It sounds like that article is describing Bates expanded steel poles, often used for trolley lines. Apparently there are quite a few of this line's metal poles still in place in the woods of MA. I have not seen any Bates poles in preservation, but a few still in service along the CTA and other places.

Bates light pole formerly located along the railroad, now installed in the parking lot at IRM:

http://www.irm.org/gallery/Light-Tower

Actually this pole can still be seen in outdated Bing birds-eye views at 40th Street halfway between Halsted and Emerald in Chicago.

Yeah, but that's not the classic Bates line pole, which was tapered, and only had a single layer of "lacing".

There used to be two of these on Main St. in downtown Lemont, IL left over from the Chicago & Joliet. One held a rotating red beacon for the fire station, while the other still had a wood strain insulator dangling unused for forty or fifty years. I imagine they are gone now.

Years ago I looked at some along the CTA Skokie line, but as was typical of these things, the base plate and nuts that held them to the footing had been covered with a concrete cap, and were very deteriorated. Nothing that couldn't be repaired with some welding, but the repair would need to be designed by a structural guy if they were to be used to support something.