Evening star., 1944-04-16
Capital Sidelights
By VIII p. Kennedu.

By viii P. Kennedy.
Paul Revere, the Boston silversmith
who made the famous midnight ride"
warning Of the British attempt to de-
stroy the military stores which the pa
triots had been collecting at Concord
shares honors with another noted New
Englander, Representative Matthew
Lyon of Vermont, as an industrial pio-
neer. The record shows that Revere was
an expert gold-and- -silversmith; rolled
copper for use on the frigate Constitu-
tion, was an iron-molder, engraver and
dentist, and manufactured bells of
which more than rs still are in use in
New England. The copper rolling indus
try he established in Canton, Mass, in
1801-when he was 66 years of age-is
conducted today by descendants of the
founder.
But Representative Charles A. Plumley
of Vermont, however, claims that his
predecessor in Congress, Representative
Lyon, whose single vote decided the
election of President Jefferson, far out
claSsed Revere as pioneer industrialist,
Lyon served in Congress four years from
Vermont and eight years from Ken
tucky, unsuccessfully contested election
as first delegate from Arkansas, and was
defeated by scant 100 votes for election
as first delegate from the Territory of
Missouri, then comprising dozen future
States. He built gunboats for the Gov
ernment in the War of 1872 and was
United States Factor to the Cherokee
Nation.
The late Speaker Champ Clark of
Missouri, who served with Lyons great
grandson, Col. William Peter Hepburn,
always insisted that Lyon had per-
formed "one of the greatest acts in
American history" John Bach Nc
Master in his standard History of the
People of the United States" says that
Lyon was ''in truth, the most ener-
getic, the most self-reliant, one of the
most common-sense and when Andrew
Jackson was not present, the most i'm
petuous member of Congress
Lyon was the first to make pulp paper,
more than half century before any one
else attempted to use the process. He
set up sawmill, fed it from his own
forests, and built his home and town
buildings. He established brick kiln;
started an iron foundry, fed with scraps
nf frpp, -b,y Lot 1oEo
hollow iron-ware furnace, slotting mill,
nail factory, a corn and gristmill,
marble quarry, tannery and leather
factory, and a printing and binding
establishment. After thus industrially
pioneering in Vermont, he led a colony
of settlers into Kentucky and there re-
peated his industrial developments, add
ing an iron smelter and shoe factory.
y X
House Leader John w. McCormacks
confidential secretary, Eugene T. Kin
naly, former secretary to the late Rep
resentative James A. Gallivan of South
Boston, recently was named Democrat
of-the Month in the Jeffersonian. pub
lished in Boston. The article was quoted
in the Congressional Record by Repre-
sentative Thomas Lane, who now rep
resents the old Billy" Connery district.
Mr.. Kinnaly was helping with World
War legislation when Color Sergt. Billy"
Conner was carrying the flag more than
quarter of century ago. He had won
previously from his co-workers the tag"
of secretaries secretary" Like the
Connery brothers-"Billy" and Larry"
both of whom served the old Lane dis
trict for many years-he earned his law
degree while working at the Capitol. The
Jeffersonian appreciation, quoted by
Representative Lane, emphasizes Kim
nally's guidance and helpfulness to
newcomers in the secretarial field at
the Capitol:
newcomers, 'greenhorns,' to the busy
Capitol secretarial field have no fears
after meeting the genial Gene They
lay their problems upon the broad shoul-
ders OF this veteran and come away
smiling. He has tremendous capacity
for work and can accomplish more in one
day than the average man can in one
week. He's at his never-ending task
seven days week, and yet still finds
time to train many boys and girls who
come to him for counsel. Many of these
youngsters, benefited by his training,
have gone far on the road to success.
Gene has genius for remembering
facts and names; knows all the heads
of Government departments by their
first names and shows keen interest in
their transfers and promotions.
His busy schedule does not keep him
from taking very active part in church
affairs. He is prominent in the affairs
OF the MASSACHUSETTS Society"