The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the use of Christmas seals to raise funds for the fight against tuberculosis. This evening the DuPont Cavalcade tells the story of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, founder of the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium, now Trudeau Sanatorium, at Saranac Lake, New York. Every year at this time, through the sale of Christmas seals, you too can help in the work which has been started by such men as Edward Livingston Trudeau. Dr. Trudeau worked as a pioneer, and the result of his research has proved beneficial to thousands suffering from the disease. The same spirit that inspired men like Trudeau is found today in many laboratories throughout the country, where they are working to add to our daily comforts and conveniences. Their work is aptly expressed in the DuPont pledge, Better Things for Better Living, Through Chemistry. As an overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra bring us Cole Porter's latest melody in the still of the night from the picture Rosalie. The DuPont Cavalcade moves forward. In the lives of certain great men, we have the proof that in a losing fight, there may be glory never achieved in victory. Such a man was Edward Livingston Trudeau, born in New York City in 1848, a French parentage. After graduating from the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, he began to practice in 1871. He had been an active, vigorous youth, but during his 25th year, he began to feel ill and finally consulted Dr. Janeway, a famous New York physician. We find them in Dr. Janeway's office. Well, Dr. Janeway? I find it hard to tell you. Then there is something the matter. Go ahead. The upper two thirds of the left lung. tuberculosis? Yes. You're sure? Positive. I'm sorry, Trudeau. How to break it to my wife? I wish I could help you. I know now how a man feels when he's sentenced to death, on the date for his execution, I said. You mustn't be so morbid. Your trouble isn't necessarily fatal. Don't, doctor. I know. My brother died from tuberculosis. But you are young. You've got everything to live for. There's always a chance. Rest. See if the condition clears up. Then let me look at you in six months. You're very kind. But we might as well be honest. You don't think I'll be here in six months, do you, doctor? Do you? I don't know. In 1873, there was no known cure for tuberculosis. Dr. Trudeau had been an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and loved the woods. He and his friend Lou Livingston had spent happy vacations at Paul Smith's Hotel for Huntsmen in the Adirondacks. Here, Dr. Trudeau determined to return for the short time he believed was left to him. Livingston consented to take him on the lengthy journey, though it meant several days by train and boat and a long drive over bad roads. At last, they arrive at the camp, where Smith, Mrs. Smith, and several guides are waiting. Well, Mr. Livingston, we thought you'd never get here. Hello, Paul. Hello, Mrs. Smith. Hello, Mr. Livingston. What a trip for that washboard roll. Yes, I can imagine it was. How are you, Martin? Fine. How are you, Fitz? Hiya, Mr. Livingston. Well, Dr. Trudeau, you don't look none too comfortable. I'm afraid I'm pretty sick, but... Well, the boys are wanting to see you, but they can wait. I'll have you upstairs in two jerks. Put your arms around my neck now. Hold on now. That's it. Well, glad to see you, doctor. Stand back, you fellas, now. Dr. Trudeau ain't doing no receiving just now. Someone go ahead and open the bedroom door. I will, Fred. Am I too heavy, Fred? Why, you're no chart auto, Liv, doc. What you been doing to yourself? Well, you don't weigh no more than a dry lamb's skin. No, I'm only about half the man I was, but... You know, Fred, there's something about these woods. Quietness. There's peace up here. Yeah, it'll help you, doc. I'm sure it will. Just the sight of them gives me hope. Here you are, Fred. Just set him down easy on the bed. There you are. Thank you, Fred. Now, Dr. Trudeau, just as soon as we can make you comfortable, I think you should have something to eat. That'd be very nice, Mrs. Glass of milk? A glass of milk? Oh, you're back in the mountains now, Dr. Trudeau. I've got a tray all set for you with eggs and brook trout and pancakes and coffee. That sounds wonderful, Mrs. You know, I... I really believe I'm beginning to feel better already. Separation from his family was a great hardship. The next summer in the Adirondacks did Dr. Trudeau so much good that he and his wife decided to brave a winter at Paul Smith's camp. In January, Dr. Trudeau meets the train at Malone, 40 miles from the camp, and their party starts back to Paul Smith's. Dr. and Mrs. Trudeau are in a cutter. Paul Smith and Fred Martin follow in another sleigh with the two children and the nurse Mary. The snow is falling heavily, and Dr. Trudeau tries to keep his wife from worrying. Why, this wind is terrible. It's a blizzard, all right. Are you warm enough? Yes, but I'm wondering about the children. Mary will see to them. They have plenty of fur robes. They're not used to cold like this. What is the temperature, dear? Oh, about zero. Zero? All those poor babies. They're all right. Balls. Following is very closely. I can hear the sleigh. Oh! What's that? There you go. Something's happening. I hear cats crying. The baby's crying too. The sleigh's overturned. They're in a drift. Let me out! No, you mustn't get out under the snow, Lottie. Hold the reins. I'm going. Oh, wait. You mustn't. Eddie! Hey! Are you all right? Come on, get up. Anyone hurt? Get up there. Oh, no. All right, sir. Don't cry, baby. Yeah, I know. Daddy, I'm cold. This way up there, there's snow all over my neck. Oh, darling. I haven't seen him in so many years. I knew he should never have come. Hold the baby close to you, Mary. Keep the robe about him, so the snow won't get in. Yes, sir. Dad, now. Come here, darling. Daddy, you get the snow off. Get up, you flaky. Cut! No use, Paul. It goes up to their shoulders. Never get this sleigh out of here. It'll kill your horses. I know what we'll do, Fred. Get a couple of shovels from the baggy sleigh. We'll take the place in this hollow and put them all in. Doc, the missus, and the kids. They'll keep warm there with the robe. What becomes of me? What becomes of me? You too, Mary. Then we'll unharness the horses and lead them up the hill. We can do that, Martin. Then we can pull the sleigh out of the drift ourselves. Go ahead now. There's no time to argue, Doc. All right. What are you doing? I'm getting a shovel too. I'm going to start digging. Now, Doc, you're a sick man. Stop that. All right, Fred. Daddy, I'm going. I want to go. Oh, no, no. Stop crying, baby. Stop crying. Watch Daddy. See? Daddy's making a snow house. Some hours later, as night comes on, huddled together in the snow shelter, Dr. and Mrs. Trudeau try to quiet the fears of Mary and the children. Paul Smith and Fred Martin have gone for help. Why did I ever come here? Why did I ever come? Now, Mary, be quiet. I'm used to working here. Oh, Dad, it is. I know, darling, I know. But we'll get to where it's warm after a while. Now, snuggle up and try to go to sleep. I don't like this snow house. Lottie, why did I ever let you come up here? I risked your life and the children's just because I wouldn't pace the winter alone. What a coward. Oh, no, you're not a coward. When you're so brave. I'm not brave. I just want you to be with me always. Bless you. Because without you, I couldn't go on. Lottie, something curious happened to me a few weeks ago. I've been waiting to tell you about it. Yes? It came in a dream. Do you believe in dreams? Well, sometimes. I fell asleep when the fox ran over the hill and I dreamed it. I was curious. Tell me. I dreamed I started a sanatorium here in Saranac for people like me. People who have tuberculosis. Oh. It was a great sanatorium where everyone lived out of doors, ate and slept in the open air. And it cured them. Lottie, it cured them. You mean as it's curing you. Yes. There is something in it, Lottie. I don't know what, but the air up here, the peace and the quiet of the place. It is helping me. Of course, the doctors laugh. We'll let them laugh. You are better, Eddie. I'm going to do some experimenting. If we ever get out of this. Find out what it is that makes some people die. How to fight it. All that shoveling, Eddie. You shouldn't have done it. Why doesn't Paul come? I don't know. He must be lost. Don't say that, Lottie. I've been thinking it's raging. Eddie, look. The wind's changed. It's shifting. The snow is blowing down into our hollow. You're right, it is. We'll be covered. We'll have to get out. Eddie, I'm so cold. I can't move. And look at Shat. Her poor little face. You give it to me, darling. No. We'll die if we go into that storm. We'll be buried in the snow if we stay here. There's nothing else we can do. Lottie, can you ever forgive me for this? Forgive you? What you must be thinking of me. I'm thinking, thank God we're all together. I'm gonna love it. Mother. Mother, I want to go home. Never mind, dear. I want to go where the lights are, mother. Now be quiet, darling. Put your head down. There aren't any lights. There are lights. See, mother? They're moving. They're waving around. Eddie, there are lights. They're lanterns. Look. Praise be. They've come for us. It's Paul. Here. Here we are, Paul. Here we are. Hello. Hello. Maybe I'm gonna live to build my sanatorium after all. At the end of the following year, Dr. Trudeau, convinced that his only chance for life was to remain in the mountains, settled at Sarenac Lake, about 40 miles from Paul Smith's. He became increasingly interested in the disease which was consuming him, and at which that time was considered incurable. He again began to practice medicine a little, and started a series of experiments on the fresh air treatment for tuberculosis. His dream of a sanatorium became a definite plan. In the summer of 1882, he talks to Dr. Alfred Loomis, a specialist from New York. Well, admit it, Dr. Loomis. You examined me up here the first year. You never thought you'd see me alive again. Well, you certainly proved your point, Trudeau. This crime, it does have a beneficial effect in cases like yours. Doctor, if there were a sanatorium at Sarenac, a place where patients could live in separate cottages, after they opened, a place where they could come for less than cost, would you send your patients there? Of course I would, like a shot. You don't know where I can find one, do you? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm thinking of building one. You're thinking of building a sanatorium? Why, a man alive, it would cost a fortune. Not the way I'm going to build it. I'd start in a very small way. Build part of a main building, a cottage or two. But even that takes money. I know, but you see, I have friends who are interested in a thing like this. I believe I could raise enough for a start. That would be a fine thing to do, Trudeau. And you'll send your patients here if we build a sanatorium and recommend the climate to other doctors? I certainly will. When I consider what it's done for you, you were a dying man, and now look at you. Come in. Oh, hello, Fitz. Can I see you a moment, Doctor? Surely. How are you, Fitz? Well, hiya, Dr. Loomis. Well, Trudeau, if you'll get along with the sanatorium idea, let me know. I have a site all picked out. The old fox runway on the side of the mountain. I haven't figured out how I'm going to buy that yet, but it's worth thinking about, isn't it, Doctor? It's a splendid plan. Where did you get the idea? I dreamed about it once, and I've never been able to forget it. I hope your dream comes true. Well, I must be on my way now. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night. Good night, Doctor. Good night, Fitz. Good night. Hey, Doctor, have you really made up your mind that you want to build this sanatorium? I wanted as much as I've ever wanted anything in my life, Fitz. Yeah, but I don't see my way clear. You got money enough for the first building, huh? Yes, but I haven't any land to put them on. Oh, that's common to that. You see, some of the guides got together when we heard you was wishing for some land, and we bargained for 16 acres. Got a right good price. So if you want that land, we'd be proud to have you accept it as a sort of a gift from us. I couldn't accept it. Oh, you can't get out of acceptance. That's what I come over to tell you. It's yours. I don't know what to say. How to thank you. Oh, don't bother, Doc. You're awful welcome. Of course, I do think it's a darn shame to spoil a good fox runway by building a sanatorium on it. In the remaining 30 years of Dr. Trudeau's life, a great institution grew from the first tiny cottage, the little red, to a splendid modern hospital at Saranac Lake. Dr. Trudeau outlived most of the strong men who had seen his arrival, but all of his life he fought a losing battle, and he knew it. Handicapped by his diseased, wracked body, he bowed to the inevitable and pushed bravely ahead. His fame spread as his strength failed. In May 1910, as president of the Eighth Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons, he goes to Washington to deliver an address on the value of optimism in medicine. He is so weak that he has to be helped into the lecture hall. You'd better sit here in the ante room and rest for a little while, Dr. Trudeau. Yes, dear. You have a few moments before it's time to speak. I haven't as much strength as I thought I had, but I'll be all right in a moment. When the chairman is motioning you to the platform, may I help you? I think I can make it by myself, thank you. Are you going into the auditorium, Lottie? Why, I think I shall stay here, dear. I can hear perfectly. And be near in case of casualties. I need you near me, my dear. I can do nothing without you. Wish me luck. Oh, my darling. He walks very feeling. We shouldn't have permitted him to come. Oh, we couldn't have forbidden it. His heart was in it. Yes, I know. There is little need of my introducing the next speaker, do you? We are honored to have him as our president. We are grateful to him for coming here today. He lived on borrowed time for many years, Mr. Rudolph. The courage has always carried him through. And what courage he has. The courage is the vanquished. The vanquished? Victory and defeat. Physically he has been forced to yield, to spend years on a sick end. But his spirit has never yielded. I present our beloved president, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau. Optimism is the product of a man's heart rather than his will. Of his emotions rather than his will. It is a mixture of faith and imagination. And some of it brings the vision that leads one from the previous path. Urges him to effort when obstacles block the way. Hopeful to the last. What is it about the man? A sort of glory. Yes, a sort of glory. The glory of the vanquished. Dr. Trudeau died November 5, 1915, at Saranac Lake, 42 years after a sentence of death was first pronounced upon him. Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium, now Trudeau Sanatorium, stands as the result of his courageous battle, a monument to man's victory over disease and death. DuPont salutes Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau for his courage and his achievements in the Cavalcade of America. Now it is appropriate that we present as our guest on this evening's DuPont Cavalcade program, Dr. Francis B. Trudeau, only surviving son of the pioneer in tuberculosis control and the directing head of Trudeau Sanatorium at Saranac Lake. Dr. Trudeau, just how much progress has been made in anti-tuberculosis work since those early days? Science has given us vastly better control of tuberculosis. In 30 years, it has dropped from first place to seventh place as a cause of death in this country. And how has this been done, Dr. Trudeau? A great deal of our success is due to better public understanding. Agencies such as the National Tuberculosis Association with its Christmas Seals, state health units, public health nursing groups, and far-sighted industries have taught people that tuberculosis is curable when discovered in its early stages. How can you make sure that the disease is found before it reaches an advanced stage? The only certain way of detecting the disease in its earlier stages is through a medical examination. If there is any reason for suspicion, an x-ray should be taken. Well, Dr. Trudeau, you mentioned the part industry is playing. Just how do industrial organizations contribute to the campaign against the disease? Tuberculosis is contracted through association with those who have it. To protect their employees against spread of the disease and to help any that contract it to obtain the necessary care, certain companies have set up procedures which include physical examinations at regular intervals. We need not go far to find a good example. The DuPont Company has a very far-sighted tuberculosis control policy. Since those of your organization who go to Sarenac Lake are referred to me for care and treatment, I know from experience how your plan works. Fine. Then you're elected to tell how this company is dealing with the tuberculosis problem, Dr. Trudeau. It is not only a humane and idealistic thing to do, but money is actually saved in the long run when a method is set up to check tuberculosis before it gains a foothold and to care for its victims of this disease until they can return to useful occupations. The DuPont Company requires everyone to have a thorough medical examination when first employed. In addition, employees are urged to undergo at least one physical checkup each year, which they get at no cost to themselves. In both cases, the examination includes an x-ray of the lungs, which is the most accurate and complete means of detecting tuberculosis in its earliest stages. Well, suppose an employee has contracted the disease since his last regular medical examination. What's the next step, Dr. Trudeau? Well, as you know, the company has a wage disability plan whereby employees are given full pay for a certain period while they are off the job. It makes it possible for any employee bound to have tuberculosis to seek medical aid immediately and to get the physical and mental rest he needs. Freedom from immediate money worries is mighty important, for the patient's frame of mind has a lot to do with his chances of getting well. Complete rest and proper medical attention during the first three months is often the most important factor in affecting a cure. Under this plan, Dr. Trudeau, just how much of a chance does the average person have of throwing off the disease? That depends upon many things, including the patient's physical condition and his willingness to cooperate with those who are trying to help him. However, at present, of the male employees treated at Sarenac Lake, more than 85% are being returned to useful jobs. And I understand that a similar record has been set by Stonywalls, a nearby sanitarium to which female employees are directed. Well, those figures seem to indicate, Dr. Trudeau, that a large percentage of those who get tuberculosis have a chance to win their fight against it. Exactly. Within those organizations that have similar plans, new cases are gradually declining. Such companies are giving mighty valuable help in our effort to eradicate tuberculosis. Well, thank you, Dr. Trudeau. The DuPont Company is proud to be able to play a part in such work. And in closing, may I remind our listeners that you can help through your purchases of Christmas seal stamps, thus hastening that day when tuberculosis may be stamped out forever. The Master Navigator, the life story of Nathaniel Bowditch, mathematician and practical navigator, and what was called his Christmas miracle, will be the subject of our broadcast when next week, the same time, DuPont again presents the Cavalcade of America. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.
