"Robert Swinney" wrote in message
. ..
Respectively beg to differ, Martin. The standard telephone wire was #9
copper. It was copper, not plated with anything. There is quite a lot of
it
still around. Generally the telegraph lines were heavier and sometimes
they
were made of iron. I'm not sure why - extra storm protection maybe.

Toll lines, yes. The long distance lines were copper.

The drops used for houses were, indeed, copper covered steel wire. Black
rubber-like insulation with a pair of wires within-----sort of an overgrown
version of 300 ohm TV cable----that had no value when taken to the salvage
yard. Any of us old scroungers know that.

Harold