 Alaskan Bush Palace, on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. But first, here is Gain Whitman. Now that we're about to enter the spring season with its showers and rain, let me tell you about Zeeland, the DuPont Company's durable water repellent. When rainwear, sportswear, or children's clothes are treated with Zeeland, garments shed water. And more important, they continue to give protection even after repeated trips to the laundry or dry cleaners. They do not need reprocessing. Zeeland provides the weather protection that won't wash out. And is an example of what the DuPont Company means when we say, better things for better living through chemistry. The DuPont Company presents Alaskan Bush Pilot, starring Dick Foran as Bill McNarney and Gail Page as Mrs. Mack on the Cavalcade of America. Tonight, Cavalcade brings you the story of one of the little-known, almost unsung heroes of America's last frontier, Alaska. They are the Bush Pilots, the flyers who carry in supplies, who deliver the necessities of life to the people who are making Alaska. Our story opens in the home of Bill McNarney. Mrs. McNarney is at the microphone of the shortwave radio. It's a promise, Gail. Mack, apply those eggs up to you the first thing in the morning. Mom says we're going to have eggnog for the reception or there's to be no wedding. And I don't want the wedding postponed, Mrs. McNarney. Just a minute, Gail. Someone's at the door. Come in, please. I'm busy on the radio. All right, Gail. Don't you worry about a thing. The eggs will be there. Signing off, Gail. There's someone waiting. My name is Hughes. Is Mr. McNarney in? Oh, I'm glad to meet you. No, Mack's out flying. I'm Mrs. McNarney, his wife. Can I help you? I understand your husband runs an airline. Is this kitchen his office? No, it's my office. Mack handles the flying. I'm sort of his operations office. Hmm, I see. Two-way radio transmitter, two telephones, desk, filing cabinets, stove, sink and ice box. Doesn't it interfere with your cooking? On the contrary, it's more convenient for me this way. Well, I'll say this is the best smelling office I've ever been in. That's the roast, Mack's favorite. That's an interesting map of Alaska on the wall. I've never saw one like it before. That's Mack's word. He knows this country like you know the palm of your hand. He's marked landing sites on it. Aren't many airfields up here in the weather? Well, in the weather, don't. Let's not talk about it. I won't be up here long, Mrs. McNarney. When can I see your husband? Excuse me a minute. Certainly. Hello, this is Mrs. McNarney. Who? Oh, the telephone exchange, yes. Judd Olson and Ofer is trying to reach me by radio. Well, thank you very much. Yes, I know his wavelength. Sit down for a minute, Mr. Hughes. That rock is most comfortable. Mrs. McNarney calling Judd Olson. Judd Olson, come in. Where's Mack, Mrs. McNarney? Can he fly up here right away? Mack isn't here now, Judd. What's the trouble? Mrs. Olson's terrible sick. I've got to get in the hospital right away, Mrs. McNarney. It's the baby, I think. The baby, but it wasn't due until... Oh, Judd, I don't know if Mack can make it. He's been flying all day. But you'll die, Mrs. McNarney, if I can't get her to a hospital. Mack's just got to come for it. He's our only hope. All right, Judd. You sit tight. I'll try to contact Mack, but I can't promise anything. Signing off. Mrs. to Mack. Mrs. to Mack. Come in, Mack. Judd, your husband, I'm from the Air Circus Property Division in Washington. I'll have to leave tonight. Oh, why didn't you say so before, Mr. Hughes? Oh, Mack's so anxious to get those planes. Mrs. to Mack, come in. Over. Mack to Mrs. Mack to Mrs. How's the roast beef? How's the roast beef? Where are you now, Mack? About a hundred miles east of you. Say, do you know what Bill Holland wanted? A vulcanizing job on his false teeth. He was too embarrassed to tell you himself. Wasn't for you, Mack, and that gold-earned plane of yours I had starved to death, he said. Hey, do me a favor, will you, honey? Pull up that roast to the radio so I can smell it. Over. Stop talking, Mack, and listen. Judd Olson just called from Olfer. His wife's in trouble. The baby's coming prematurely. He wants you to fly Mrs. Olson down to the hospital here. Hey, I'm sorry to hear that. She's lost two that way already, hasn't she? Yes, that's right. We don't want it to happen again. Now, look, Mack, the last weather report says there's a storm up there. That's not pretty heavy up here, too. I wonder... Yeah, it's a good thing I refueled it for it, Wilson. Hey, look, honey, you call Judd and tell him I'm going to try to get through. I'm backing off now. But there's a Mr. Hughes here from Washington about those planes you want to buy. He says he has to leave tonight. What's that? Hey, you'll be mighty nice to hear my need those planes. Let me talk to him. Are you still going up for Mrs. Olson, Mack? Sure, but I want to talk to Mr. Hughes. Put him on. Here's the mic, Mr. Hughes. Hello, McNally. That's quite a stunt you're pulling. What are you talking about? Flying up for Mrs. Olson in a storm. Oh, that. That's routine up here in Alaska, Mr. Hughes. It's always snowing. Somebody's always got to go to the hospital for something. If it isn't a baby, it's a trapper that got caught in his own pear trap. Hey, but about those planes, Mr. Hughes, when can I get them? I don't know, McNally. The department's not sold on the idea. Hey, no, wait a minute. You can't do that to me. More surplus planes are the only ones I can get delivery on right away. I can't get any of this. A lot of things have to be taken into consideration, McNally. That's why I'm here. What sort of things? I have more freight contracts than I can handle. I can get two hot pilots in Alaska if I can just get the planes with them. What else has to be taken into consideration? Excuse me for buttoning Mac. What a bit of credit this Mr. Hughes is worrying about. I want him to know I'll back you up to Shovel Handler. Hey, who's this busting in? Charlie Peters. Who, Tarnation, you think it was? Now, look here, Charlie. I appreciate it, but I don't need credit. I have the cash. And this is a private conversation between Mr. Hughes and me. Mr. Hughes, look. How long can you stay? I've got to leave tonight. Tonight? Now, wait a minute. I've got to talk to you. And I can't be home until, well, after seven this evening. Over. But I'm flying out at six. Last plane. Oh, please. You've got to stay. I want to talk to you about those two cargo planes. It's impossible, Mr. McNally. I can't stay. Look, I've got to make a run to Oprah. Mrs. Olson is having a baby, and I've got to get her in a fare bank to the hospital. If you'll promise to stay, I'll fly you to fare banks. You can get a plane back to the stage from there. How about it? Oh, please, Mr. Hughes. Mack will get you there in time. Add a girl, Mrs. Mack. Let him smell that roast beef, honey. How about it, Mr. Hughes? Well, all right. Be here by seven, though. Can do. Roger. All from here. Well, I think I was talked into something. Mr. Hughes, he needs those planes. He's got two pilots for them. XGI's. Mrs. McNally, we're willing to sell your husband the planes, but we've got to know one thing. And that is? The division wants to know if those planes could be used to better advantage somewhere else. Oh, I see. You think bush piloting isn't important enough to rate those planes, is that it? I don't think anything, Mrs. McNally. I'm trying to find out. Of course. So far, delivering eggs doesn't sound important. And getting Mrs. Olson to the hospital in time? How about that? No, emergencies like that happen every day in the States. Of course. Well, how would you like to hear Mack's story? Oh, not only his, but the story of every bush pilot in Alaska. Oh, just a moment. Who made this map? Mack made that one, too. Chose all the fog-free areas. He made this himself? Yes. That map came in handy during the war. He did? How? Well, Mack was too old for service. He tried to get in, but he was chained down. That map was the next best thing. You see, Mr. Hughes, the Alcon Highway was under construction. Army engineers needed maps of the fog-free areas. Places where airfields could be put in. And Mack knew those places. And made that map. The Army had copies made and saved hours and hours of valuable time when we needed it most. Mack risked his life more than once getting to those areas to map them. I see. But what about that story you were going to tell me? Oh, come into the kitchen. I've got to look at the roast. You may be wondering about this radio, too. You see, shortwave radio is to us what the old party line was to the rural districts in the States. We get in touch with each other that way. Anyone who hasn't got a phone calls Central Exchange by radio. Then Exchange contacts me by phone and I get in touch by radio. Mm-hmm. But what about Mack and those planes? Well, Mr. Hughes, we came up here to Alaska in 1921. Mack had been a flyer in France, like a lot of other boys. He couldn't settle down. He couldn't adjust himself right away. So after we were married, I found myself in Alaska. Well, honey, this is it. Alaska. Yes. Wonderful country. Is it, Mack? Sure, sure. Why, do you know what's in the lakes and streams, honey? Trout, so big that nobody in the States would believe it. Ducks, geese, grouse. And ice. Well, there's otter, muskrat and salmon. And cold and snow and fog. Oh, please, Mack. Don't sound like a guidebook. Talk like a husband. What do you mean, honey? Do you really want to live up here? Can we make a home? A real home. Why not? Well, there's nothing. Just nothing. Oh, there's nothing now, but there will be. Mack, I love you. I love you very much. I'd follow you to the ends of the earth. And I have. Oh, that sounds like my honey talking. Now, we'll get started on a house tomorrow. We'll stay in the hotel, like moving to our own place. Believe me, honey, you'll love it up here. It's just a question of getting used to it. That's all. Give me those field glasses. Here, but why? Just a second. I don't think I'm seeing things, but you better take a look. Way over there on the side of that hill. Mack. Oh, that's firewood. And does it spell out what I think it does? Yes. It spells help. That's what I thought. Mush! Mush! What do you think it is? I don't know, honey, but nobody would do a thing like that if it wasn't necessary. People just don't care about things like that. Mush! Mush! Oh, be careful, Mack. The sled won't stand it. It's got a hold tight, honey. Mush! Mush! Is it locked? Yeah. Can you see in the windows? No, they're all frosted over. No fire inside. Well, here goes. What are you going to do? Well, if somebody needed help badly enough to spell it out in cordwood, they needed badly enough for me to break down this door. Look out, honey. Get a fire going in the stove. Are they dead? No, no, they're not. Hurry up with that fire, honey, and get some hot water ready. Get a couple of cans of soup and get all the robes and furs we got on the sled. All right. Wake up. Come on. Wake up. All right. All right. It's all right now. We saw your signal. Kitty hit. She's okay. She's alive. All right. Come here. No, don't, don't try to talk. Now we're getting a fire started. We'll have some hot soup in a minute. How's it coming, honey? The fire's going. I'll have the soup in a second. Good. All right. Take it easy. Everything's going to be all right. She'll be all right, won't she, Mr. McNarney? Sure. My wife will see to her. Thank God you saw our signal. Yeah. What happened, Mr. Moran? Bears broke into our food, ate it, and blizzard. We're snowed in here. Take some more soup. Is she eating, honey? Yes. She'll be all right. Swell. Then what, Mr. Moran? I've tried to get the bears, followed by slid, that caught in muskig. Muskig? Oh, muskig swamp. Broke through. Lost my two dogs. Hurt my leg. Oh, I see. Well, better not try to talk anymore. My wife and I'll stay with it for both of you if you can make it into the settlement. God bless you, Mr. McNarney. Well, we're going to be neighbors, you know. Our land's right over the ridge, about five miles in. All right. Kitty will be glad to hear that. It's kind of lonely for her. Oh, sure. Now, you get some sleep. I'll patch up that door, meanwhile. Thanks. I can use sleep. How is she, honey? Sleepy. Close call. Lucky they saw us, didn't they? Yes. Lucky. Very lucky. What's the matter? Why'd you say it like that? Oh, nothing, Mac. Nothing. Well, now, wait a minute, hon. Something's up. What is it? I don't want to say anything. What you do, you've got something on your chest. Get it off, all right? No. Not here. Not now. But why beat around the bush? What's wrong? All right. I'll tell you. You said they were lucky. That's right, Mac. So lucky. But suppose they hadn't been. What do you mean? Well, suppose we hadn't come along when we did. Maybe an hour later, even a half hour. But we didn't, honey. We didn't. Mac, don't you see this? Well, we might have been these people. Yes, that's true. We might have been. But this is no place for us or for them. I want to go home, Mac, back home to the state. You've had your adventure. You've had your fling and wandering. Now, let's settle down and lead normal lives. Mrs. Mac, I love you very much. But I want to tell you something right now. This isn't an adventure for me. This isn't just a fling. This is what I want, darling. I want it because it's all new in a wonderful country that can grow. And look at those two poor creatures lying there. Is this country wonderful for them? Yes. That's why they're here. Nevada or Oklahoma or Texas was wonderful for the first pioneers there. And this is America's last frontier. You want to stay there? Yes. After seeing this? After seeing this. No matter what I say? No, that's not fair. It's not like you to force that kind of a decision. Well, is it fair to ask me to stay? Honey, that's a question you'll have to answer for yourself. We're listening to Dick Faran and Gale Page as Mr. and Mrs. Mac in Alaskan Bush Pilots on the Cable Cade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Mrs. Mac has just told Mr. Hughes about her own and Mac's first experiences in Alaska. Now as the second part of our story opens, Hughes and Mrs. Mac are in the living room of the McNarney home. Hughes is speaking. And you stayed, didn't you? Mr. Hughes, I think I caught Mac's enthusiasm. You were like Alaska now. I wouldn't live anywhere else on Earth. I see. Well, what about the flying bush piloting? Well, Mr. Hughes, excuse me. Mrs. Mac here. Oh, thank you. Now I will... Excuse me again. Mrs. Mac calling Judd Olson at Ofer. Mrs. McNarney calling Judd Olson at Ofer. Come in, Judd. That's the man whose wife's having a... Judd Olson here. Where's Mac? Isn't he coming? Please, he's got her. Now, Judd, don't get excited. Mac should be on his way there by now. How's Mrs. Olson? Not good, Mrs. Mac. Not good at all. And I'm scared, scared stiff. And there's a blizzard heading for us. Mac's flown through blizzards before, Judd. Lots of them. He'll get through to you. Now you go back and stay with Mrs. Olson. Don't leave her, Judd. Do you hear? Don't leave her. I hear you, but what'll I do? Look, Judd, get blankets and everything ready. Be ready with Mrs. Olson as soon as Mac gets there. Here? Yeah, all right. But look, tell him he can't land on the backfield. He's got to land on the lake. I think the ice will hold. All from here. You're going to try to get, Mac? No, I don't bother him. If he wants me, he'll call in. He knows I'll be here. Listen. I see. But do you want to know about Mac starting this bush piloting? Well, Mr. Hughes, it wasn't long after what I told you about the marans that Mac came in one evening looking like a cat and a swan. Mr. Mac? Uh-oh. Oh, what's the matter, honey? I don't know. What is the matter? Matter-wise. Honey, there's nothing the matter- Mac, look at me. No, right at me. Now, what did you do? Holy mackerel, Mrs. Mac. Do I look like I did something? Yes, exactly. Oh, OK. OK. Uh, honey, I... Oh, look, remember the marans? Remember? I've never forgotten. I can't. Neither could I. That's why I did what I did. What did you do? What about the marans? Well, it's not about the marans. Not only the marans. I mean, it's about the Wallises and the Yorkoffs and the Rowlands and, well, all of those families in the inland country. Alaska's a wonderful country and it needs people. Pioneers just like... Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada. I know. Sure. Now, what keeps people from settling in a wonderful country? Tell me. You tell me. All right. It's the lack of facilities, transportation, ways to get supplies and necessities in and out. Mac, you bought a plane. How did you know? Well, there's only one way you think of getting things in and out by plane. You're wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Mac, darling, you're incorrigible. And he did just what he said he was going to do, Mr. Hughes. He and the other bush pilots kept Alaska alive through the people they served. Mac to Mrs. You there? Yes, right here. What's the matter? Look, honey, I landed at Olson's place. Made it on the ice. Oh, good. What about Mrs. Olson? Well, that's what I wanted to tell you. Now, listen, this is going to be one of those things. She's... She's, well, you know... Is it bad, Mac? Well, I don't know. But you'd better get to the airport. Call Dr. Stern. Get him there. Got it? I've got it. Mac, be careful. Sure, sure, always am. Hey, honey, Mr. Hughes still there? Yes, I'm here. Well, now don't go away. If you do, you'll miss the best roast beef in the world. Besides, I want to talk to you about those planes. All right, I'll be here. Be at the airport. Oh, honey... Right here, Mac. I'll have to land on the snow. Can't stop to change from skis to wheel. Got a tailwind. It's terrific. Better get going to the airport, all for now. I'll go right away. You want to come along, Mr. Hughes? Hello, Mac. Hello, Bob. Oh, this is Mr. Hughes. Nice to meet you, Mr. Hughes. How do you do? Uh-huh. Mac coming in? Not on the runway. He's got skis on the ship. Oh, we'd better get flares off. Yes, I want to use the phone, Bob. Yeah, sure thing. Right here on the radio, Shaq. Excuse me, Mr. Hughes. I've got to call the hospital. That's a great little woman. You've known the McNally's very long? About a year now. I'm one of the pilots he's trying to get a plane for. Oh, I see. You've done much flying? All over the Aleutians. Lasker, clear down of the couriers. Drop a few on the jabs there. Look, uh, this bush piloting. Is it just delivering little things, errands, stuff like that? You're kidding? Look, can we hear a Kalmuk tungsten? Who hasn't? Well, Mac's been taking that tungsten out now for 25 years. Oh? How do you know? Because Mr. Peters, he owns the mine. He told me. Told me how one day he was sitting in a saloon at Fairbanks. Said Mac came up to him. Excuse me, uh, are you Charlie Peters? Yeah. What's on your mind? An idea. I think I can do something for you. Why? What's in it for you? You want to hear it or not? I'm listening, eh? Bill McNarney's my name. You got a claim up Southshire River of tungsten used in hardening steel? Interested in buying it? No. I just wanted to know why you haven't worked it. It takes eight days to get there by dog sled. Where's country up here? No way of getting you out. I'd answer your question. I can get you there in half an hour, and I can haul the ore down here in the same time. If you were drinking, I'd order the same stuff. But you ain't. Ever hear of airplanes? You figured on flying they were out? Alaska is rich if we can get the richness and haul it out, right? Well, an airplane will do it. What'll it cost? Twenty-five dollars to take you up there and twenty-five cents a pound for freight. Eh, maybe I'm a darn fool, but it's a deal. When to believe. Tomorrow morning. The plane's in Granger's barn, north side of Fairbanks. I'll be there at six. There it is, right along the Southshire River. There's the hill. This is it. Yeah, it took forty minutes. It would have been thirty if you'd been able to recognize your own mind. That looks different from the air. Okay, strap yourself in. We're going down. All right, I'm ready. Hey, Charlie. How soon do you think you can have that load of ore ready to take out? Well, give me two weeks. Two weeks it is. I'll be right here on schedule. It better be. This ain't no place to be stranded. Don't you worry. You'll be here and have the ore ready, and I'll take it out for you. Well, Mike, if it works, you can bring me back a couple of helpers in that strip. It'll work all right. When I come back, have a list of supplies and equipment you'll need. All right, Mike. Can you be careful? Because if anything happens to you, I'm a dead duck. Well, Mr. Hughes, that was about... Oh, I guess about... Twenty-five years ago. Hi, it's Charlie. Meet Mr. Hughes. I know from Washington about those plane macaws. Is he going to get them, Mr. Hughes? You know about me. Radio appears like party line. We hear everything. So, Mike, are you going to get those planes? Well... Yeah, looky here. He's never failed me once. Twenty-five years have been taking my ore out. Never failed anyone. From freighting and gas engines to a can of milk. We needed every ounce of tungsten to lay our hands on after Pearl Harbor. Is that right? There wouldn't have been any. Cal McTungsten. It hadn't been from Mac. I reached... Oh, hello, Charlie. The ambulance is ready, standing by. Hey, I got to set the flare. There he is now. Yeah, he's coming in. Hey, is that his plane? That's it, Mr. Hughes. Why, why, it's hardly bigger than a cub. You see that landing, Hughes? Like a southern bruise. Oh, thank heaven. Hey, Doc Stern. He's right here, Mac. Come on, Doctor. I bring a stretcher over here and step on it. Everything okay, Mac? From here on, then it's up to you, Doc. All right, boys. Lift her into the ambulance. How are you, Mrs. Olson? I don't know what we'd have done without Mac. All right now. We'll be at the hospital in a minute. But Judd, where's Judd? Oh, he's okay. Ever know me to lose a father? There we are. All right, boys. Let's go. Well, that's that. Now, hi, honey. How's Rose Beach? Fine. How are you? Okay. We just had a bad tailwind. Now, let's talk about them planes. Now, just a minute, Peters. Oh, now, look. We need those planes. You're a flyer, not a business man. No, well, I've been... Just a moment. I'm Hughes. May I say something? Sure, Mr. Hughes. Go right ahead. Mac, I'm going back to Washington, and I'll guarantee you those planes as many as you need. Well, thanks, Mr. Hughes. You don't know how much it means. I think I do, Mac, not only to you, but to Alaska and Alaska's people. Thank you, Mr. Hughes. That's a load off my mind. Hey, Bob. Yeah, Mac. Give the old crate a go on over. Get the ice off the wings. We've got to get those eggs delivered in the morning. You see, Mr. Hughes, when you're a bush pilot, you're everything, including a stork. For Anne and Gail, Pades will return to our depart cavalcade microphone in a moment. Now, here is Gain Whitman. No matter what other odd kinds of cargo an Alaskan bush pilot may have in his plane, he may also be carrying a box of dynamite to somebody somewhere. For pioneering Americans are building the Alaska of tomorrow, and dynamite is a building tool first and last. In fact, no other tool can do so much work so cheaply, whether it's blasting mountain sides for a highway or digging a mile-long drainage ditch. Dynamite is not a wartime explosive. Dynamite is as constructive as peace itself as every construction engineer knows. Dynamite has become a money-saving, labor-saving, time-saving friend, valuable and trustworthy, because it is a scientific explosive. For a long while, black powder was the only known explosive. Alfred Nobel, however, conceived the idea of mixing nitroglycerin with solid material to make it safer to handle, safer to use. Both his idea and his method were scientific. And today, the manufacture of dynamite has become a scientific field in itself. The DuPont Company, for instance, today manufactures not just one type, but nearly 200 formulations of dynamite. Through exact control of the ingredients and their compounding, DuPont can make a dynamite that will crack solid granite like the blow of a giant fist, or one that gives a coal seam a gentle heave so that the coal is dislodged without shattering. DuPont makes a dynamite for an Alaskan goldmine that will not freeze in subzero temperatures, or a dynamite that may be used with equal efficiency in the blazing heat of the tropics. Wherever there is heavy work to be done, especially where the job calls for the moving of large amounts of earth or stone, there you find dynamite made by the DuPont Company, saving time, saving labor. Labor which, without dynamite, would more often than not be backbreaking. DuPont Dynamite builds roads and dams, helps mine coal and oars. DuPont Dynamite digs ditches and removes stumps for farmers. In a split second, it does the work that would otherwise take weeks and months. Dynamite well deserves its place among the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry. Not bad, Gaine. Not bad for Techeco. Don't let that throw you, Gaine. Dick's still playing Mack in Alaskan lingo. Oh, I see. Well, what would be Alaskan lingo for a woman who fought her husband from a rough, lonely army outpost where he was a lieutenant into the White House, where he became president of the United States? I'll ask him for it, Gaine, but that sounds like the story of Zachary Taylor's wife, Meg. And it sounds like a wonderful part for somebody. And that somebody, Dick, will be Agnes Moorehead. Coming on Cavalcade next week? Right. We hope that you and Dick will be listening, Gale, or the general's wife. If Agnes Moorehead is on, no one should miss it. Once again, Dick, we agree. Good. Get seats in front of your radios and Cavalcade will be there. When incidentally, while we're talking about fine acting, there's a big bouquet of orchids due each of you tonight for your performances. Thanks, Dick Faran and Gale Page. Please come again. We will. Good night. Good night. Dick Faran may soon be seen in the Paramount picture. Too good to be true. The musical tonight's Defant Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbrister. Our Cavalcade play was written by Bernard Feins and Harold Franklin. This is Tom Collins inviting you to listen next week to the general's wife starring Agnes Moorehead on The Cavalcade of America. Brought to you by the Defant Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.