When I went to British Columbia in the fall of 1980, I had no idea that I was about to discover a new CD 143 Withycombe. (I gave some of the details in my seventh article.) On that trip I visited Aidan Morgan in Cache Creek, who introduced me to friends of his, Stan and Ina Weir of Ashcroft. 

(Drawing is by Clay Salzman) 

Stan's father has a cabin on the shores of Kootenay Lake, a beautiful place in British Columbia. Around the turn of the century Canadian Pacific completed a rail line between Gerrard and Lardeau at the northern end of Kootenay Lake. It was decided to install a telegraph line between Lardeau and Kaslo, and since there was no road, a crew installed the line by boat. Sideblocks were attached to trees above the high-water mark using a variety of insulators. 

The line was used for many years, but finally was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Then in the 1960's Stan Weir and his brother discovered the old line and decided that all those nice insulators would look really good as decorations in their Dad's cabin! They proceeded to salvage all the insulators they could, leaving only some that were in almost inaccessible spots, and then decorated the cabin with all that nice stuff! 

About fifteen years later, along comes an insulator nut (me) who gets all excited when he sees some of the jewels that Stan had salvaged! One of the pieces was a brand new style of Withycombe! Stan didn't want to sell it, but he let me take color photos and promised to get me more information about the location of the line and any history that might be available. 

During my visit with Stan and Ina, I found out that they collected milk and dairy items. (They call themselves the "Udder Collectors".) I remembered especially that there was a type of butter churn that they really wanted to get, so I made a note to keep my eyes open. Well, after I got back from my trip, I hadn't been home a week when I spotted the very churn they wanted, at a flea market! I got the card of the antique dealer that owned it, and called Stan! Subsequently Stan checked his stash of insulators and found that he had three more of the type that I wanted. So he offered me a trade that neither of us could refuse! I got one of the Withys, and he got the churn! 

• Rail line ran from Lardeau to Gerrard (not shown on the map).
• Telegraph line ran Kaslo to Lardeau.
• Johnson's Landing is where our summer cabins are located and my brother and I made many crossings to accumulate our insulators. 
• The lake is, on the average about two miles wide. 
• The distance from Kaslo to Lardeau is approximately 20-22 miles.

Stan also drew me a map, which is reprinted here, and gave me some more history and other information about the area where the old telegraph line was. He also showed me all four of the new Withys, and I got to pick out the one I wanted! (A tough decision, since they all were nice.) 

Armed with Stan's map, I decided to visit Kootenay Lake and see if I could find any good stuff that had been left. So, last May, John Williams and I made the trip and spent a few days in the Kaslo-Lardeau area. We crawled and climbed and hiked and trekked, and slogged through the underbrush and inched our way up cliffs that a mountain goat would hesitate to tackle! We didn't find too much glass, but what we got was quite interesting. We picked one Withycombe, a mold style 7A (light yellow-green, horizontal ridges), and how many people these days can say that they picked one of those? We also found a new type of pony! Or at least a type that we have never seen before! It is an MLOD no-name with a curve-under-base! Up 'til now I had seen this type of base only on one style of 143, plus on Hamilton glass stuff. But now I know it exists on CD 1020 also! 

John Williams also spotted a purple 143, but the tree had grown around it, and it was hanging over a cliff. Probably it could be reached by a sky diver! By the way, time marches on, and homes built on the lake have eradicated many of the traces of the line. Also a dam at the head of the lake now prevents the water from getting as high as it used to, so you can't scout the line by boat any more. Even so, it's a gorgeous place to visit, and I hope to go again some day. Perhaps I'll be able to locate the old rail line that ran between Gerrard and Lardeau! And maybe I'll even be able to visit Stan's Dad at his cabin and see all of the remaining items! 

Now maybe some of you might like to acquire one of the new Withycombes! Well, Stan says they are not for sale, and he does not want to part with any of the three remaining ones, But wait a second! Stan is a collector, just like us. And what true collector can turn down a super good deal?! Remember, Stan collects milk and dairy items, especially those that were made or marketed in Canada! (Now this is strictly hush-hush, but I understand that Stan is looking for related advertising signs, plus he wants to locate some old butter molds! These are wooden ones, usually embossed, and may be square, round, etc.) Anyway, if someone out there is able to locate some of these old butter molds, and is able to put together a good enough deal, Stan might, just might be persuaded to part with another Withy! But don't tell him I said so! Good Luck! 

And my special thanks to Stan & Ina Weir, a couple of very nice people who can be contacted at P.O. Box 198 in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada V0K 1A0.