presenting Charles Lawton in the laziest man in the world with Walter Houston as DuPont's commentator on the cavalcade of America sponsored by EI DuPont, Dinamours and Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Before we begin our play here's a timely tip to motorists. Don't let a sudden freeze catch your motor without winter protection. Have your dealer or service station clean the radiator, check hose connections, cylinder bolts, water pump, heater, fan and belt, then add the proper amount of DuPont Xeron or DuPont Xerox antifreeze. In order to know more about how properly to care for your car both winter and summer, send for the new DuPont booklet titled, Take Care of Your Cooling System and just mail a postcard to radio section DuPont Company, Wilmington 98 Delaware and a free copy will be sent to you promptly. Tonight in Cavalcade's fall series of great stars in great radio plays, the DuPont Company presents Charles Lawton as Benjamin Franklin in The Laziest Man in the World. And now to raise the curtain on this evening's play, here is your cavalcade commentator, Walter Houston. Good evening. If you were to visit as I do the great motion picture studios here in Hollywood, you would find there is one actor who has portrayed the widest possible range of characters, some from history, some not. Heroes, rogues, great men, simple men, men of all faces and temperaments. All have been played by tonight's distinguished Cavalcade star, Charles Lawton. And in Cavalcade's play, Mr. Lawton will portray a man who in real life played as many roles, who was a jack-of-all-trades and master of them all. A diplomat, prophet, scientist, revolutionary statesman, wit, moralist, sage, writer, publisher, called by some historians the greatest man the Western hemisphere has ever produced, Benjamin Franklin. Yes, tonight Charles Lawton, the many-sided actor, portrays Ben Franklin, the many-sided man, in the thumbnail sketch of one phase of Franklin's life, where Ben Franklin was also the laziest man in the world and readily admitted it. And it is the story of Ben Franklin's laziness we bring you in tonight's play. The DuPont Company presents Charles Lawton as Benjamin Franklin in The Laziest Man in the World, written by Eric Barnault on the Cavalcade of America. In his last years, Benjamin Franklin, the best known man in the world, lived quietly in Philadelphia. He was over 80. He was just a family man now, a man who wrote long letters to his friends. Every afternoon his little granddaughter, Deborah, would come into the old man's study so that he could help her with her lessons. Grandpa! Come in, come in. What are you doing? Working on something. Is it an invention? Oh, I suppose so. Aren't you wonderful, Grandpa? Is it a new invention? Yes, yes. I'll show it to you. Why, it's nothing but a long stick. Yes, but it has two prongs on the end of it. Do you see them? They're the secret. What are they for? I'll demonstrate it for you. It doesn't look like an invention. It is, though. Now, behold. Do you see that book way up there on the top shelf? With the gold letters? That's right. Supposing I want that book. Shall I get you your chair that unfolds into a stepladder? No, no, we won't need that. Not now. I'd like to work that. That's a good invention. But look, we hold the stick with the prongs right in front of the book. Then we go snap. It grabs the book like a hand. Yes. Just as if your old grandpa had an arm ten feet long. I just reach up the mechanical arm and grab a book anywhere I want. Snap. Oh, it's wonderful. Do you like that? Yes. Think how nice that would be for shopkeepers. I'm sure they'd all love one. Then they can reach boxes from high shelves without any trouble. Now, there's an idea. We'll offer it to them. Oh, my. Grandpa, all the neighbors like the chair that unfolds into a stepladder so much. All houses on the street have one already. Indeed. And to think, you invented that only a few months ago. You're the most wonderful inventor. I'm not. You are too. Everyone says so. And Mother says you're so industrious. I'm not a bit industrious. I'm just plain lazy. You are not. Yes, I am. I'm lazy. I'm the laziest man you know. Why do you suppose I invented this new invention? Other people don't mind walking up a stepladder six or eight times a day to get something off a shelf. But I hate it. I'm so lazy I invented a way of getting around it. I don't see how you can really call that being lazy. Why, just think of all the inventions you've made. All right, you just think of them. I'll tell you a secret. Don't tell anyone. I invented them all for the same reason. All to save me a little bit of energy. Why, I'm probably just about the laziest man in the world. Grandpa, I won't let you say such things. It's the very idea. Did I ever tell you about my very first invention? That's a good example. Was it your Franklin Stone? No, no, no, no. That came years later. This is when I was just a lad up in Boston. Did you invent something then or what? Oh, yes, sort of. One day another boy and I had gone swimming. Well, we'd been swimming all day and we were simply exhausted. Then it came time to start home back to Boston. Well, we were walking along the edge of the town. Oh, I wish we didn't have to walk all this way back. I'm stiff all over. Maybe a wagon will come along. Aren't you stiff too, Ben? I ache all over. Oh. Wait a minute. I have an idea about something. What? I want to fly my kite again for just a moment. What for? Let's get on. But it's wonderful kiting weather. Such a breeze. But let's get back to Boston. I'm tired out. You can wait a moment. Look at the kite shoot up. Oh, who cares about kiting now? Would you hold the kite for just a minute? Now what? Hold it. That's it. I'll only be a second. What are you getting undressed for? I'm going in the water. But what for? We've been swimming all day and it's late. Come on, we'd better be getting back or we'll catch it. Here, hold these clothes, will you? Yes, but... The ground's sort of muddy here. Don't lose those clothes now. What are you doing with the kite? Taking it in the river with me. What? You'll see. Watch. I'm tying it around my waist. Mmm, the water feels good when you float this way. Oh. Kite's pulling you along. Well, sure it is. That's the idea. Say, Henry, take my clothes into town with you. I'm riding back. Goodbye, Henry. See you in Boston. You see, Debbie, I had it even then, my incurable laziness. A lot of fun it was, too. I got back all right, but I had to go home without one of my stockings. Henry lost one on his way into town. Now, Grandpa, how can you keep saying you're lazy? Why, you've made up so many good mottos about how people should be industrious all the time. What do you know about my mottos? We had them on a calendar at school. Where? September was lost time is never found again. And October was the sleeping fox catches no pull. And November was diligence is the mother of good luck. And December was... You know, making up mottos is the kind of work I like. You don't have to get out of an easy chair for that. You mustn't say things like that. Why, just think of all the work you did inventing your harmonica, and your stove, and your other... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, harmonica. I'll tell you about that. It's a good point. You see, when I was in London trying to get the English to do away with some laws that weren't fair to the colonies, I stayed in a nice, cheerful house with an English family, and their daughter looked after me. They spoiled me and fed me tremendously. I became the lord of the household. One day we were having a jolly dinner. What was that noise? Why, Mother, it sounded right in this room. How strange. Spirits, you think? Well, it does sound in this room, but where? Ghosts. I'm going to look in that cupboard. Mother, it can't be in there. Oh, what is it? My glassware. It's gone. All my best dinner glasses gone. Oh, but that's impossible. All except the ones on the table. They've been stolen. Would you let me reassure you? Dr. Franklin, what have you been up to? Dr. Franklin. Would you let me explain, Mrs. Martin? You see this glass on the table? When the rim of a fine glass is wet and the finger is passed gently around the rim, we get... Heavens! Do you notice that it's difficult to tell where the sound comes from? It seems all around us, and you were doing it right under our noses. Notice further that this glass has a slightly lower pitch than this one. Oh, yes. Why, because it has more water in it. Now where is all my glassware? If you will step into the next room, the concert is about to begin. I wonder what he means. Why, look at that. All my 36 glasses in a long row. And you have a different amount of water in each glass. Now what would you like? Scottish air? A minuet? What amuses you? Dr. Franklin, are you going to run up and down that long row of glasses? Have I eaten so prodigiously in this house that the very thought of my running is laughable? Well, try it. Polly, don't be rude. I said nothing, Mother. A Scottish air! Mrs. Martin, your glassware is safe. Nothing will be broken. Oh, doctor. Wonderful! Beautiful! It's a difficult glass. Dr. Franklin, don't overdo it. Oh, nonsense. I hate it. Oh, it's a difficult glass. Oh, it's a difficult glass. Oh, it's a difficult glass. Oh, it's a difficult glass. Oh, it's a difficult glass. I hate it. He's all out of breath. That's it. Doctor, you're getting all red. Here, I'm afraid you'll have an affect me. Do you have to get up and down? No, Mother has to play the goat when I hang over. I'm quite all right. Oh, dear. Oh, stop. Please. Just don't go out. Please. No use. It's impossible. I'm afraid that's not a very practical musical instrument, is it? Oh, but it was beautiful, doctor. Let me sit down. Oh. Oh. I know what's the matter with it. I'll have some goblets made without stems and mount them on a spindle to be revolved by a foot pedal like a spinning wheel. What a wonderful idea. Then all the musician would have to do is to sit on a comfortable chair and operate the foot pedal and lightly touch his hand to each glass. Why couldn't I think of that? Well, no, within a few years, Deborah, they were playing the harmonica all over Europe. Why, they played it for the empress at the court in Vienna. But it was all my laziness. You're teasing me. What makes you think so? Do you remember these funny spectacles that I invented? What are they for? Well, I used to have two pairs of glasses, one for reading and writing and one for distant prospects. But I like to look out of the window now and then while I'm working, and it fixed me dreadfully to have to change my glasses all the time. I was always putting on one pair of glasses and taking off another. Well, I got so exasperated, I invented these. Those funny ones. You see that each lens has two different focuses. The lower part is for reading and the upper part is for distance. Now I don't have to change glasses at all. My, I guess perhaps you are lazy all right, Grandpa. Yes. Well, it's very puzzling because every time I see you, you're working hard on something. Mother keeps telling me how you used to spend just hours and days working on electricity. Electricity, oh, that's a long roundabout story. Those electrical bottles and batteries and things. Well, I can explain that all right. Did, did anyone ever tell you about the Electric Christmas party we had one year? No. Well, that's a good place to begin. One day we invited our neighbors and friends for a demonstration, but it was also a party, an electricity party. Friends, friends, since this is an electrical Christmas party, we shall roast our turkey by an electrical jack. Over a fire we shall now kindle by the electrical bottle. Afterwards we shall eat a plum pudding with a flaming sauce ignited by electricity. Here you see our equipment. Doesn't it look dangerous? It is dangerous, madam, extremely dangerous. You'd better step back there, young man. I want to be close. Tommy, step back. It's a good idea not to be too intimate with this machine unless you've had a good deal of experience with it. I caution you all to be very careful not to touch the positive and negative connections at the same moment. What would happen if we did? I have not experimented, sir. It would hardly seem wise. Step back, Tommy. Oh. We are ready to proceed. The electrical fluid will leap from the positive here across this gap, igniting the tinder for our fire. Will we see anything? You will see a flash of electrical fire, sir. Oh, my. Now then, we take the negative connection and... Oh, no. Dr. Franklin. He's hurt. He's fainted. Must have been the electric fire. Look, sir, blue. Oh, be quiet, Tommy. Dr. Franklin. Dr. Franklin. Stand back, everybody. Let him breathe. Well, his heart's still beating. I can hear it. Stand back, please. Shall I call Mrs. Franklin? Oh, no, no. Don't frighten her. He'll be all right in a moment. I'm quite sure. Dr. Franklin, can you hear me? His left hand's all wide. Tommy, will you be quiet? Dr. Franklin. This is what comes of meddling with supernatural things. Dr. Franklin. Can you hear us, doctor? Are you all right? Now, friends, we take the negative... You've already done that, Dr. Franklin. That's why you're down on the floor now. Am I? Oh, you're all right. You're resting a moment. You've just had a severe shock. His head's still wide. Tommy, be quiet, will you? Well, the blood will come back in a moment, I believe. There was quite a flash, doctor. And such a noise. Oh, don't try to get up, doctor. Just sit there a moment. Yes. What did it feel like? It felt like being struck by lightning, I'd imagine. As if I'd received a blow in every part of my body. Poor man. Lightning? That's it. Did you say there was a flash? Oh, yes. A noise like thunder. Do you smell that smell? Do you catch a sulfurous smell? Why, yes, I do. That's just the odor that follows a thunder gust. Friends, this supports the notion of mind that's been haunting me for weeks. If electricity and lightning really are the same, then we're on the verge of some knowledge very important to mankind. I hope you'll forgive me for interrupting our electric Christmas party with this unseemly performance. Help me up here. It was the most vivid demonstration, doctor. Very exciting. And frightening. And perhaps not uninstructive. Lightning and electricity. There is a connection there, and I'm going to track it down. Dr. Franklin. What are we going to do with the turkey? Ha-ha. Cook it in the usual way. Ha-ha-ha-ha. You are listening to Charles Lawton as Benjamin Franklin, in The Laziest Man in the World, on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by E.I. DuPont, De Namoors & Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. And now as our play continues, here is our Cavalcade commentator, Walter Houston. Benjamin Franklin, trying to prove to his little granddaughter that he is the laziest man in the world, is telling her the story that has become legend of how he and his son on a stormy hill outside Philadelphia blew the lightning down from the sky. As our play continues, we find Ben Franklin and his son carrying a kite across a windswept meadow. Hi, son. Storm's coming closer. Be careful of the kite. Do we have to bring this? Of course. It's the basis of the whole experiment. Well, I just hope none of the neighbors see us. Why? What's the matter? Flying a kite at my age. They'll think I'm not right in my head. Ha-ha. Don't you worry so much about people's opinions. We may prove something today that philosophers throughout the world are trying to learn. You turn here across this meadow. Starting to rain. Yes. Let the kite up now. Quickly as you can. Why did you make it a silk? To withstand the storm. It'll be rough up there, so paper would tear to shreds. That's why the crossbars are cedar. It's flying up fast. Now, we're going to that shed over there. I want you to take care of the kite while I watch what happens. Here, give me the end of that line. I'll have to attach that. Attach it to what? To a silk ribbon and a key. The sparks should stream off the end of the key. It's a simple apparatus. And if we get sparks, does that prove that lightning is electricity? Exactly. Why are you so anxious to prove that? You step inside the shed, boy. There's no need to get wet. Do you remember the story the sailor told me about how his ship burned last winter? You mean the Providence, off the Cape? Yes. Watch the kite now. Is it far up? Yes, sir. The sailor told me that there was a global fire on the masthead and that it ran down a tired rope to the deck. I remember he thought it was the wrath of God. Yes, but I think it was lightning. I think the masthead attracted the electricity and the lightning just as our kite will and that the tired rope acted as a conductor. Like our kite line? Yes. And if I can prove that, that fires, many fires, are caused by the electric fluid and lightning, I should be able to invent something to prevent the fires. There's a large thunder cloud coming over now. Good. Anything happening? No, no. It's a great cloud. No sparks yet. Maybe the line isn't wet enough. What would that do? The string is not a conductor, but water is. So the string won't conduct the electricity until it's thoroughly soaked. Look, look. What is it? The strands of hemp, they're sending on in. They're bristling up. Look. Sparks. The electric fluid is flowing through. We've proved it. We've proved it. We've proved it. And I guess you remember the rest, Debbie. Once I proved that, I knew how to save thousands of people's homes and churches and public buildings from being struck by lightning. Lightning rods. Lightning rods to conduct the electric fluid into the ground. Did you invent the lightning rod out of laziness too, Grandpa? Of course, of course. You think I'm joking, don't you? I don't know. Well, I'm not, not exactly. With lightning rods, I made a lot of people's lives safer and more comfortable. You know, I organized a fire department here in Philadelphia. And whenever any home was struck by lightning, we'd rush with our leather buckets to try to save lives and property. We were often too late. Well, we don't have to do that anymore. Now, when a thunder gust comes in the middle of the night, you wake up for a moment and think, doesn't that sound good? Then you go back to sleep again, don't you? I like to hear a thunder when I'm in bed. Most people do nowadays because now they're safe. And so I did my bit to help everybody be a little lazier. You don't really mean lazy, do you? You mean comfortable and happy. Ah, Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, you understand. I thought you did. You know, I think people are very important, don't you? You're important. Everybody's important. Much too important to spend their time climbing up and down ladders all day. Why, that kind of thing makes a man a slave, and he's not a slave. One of these days, nobody will be a slave, because, well, man can invent things to do those jobs for him. You mean you can, Grandpa. Well, Debbie, in all my inventions, I was trying to make man free of a certain slavery and drudgery, to make extra hands for him and arms that could reach everywhere, to give men freedom and power so they could go on and make a better world. Then nobody would have anything to do, Grandpa. They'd all be like kings. Kings are all right, Debbie, provided that everybody can be one. And they will be kings someday, kings of the material world. Yes, yes, I believe that. I believe that. Well, now, it's time we got around to your lesson, isn't it? If you like. What do we have to do today? I have to spell words from Webster's Speller. Ah, let me see that list. Let's hear you spell some of these words. Try this one, uh, tomorrow. Tomorrow, T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W. Tomorrow. ["The Star Spangled Banner"] Our thanks to you, Charles Lawton, to all members of Cavalcade's cast, for this evening's pleasant insight into the life of a great American. Applause I don't have to tell you that the boys in the service enjoy letters from home. Well, here at home, we like to get letters from them, too. I know the men and women of the DuPont Company like to hear from DuPont employees who are overseas. They're always interested in hearing about the DuPont products that are doing a job over there. To give you an example, I'm going to ask Gaine Whitman to read you a letter that came in not a long ago from a former DuPont employee, a letter about DuPont cellulose sponges. Thank you, Mr. Houston. This letter is from an officer serving with the Army in Europe. He mentions receiving the new 10-in-1 ration, included in which was a DuPont sponge. Here's what he has to say about these sponges made by chemical science. What do I use them for? Well, I'll start out by saying they're handy, plenty handy. They're like dessert after dinner. I've washed with the sponges, that is, bathed. They've been exceptionally good when it came to washing mud off personal equipment and boots. And I've used them in saddle-soaping my leather boots, shoes, pistol holster, and so on. If we were in the field instead of this fancy setup we have now, they'd be even more useful, especially in the kitchen for washing kitchen utensils and mess kits. That's the best description. They're handy and most everyone has one and uses it. Oh yes, I've even used mine to wash off the German helmets I'm sending home. I grabbed two sponges when we first landed, and I've been using both without replacement. They aren't worn out, so there's no need to discard them. When we move, I pack them in my field bag along with extra pistol ammunition and a clean pair of socks. Unquote. There is the wartime service record of two of the DuPont sponges that will return to you as soon as the war is won. Ask better things for better living through chemistry. And now here is your Cavalcade commentator, Walter Houston. Next week, Cavalcade has the honor to present the distinguished actor Robert Montgomery in his first radio appearance since his service with the United States Navy. And our Cavalcade play is the story of one of America's outstanding naval figures, Admiral George Dewey. Our DuPont Cavalcade story reminds us that our present-day Navy was brought into being by men like Admiral Dewey, for he worked long to build a Navy strong enough to resist the forces which he foresaw would one day threaten the security of this country. Be with us next Monday when Robert Montgomery stars as Admiral George Dewey on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Thank you and good evening. Music Imagine if your family's dinner were to cost you $25 every night. That may sound ridiculous, but it isn't. You could be spending that much on food right now if you or your grocer or your government were to let up in the fight to keep prices down. What should you do? Simply pledge never to pay more than the legal price for any food. That way you help yourself, you help your grocer, and you help America. Music The role of Deborah, Benjamin Franklin's granddaughter, was played by Eleanor Taylor. The musical glasses were played by Harry Powers. The music on tonight's Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. This is Gain Whitman sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor E.I. DuPont Dinamours & Company of Wilmington, Delaware. We invite you to be with us next week to hear Robert Montgomery in The Admiral. Music This is the National Broadcasting Company.
