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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
366
Of
course,
the
sympathy
for
the
wife
and
children
was
universal,
but
Mr.
Field
was
the
first
to
give
this
sympathy
a
practical
direction.
With
his
quick
eye
he
saw
the
condition
in
which
they
would
be
left
by
the
death
of
the
President,
as
for
them
the
law
makes
no
provision.
His
salary
stops
at
the
very
day
and
hour
that
he
ceases
to
live,
nor
is
there
a
pension
settled
upon
his
family,
nor
can
anything
be
paid
from
the
national
treasury
except
by
special
act
of
Congress.
In
this
extremity
it
occurred
to
Mr.
Field
that
what
the
Government
failed
to
do
should
be
made
up
by
private
generosity;
and
even
before
General
Garfield's
death
he
started
a
subscription,
heading
it
with
five
thousand
dollars,
and
taking
it
in
person
to
his
rich
friends.
The
self
imposed
task
occupied
him
several
months,
in
which
he
raised
a
fund
of
over
three
hundred
and
sixty
thousand
dollars,
which
was
put
into
United
States
four
per
cent.
bonds,
yielding
an
interest
of
over
twelve
thousand
dollars
a
year,
to
be
paid
quarterly
during
the
life
of
Mrs.
Garfield,
and
then
to
go
to
her
children.
It
was
a
great
satisfaction
to
have
thus
provided
for
those
who
bore
the
name
of
a
President
of
the
United
States,
so
that
they
should
be
able
to
live
in
the
comfort
and
dignity
that
befitted
the
family
of
one
who
had
occupied
the
most
exalted
station
in
the
government.
Not
content
with
this,
Mr.
Field
went
to
Washington,
and
urged
upon
his
friends
in
Congress,
and
finally
succeeded
in
getting
passed,
a
bill
giving
to
the
widows
of
all
Presidents
a
pension
of
$5,000,
which,
it
added
to
his
gratification
to
know,
would
apply
to
the
venerable
Mrs.
Polk:
and
that
still
goes,
and
will
go
during
her
lifetime,
to
the
wife
of
General
Grant,
as
the
slight
expression
of
a
nation's
gratitude.
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