I think you have used the wrong terminology(ie short circuit), the main reason for them being discontinued was you could not be sure the connection between the two or more wires was tight, if the connection was not tight it would cause over heating at the connection (scruit) and possibly result in a fire. Quote from Wikipedia "A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no (or a very low) electrical impedance is encountered. The electrical opposite of a short circuit is an "open circuit", which is an infinite resistance between two nodes. It is common to misuse "short circuit" to describe any electrical malfunction, regardless of the actual problem".
I have never seen glass scruits in my time as an electrician in Britain.