The Cavalcade of America presented by DuFont. The Cavalcade of America presents by DuFont. This evening's Cavalcade of America takes us to sea for a story of lighthouses and lightships manned by courageous people who are truly sentinels of the deep. It was not so long ago that chemistry, like the sea in centuries past, was uncharted, unfamiliar to man, and full of mystery. But today there are many beacons along the coastline of chemical discovery due to the patient work of research chemists in the employ of companies such as DuFont. In DuFont laboratories alone, six million dollars is spent yearly in chemical research. The spirit behind this work is what's expressed by DuFont's pledge, better things for better living through chemistry. As an overture, Don Borez and his orchestra will play the fourth movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov, which tells the story of Sinbad the sailor. The first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The second movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The second movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The second movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The second movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. The first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov is the first movement of the famous Scheherazade Suite by Rimsky-Korsakov. Today a thousand ships set their courses by the beacons of our lighthouses or the radio beams of our light ships. But over 200 years ago, it was a far different story. One stormy winter night in the year 1712, a British merchantman, leaky and battered after three months' voyage from England, is running before a wild nor'easter. Our captain and mates scan the dark waters and lowering sky for some glimmer of light from the town of Boston that they know lies somewhere in the market. We'll be lucky we ride the night, Captain. Helmsman reports her loggy in the head and slightly of the woman to the wheels, but with her top so carried away and the rig in half gone below. Aye, Mr. Squires, and I like not this blow in the northeast. There's no ship to be standing off the land all night with shoals all around it. And you're of a mind to run her in, sir? Say the devil with reefs and bars in the lake? Aye, that I am, Mr. Squires. Fix the rising water and the hold and the ghost of a set of sails aloft, that little chance left me. Be like a drunken man playing a blind man's boxer. Aye, but we must chance it. But no more of this feetin' the devil halfway go forward and set the bolts of the cast in the lead. Poor as our charts of these waters be, we may yet feel our way to safety if we cannot have it shown to us. Aye, sir. City it is, this Boston folk have no beacon on the headlands to light us in. While you're wishing for what's not, you might as well be wishing for the moon this night. Now go forth. There's that key margin to his wife coming this way, and that young lad of theirs. You'll be spared answering his questions. Aye, sir. It's a likely lad he is in bright. Ah, good evening to you, Mrs. Wynton. Good evening, Mr. Squires. Good evening, Mr. Wynton. Good evening, Mr. McGonagall. Good evening, Captain. The Bolton tells me we may yet see Boston town this night, Captain. You may not, if this wind holds off a bit. Oh, what a blessing it'll be to set foot on dry land again. After all these terrible weeks to see. And to new land. Don't forget that, my dear. Do you think the Indians will come out in their canoes and try to keep us from landing, Captain? Well, hardly that, Master Donald. Not in this year of 1712. You'll find Boston town quite a civilized place. Not like London, of course, but then... Lock forward! Oh, they're casting the lead. May I go forward and watch, Father? You'd best ask the Captain's permission, Donald. Best not, lad. The sea's rough and you might be washed overboard. I think we'd best all go below. It's getting much rougher. Besides, we have much packing to do if we're to leave the ship in the morning. That's best, man. To recite the lights of the town, I'll send a man below to tell you. Till then, there'll be nothing you'll miss. Good night, ma'am. Good night, Captain. There's no danger, you think? There's always danger, but God willing, we'll be right in our anchor with the coming of the dawn. Oh, you've no idea. I'm cheering it if you hear you say those words. Good night, Captain. Good night, ma'am. You'll be sure to let me know when we sight America, won't you, Captain? I can hardly wait to see what it's like. We're going to live there, you know. Yes, I will, lad, lad. In the fine new land, you'll be having for a home. Good night, sir. Good night, lad. And pray God you may see that new home of yours. One, three, be showered! Mr. Squire! I answer! Call all hands on deck! Morgans, fight the men from below! Aye, sir! Call all hands on deck! My two! My two! Loose the men, sir! Turn the hull! Fight from bottom to top! Lock the starboard down! He's gone! He's gone! Hard upon the lake should have shown the point! Aye, our reckons have peeled us! Break it! Break it ahead! Hard over him, sir! He's a lost shifter! Such was the fate of many a noble ship. No guiding beacons marked the safe harbors of our colonial seaboard. But it was not long before the citizens of Boston realized the need. And so in the year 1715, the first lighthouse of the western world was constructed by the far-sighted fathers of the Massachusetts colony. And for over 200 years, the Boston light has guided ships to the safety of Boston harbor. One of the first acts of the Continental Congress was to create and maintain a national lighthouse service. The wreckage is dotted with countless heroic deeds of men and women, tenders of those lights which must not fail. One such entry, on a record yellowed with age, tells of a lighthouse on a barren rock, isolated for months by treacherous ice floes and winter storms. The keeper, his wife and child, wait for the supply ship on a bitter, cold night. Ma! Ma! What is it, David? I'm hungry. Ain't there anything to eat? No, David, the last scrap's gone. Now, don't you get out of bed. Stay under the covers and keep warm, honey. Besides, if you lie still, you won't feel the hunger so much. It don't hurt so much as it did. How long's it been since we ate? Well, it's been three days now. But you just try not to think about it, David. Try to go to sleep, son. And maybe when you wake up, the supply ship will be here. I've been trying to sleep, and I've slept so much. Where's Pa? He's outside, looking to see if maybe some gulls are roosting on the rock. Golly, wouldn't it be great if he was to come in with a gull? You could make soup for all of us. Well, I wouldn't figure on it, David. There ain't been a gull near that rock since the cold set in. Golly, there's Pa now. No, no. Stay in bed, David. Did you... Did you, Pa? Didn't you find one? No. No, son, it's no use. Even if there's been any gulls on the rock, I don't reckon they'd have waited for me to hit them with a pole. You're hoping to go out there as weak as you are, John? Well, it's better than sitting here waiting for... John, mind your tongue. I'm only going to say waiting for the supply ship. Thought I sighted her at sundown, but I reckon it was only a shadow of the clouds on the ice floes. Now with a storm blowing up... Oh, we can't give up hope yet. This offshore wind may open up the ice and let it through to us in time. Is the light burning yet? Yep. Clear and bright, thank heavens. Well, what's the use, John? Why are we burning the last of the oil in the lamps when we might be keeping ourselves from freezing to death with it? What's the good of keeping the light burning to warn ships off the rock when no ship could get within miles of us if you tried? There's never been a night since this lighthouse was built that captains couldn't set their course by her, and I am not going to let it be said that I let her stand dark while there's a drop of oil in the tanks. How much longer will the oil last, John? Well, it's near dawn now. This night and another maybe. Ma, Ma, I'm hungry. Be glad. Maybe today. Let him be. He's dropped off. Just dreaming. Talking in his sleep. Oh, John. It tears my heart out to hear him. Do you think you can stand it much longer? I know, I know. I blame myself when I think how I might have sent you both to the mainland for the winter. Well, I wouldn't have gone, John. This is your job and my place is here with you. No place for a woman. No one to talk to months on end. Now this. No food. Nothing to keep warm with. Well, there's no fine place for a man either, John. But you know, you've been promised a transfer, and there's lots of fine lighthouses on the headlands up the coast. Places near a village where David could go to school. Yes, I know. I've been promised a transfer. It's three years we've been on this rock now, and unless the supply ship gets through before long, we'll have small use for a new post. Well, look, John. It's getting light. The weather's clear into the east. I hope you're right. Where do I take a look, short? Mother! Mother, look! The supply ship! Oh, thank heaven. She's not a mile away, John. David! David, wake up, son! What is it, Pa? It's the supply ship, David. It's coming. Oh, John, if you hadn't kept the light going, she wouldn't be here. Such incidents of heroism and unsung devotion to duty are legion in the annals of the lighthouse service. The cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont, moves on. The lighthouses that dot our coasts are but a part of the larger service. And of all the men of the lighthouse service of today, those who take the greatest risks are the officers and crews of the light ships anchored in the open sea, marking dangerous shores and often stationed in the very center of the steam planes. The ocean liners set their course dead on the light ships guiding radio beam and then veer off as they approach. But when fog, the seamen's worst enemy, drops down, disaster to the light ship echoes with every frothy blast. The danger is ever-present in the minds of the men who gather in the crew quarters of the Nantucket light ship. And for a rookie on his first tour of duty on the shores of Nantucket, the ghostly cloak of fog is a terrifying thing. Hey, Bill. Lay out my hand, will you? I got to go on deck. Sure, Harry. I'm glad I ain't you. It's a dirty night out. The worst we've had since we pulled out of New Bedford. Say, what day is it anyway? What do you care? Three weeks away, you're up for shore leave. I know, but I like to keep track of the days. It helps pass the time. Well, there's a calendar on the bunk. May 15th. Yeah, and it's 1934 in case you've lost track of the year. You're liable to do that out here, you know. I know a guy once who did. Come on, let's get on with the game. Yeah, beat it, Harry. Go up on deck and get your ration of fog. Yeah, you lucky blighter. Say, Harry, blow a couple of kisses to the pretty girls and the big liner when she scrapes the paint off our port rail going past. Let's hope she don't take the rail lifeboats and wireless the one of them did back in January. I'll bet you two to one she don't miss us by a hundred feet in this fog. You're on, Bill. We'll let Harry be the judge. Five bucks says she misses us by more than a hundred feet. Okay. Pretty near due. I'm bearing down on our radio direction beam for the last hour. Well, see you guys subsequently. All right, all right. Steal the cards and let's get going. Oh, I feel lucky tonight. I never feel lucky with a fast ship using us for a bullseye in a fog like we got tonight. Hey, Joe, what's the matter with the new kid over there? Homesick? Listen, you're with the Fiddler. Hey, let him alone, Bill. It's his first time out. Hey, kid, how about something on a little life to it? Sure. What would you like me to play, fellas? Well, anything but a sleep in the deep. All right, how's this? That's better. Say, do those big liners really pass us so close? They sure do, kid. Too close for comfort sometimes. Lightships can't dodge, you know, seeing their anchored in one spot. You ought to have been with us last January when we got sidesliped on a foggy night like this. Lucky for us, she just scratched a couple of feet more to stop it, and good night. Yeah, as it was, she didn't leave much. Carried away our rail, lifeboats, and wireless. Gosh. Say, what would happen to us if she didn't bear off quick enough? Suppose she didn't know how close she was. That's a chance we take every time there's a fog, son. Gee. Oh, ain't you never nervous? Yeah, at first. I know how you're feeling, kid. It does sort of get you in the pit of the stomach to hear one of them big baby's whistles getting closer and closer. You can't see her, and she can't see you for the fog. You go up on deck to watch for her, and then all of a sudden you see her coming right at you out of the fog. You think she couldn't miss. Then she'll swing over and go hooting as the closer you can reach up and touch her sometimes. Yeah, kid, if you want your hair curled, just go up on deck and take a gander at this one. You'll be moving plenty fast. Well, I think maybe I will go on deck. I don't see how you fellas can stay down here playing cards. Suppose she was to hit us. You wouldn't have much chance down here. If she was to hit us fair and square, you wouldn't have much chance anywhere, son. Eating knife-as-and-hearth like this old light chip was a piece of cheese. How soon will she get here? Most any time now. Open the door to the wireless room and ask Sparks. He's been inviting her to smack us for the last hour. Nice guy, Sparks. He throws him a radio direction beam, and they point right on it. And we're it. Yeah. Ain't science wonderful. You reckon Sparks will mind if I ask him? No, go on in. He's a good guy. Even if he does pass out invitations to every tub in the ocean to come take a crack at us. Go on, let's get to work. Say, Sparks. Hello, kid. Hello. Dan Tuckett calling. Dan Tuckett Lightship. That's the second kid. Okay. Hello. Dan Tuckett Lightship speaking. Go ahead. We're pretty close to you, Dan. Dan Tuckett, the old man's off. Would you speak? About twelve knots, I'd say. Don't mind us. We only work here. They're dropping the beam. I hear you. Sounds like you're about a quarter of a mile away. Hold it. The old man wants me. Hello? Hello? Radio room, sir. Informed captain of the liner is bearing down on us. Decide it up to the floor. Get on. Yes, sir. Hello? Hello? Informed briefs. Sparks, quick! They're almost on us! Sir, on us! Informed captain! And so on that foggy night of May 15, 1934, the Nan Tuckett Lightship ended her years of faithful duty at one of the most dangerous posts in the lightship service. But hardly an hour after the liner's wireless crackled out the fateful news of the disaster, there was a scene of feverish activity on a fog-shrouded wharf at New Bedford. Another Nan Tuckett Lightship was being fueled and manned to take the place of a doomed predecessor. The Nan Tuckett Shoals, graveyard of ships, had to be marked. Another lightship. More men were going out to that dangerous post. All men, stand by! Oh, Jack, don't go. I can't stand it. Brother was on the old Nan Tuckett. I haven't found him. Don't go and leave me like this, Jack. Oh, now Sally, take it easy. I know it's tough about the kid, especially on his first trip, but it's my job. I've got to go. Oh, Jack, look at the fog. Oh, you can't see a thing. It's awful. Suppose something should happen to you, too. What would I do? You've never felt like this before, Sally. Oh, you'll be all right. It's just the kid's going so sudden, like, you don't have to worry about me. Whoever heard a lightning striking twice in the same place anyhow. Ah, now come on, Sally. Buck up. Give a fella a kiss. I've got to go aboard. I'm sorry, Jack. I know I oughtn't to be acting this way. Worrying you when you get a job to do. It's only that I can't help thinking about brother. He was just a kid. Yeah, just walking right under your old man's shoes, Sally. You know, Powell is one of the kids to go into the lighthouse service. Yes, I know. I know. Jack, you'll be careful, won't you? Promise me you'll stay on deck on foggy nights. That's no you, Sally. When your number's up, you'll get yours no matter where you are. That's what I always say. Hey, Jack, the ghost card cup just came in from the record the lights you gave me. They're docked down below. They've got some in. Yeah? Jack, our wondrous brother. Now steady, Sally, steady. We'll know when they come. They're coming this way now. Jack, look. It's empty, but it looks just like him. Hey, Jack. Glory be it is, Sal. It is. It's the kid. Hey, kid, right over here. Hi, Jack. Hello, sis. Oh, we thought we'd never see you again. No, I came through without a scratch. Got pretty wet and most froze before they pulled me out of the water, but that's all. Say, kid, you see any of the others while you were swimming around? Yeah. Yeah, Sparks. Him and me held on to a spar, and Phil and Harry came through, too, but they're in a bad way. Come on home, brother. You must be cold and hungry. Yeah, kid. Say, you had a narrow squeak and a tough time. Go on. Go on home. Get yourself some sleep. No, no. Nothing doing, Jack. I'm going to see Skipper Wagner. I'm going back with you. Why, you're not going out again. Not right away. Sure, sis. Why not? They must be shorthanded on the relief ship. Skipper needs me, don't he, Jack? Well, yeah. I reckon he could use you if you feel up to going, kid. All right, then. Come aboard. Well, so long, sis. Come on, Jack. Goodbye, Sally. What are we waiting for? All hands aboard. Let's go. Goodbye, brother. Goodbye, Jack. Goodbye. And good luck. Goodbye. Goodbye. It has been said that as long as there are ships, men will go down to the sea and women will wait. And this was never more true than in the lighthouse service. One ship is lost, another goes out to take its place. Day and night, winter and summer, in storm and calm, the light ships strain at their heavy anchors in order that the passengers on our modern luxury liners may travel in safety. And so, to the courageous men of the United States at house service, and to the stalwart women who helped their men tend to headland lights, or send their husbands and sons and brothers to the light ships far at sea, the cavalcade of America salutes you. Our story of chemistry this evening deals with color, and that subject is especially appropriate right now when the gorgeous reds and golds bottom delight the eye on every side. Life would be much less interesting if it were not for the attractive colors in our home decorations, clothing, and countless things that surround us. Yet did you ever stop to think that our modern world is the colorful place it is largely because of chemistry? Chemists have tapped nature for hidden sources of color and have produced from such unlikely-looking raw material as coal tar a veritable chemical rainbow of colors. Once only kings and such could own colorful garments, but today nearly everyone can have a bright array of clothes and other things without ever thinking of the few pennies that it costs to dye them. And women of today appreciate what it means to have dyes that are fast to light and fast to washing. It wasn't so long ago that one could never be sure how a piece of colored clothing would come back from its first trip to the wash. In recent years, however, chemists have developed dyes of every hue and tint that will not fade under the most severe conditions. Today one may purchase garments and all sorts of fabrics with every assurance that the color will last as long as the material. The DuPont Company has been privileged to play a leading part in these contributions to America's progress. It pioneered in the development of a dye stuff industry in the United States, thus helping to make this country independent of foreign sources for dyes and many other related products that are essential to modern living. Facing its faith on the ability of its research chemists to answer America's demands for dyes, the DuPont Company invested more than $40 million and carried on its work for more than five years before the dye stuff venture returned a cent of profit. Thus adequate financial resources coupled with knowledge and foresight eventually made possible this outstanding contribution, which so aptly illustrates the DuPont phrase, better things for better living through chemistry. Music Next week at the same time our story will be about John Winthrop, the pioneer American chemist, when DuPont again presents the Cavalcade of America. Music This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. Music
