Evening star., 1948-07-18

then was SO cents for the first 10
words and 5 cents for each addi-
tional word. The original electric
magnetic recording instrument made
and used by Prof. Morse in 1887,
seven years prior to his memorable
and successful demonstration before
Congress, now forms part Of the
National Museum exhibits.
Kendall a Publisher
Amos Kendall, the first president
Of the company, no doubt had more
to do with securing the appropria-
ton for the experimental telegraph
line than one might at first suspect.
He was one of Washington's early
journalists, coming here from Ken
lucky when Jackson became Presi-
dent in 1929, and after becoming
Postmaster General in "Old Hicko-
ry's" second administration and
serving until 1887, he published
from 1841 to 1874 biweekly paper
called Kendall's Expositor, which. he
records, did not yield an income half
sufficient for the support Of his
family.
In the Senate, Morse's interests
were ably championed by Charles
Sumner and in the House by Rep
Smith, who later re-
signed his Office to be associated with
Morse's company, but no one fitted
in better for lobbying the. bill
through than Mr.. Kendall, and the
success of the telegraph is in no
small measure due to his political
skill and influence. incidentally, of
course, Kendall became rich. and
thereafter devoted much of his time
toward furthering the interests of
the telegraph company of which he
was q member.
In 1854 he subdivided into two
acre tracts the property we now
know as Kendall Green, which he
called Kendallville. Upon these
he erected several houses. In one
Mr.. Kendall himself lived, his SON.
in-law, William Stickney, lived in
while the others were Of
fered for sale. He was equal to
the real estate promoter OF the
present day, and to encourage set
tlement even ran line Of omni-
buses twice a day from Pennsyl-
vania avenue and Seventh street
to the property.
=
Helped Charity Work
Evidently. however, the lots did
not sell very rapidly, for Kendall,
who was charitable and generous
with his wealth, later gave one of
the houses as home for the newly
Columbia Institute for
the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. Indeed,
he did more than this. He took
q friend to . house in which poor
waits were being kept by a man
protesting zeal in charitable work,
and who had gathered together all
deaf-mute and blind children of
the District for the purpose Of edu-
eating them, he said. He did not
keep his promises, and 1t was due
to the horrible stories Of the suffer-
ing of these children that led the
nder-hearted Kendall to investi-
gate their condition. He was also
a liberal contributor toward the Gre
alton of Calvary Baptist Church.
Morse was not the first one to
send telegraph messages from WASH
ington, as Is generally believed, for
in 1841 the system of Canon had
been demonstrated on q line built
from the Capitol to Bladensburg
But in this case there was no leader
like Kendall to help out with advice
and counsel, nor a man to back it up
in the Senate like Charles Sumner,
and as such support was indispens-
able, this experiment came to
naught.
AS a matter of fact, and not Of
argument, Joseph Henry, the first
secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, in his invention Of the elec-