 The Cavalcade of America presented by Dupont. Before presenting our story of the big brothers, we're happy to welcome as our guests this evening Mr. Martin Lewis, the associate editor of the magazine Radio Guide, who has an interesting announcement to make. I take pleasure in introducing Mr. Martin Lewis. The Cavalcade of America program was conceived originally as a series of dramatizations which would reflect the real spirit of America. Because Cavalcade has done that, and because, in addition, it has demonstrated that history is something more than the material of which textbooks are made. Radio Guide magazine takes pleasure in paying tribute to one of the truly distinguished radio programs of our time. Notable not only for its devotion to its purpose, but for the accuracy of its presentation of historical events, the Cavalcade of America combines the warmth and vitality of living drama with the dignity and integrity of scholarship. It is good entertainment and good history. And in behalf of millions of radio listeners, I am happy to have the opportunity to present to the Cavalcade of America and to all those who have contributed to its success the Radio Guide magazine Medal of Merit. Thank you, Mr. Lewis. I was engaged in the presentation of the Cavalcade of America share with our sponsor, the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction on receiving this honor. We deeply appreciate the award of the Radio Guide Medal of Merit, and are happy to have had you here with us this evening. As an overture, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalcade Orchestra play George Gershwin's A Foggy Day from the musical picture, A Damsel in Distress. An organization that has brought a new life and untold happiness to so many little brothers at times when their futures hung between a career of crime and wasted existence on the one hand and a life of usefulness and service to their families and friends on the other. The names of the characters in this evening's dramatization are fictitious, but the events told are based on facts. Our story begins in the sitting room of Mrs. Arnold's home in what might be any one of our city. Mrs. Arnold, a woman approaching middle age, sits dejectedly at the end of a shabby sofa as the door opens. I suffer, Mom. I'm hungry. Hey, Mom, look. Can you mend these gloves anymore? Hey, where's your kids? Hey, Mom, what's the matter? They're very hungry, Joe. Hey, what's wrong, Mom? Oh, let me see your gloves. Oh, sure, I can fix them. Yeah? Yeah. Kids are all getting their supper out. Mary's over Mrs. O'Brien's and Mrs. Feinberg's too fasty and muddy. Joe, there's nothing deep in the house. Nothing. Oh, Mom, don't worry about that. Look, you don't want to cry about a thing like that. I don't mind if I don't get any supper. Ain't there even a can of soup? No. It ain't just tonight, Joe. I lost my job. Who's your job again? They told me I wasn't quick enough. Didn't keep a mind in my work. Gee, that's tough. Oh, I had it coming to me. I just couldn't keep my mind in that machine. I kept worrying all day about you and the kids. Oh, don't worry about me. Oh, but I do, Joe. I don't like you going around with that grime boy and giving me... You're looking, Mopey. Oh, they're all right. They're my pals. Hey, look, Mom, we got to eat. We got to eat tomorrow, anyhow, even if we don't eat today. Yeah. You got to get another job, see? And I got to get some dough. Joe, where you going? Going out. Where, Joe? Well, I'm going to pedal paper. There's a fortune in it. So long. But Joe... Brick and Mopey informs them that he needs their assistance. All right, Joe, spill it. Yeah. What's the dough? Look, you got to help me. Mom just got the sack. Didn't even have supper when he got home. We'll be putting us out next. Can't get my work and papers for a couple of years. We're all starved before then. Got any ideas? Yeah, I got an idea. See them freight cars? Gee, it's dawn. We can hardly see nothing. Oh, we're not far sighting there? Yeah. Well, two of them's empty. The other tree is full of cars. Big rolls of it. I watched them unload this afternoon. They'll unload the others tomorrow. Yeah? Now, if we can each of us pinch a roll of that stuff, it'll be good for 15 bucks. I know the guy'll give us the dough, and no questions asked. How do we get in them cars? Nothing to it. They ain't even locked. You just break the seal, unhook the thing, keeps the door closed, and slide back the door. Nothing to it. Make a lot of noise, Lord. Somebody might hear us. Gotta take a chance. Take it easy. You won't make no noise. Okay, let's go to... No, wait. Detective makes the rounds every 20 minutes. He'll be coming to 20 minutes now. Wait till he gets out of the way. Then we do the job. Just stay back at his fence till he goes past. Suppose we get caught. Get caught and we get sent up. So what? Knowing a lot of swirl tricks in reform school. I know a guy who was there only a year. Got out and got into the big time right off. No kidding. Yeah. Jig was a slick kid, and the fellas all took to him. Taught him all they knew. Then they got out before he did. Told him to get in touch with him when he was front. It's an education, I tell you, reform school. Why jigsaw even time in a pen right now? Hey, there's the boomerow. Bloody sauce. Come on, get going. Shut up. Oh, my shit. Shut up. The detective's going to get very far away. Is Carl okay? Sure. Go on, Joe. You can bust a seal. Just keep twisting that tin thing till it busts. My fingers like ice. Now take your gloves off. He ain't keeping you warm. Gloves are sissy. Here, hold it. Ah, stick them in your pocket. Okay. Suppose we get caught. Quit supposing. Bring that seal, will ya? If we get caught, we get caught. Mom would be kind of sorry if I've landed in one of them. Please, Carl. Forget your mom. You doing this for your mom, ain't ya? Yeah. For mom and the kids. Okay then. That's broke. Okay. Hey, hey, what was that? What? Nothing. What's the matter, yellow? You got the jitters. All we got to do is push. Come on now. Push quiet. Next afternoon after school is out, Joe Arnold appears in his home with his arms full of bundles. Oh, Mom. Don't lose. Ah, nothing. Stuffed eat. Groceries, meat. Joe, where did you get the money? What's a diff? Joe, I want to know where you got the money. Mom, ain't you satisfied I got you something to eat without you having to know the whole history of it? Oh, could I give it to me? Oh, Joe, you've been begging. Hey, I'll be cooking some dinner, Mom. I ain't had a square meal in two days, and you ain't need it. School today couldn't pay no attention to the teacher. Well, it's a hungry old day. Poor darling. Hands are like ice. Any heat in that radiator? Wear your gloves. I don't know. Lost one of them. Can't wear one glove. People laugh. Oh, Joe, you're always losing things. It had your name in it. I put it there. Maybe you get it back. Yeah, maybe I will. Oh, how about something to eat? I'll answer it. You get the food started. All right, dear. Mr. Arnold is here. My pop's dead. Come on, catch your stalling. What do you mean he's dead? It was pretty much alive last night. My pop's been dead three years. Well, I'm sorry, kid, but we got a warrant out for Joe Arnold, this address. Say, what's your name? My name? What? What? My name's Ted Smith. What's the man want, Joe? Nothing, Mom. Well, what is it? I'm sorry to bother you, Mrs. Smith. I'm Mrs. Arnold. What? Well, what do you want? Oh, now I see. OK, mister. What is it? Do you want me? I'll go with you. Joe. Joe, what is it? Mrs. Arnold, your boys under arrest for breaking into a freight car and stealing merchandise. They found a glove with his name on it right by the car. Joe, you didn't do that. I'll have to take him along, Mrs. Arnold, and get him booked for juvenile court. Oh, Joe. In one of America's juvenile courts, an understanding judge hears the cases of a younger generation. Ready for the next case? Joseph Arnold, custody of his mother, Mrs. Helen Arnold, boy charged with stealing from a freight car. Mrs. Arnold here? Yes, your honor. Will you come up here, please? Come on, Mom. Joe Arnold? Yes, sir. This is a serious charge, young man. What do you know about it? I think she's tough. That's what you want to know, isn't it? You seem proud of it. Joe. I do it again. I was cornered. I'm sorry, but this looks like a case of incorrigibility. Have you had trouble with him before, Mrs. Arnold? Your honor, I haven't had much time to give to my children these last three years. My husband is dead. I had to work. I don't know what Joe's been doing. How about his associates? The boys he traveled with. Mom's lost her job and what broke? You'll get your chance to talk, young man. Are those the circumstances, Mrs. Arnold? Yes, your honor. I lost my job and I had to get some money. So I raided the freight car and sold the stuff. You're too young for the penitentiary, Joe. So I'll have to send you to the reform school. The reform school? Oh, your honor, don't send Joe there. Apparently, Mrs. Arnold, you're in no position to give the boy adequate supervision. And it's obvious that he requires a good deal of it. But he... He's old enough to realize and certainly must realize that bad is the circumstances where they did not warrant going out and committing burglary. Has he always been hard to manage, Mrs. Arnold? No. Oh, your honor, Joe isn't a bad boy. He's always been trying to help me. And only lately, it's the kind of boy who's been going with your honor. And if you send him to reform school, he just won't have a chance. He only did what he did because of me. It was the boys he goes with. They made him think it was the only way. Keep still, young man. Now to hear what your mother has to say. Go on, Mrs. Arnold. If he could only know some nice boys instead of the kind he goes round with... I don't like to send boys to reform school. Perhaps another environment, Joe might turn out to be a good citizen. Ed Thompson. Yes, your honor? See if Mr. Caldwell's anywhere around. Yes, sir. I'm going to make an exception in your case, Joe, because I think your mother may be right when she blames the kind of companion you had. I don't like to send any boy to reform school. But people who break the law have to pay. You understand that, don't you? Yes, your honor. You called well, your honor. Good morning, Mr. Caldwell. Good morning, your honor. I was wondering if any of you people were down here this morning. I think the big brothers might be interested in Joe Arnold here. Seems like a healthy, normal young fellow who ought to be playing football rather than opening freight cars. I'll suspend the sentence if you take over the case. I'll be glad to, your honor. Therefore, the prisoner is released on a probation to this court, referred to the big brother movement for supervision. And let me know how it comes out, Caldwell. Yes, sir, I will. You can take Joe home with you, Mrs. Arnold. Mr. Caldwell will explain everything to you. Thank you, your honor. Next case, Charles Carr, custody of his aunt. Now, Mrs. Arnold, you and Joe will step into this handy room with me. I'd like to tell you something about the big brothers. How we got started and how we want to try to help you and Joe. Now, sit down, won't you? Thank you, sir. Sit down, Joe. Yeah, that's better. I suppose you're wondering what this is all about. Well, I heard you speak about the big brother movement. What is that? Well, that's an organization, Mrs. Arnold. It all came about at a meeting of the men's club of the Central Presbyterian Church in New York, back in 1904, to be exact. The group voiced regret that so many boys sent to reform schools became confirmed criminals. Are you listening, Joe? Yeah, I hear you. Sit up in your chair, Joe. Don't slump down like that. You see, they figured the boys really needed a change of environment. New playmates, new heroes, instead of more of their old unfortunate surrounding. They also realized that the judges didn't like to send the boys away. So each decided he would like to take hold of a boy and sort of be responsible for it. Take a real interest in him. Treat him as if he really were a young brother. Well, really give the boy a chance, you mean. Exactly, Mrs. Arnold. A boy needs a big brother to look up to. Somebody he wants to be like. Well, that dinner started the big brother club. Oh, it sounds grand. I'm so happy Joe was let off. Of course, Joe will have to show he deserves it, Mrs. Arnold. You see, that's my job. The big brothers hire me, I study the cases, and I try to find the proper big brother for the proper boy. Oh, I hope you can find some nice man who'll want to take an interest in Joe. How would you like that, dear? I'll carry it. Well, give it a try, will you, Joe? That's the only reason the judge isn't sending you away. He thinks this is a better idea. Yeah, I see. I don't think so much of it, is that it? Well, I'll tell you. I have a man here on my list. I think it like you. There's a chance you might like him. He races a speedboat on the regret. A speedboat? Yes. And he's been looking for a fellow just about your size to sit in the cockpit with him and balance the boat on the turns. Pretty scary, those turns. They wouldn't scare me. Would you like to meet the man? Meet him. Yes, go up to his house sometime. Oh, where does he live? Oh, he'll come down to see you. Then you can fix things up between you. What about that race that you meet? Yes. And I think he may have something for you, too, Mrs. Arnold. Oh, that would be wonderful. No, that's not a promise, Mrs. Arnold, but I'll see anyhow. And now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back and see what's going on inside. Goodbye. Will, you'll hear from us in a few days. Oh, bless you. A speedboat. Gosh! Mr. Caldwell calls at the office of a friend of his, a prominent businessman. Now, tell me about this boy. Well, he's 14, Mr. Driscoll. Nice kid. He acts tough, but he's all right underneath. Now, if you want to get anywhere with him, you've got to get his mother something to do. She lost her job, you see, because she had a mind on the kid, knew he was probably in bad company. Then he got into this trouble with the police. Husband dead, eh? Yes. I think I can find something for her. What does she do? Where was she working? Well, it's here in this car and, uh, sewing machine operator, ACME Manufacturing Company. Well, the ACME, that's Fred Lannimer's company. Uh, hello. Grace, get me the ACME company, will you? Let me speak to Mr. Lattimer. I'll see what he has to say about it. Several weeks later, a speedboat race on the river. Keeps your mind on the job. The nursery school takes care of the twins, and Mary plays all afternoon with the children next door. I guess you don't worry about me anymore. Don't know why she ever did. Our women are. Say, I got all bees on my report card this month. I almost forgot to tell you. All bees? Well, I got one C, an algebra. I can't get that stuff. Well, I had a little trouble with that myself, Joe. Better do something about that C, though. Must feel sort of lonesome in there with all those bees. That's right. Let's keep in those judges. I don't know. I guess they're probably... Oh, Mr. Driscoll, I want to ask you something. Yeah? You know, I got a couple of pals. They won't be in break. What were you going to ask me a few minutes ago? Oh, yeah, about won't be in break. And that sure is more important than any boat race. Well, I guess we'd better be getting back to mooring. Now since... Well, for quite a while. But yesterday they were in trouble. What kind of trouble? Don't know exactly. Come up for trial tomorrow. Pretty good guys, Mr. Driscoll. They do anything for a guy. That's always a good sign. Mr. Driscoll, I think they ought to meet you. I bet that's all they need to meet some men like you. Would you like to meet them? Lot of big brothers on the job, you know. Situation of 34 years ago when there was comparatively little specialized social work, the Big Brother staff today consists of persons highly trained in the service. Big Brother Service now includes summer camp privileges, boys clubs, clinical advantages, and numerous other benefits which are absolutely free. There are 355 Big Brother and Big Sister organizations now. They are scattered over 36 states and six Canadian provinces. They're sponsored by every sect and every denomination. Last year, 64,000 children were helped. And the work will go on with the hope that each year the Big Brothers will make more citizens worthy of their place in the cavalcade of America. Many of us remember our own school days when the custom was to bring teacher a big red apple. If today's youngsters still carry on that tradition, they certainly should be able to court teacher's favor with the luscious apples now on the market. Curiously enough, chemistry plays a part in producing such fine fruit as you can buy this season. If you'd happened into an apple orchard at spring time last spring, you might have heard a conversation like this. Well, I don't know, Jim. Doesn't look so good for the apples, no matter how much we spray them. Blooms are thin. Well, you can't tell. Some of these fruit experts claim thin blossoms may mean a big crop. Later, fruit for some reason. Yeah. Well, all we can do is keep them sprayed and hope for the best. And if you'd walked into the same orchard this summer, here's what you might have heard. Oh, hey. Looks like we're going to have some apples. You said it, Tom. Boy, look at those trees. They carry more apples than they know how. Beautiful fruit, too. That spraying we did sure kept old man coddling more up on the run. Yes, 1937 was a bumper year for fruit crops, especially apples. And apples not only are plentiful this year, they're of fine quality and inexpensive. So now's the time to make it two apples a day. And when you say pie, say apple. Behind such scenes as the one in the apple orchard, DuPont chemists are constantly at work developing and improving products to protect fruit and other food crops. The DuPont Company's Grasselli Chemicals Department now supplies apple growers and farmers of all kinds with a variety of insecticides and fungicides used to combat insect enemies and fungus growth from Maine to California. In fact, the services rendered by DuPont chemists start even before the crop gets into the ground and carry through until the packaged foods reach your table. Among their contributions are chemicals for treating seeds to improve yields and check losses, ingredients for fertilizers to enrich the soil, sprays and dust to control pests that attack the growing plants, even refrigerants to protect foods from storage and transparent wrapping material to guard them against contamination. Recently, two new DuPont laboratories, one of them the only laboratory of its kind in America, have been built at Wilmington, Delaware to carry this agricultural research still further. Indeed, the DuPont Company has invested more than a million dollars in equipment for such research. Work that helps improve the quality of the things you eat and helps bring them to you at a lower cost. This service serves the farmer and protects the whole nation's food supply. How well this illustrates the DuPont pledge, better things for better living through chemistry. The Pathfinder. Episodes in the life of John C. Fremont. Scientific Explorer will be dramatized in this program when next week at the same time DuPont again presents The Cavalcade of America. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.