Despite how backwards you think we are, telegraphs were pretty much phased out at least three years ago.

But yes, there is a rash of pairs of shoes tied together by the laces looped over power and communications lines. Has been since the seventies, at least. No one seems to have any idea how or why it started. There is an urban legend that it was a way gangs marked their territories, but I don't think that there's a scrap of truth to that. Of course, it now seems to be awfully prevalent around fraternity houses and college campuses in general.

I've also seen, in recent years, an increasing number of old computer mice wrapped about overhead lines in much the same manner.