Cake & Ice Cream

A celebration of the 100th birthday of the telephone--sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T)--ended yesterday at MIT.

The two-day program included a dinner for the descendants of inventor Alexander Graham Bell and of his assistant, Thomas Watson. An address by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke on "Communications in the Second Century of the Telephone" and a stamp commemoration also highlighted the event.

Bell worked with two MIT professors on his invention from 1874 to 1876.

John F. Counter, public relations supervisor for AT&T, said yesterday the telephone is "symbolic of providing universal service." The celebration was an "appropriate recognition of 100 years of service," he added.

Jerome B. Wiesner, president of MIT, said yesterday, "MIT has long been involved in communications, starting with the telephone."