 Cavalcade of America, presented by Dupont. History is studded with the names of those who have dreamed fine dreams and helped transform them into great realities. One such splendid transition is now taking place in the state of Washington, where the genius of American engineers is making the dream of many a Northwest citizen come true by transforming 1,200,000 acres into a garden spot. The Grand Coulee Dam owes its beginning to a great number of forward-looking people. Naturally, in such a huge undertaking, there are many stories about its background and beginning. One of these stories will be told in this evening's Pond Cavalcade, and in the telling the only character actually portrayed will be that of Rufus Wood. Such people whose energy and vision are helping to make a dream, a reality, are led forward by the same ideals that inspire the research chemist as he works toward his goal. The goal is described in the Dupont beds. Better things for better living, through chemistry. As an overture, Don Vorys and the Dupont Cavalcade Orchestra play a popular favorite. I'll see you in my dreams. That mighty stream forced to find the new outlet, cut a chasm 600 feet deep, 2 miles wide and 50 miles long. Many hundreds of years passed, and the ice melted, and the river returned to its original channel. So it was that early settlers in the state of Washington found the dry riverbed, a long deep valley which they named the Grand Coulee. The Dupont Cavalcade moves forward. It is July 17th, 1918. Our scene is a freighter, a struggling community not far from Wetchie, Washington. Rufus Wood, publisher of the Wetchie Daily World, comes briskly down Main Street. He greets a man we shall call Abraham Waters, who leans listlessly against the sight of a two-story wooden building. What are you doing afraid of? All the way to see a certain well-known lawyer. You mean Joe, right? Well, he won't have no news. There's no news in these parts. Dust, dust and more dust, powdered soil to the wheel hubs. That's all the great Coulee of the Columbia River gives us. Oh, there's worth. Places, Abe? Where? No acreage for grazing. A man can't raise a grub steak. You can't live on sagebrush, can you? You seem to be staying here, Abe. Well, what else can I do? You don't think I like it, do you? You do, you plumb local. I'll tell you what to do, Abe. Come over to Wenatchee someday. We'll talk it over. I never get nowhere. See you again, Abe. Your paper. You print all the news. Yeah, but I'm stuck for an idea for that front-page column line, Joe. That's why I came over. All the babies and gardens and such stuff will run out. You're loaded with ideas. Give me one. You can't print what I'm thinking. Come on now. I'm fed up, Ruth. Stung with a bug that wears down every man out here sooner or later. What does a country like this promise anyone for the future? Unless we get what we need. Yes, but this is a country... No bunk. Columbia River row on through more than a million acres that aren't worth a part of the blow them to Hades right now. And look at this office. What's the matter with it? Eh, take down one of my law books. Pick out any one of the lot. All loaded with dust. Blows in off the coolie of the Columbia River through the cracks in our window frames, gets all over the place. Well, you can't walk down the street without loading your shoes. This country can't grow a handicap like that, Ruth. But we need us a dam. That's it, Joe. A dam. It's the only solution. More than one man saw it a bit before. Yeah, this small chance would get one. Why not? A dam's got money. Hundreds of thousands, millions even. Then why not go after that much money? Look out of this window. Miles, a useless acreage that can be made fertile by turning the Columbia into the biggest irrigation project the world's ever heard of. Yeah, right, Ruth. That land could be made fertile and we could have plenty of power too if we had a dam. A dam is what we need here. A dam's what we'll go after. A dam for the Cooley, the Columbia harness. Quick, give me a pencil. I'll write an editorial that'll start things humming around here. That editorial and the newspaper articles that followed stirred the entire state of Washington. In the years that followed, many men cooperated. A group which included Jim O'Sullivan, Gail Matthews, Winter Prowl, John Mooney, Dr. Whitby, David R. McGinnis, Rufus Woods, and many more, as well as organizations in Portland, Seattle, Focum, and other centers. It is 1933. Opinion in the section is divided as to whether the Grand Cooley Dam is a myth or a possibility. Feeling is running high between the two factions. The crowd of men have gathered on a corner in Wenatchee. Stop talking! We can't get anywhere if we all talk at once. Speak one at a time. All right, Dave, you're always complaining. What's on your mind? Ruf, I am again the whole business of building the dam. I lived here for 30 years. For little I got a dough I took away from it. It's a crazy brain scheme, trying to damn the Columbia. You can't harness that river. It's too big and too strong. What's the matter? You know what Judge Steiner said? I see no letter. He wrote, Damn up the Columbia! Barely a bear in Montreal's an hour to pint. Yeah, that's what I say too. And if the Columbia could be damned, it'd probably be a lake where the homes are now. The whole thing's got no sense. And I'm again it. Somebody go on local! You're very much as all right, Ruf. Well, if I'm much as and I'm darn proud of it. Remember, Joe, that day in your office? I remember, Ruf. Look here. The idea isn't so plum-crazy as some of you think. AP Davies of the United States Reclamation Service says that we've got the greatest damn sight on earth. Ah, what do you and Jim O'Sullivan and your gang know about dams anyway? Well, they ought to know, Abe. They got a regular university on dams with books and charts and reports and pictures of all the dams in the world. Yeah. And what comes of all those surveys? There's some total nothing. Look at the government surveys. That's what Homer Galt doing in March 24th. And he's one of the outstanding engineers of the Reclamation Bureau. There's the Willis T. Batchel report. And our own Senator Dale and Governor Martin are interested, aren't they? You can't harness the river. It wastes time and it wastes money. Right, right, right. A dam in the Coulee will bring life to thousands of thirsty acres. Pertile fields will be born. There'll be thousands of fine homes where now there's nothing but sagebrush. That's crazy. He out of his tent is like the rest of that gang. To his faith, when we really started, it's time to fight all the harder. Not give ground, but move forward. Now what do you say, neighbors? That's good news paper, Doc. Yeah, but it doesn't make sense. It's a dream that's busted. It sure has, Abe. Come on, folks. Oh, please. Hey, dancing, John. Oh, stay here. Please stay here. Oh, let him go, Roof. Let him go. I hate to, man. You won't change their minds talking, especially a one-track mind like Abe Waters. Yeah, but they don't understand. No, we know that, all of us. But you can't make them see it for savior's sake. I got news. Good news. Washington's on the job. We aren't going to forget this July 27th as long as we live. Joe. What are you talking about? $63 million have been allotted for the Grand Coulee Dam. You're not kidding me, are you? There was a report made in the Senate today? Then it isn't a dream. Work is going to start. There'll be work here for thousands. The whole Coulee will be changed. Come back, Abe Waters. Washington's back of our idea. The dam's coming through. There were plenty of skeptics who felt that the dream, the huge dam to harness the Columbia River, was an impossibility. But those who believed in it continued their efforts to make new converts, engineers that down and reason. In a temporary office of the dam project, one of the head engineers is talking to a newcomer. Oh, hello, Tom. Ah, so this is your office, huh, John? Well, it'll do for the present. Boy, you've tackled a big job. We know that. It'll take years to finish and cost plenty of millions. Ah, but it's worth it, Tom. It'll reclaim a country. I'm glad I took part in this. Look out of this window. Nature's working on our side. Nature? What do you mean, John? Oh, Mother Nature's help. You may not realize it, old man, but she's been working for years to set the scene for this job. You see those banks in the West? Yeah. They're solid rock. Saw the banks on this side. Move off the surface gravel and sand, and they'll make perfect abutments. We'll put up a cellular cofferdam to hold back the river. How long will that dam be? 4,300 feet, four-fifths of a mile. What? You said it was a big job. We may be wrong, Tom, but we figure it's the biggest of its kind in the history of the world. Why? But how can you go about it? Well, we'll build our cofferdams into the river from each side. When the concrete foundation is finished on one side, the water can run over that. And the center section can be closed by building cribs on dry land and plugging them into position. Sounds like you had it all figured out. Oh yes, yes, we've surveyed every square yard. Build a model in detail. Well, when the cofferdams finished, we'll turn the river into a new bed. Turn the river out of its course? Until the big dam is finished. Why? Then we'll swing old lady Columbia back into the course she's been using for centuries and fill up our lake bed. We'll build a trestle and a railroad out over the site we fill the big dam. We'll carry concrete. We'll dump it right from the car. And save both time and money, eh? That's the idea. Great! There'll be a huge belt conveyor system, the biggest thing of its kind, we'll carry off the earth and rocks. The job's too big for trucks to fill them up. Sure, I see. There'll be a big building on that hill there to mix concrete in. A belt conveyor will carry the gravel and the mixture will be controlled by a central switchboard. We'll build homes for the workers. A boom town. Call it that, Waddo. We'll build an electrical plant so the river can finish it with power. An electrical city? A city of homes men will be powered to live in. It'll have its own local government, hotel, stone stores, police and fire departments. Not a chimney and a tum. Heat, light, hot water, cooking. All done by electricity. Talk about your old boom town where they were nothing besides this. The DuPont Cavalcade moves forward. Three more years pass. It is August 1936. There are 5,000 men that work on the Coulee Dam project. Thousands more are at work back of the lines and in the woods. In the steel plants, the truck and tractor factories, the cement plants. A dream city has become a fact. What was once a sweep of rattlesnake infested sagebrush is now throbbing with action. Huge cranes swing their dangling arms. A modern bridge stands the river connecting Coulee Dam, the government city on one side, with Mason City, the contractor's camp on the other. People from all over the country have arrived, watched, depart in awe. It is afternoon. Three men stand watching the work. A picture, Joe. More like a miracle, I'd say, Ruth. And do you remember when 5,000 people made their way through the dust and heat to this dam site, including those 18 congressmen who were on the committee? You bet I do. I remember what you said to them, too, Ruth. You said, now, congressman, all we want is a slab of concrete across that river. Well, don't my catch if that slab of concrete ain't going in. And what a slab it is. Four fifths of a mile long. 550 feet high and 500 feet wide at the base. Yeah. They're tying up the old river. Well, she ain't been tied up yet. And if she is, she can break loose. I ain't counting my checks till the eggs are hatched out. We don't know what may happen. Still pessimistic, I think. Well, nothing can stop it now. All it takes is time. When it's finished, it's expected. Hey, look over there. Where? Up there on the east side. Something's wrong. I can tell at it. It looks like the start of a landslide. Hey, those tons would have come down. You won't let that happen. Yeah, but it doesn't look good. And that dirt breaks loose. It'll cover up hundreds for a long weeks of labor. They won't let it break loose. You can't tell me. Oh, shut up, Eve. Well, you can't keep mucking with nature without coming to trouble. I've known that from the start. Hey, Ruth, come back here. I'll be back. Stay where you are. Don't get nearer that east hill. He's going clean local now, Joe. He can't hold up a landslide. Hello? You're in charge here. Can anything go wrong? These two look tricky. It starts acting up. John. How did you look, Tom? Bad. We tied everything when we put our hands on. Nothing seems to work. We got to do something. All right. Call the men off that section. Hey, Buck. Okay. Get the men off the east hill and stop working that section. Come on in the office, Tom. We've taken every hurdle and stride so far. We'll add this one to them. Come on in, Rufus. All right. Don't let this fuss get your throat. We'll find the answer before long. Well, you know what it means if that hill starts to slide, John. It'll bury the work set up at the bottom. It'll block the whole work. You're not giving me news. Wait a minute. Great. Get hold of Carson. He's up at the mixer. John. Hold your horses a while. Hello? That you, Carson? Yeah. The east hill looks slippery. It's gonna slide, Chief. All right. Call up the men at the base. Are there any trucks down there? Yeah, two. Get them out of the way. Don't send any more concrete until we iron out this mess. You stick right where you are. All right. If those men at the bottom... There won't be any men down there. You'll get them all out by foot. They're starting to leave already. Take a look at the hill. There's a spot near the top. He started to go. Find out how the men are and call me back. Why can't I think of some way of licking that thing? A bulwark. No, the hill's too big for it. Brush it away. Well, yes, we'll lick for a while. No, there's some way we can do it. And it's our job to find out that way. We can't drag off the top. That'll loosen this. Yes, yes. Hello, hello. Hello, Chief. Carlton again. All the men free of the slide. Nobody was hurt. Right. I'll say. Thank heaven for that much. Hey. I got an idea. Yeah? This couldn't have happened at the North Pole. Oh, no. No, don't try to be... I'm not kidding. I mean it. The ground will be frozen. Get it? The ground will be frozen. Yeah, I get it. And thanks. Five thunder, he's got it. We can set up an ice dam. Freeze that. He's still up solid. Keep it covered in the daytime so the sun can't melt it. It's a great idea, Carlton. We'll have no more landslides now. The engineers drove pipes filled with refrigerant through the toe of the cliff. This froze the soil and checked the slot so that work would soon resume. Whistles screamed once more. Tons of concrete were again run out on the trestle and dumped into huge forms. Tourists flocked from all sections watching engineering history and the making. One day, a young man pushes his way through a throng and we're watching the work and enters the reclamation office. Hi, neighbor. Hello. What's in your mind? Looking for work? No. Not the kind you'll offer. Well? I'm working at a gas station. But I've been thinking some lately about what you're doing. Uncle Sam's spending millions. Well, I'd like to make him some money. Make it firm right out here. You think he'll take to the idea? Well, I can't see why he wouldn't. Just how would you do it? Well, that's simple enough. Grandstanding. Grandstanding? Uh-huh. What's that? Well, you know, it's human nature to stop and watch a steam shovel at work. Well, we've put up some grandstands and set sightseeing proper. Look now. Look out there, them folks watching. Hundreds of them in the broiling sun. They ain't comfortable, are they? Perhaps not. Well, they would be in a grandstand, sitting down in the shade. And I'd be the barker. You know, same as the circus, I could load them with facts. Let them know what we're doing, give them a dope on what they're seeing. Hmm. That may be an idea. Maybe? Huh. Neighbor, it's massive. It's gigantic. Colossal. That's the word I've been hunting. A darn thing's colossal. Well, do I handle a barking? Uh, I can't answer that question. But I can tell you this much. You've brought us a real idea. Two stands for spectators were erected at Cooley Dam. So located that visitors could sit in the shade at two main vantage points and watch the work. While lecturers explained the most important parts of this giant engineering project. One day, Rufus Woods and his friend Joe, in a crowd of people sitting in one of the stands, listened to the lecturers' voice through the loud speaker system. Ladies and gentlemen, I've tried to point out some of the details of this compender's construction job, this colossal engineering feat. Now let me tell you how big this job is. Just a few comparisons. He's a good boxer, all right, Joe. New bed he is, Rufus. This dam, when it is finished, will be as high as a 46-story building and as long as 14 ordinary city blocks. Four ships the size of the Queen Mary could be placed end to end along the top, if the engineers wanted to. The dam will contain 11 and a quarter million cubic yards of concrete masonry. That's about four times the volume of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. The dam will weigh 23 million tons. If the concrete were heaped on an ordinary city block, it would rise more than two and a half times as high as the Empire State Building in New York City. It would build a standard paved highway 16 feet wide from New York to Seattle and return by way of Los Angeles. The dam itself will be three times as high as Niagara Falls. That's all for this time, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you. There's a kick in that, isn't there, Rufus? Ah, there sure is. The greatest job ever attended. Somehow it seems human to me. I'm foolish, I guess, but I could go out there and pat that dam. Hello, Aves. Hello, Aves Waters. Why, you old die hard? What are you doing here? Oh, come out a couple times a week. Well, can't keep away somehow. Yeah, it gets into your blood, doesn't it, Aves? Like a rattlesnake's bite. Do you believe now they can harness the river? They can build a great lake that'll give us the water to turn waste into gardens? Well, say, Rufus, I'm... And would you do me a favor? Well, if I can, I'll be glad to. Could you get me a job working on that dam? Why, Aves? Well, I'll try. I'd just like to be certain I had some hand in building this dam. You see, it belongs to all of us, and well, sure, it's the greatest thing in the world. Today, the Grand Coulee Dam is half-completed. The dream many men and many organizations work for has come true. In another three or four years, the wheels will be turning out power, and one unit of irrigation after another will be opening. Men of imagination, using the tools given them by science, have made possible the Coulee Dam. This evening, Dupont is proud to add their names to the distinguished roster of the Cavalcade of America. The largest man-made structure for more than 6,000 years has been the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. History says 100,000 slaves labored under terrific physical punishment for 30 years to build it. Today in America's Northwest, the Grand Coulee Dam, a structure three times as big, is being completed in much less time by men who do not have to endure any of the ancient hardships, thanks to modern engineering and chemistry. Chemistry, you ask? Yes, in a great many ways. For instance, explosives. Dupont explosives are helping construct the world's greatest dam, hundreds of tons of damite, several different types for the wide variety of blasting conditions faced by the Grand Coulee Engineers. And on the downstream side of the dam stands a wooden coffer dam to divert the water while the main structure is being built. When the concrete is set and the temporary structure has served its purpose, dynamite will remove it quickly, with great savings of time and money. Cement. Chemistry helps make all cement. Millions of tons are used in Grand Coulee. And the fact that it dries properly is due to chemical ingredients which hasten this process. Probably without cement there would be no Grand Coulee Dam. And without the contributions of research chemistry, there would be no modern cement. At the 1937 peak, Grand Coulee uses 50 carloads a day. And rubber. Modern rubber used in many forms by engineers in the building of Grand Coulee is strengthened by Dupont chemical agents called antioxidants. The largest belt conveyor system ever built carried mud, dirt, rocks, even rattlesnakes to canyons far away from the site of the dam. It had to be tough to stand that terrific grind and rubber chemicals helped make it so. Then there was the rubber used for electrical insulation and in the all-important drill and air hoses. This rubber, too, is made stronger by chemistry. Chemistry serves Grand Coulee engineers in many other ways, ways that even they may not realize. In helping give strength to sheet steel, beams, piling, cable and wire. For inches steel, go chemicals made by Dupont to help give it just the right qualities for the job it has to do. Chemistry even helped protect the huge dam itself. For when a landslide threatened Grand Coulee, as you heard in this evening's story, engineers use Dupont ammonia to freeze the slide shale and check the slide. And the drinking water of thousands that work on Grand Coulee is made safe by chlorinating a chemical process. I could give still more civic examples, but these illustrate how research chemistry serves in the march of progress. And progress is the goal of the research chemist, that you and I may enjoy as Dupont expresses it, better things for better living through chemistry. Stars of destiny, the story of David Rittenhouse and his contributions to many sciences, including astronomy, will be the subject of our broadcast for next week at the same time. Dupont again presents the Cavalcade of America. This is the frontier broadcasting system.