 The Cavalteed of America, presented by DuPont. From primeval days when men clawed to each other from hilltop, from the time when they lighted signal flares on a summit of mountains and great drums beat from the depths of the forest, the story of civilization has unfolded through the exchange of ideas. Man's desire to communicate with other men has been an interpenetrating force through the centuries. The projection of the human voice to the farthest outposts of the earth was originally conceived in the mind of an American citizen and civilization leaped forward at the sound of that voice. This man stands among the greatest scientific geniuses of any age, Alexander Graham Bell. As our obriture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play from now on, from Cole Porter's musical success, leave it to me. The genius of Alexander Graham Bell was not alone confined to the world of sound. He was a teacher, a farmer, and an author, as well as a scientist. When he was a boy in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father Melville Bell developed a visible speech chart for his work as Professor of Education at Edinburgh University and taught his son the mechanics of the human throat. Young Bell possessed a scientific frame of mind. He organized a society for the promotion of fine arts among boys and weekly meetings were held in the attic of the Bell home. Surrounded by shelves holding the society's prized collections of bird's nest, the skeleton of a squirrel, numerous dried frogs. Now, it's really going to be a scientific society. We've got to be professors. So, well, you'll be a professor of botany and Henry, you'll be a professor of ornithology. What's that? Bird. It has something to do with birds. I? But who are you going to be, Alex? Me. I'll be professor of anatomy. What's that? If you're inside, knowin' about what's inside you. Oh, how do you know so much about it? You know, science? I? Science? Well, I learned a lot from Father. I guess what goes when we speak. I taught my dog Rags to talk. Rags talk? Your dog talk? I did. I don't believe it. Easy, do I? Or it was easy. As long as I followed Father's visible picture. You can't tell us you made your dog talk. You, uh, want me to prove it to you? You can't. All right. Come here, Rags. Come here, Rags. That's a good dog. Now, now, look. If I hold Rags' mouth a certain way, certain kinds of sounds come out. It's still like you see, I make that dog talk. You can't. He wouldn't in a million years. He is like you watch. You ready? All right. Come on now, Rags. Come on. Come on. Say, how are you, Grand Mama? I told you, wait. Come on now, Rags. Come on, Rags. How are you, Grand Mama? His first scientific experiment, teaching his dog to talk. From his father, Alexander Graham Bell inherited an intense interest in sound and speech. And as he grew to manhood, Bell developed his boyhood fascination with the mechanics of the human throat to mature a study and research. At 21, he was a teacher conducting classes and giving lectures and private lessons on his father's system of visible speech. The intensity and volume of his work dangerously affected his health. And in 1870, for change of climate, the Bell family came to America, settling in Brantford, Ontario. Eventually, young Bell went to Boston. It was there that he began teaching deaf children to speak. And one afternoon in his office, Mary's a very beautiful child, Mrs. Meeple's. How old is she? Going on four. And she's never spoken a word? No, sir. Not a word. She's never heard a sound. Maybe it was my fault, Mr. Bell. I sometimes wonder... Oh, it's not your fault, Mrs. Meeple's. Unfortunately, many children are born and deaf. Will Mary come over to the desk, have I beckoned? Yes, sir. That's a good girl, Mary. I know you can't hear me, but I'm going to teach you to speak. Will she be frightened if I touch her throat, Mrs. Meeple's? Parachute, sir. Oh, yes, of course. What are you going to do, Mr. Bell? Well, Mrs. Meeple, with an adult, I could teach him my father's visible speech chart. He would learn to form his lips in various sounds according to certain symbols. America, please, though. I know. It'll take a lot of practice and patience, I'm afraid. I'll have to work her mouth with my hand at first, and later I'll draw a blackboard map of her head, her lips, and throat, you see, and teach her with pictures and sound symbols until she can read. Why are there a long time, Mrs. Meeple? Now, then, Mary? Don't have it, sir. Oh, no, no, I won't. If she'll just give me a tone. Now, let's see. Sound and speech. Alexander Graham Bell was obsessed with the study of the mechanism of the human voice. He taught many deaf persons to speak and became a lecturer on vocal physiology at Boston University. In the course of his studies, he worked on electrical experiments with a young man named Thomas Watson. Late one night in an attic over William's shop at 109 Court Street, Boston. As the sputtering flames in the gas get through dancing shadows on the walls, I think I'd better be going home, Mr. Bell. What time is it, Mr. Watson? It's after two, sir. Oh, all right. A little more work on this apparatus, and I think we'll have a multiple telegraph just about finished. I hope so, sir. Well, good night. Just a minute, Mr. Watson. I have another idea. Yes, sir. I haven't told you about it. It'll surprise you. Yes, I've had it about a year, Mr. Watson. If I can get a mechanism that will make a current of electricity vary in its intensity when a sound is passing through it, I can telegraph any sound, even the sound of speech. What's that, sir? Speech talking by telegraph. Let's sit down, Mr. Watson. I'll tell you about it. Through the long hours of the night, Watson listened in new fascination, as with characteristic clarity, Alexander Graham Bell first revealed an idea that was to link continents, that was to bring the whole civilized world within the reach of a man's arm. But the idea was an expensive one, and Bell decided he'd better perfect his multiple telegraph first and apply for Washington for a patent. After obtaining the patent, Bell sought backers to enable him to experiment for his new idea. A telephone? You mean I can speak over a wire and somebody else can hear me, and I can hear him? No use talking, Bell. I never put money in a wire scheme. And I must be frank, I've never heard anything as wire as your idea. You're, uh, what do you call it? You're terrible. I'm not interested, Bell. If you want a straight answer, I don't believe you know what you're talking about. If you put some money into your preposterous scheme, why don't you ask me to apply? It was a discouraging time for Alexander Graham Bell, but a desperately determined one. Finally, he secured a backer, Gardner Green Hubbard, the father of Mabel Hubbard, a deaf girl who's instruction in the mechanics of speech he was supervising. Bell and Thomas Watson went earnestly to work, experimenting with an apparatus which Bell believed would develop into the telephone. As the months passed, Mabel Hubbard fell deeply in love. On one of his visits to the stately Hubbard home for a Sunday dinner of roasting, Gardner Green Hubbard talks with Bell in the library as the deaf girl Mabel silently watches them. Mr. Bell, I've been thinking about your invention. Well, it'll take a little time. You see, the telephone is... Well, I'm talking about the multiple telegraphs. You could make that into a financial success. Well, I hadn't thought about it. I've thought about it. You could sell that multiple telegraph to the Western Union people. You need the money. But the telephone comes first. You still want to marry Mabel, don't you? Oh, I see. I'm sorry to say this, but you'd better give up this telephone idea. Make some money. Think it over, Mr. Bell. Mabel, you heard what your father said. Alex will wait. Alexander Graham Bell was so thoroughly disheartened that the remote possibility of losing the girl he loved accomplished what robust and disbelief failed to do. He temporarily abandoned the idea of the telephone and resolved to make enough money teaching in order to marry Mabel Hubbard. But all the while, the idea burned within him. Vocal transmission by electricity Mabel, gripped with the terrific force of genius, worked steadily and desperately night after night in the attic laboratory with his assistant, Watson. Let's tune the thing and try once more, Mr. Watson. Well, you'd better get some sleep, Mr. Bell. Your eyes are all red. No, Watson, no. Time is short. Is everything ready? Yes, sir. Be careful of those batteries, though. If you upset them, you'll get acid on your clothes, sir. All right. Well, let's go. You've been the next room. I'll give you the signal. I'll be waiting. Where is it? Batteries. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. It's work. It's work. I heard every word you said. I haven't found the acid, so... What did you say? Your voice, sir. When you called through the telephone, I heard it, Mr. Bell. It's ready. Where is it? Batteries. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. It's work. It's work. I heard every word you said. I haven't found the acid. What did you say? Your voice, sir. When you called through the telephone, I heard it, Mr. Bell. The human voice sent over a wire. The first words ever spoken over a telephone. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. The beginning of an era in which electric communications was to bring the words and ideas of men across plains, forests, lakes and mountains, across seas, across the world, and here in which men unseen could communicate with each other through the mysterious impulse of electricity. Primarily, Bell was not so much interested in his inventions themselves as in their possibilities for public service. He and Mabel Hubbard were married July 11, 1877 and sailed for a honeymoon abroad. In the meantime, the telephone was the sensation of the day, and although skeptics referred to it as a shoebox on the wall, it gradually became an influence in American life. On Bell's return to America, he turned to the development of a photo phone which would carry sound by a light beam. And while he was perfecting the photo phone, the nation was shocked by the news that a maniac had shot President Garfield. Alexander Graham Bell immediately wired to Washington offering his services and was called to the White House. We've got to find the exact location of the bullet. Mr. Graham's vision is out of the question. Professor Tainter and I believe this apparatus will help. You see, this plate is connected with a telephone, and when I pass it over the President's abdomen, you should be able to hear a click when it touches the area where the bullet is. I understand. Bring me the apparatus inside, please. I'll prepare the present. Oh, good. Mr. Bell, Mr. President. How do you do, Mr. Bell? I've only troubled you a moment, Mr. President. That's quite all right. The plate will be a little cold. Just slice it, sir. Can I help? No, it won't be necessary. Will I get shock? No, sir. Now then, ready, Mr. President? Yes. All right. Something's wrong. The apparatus isn't acting as it should. I'll have to work on it a bit. Let us know when it's ready, Mr. Bell. I'm very sorry, Mr. President. Thank you, Bell. Maybe next time. Weeks first, Alexander Graham Bell works ceaselessly through the hot summer days and nights of 1881 to perfect the bullet finder. President Garfield ring his arm. And one day, as Bell and Professor Tainter are working in their laboratories. And anyway, the apparatus is simplified. I think we could detect the bullet at five inches now. And they say you're just a publicity seeker. I know. In the meantime, the President's not getting any better. I don't care what they say. Thank you, Mr. Bell. Dr. Bliss is here. Bliss? Oh, send him in. Yes, Mr. Bell. Dr. Bliss, I think we've got it at last. I'm sorry, Mr. Bell. We won't need the bullet finder now. Bell never worked with less thought of personal acclaim than he did over those experiments through the stifling heat of the summer of 1881, in a futile effort to save the life of the President of the United States. Years after Garfield's death, Bell's sound detector known as a telephone probe was recognized as an important contribution to medical science. For this and other experiments, honors came rapidly to Alexander Graham Bell, the Volta Prize, the Legion of Honor, an honorary degree from Heidelberg, the freedom of the city of Edinburgh, recognition enough to overwhelm an ordinary man. But Alexander Graham Bell wasn't interested in honors. He was interested in service, service of many times. The telephones are becoming one of the major scientific developments in the world and becoming one of the major scientific developments in the history of civilization. But Bell was never content to rest in the aura of fame. He maintained a keen interest in other things that touched us in modern life. From Ben Bray, his greatest state of Cape Breton, his activities went out in many fields, farming, stock raising, photography, aviation, a life of service. Alexander Graham Bell was a man for whom living meant preoccupation with one's work. And as long as he lived, he maintained a humanitarian interest in the death. When he was an old man, he went to Scotland to revisit the scenes of his childhood. One afternoon, accompanied by his granddaughter, he drove out to a hill near the city of Edinburgh. Isn't it a lovely view of Grandfather? Don't wait for it, Maggie. Can I ask you a favor to stop? Yes, yes. It's a good idea. Oh, will you stop, please? We can't stop long. You've got to get some sleep tonight. Your bird is a bitten bird. Shall we get out? Here. Thank you, my dear. Let me take your arm down, Father. A bird is a bitten bird. Grandfather, are we going to stay in Scotland that long? Would you rather we didn't? Oh, no. Wonderful. It is. All right. It seems only yesterday that I used to have the boys from the neighborhood come up to Father's attic to see the promotion of fine arts among boys. You saw the house this morning over in Charlotte Street. Oh, that was marvelous, Grandfather. How's that here? It's a custodian hill. We can hear the wind up in it. The clouds flying over. Oh, come on, Grandfather, we've got enough time. Let's find out. I guess I've come about as far as a man can, my dear. I did climb it when I was a boy. I'm an old man now. And maybe it's an old man's privilege not to go any further but to sit back and rest. I haven't had much time for reflecting, see. There's too much to be done. These idealists we have today they worry and they think. But there's so much to do in the world. There are so many things to find out about. The power of the sun and the force of the tights. Yeah, but a man can only do so much. And I could only climb that hill so many times. Whatever I've done. You've done a great deal, Grandfather. Well, it's getting late. Let's start down the hill. Number, please. Main, four, five, six, two, please. Thank you. Hello. Hello, Mary. Oh, George. How are you? Oh, just fine, Dolly. How about a movie tonight? I'd love to. What time are you becoming? The old man just gave the OK on a new model. He wants all the branch managers to know tonight. That's easy. I'll have a telephone conference call. When you hear the signal, the time will be 9.42 and three quarters. Landing field. Hello. Landing field. 423X calling. 423X. Go ahead. 423X. What's the matter? I'm off the beam. Sailing's lost. Can you give me directions? There's a taxi cab company of America Incobolated. Hello, Andy. Hello, Kingfish. What's new? I got a message here for Amos. Of the great paternity the mystic types of the sea. Is Amos there? OK, Kingfish. Hold the phone. Oh, Amos. What's the deal with Tom Sloan? Well, it's true. How? I thought he was on his way to Europe. Yes. I found out when he was on. Call him on the telephone. Yes, this is Jensen 2576. One moment, please. Honolulu calling. Oh, George, Honolulu is calling. It must be Edward. 776, go ahead, please. Hello, Mother. I've got great news for you. I want to see Amos right away. Operator, operator. Send a policeman over here right away. I want a policeman. Operator, give me a doctor. Give me a doctor. My baby, my baby, I want a doctor. I want to report a fire. I want to say trooper. I want a policeman right away. I want the coast guard. Mr. Watson, come here. I want you. The memory of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, was made forever. In the service which is made possible so much of the comfort of modern living, in the miracle of voice transmission which remains one of the wonders of our age. But the cavalcade of America is endeavored to bring you tonight, not so much the portrait of a great scientist, as the story of a man whose human understanding made it all possible. And whose love for his little deaf pupil flowered into a great service for all mankind. This is Basil Reisdale speaking. Let me ask you a question tonight. What are the six most outstanding inventions mainly developed since 1900? I found the answer to it in a report of the National Resources Committee, an official United States government group. They named the telephone, the automobile, the airplane, motion pictures, and the radio. That makes five. And they also named Rayon. Their report said these six outstanding technical achievements have had social influences so vast as to be impossible to calculate. Why is Rayon on that list? Rayon is a fabric yarn that chemically made from cellulose obtained from wood fiber or from cotton linters. Many of the notable improvements in Rayon have been made by DuPont Chemist. Part of Rayon's great importance lies in the fact that it performs services other textiles can't provide. The great defect in natural material is the irregularity of their quality. Even sheep in the same flocks vary in the quality of their wool. The quality of Rayon is absolutely under the chemist's control. Wool is useful for certain purposes and so is cotton or linen or silk. But Rayon does things that none of the others can do. Yes, and this story of Rayon is a story with a heroine, the American woman. She's found that lovely Rayon fabrics enable her to dress attractively all the time at little expense. In just a matter of cost, Rayon also provides unusual qualities of comfort and wear. And those are the chief reasons for this amazing fact. Of all women's garments sold today in the better grade dress department, about 8 out of every 10 are made of Rayon. In 1927, approximately 100 million pounds of Rayon were used in the United States. But during 1938, this figure increased to 330 million pounds. This was six times the amount of silk used. Improvements in the manufacture of this course, Rayon yarn, in which Jupont Chemists played an important part, has helped lower the price from a dollar and a half a pound in 1927 to about 50 cents today. In the same period, wage rates in the Rayon industry have increased more than 50 percent and employment has doubled. Today, Rayon yarn is made by 17 companies in 14 states, giving work to more than 50,000 people to say nothing of the many people who weave it, dye it, and fashion the fabric into clothing. No wonder Rayon is considered a great invention. Rayon, a thing of beauty and strength, a rare gift of science and a fitting example of the timeless Jupont pledge, better things for better living through chemistry. Weak the Cavalcade of America presents the story of one of America's great humorous and immortal literary characters, Mark Twain. So until next week then, at the same time, good night and best wishes from Jupont. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.