Vail bought thirty pounds of it and scattered it in various parts of the United States, to note the effect upon it of different climates.

One length of it may still be seen at the Vail homestead in Lyndonville, Vermont.

Then this hard-drawn wire was put to a severe test by being strung between Boston and New York.

This line was a brilliant success, and the new wire was hailed with great delight as the ideal servant of the telephone.
Since then there has been little trouble with copper wire, except its price.

It was four times as good as iron wire, and four times as expensive.