Brass handle

[confederate83]

Found in local park site of former military academy that burned in 1896 not sure how old it is or if it's related to the academy just don't know what it went to

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Looks like a support-cable junction clamp sleeve. I do not know the proper official name for it. You see them on overhead powerlines, right next to the pole. It is a sort of tensioner/slack-adjuster device. Modern ones are made of steel or aluminum, though I've seen a few older ones made of brass/copper. But note, I said "looks like." I could be completely wrong.

Here's a link to a somewhat-similar modern one. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1..._Wire_tension_electrical_cable/showimage.html

 

[confederate83]

Clear as mudd CBG

 

[kuger]

%99 positive CBG is dead on

 

[confederate83]

Ahh that has got to be it. how in the hell do you do that

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I located a better photo, which shows the clamp dis-assembled. Note that the "sleeve" has a slight wedge-shape, same as what your find has. Also, although the photo shows a sideview of the sleeve, if you look closely you can see the REFLECTION of the washboard-ribs which are in the bottom of the sleeve, just like on your find.
Good Quality Stainlesssteel For Good Quatity Of Cable Clamp - Buy Wire Tensioner,Cable Clamp,Overhead Cable Clamp Product on Alibaba.com

Other diggers (including me) have dug the "doggie-bone" shaped strip with perforations. Now they'll know what it is.

 

[confederate83]

You rock CBG

 

[CC Hunter]

With the help of TheCannonballGuy pointing in the right direction, I managed to sleuth out the correct term for this apparatus:

Drop Wire Clamp




CC Hunter