Rows of goodness knows what kinds of colorful glass insulators adorn the top of this bridge....

Perhaps those "specially" colored cobalt, amber and crystal (turned amethyst) insulators offered by Hemingray for many years also had some (unadvertised) purpose in ornamentation here (and for other notable public landmarks that had lots of wires strung upon them??)

The sight of overhead wires and poles was just about hated since Day One of the telephone and telegraph, especially in larger cities.

Perhaps some really nice, colored insulators helped with the aesthetics back then?

After all, we are talking about the colorful and graceful designs of the Victorian Era.....