The Cavalcade of America, presented by DuPont. America has always honored its heroines. The chivalry of the New World pays its own particular court, not only to historic ladies of great charm and culture, but equally to women of action. In one woman lives the memory of both action and beauty. The memoirs of the 18th century call her ravishing, divine, unbelievably lovely, placing her among the world's fairest women. But the fame that has enshrined her in the annals of American history had little connection with beauty alone. It is the story of this woman of action that the Cavalcade of America tells tonight, the famed American beauty, Dolly Madison. For her overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play the currently popular, A New Moon, and Old Serenade. The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America The Cavalcade of America Throughout her years as mistress of the White House, Dolly Madison, by her instinctive charm and sympathy, sought to avert the catastrophe threatening America in 1812. Had the handling of the disputes between England and America been entrusted to people with a determined tact of Dolly, matters might not have ended as sadly as they did. The idea of war was hated by both countries, yet they stupidly blunted into war. And it was a frantic, saddened woman who on a stormy night in 1814, waited nervously in the White House for her husband to come back from the battlefront. Why doesn't he come? He shouldn't leave me here to worry, Mr. Carroll. Mr. Madison felt that the army commanders at the fort preferred to have him there as a matter of morale, Madam. There's nothing they can do now, not with our troops driving back through the city. Look, look from this window, sir. The soldiers are running away. Yes, but the campaign was badly planned, Mrs. Madison, but that's... If Washington were here... Oh no, how fortunate he is dead. How would he feel to see a nation so disunited it couldn't drive the enemy from its gate? We've beaten them at sea. That leaves us some hope. Give me this by-glass, Mr. Carroll. I'm going to look out the window again. Oh, pray don't do that, Madam. Rockets are bursting everywhere. There's a messenger coming, ma'am. He's riding up the drive this minute. It's from the President. Madam Suki. Yes, sir. Perhaps Mr. Madison is on the way. Quiet, everybody! Quick, quick! We're alive! Don't everybody run! The President says to run, ma'am. Be quiet, Suki. What is it, Tom? Mrs. Madison, I've got a message for you here. Mr. President just scribbled it at the fort. Thank you. May I see it, Mrs. Madison? I won't leave you. You must. We're responsible for your safety. Jeb, call the pastor and Jacob Barker from the garden. The British will burn and pillage. They destroy all before them. Oh, I've never felt less of a Quaker. If I could only plant a cannon in every window I'd stay. We're beaten. Your husband would be the last to admit it. Mrs. Madison, you must come. Oh. Well, all right, I'll go. We have the carriage to the door, Mrs. Madison. Better be off at once. Suki, Jeb, take all the servants. Go now and leave in the wagon. Do your best to find safety. Yes, ma'am. When you're in Virginia, make the bombilla and save the mistress sensual. Yes, ma'am. Come on, let's go, ma'am. Oh, listen, they are curled. Your cloak, ma'am. Do you have a scarf? Mr. DePyster, can you reach the picture of Washington over the mantelpiece? With a chair, ma'am. Mrs. Madison, this is no time. If you do it like Mr. Washington, I'll not leave it here to be burned or stolen or lost. I have it, but the frame's heavy. Take off the frame. I don't think... Did it screw too tightly? Yes. Then get that axe, Mr. Barker. Smash it. This act will do it. Take only the cannon. Don't roll it. Get it safe to Virginia. I trust you for this, Robert DePyster. You will see it safe, ma'am. God bless you. Goodbye. Goodbye, ma'am. Run, ma'am. Hurry. I can't think of what importance you find a picture. Oh, that slowness is enough to break your heart. To hear a country dying. America did not die, but the War of 1812 dealt some bitter blows to the young republic. And the burning of the city of Washington was one of them. Dolly's inclination to stay, as usual, has been wiser than many of her advisors. Had she remained in the White House, the invading British, as in fact they later maintained, would have been the first to be killed. But the war of 1812 was not over. The war of 1812 was over. The war of 1812 was over. The war of 1812 was over. The invading British, as in fact they later maintained, would not have burned it. When the shadow of war was finally lifted from the land, Dolly Madison continued to set for future presidents' wives a code of genial, informal, kind-hearted behavior. And she retired to Montpelier with no less grace. Everyone flocked there for advice, consolation, and entertainment. But 19 years later, when James Madison died at the age of 85, the longest-lived of our presidents, Dolly felt lost at beautiful Montpelier. In her sixties then, burdened with sorrow and the heavy debts contracted by her son, she took a small house in Washington. What will happen, Mr. Reed, if the sheriff makes this foreclosure? Well, Mrs. Madison, you'll take all the slaves from Montpelier and sell them to settle Payne's debt. There's no other way I could get the money. You've sold everything you own, Mrs. Madison. I've often wondered how you get along. I make shifts. I'm economical. I know you think me a very foolish woman, Mr. Reed. No, ma'am. Payne's your only son. I know that. Mr. Reed, I really called you here to ask, when the sheriff seizes my slaves, is there any way to be sure that he sells them in families not separating husbands and wives and children? No, ma'am. That's just luck of the auction. I see. Poor creatures. Well, I can't let them be sold at auction. I don't know what else you can do. I can sell Montpelier. Oh, you can't do that, ma'am. It's the Madison family plantation and it's yours. Perhaps. Whoever bought it would let me come and look at the gardens in the spring. Mrs. Madison, you won't get a cent out of it. Your son's creditors will get every lick of the money. Let them. The slaves will be sold with the place as a unit. Yes, you best announce Montpelier for sale once. MUSIC Dolly Madison, the dowager they called her now, the straight, calm, gray-haired woman who lived in a tiny house and wore queer old-fashioned clothes, and yet was asked everywhere. People were not quite sure why they asked her. Many another shabby woman with beauty 20 years behind her would not have been considered desirable at the best reception. But young people flocked about her and the older people worried for her. Daniel Webster, who lived next door to her, had instructed his servant to slip food into Dolly's kitchen from time to time, where it became known that when Dolly did not dine out, she might not dine at all. But pride kept her silent, and it was only through the interest of a few friends that at last, one day on the floor of Congress... Gentlemen, there are unique services to be rendered to her country by a woman whose husband is high in public life. In a thousand unseen ways, she may smooth the path of government, she may mend broken friendships, and halt the drawing room feuds that too often become feuds on the floor of this Congress. She may be a willing listener to the hundreds who seek help from their government. Yet so rarely does a woman do so that the one perfect wife of officialdom has come to be known as Dolly Madison. Gentlemen, let me tell you of a reception I attended last week. An old lady, nearly 80 years old, walked into a room where a hundred people stood chattering. They fell silent at her entrance. Because she is still beautiful? No, because she has given her country a lifelong devotion, and the most thoughtless must pay her the tribute of silence. Gentlemen, I tell you, this Congress must pension Dolly Madison. Congress has pensioned far less worthy figures in American history than this venerable woman. They come at day, generations of officers... Aunt Dolly, Aunt Dolly! Who is it? Oh, it's you, dear. I'm so glad to see you. You're out of bed. Has anybody been here yet, Aunt Dolly? Why, no, dear. You're my first caller today. I thought for a minute you were Mr. Webster's servant. I spoke of bringing over some fresh rolls from their baking. He comes while you're here. We'll have tea, dear. Are you hungry, Aunt Dolly? Hungry? Oh, oh, no, my goodness. What put that idea into your head? Aunt Dolly, I've got something wonderful to tell you, and they'll just skin me alive for telling you first. Listen, something you shouldn't tell me, dear. Please don't. But I have to tell you, I ran out of the gallery the minute they took the vote. You're going to get $25,000. Twenty-five? They're going to buy all of Craig Uncle James' notebooks and his letters and his library and everything. Congress? United? Yes, and Mr. Stevens made a big speech, and he said the Madison papers would be more than worth $25,000 in a few years, and so they're going to put the money in the trust fund for you, and everyone cheered, and... Oh, my dear. Now you won't have to worry anymore, Aunt Dolly. Tomorrow, I'll be 80 years old. I knew that. It's a birthday present from Congress. My birthday present. The best one I've ever had. At last, before she died, the people of her own generation and century realized the greatness of Dolly Madison. She had genuinely loved and served her country, served it in the many difficult and invaluable ways that fall to the lot of a woman close to government. Most social figures long for power. Dolly Madison remained unselfish. She's been too long remembered for mere beauty, when in the history of America, Dolly Madison was really the kindliest of diplomats, the wisest of friends, and the most unobtrusive of counselors. A woman who well deserves an honored place in the cavalcade of America. And now here's Basil Rysdale speaking for the DuPont Company and bringing us another story from the wonder world of chemistry. Ever since the opening of the San Francisco World's Fair, one of the big topics of conversation among the crowds out there has been the wonder world of chemistry. This is the DuPont exhibit, located in the Holmes and Garden building, where chemists demonstrate chemical marvels and explain how they're produced. The lecturers who take you through this remarkable wonder world tour show the various steps from raw materials to finished product in a most fascinating way. As to the most interesting demonstration, that probably depends on your own special interest. I suppose that people who garden might vote for the pest control section, where you see what chemists are doing to fight insect enemies. The demonstration of refrigerants is another spectacular sight. The testing of neoprene, man-made rubber, and the demonstration of dyes are both full of dramatic interest. There are, in fact, scores of sites to hold your attention. Many people find particular interest in that latest miracle of chemistry, nylon, an extraordinary new material developed as a result of long research in DuPont laboratories. I am told that nylon is the first man-made organic textile fiber prepared wholly from raw materials from the mineral kingdom. When you see it in its various finished form, you can scarcely believe it is made from coal, water, and air. There in the wonder world of chemistry, the San Francisco World's Fair, you see nylon in the form of bristles, spun threads, and yes, finished hosiers. Fine hosiery is one of the most promising of the potential uses for nylon. Other likely uses are knit goods of many kinds, woven dress goods, bathing suits, underwear, fishing lines and fishing leaders, sewing threads, draperies, and upholstery. Nylon has exceptional strength in the elasticity as well as beauty. Filaments can be drawn as fine as a spider's web or of a size suitable for the remarkable toothbrush bristles now being used in Dr. West's Miracle Tough toothbrush. These extrawn bristles of nylon are most unusual since they are little affected by water, don't get soggy or limp, don't break off, and have an exceptionally long life. Yes, nylon is another spectacular achievement of the scientific age to be seen in the wonder world of chemistry at San Francisco. Another illustration of the DuPont pledge that does honor to all chemists better things for better living through chemistry. Music Next week in response to many requests, the Cavalcade of America will present a repeat broadcast of the life of Élutère Irine DuPont, the founder of the DuPont Company. On tonight's program, the part of Dolly Madison was played by Agnes Morehead. Until next week at this same time then, this is Thomas Chalmers saying good night and best wishes from DuPont. Music This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. Music
