, the brimstone insulator, was "one of the most unfortunate scientific devices ever conceived." It was a heated mixture of brimstone, gum shellac and resin wrapped around a piece of iron. It did not work! Next, a gutta percha insulator was tried, but it had problems, too. 

On July 9, 1850, the Magnetic Telegraph Company finally got out of the bush leagues by electing William M. Swain president. He had been a member of the board and a stockholder since the beginning. He tackled the job head on and got all of the departments of the company shaped up. Personnel, public relations and service were all updated. To get to the bottom of the faulty line construction, he walked the whole line from New York to Washington. After studying the matter first hand, he came up with a sketch of the "insulator of the future" -- our EGG! These were soon used exclusively on this line, first on wood brackets and later on iron pins.

In 1852 the property of the "Bain Line", the North American Telegraph Company, was surrendered to the Magnetic Telegraph Company when it was proven that they had pirated Morse's invention. This gave the company a shot in the arm, and from then on good dividends with a good surplus in the company treasury were assured. In 1856 the company expanded further when the Washington and New Orleans Telegraph Company was leased for a period of ten years.

In 1859 the Magnetic Telegraph Company bowed to the larger American Telegraph Company and consolidated with it. So the company was swallowed up and was no more. However, some of the "eggs" still survive!

And what do we know about the Magnetic egg? If I tell you about mine, and ask you to tell me about yours, maybe we can get a true picture of one small facet of the insulator hobby! This insulator was so important to the early telegraph that I think everyone should know more about it.

Egg Insulator. Magnetic Telegraph Co. devised it about 1851. It has a narrow leakage path. Color. Green

There is a C.D. 700 and CD 700.1. These are basically the same insulator. C.D. 700 has rounder sides, and C.D. 700.1 has straighter sides. I have both styles with and without extended skirts, although they are more pronounced on the C.D. 700.1 (but some of these nave no skirts at all). Could the two styles be the interpretations of the same insulator by two different manufacturing companies? Heights of mine vary from 3-1/8 inches short to 4-1/16 inches tall; and widths do not vary much from 2-3/8 inches. Who manufactured them? Did any company advertise them? 

Just how many are in existence, and where did they come from? I have 16, and I know that more than half of them came from the Far West -- Sacramento, San Francisco, Virginia City and Tucson. If their use was that widespread out here when this was the Wild West, they certainly must have been plentifully used in the East! How many are in collections today? Where did they come from originally? 

Colors? I have C.D. 700 in aqua, very clear light sage green (short skirt), and a light purple. My C.D. 700.1 includes emerald green, root beer amber, light and dark aqua, clear (!) with many bubbles and light blue with bubbles. What other colors are there? I know that there is a pink one and a deep purple one in Florida! 

Mountings? I have one on a square bent spike (I wonder how the spike was bent without breaking the insulator?); one is on a hand forged iron pin; and there is room for four on a huge, ugly, iron contraption (you'll have to see it to believe it -- be sure to come to the National at Reno, July 28, 29 and 30!). There is a fellow in Wyoming who has some on different mountings, I know. 

And other company equipment? On October 16, 1850, Mr. Swain addressed the operators of the company, and in his remarks are these interesting words: "Do me the favor to mark every thing markable with ink, knife or file, with four straight marks or dots, intended to represent the four words of which the name of our Company is composed." Check your old telegraph equipment, you may have a treasure! 

So, Egg collectors, let us unite! I hope that this is a beginning. Let's hope it hatches up enough interest for more information in a follow-up article in a later issue of Crown Jewels!

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