Presented by DuPont. To begin our story, the seeing eye may remind you that here it is, and we have an announcement that has something to do with Christmas, after a cellulose film. DuPont makes this transparent wrapping material under the trademark cellophane. Many people find cellophane in its bright colors the ideal joyous wrapping for Christmas gifts. Several experts in package design and decoration have summarized their experience in a little six-page folder illustrated in full color called 33 Secrets of Gift Wrapping. This folder shows you how to do a number of unusual Christmas wrappings. You may have a copy free of charge if you write DuPont Wilmington, Delaware. Just ask for 33 Secrets of Gift Wrapping. As an overture, Don Borez and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra will play a special setting of Jerome Kern's recent song success, a fine romance from the picture Swing Time. This evening, the Cavalcade of America brings you the story of the Seeing Eye, a school in Morristown, New Jersey, where German shepherd dogs are educated as guides for the blind, bringing new opportunities, independence, and faith in life to those who walk in darkness. Our scene is Highland Hospital. In a room on the second floor, Donald Dean, a college freshman, is recovering from the effects of an automobile accident. His mother meets the doctor just outside his door. You should be feeling very grateful this morning, Mrs. Dean. The young man's life is no longer in danger. Oh, that's wonderful news, doctor. And his eyes. His eyes are all right, too. Be as brave as you can about it, Mrs. Dean. I think it's best to warn you. There is a possibility that the nerve is completely paralyzed. Oh. And if it is? He won't be able to see. I'm going in to take the bandages off right now. Be brave for his sake. I'll try. I know you will. Well, how are you today, young fellow? Fine, thanks. I've been waiting for you, doctor. Miss Wright says you're going to take the bandages off. I'm certainly glad. I'm so tired of not being able to see anything. Who's with you? Hello, dear. Oh, mother. Hello, darling. It's just in time for the unveiling. The doctor's going to take this veil of gauze off my eyes, and I'm going to stop impersonating justice and have a look at the world. How many bandages are there, doctor? Three. Hold steady now. How can I use my eyes again? A lot, I mean. Why? What do you want to do? I want to get back to college, of course. I missed a lot, but I'm going to try and make it up. Maybe I can go to summer school. Well, I wouldn't count on it. There. First bandages off. Oh, that's a relief. Hurry up and get the rest of it off, won't you? It'll certainly be swell to get out in the light again. Where are you, mom? I'm here. Come over here and sit on the bed. So the first thing I'll see will be you smiling at me. Here, here. Hold still now. All right. Playing blind man's buff like this isn't much fun. I'm sure glad it's over. What's the matter, doctor? Mother? Yes, Don? Mother, is anything wrong? What is it? What happened? Doctor, I want to see. Please take the last bandage off. I have taken it off, Don. Weeks have passed. Don is at home, strong again physically, but helpless. His mother is at work all day and he's alone. Mrs. Dean, about to leave for the office, is telling him goodbye. I've left your luncheon ready for you in the icebox. Do you think you can manage? Sure, I can manage. I'll try not to break the plate again. I should be able to get around the house by now, but I seem to get more awkward all the time. Oh, Donnie, you don't. Why, you get about wonderfully. Oh, don't kid me, mom. I know. I haven't adjusted. What am I? Just a burden. Donnie. I was going to get out of college and do big things and take care of you. Now what can I do? Sit here while you work to support me. I can't stand it. I'd rather be dead. Don, don't talk that way. Why, nothing else matters as long as I have you. You know that. Of course I know it, mother. I'm a rotter to talk this way. Nerves, I suppose. No exercise. Just sitting here. I know. You hear that clock? What clock? The grandfather's clock. You never notice it when someone's in the room. You should hear how loud it sounds when you're here all alone. Listen. You hear it? Sometimes I think I'll go crazy. Well, I'll stop it right there. No, don't. What's the use? I'll get used to it all right. Is Sammy coming to take me for a walk today? Yes, dear. He'll be over at one o'clock. Why don't you walk through the park, Don? That'll be a change for you. Yes. Big event of the week. Shuffling through the park, holding on to the little neighbor boy. Better than sitting here, though. You sure he'll come, mother? He promised. Well, I must hurry now. I'm a little late at it, dear. Goodbye, dear. Bye. Have you everything you need? Sure. Everything's perfect. Come on, run along. Mother? Yes, dear? I'm sorry I was... bad. Why, you weren't bad. Be a good boy. Goodbye, dear. Bye. Hello, Don. Hello, Sammy. Where are you? Here under the window. I came over to tell you I can't take you for a walk this afternoon. I'm going to the ball game with my father. I'm sorry. That's all right, Sammy. Maybe some other time. Sure. So long. So long. That's right. Now you start. Every tick, the second. When you do that 3600 times, there's an hour gone. An hour. One hour out of a lifetime. I might live to be 80. I might sit here all that time, listening to you ticking, ticking away the years, the empty, empty. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Music Months pass and Don sinks into despondency. He no longer makes any effort to help himself. It is evening and his mother and he are talking together. Oh, Don dear, I saw Miss Arnold from the Society for the Blind today. What do you think? Morris Frank from the Seeing Eyes in town, and he's coming up here to see you tonight. What do you want to see me for? I wanted him to, Don. Miss Arnold told you about the Seeing Eye last summer, don't you remember? That's the place where they train dogs to guide people who can't see. Miss Arnold said it's like a miracle the way they work. What's the idea? Get me a dog and a tin cup or do I sell lead pencils? Oh, Don. Oh, Mother, I'm sorry, but what's the use? I'd never trust a dog to take me around. And I don't want to see Morris Frank, whoever he is. I'm sick of visitors who pity me. I don't think he'll be that way. He's not much older than you are. He's blind too, you know. He is? Yes. But he doesn't let it interfere with the things he wants to do. Oh, that's probably Mr. Frank now. I see. Good evening. You're Morris Frank, I'm sure. I'm Mrs. Dean. Please come in. Good evening, Mrs. Dean. I came up to meet your son, Don. Please come in. May I help you? No need. But a four. Oh, what a beautiful dog. Which way, ma'am? Straight ahead. Don, this is Morris Frank of the C&I. My son, Donald Dean, Mr. Frank. How do you do? How do you do? This is Buddy, my dog. Oh. Who brought you over? Miss Arnold? Why, no. Buddy did. She and I came over alone. But how could Buddy find her way up here? Don't tell me she's that smart. Well, she is in a way. Miss Arnold said go straight for three blocks, then two blocks to your right, and three to the left, second house from the corner. All I had to do was count. Buddy did the rest. You must have a lot of faith in a dog to follow around that way. How do you hold on to her? She has a harness with a handle on it, not too rigid, and you can feel every move she makes through it. So when she pulls, you go ahead. When she stops, you feel for a step or a curve. How does she know where you want to go? Well, I tell her, forward, or right, or left. But if it isn't safe to go at that particular time, she won't move until it is. Well, she must be a dog in a million. Well, she is to me. But their scores like her will do the same things for their masters. We're educating more every day at Morristown. Where did the idea come from? Well, the first time I ever heard of it was in 1928. When someone read me an article Mrs. Harrison Eustace had written for the Saturday Even Post. How did she find out about them? Well, she was at her home, Fortunate Fields, in Switzerland, experimenting in breeding German shepherd dogs for intelligence. She and Elliot Humphrey had been to Potsdam to visit the school where these dog guides were trained. I was so excited over the article that I wrote and asked her how such a school could be established here. She invited me to come to Fortunate Fields and learn to work with Buddy. And you did? Did I. I spent five weeks learning to use Buddy, but I didn't realize all it was going to mean until one morning when she took me to the village and I went to the barbershop alone. The barbershop? But I don't know what that did for me Mrs. Dean. Of course it did. To me it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened. I went home and sat down and laughed out loud just from happiness. For years I'd want a smile on my face because I had to. And at last I could laugh because I wanted to. But you didn't need anyone to help? I didn't need anyone but Buddy. The minute I realized that, I wanted every blind person in this country to have a dog. Mrs. Eustace and Mr. Humphrey were both enthusiastic about starting a school in America as soon as it could be proved practical. We decided I must try going everywhere with my dog in all kinds of traffic and under all sorts of conditions. When I was perfectly satisfied with the results, I was to cable them and they'd begin plans for the school. So Buddy and I came over to make the test. You came from Europe alone? Sure. I was shipped over, American Express. Blind baggage I guess. But I came back on my own with Buddy. Weren't you afraid? Well, it was pretty exciting. I'll never forget the morning we landed. We left the dock and started across West Street. Here we go, Buddy. It's our big chance. Don't let me down, will you girl? We got to show them. What's this, the curb? All right, I'm ready. From the sounds I'd say if we could cross this street, we could cross anything. Well, let's find out. Buddy, forward. Does this bus go to 26th Street? Yes. But you can't bring that dog on the bus. But I'm not here. But you mustn't. No dogs allowed. Buddy isn't a dog, she's a guy. I must have her to lead me. Lead you? Yes, you see, I'm blind. She takes me about. I thought you was leading her. Is there a dyno on this train? No, sir. I'm going to call ahead, sir. Everything comfortable? Blended. We've got special offers about your dog. Gee, she's a beauty. Must be mighty intelligent. Do you sit here, sir? May I help you? My dog will take care of me, thank you. I want to send a cable. Here's a blanket. Can you sign it for me, please? Mrs. Harrison Eustace, Fortunate Fields, Switzerland. Just cable, a one word, success. And sign it, Morris and Buddy. That, Mrs. Dean, was how the American school was started. At first, the dogs were trained in Europe and shipped over here. But now they're educated at the school in Marstown. Why, you can go places all by yourself, can't you? Any place in the world. Well, Buddy and I must run along now. Just thought you might be interested in knowing about this kind of a dog. I am. I... How do you get one? Right to the seeing eye at Marstown and apply for admission to a class. Of course, you have to go there to live for a month, you know. What for? To learn to use your dog properly. I thought they were already trained. They are, but you're not. You have to know what to do as well as a dog. Mother? Yes, dear. I want you to do something for me right away. I want you to write a letter to the seeing eye. Eventually, Don goes to Marstown, spurred on by a new hope. He arrives on the same day with seven other men. Elliot F. Humphrey, director of training known affectionately as Jack, greets them and talks to them about the purpose of the school. So you see, man, it's pretty much up to you. You make progress in proportion as you throw your fears aside and try. Now, you may all go to your rooms, and someone will guide you over the house and show you where everything is. After that, you'll be expected to take care of yourself. Gee, I can't do that. I couldn't find my way out of here. You'll find you can do it and that you like it once you've tried. I don't know. You're Don Deak, aren't you? Yes. I'm a guide here. I'll show you to your room. Oh, thanks. Steps here. Be careful. Turn right. All right. Now, more steps. Your room is down this hall. Here it is. The bed's here, and the chair is over here. There's a bureau on this side, three drawers. Your suitcase is on the bed. You'll have time to unpack before lunch. Unpack? I can't unpack for myself. I haven't done anything like that for a year. Why not? There's nothing to matter with your arm, is there? No, but... Having any consideration for me, I... I can't see. I'm blind. Why should I have? I'm blind, too. Wow. That's telling me. Well, let's have a try. Uh... John? Mr. Humphrey? Yeah. Here's your dog. Oh. His name is Lad. Let him know you like him. If you ought to depend on him, he's got to love you, you know? He's your own dog from now on. You'll sleep here beside your bed, and lie at your feet when you're at table. Oh. Where is he? Right over here by the door. I'm taking off his leash. All right, now. Call him. Come here, Lad. Here, boy. Boy. Come closer. That's a good fella. Nice dog. There. Look, Mr. Humphrey. He's licking my hand. He likes me. He... Oh, Lad, I... I've got you at last. Just touching you, and knowing that what you can do for me makes the whole world seem different. You know what I'm going to do, Mr. Humphrey? I've been thinking about it for weeks. Now I've made up my mind. As soon as I learn to go about with Lad, I'm going back to college. It's Commencement Day at Cromwell College, more than four years later. The exercises are almost over, and members of the class of 1936 in historic Hathaway Chapel are about to receive their diplomas. Bob Norton, Don's roommate, standing next to him in the first row, speaks under his breath. Are you nervous, Don? Yeah, a little. Well, relax. Say, Lad's behaving better than you are. He should. He hasn't missed a lecture in four years. No. Nor a game, nor a dance. You've given him a busy life, all right. Well, here comes the big moment. Please be seated, gentlemen, please. Dr. Holmes, you'd better begin. Yeah. This morning, I feel that I have a special privilege. We are graduating a young man who in his four years has not only made an enviable record for himself as a student and as president of this class, but in so doing has overcome one of the greatest of physical handicaps, total blindness. In the devotion of his magnificent dog guide, he has found a substitute for his own eyes and gone forward with unfaltering courage. Together, they have shown us here at Cromwell that while there can be no sight without eyes, vision is a thing of the spirit. Donald Dean, will you come forward? Lad, he's calling it. Come on, boy. We've got to go up and get our diploma. APPLAUSE MUSIC Slowly and carefully, the seeing eye has developed the possibilities of giving freedom to the blind. An increasing number of sightless men and women are being restored to independence through the aid of the splendid shepherd dogs, whose faithfulness and intelligence earn them this tribute from the cavalcade of America. MUSIC This evening in Chicago, several hundred men and women are gathered in the Drake Hotel at a dinner given under the auspices of the Seeing Eye Society. The guest of honor is Mrs. Harrison Eustis. You have heard her mentioned in our cavalcade dramatization. Now we will hear her in person. Ladies and gentlemen, Mrs. Harrison Eustis speaking from Chicago. It has meant a great deal to the members of the Seeing Eye to watch more than 250 sightless people gain independence and freedom with seeing-eye dogs, and to see these people gradually take their rightful place in our seeing world. And I, on behalf of the Seeing Eye, wish to express our gratitude to the public who have made it possible for us to educate these dogs and teach those without sight to use them. I also wish to express my appreciation of the work done on this and other radio programs to explain and dramatize what we are doing. For only when the public fully realizes the value of the dog as a substitute for human eyes can we be sure of wholehearted support. I thank you. Many of our friends have suggested that since the cavalcade of America presents significant episodes in this country's history, it would be appropriate briefly to outline in these stories of chemistry the history of such a national institution as the DuPont Company, for the progress of DuPont has closely paralleled the progress of the nation. Such an occasion is a great opportunity to reflect on the history of the country and to reflect on the history of the country's history. It has paralleled the progress of the nation. Such an account takes us back 134 years when America was still to be built. In 1802, a young Frenchman named E.I. DuPont de Nemours, encouraged by his friend, President Thomas Jefferson, established a small powder mill on the banks of Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware. Black powder was a vital necessity to the pioneers. They used it as gunpowder to obtain food and protect themselves. When volunteers were pushed back, they used it as a blasting agent for clearing fields, mining coal and metals, building roads, canals, railroads, and many other projects that make for progress. Later, black powder was replaced for many blasting purposes by dynamite and other improved commercial explosives. Old-fashioned gunpowder gave way to the smokeless variety, which primarily was made for sporting uses, but when the safety of the country demanded for aiding the national defense. At the turn of the century, the world entered a chemical era, and DuPont kept the pace. Utilizing its knowledge of cellulose chemistry, DuPont produced coated fabrics, such as Fabricoid, plastic, such as pyrrolein, finishes, such as Buco, photographic film, rayon, and the transparent wrapping material for which DuPont's trademark is cellophane. From the company's experience in coal tar chemistry have come dye stuff, perfume bases, ingredients for medicines to relieve sickness and pain, photographic chemicals and products to improve rubber, oil, and gasoline. These new offspring of chemical research so far overshadow the original DuPont product that powder now amounts to less than 1% of DuPont's annual business. So it can be seen that as the nation has moved forward, so has the DuPont company, for it supplies products that serve basic human needs, thus providing better things for better living through chemistry. Music Don't forget if you would like a free copy of the illustrated folder called 33 Secrets of Christmas Gift Wrapping, just right to DuPont, Wilmington, Delaware. The story of Christmas Seals will be the subject of the broadcast next week at the same time when DuPont again zents the cavalcade of America. Music This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. Music
