Glass telegraph insulators like this one were made to prevent telegraph wires from touching other conductors. The Brookfield Company made over 100 different styles of them in their Brooklyn, New York plant.
After the U.S. Civil War railroads expanded rapidly in Kansas. Traveling through the state on train was one of the safest and fastest ways to cross the country. Over a hundred years later railroads still frequently roll across the plains. To see other similar documents please visit: https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/308223