434 Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



india-rubber tube, and take it straight to the binding screw in the 

 box, where no weather could reach it. The standards and cross- 

 arms are strongly constructed of angle-iron. Ground poles are 

 generally of wood and present no unusual features. Subscribers' 

 wires are usually led down the front of the houses by means of 

 open wires and insulators. As is commonly practised in Ger- 

 many, the joint between the bare and covered wire is made inside 



RIAL WIRE 



FIG. 156 



an ebonite cup, which protects it from the weather and prevents 

 surface leakage over the exterior of the insulated wire. The cup 

 is light and hangs on a tag of the line wire. The covered wire 

 is usually led into the building by means of an ebonite or 

 china tube let into a hole made through the wall. The drop wires 

 and insulators, which are specially shaped to receive them, are very 

 neatly arranged and are by no means unsightly. 



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