 Tonight the DuPont Company brings you Builder of the Sioux starring William Holden and Marsha Hunt on the Cavalcade of America. But first, here's Gain Whitman. If your ski clothes and other winter sports garments no longer shed rain and snow because the water repellent finish came out of the cleaners, you'll appreciate the protection offered by garments made of fabric treated with DuPont Zeeland Durable Water Repellent. Zeeland continues to give protection even after many washings or cleanings. So look for the Zeeland tag when you buy jackets, ski clothes and outdoor sportswear. Zeeland is one of the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry. And now William Holden as Charles Harvey and Marsha Hunt as Katie Burroughs in Builder of the Sioux on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Nobody today remembers my name. It's Katie Burroughs. And only a few remember Charles Harvey, the man who, more than any other in the 19th century, changed the face of America. I can still recall the first time I saw him. It was Thanksgiving Day, 1852. Mother brought him in at dinner time. Katie, this is Mr. Harvey, our new boarder. Well, how do you do, Mr. Harvey? Sit down here, won't you please? Oh, thank you, Ms. Burroughs. This is Dr. Lash. How do you do, young man? Now don't you get sick, Mr. Harvey, because all you'll get from him is Calamel and Jalop. That is, if you can spare your time on his checker plane. Over here is Major Morris, our army engineer. How do you do? Now just help yourself to the turkey and cranberry sauce, Mr. Harvey. There's plenty of it. Oh, thank you, but I had my dinner on the boat, Ms. Burroughs. I would like a cup of coffee. I'll bring you some. Oh, Major Morris. Yes? Mr. Harvey says he's read about that canal survey you're making for Congress. Go on and tell him about it. Wow. And potatoes, Major? Oh, are you an engineer, Mr. Harvey? No, no, I'm not, but I've read some on it. Look at Ms. Katie. Disappointment written all over her face. I should warn you, son, Ms. Katie has got a dream man. Some big strapping fellow who'll come along and build a canal between Lake Superior and Lake Huron just for her. All right, Dr. Lash, you go on and laugh. And you too, Major. But one of these days, you'll look up from your checkerboard and there it'll be, all dug and finished. You won't laugh so hard then. You see, I told you, she's hepped on that canal business. Ms. Katie, those surveys convinced me they might just as well try to build a canal across the moon. Why is that, Major Morris? Do you ever hear the big freeze, young fellow? A big freeze? From December to May, this suponentular is frozen tight as a drum. Nobody can get in or out except on snowshoes and the nearest machine shop is 200 miles away. You let the right man come along, Major, and he wouldn't stop for that. Yeah, there she goes again. Major, reach me some of that turkey, will you? Do you know what a canal would do to this wilderness, Mr. Harvey? Why, it would open up the whole west all the way from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean. But every time I mention it, they laugh at me. I know how you feel, Ms. Burroughs. All my life, I wanted to build things, and everybody laughed at me, too. All his life? How old are you now, young fellow? 20? 21? Oh, no, no, I'm older than that. I'm 23. 23, he says. A gray beard, he's 23. Ah, what's your business, anyhow? You wouldn't be another schoolteacher, would you? I'm a traveling salesman, Dr. Lash. A traveling salesman? Oh, too bad, Ms. Katie. I reckon you'll have to wait for the next excursion boat for that dream man, yours. Mr. Harvey, I'd like to show you the Sioux country. I know every inch of it. We could go now if you want to. Well, I'd like that, Ms. Burroughs. I'd like it very much. Come on. Here's your coffee, Mr. Harvey. Oh, see the force, will you, Ma? We'll be back before supper. Well, I never. Where are they going? Can't you guess, Ma Burroughs? They're going to build the Sioux canal. Ms. Tilt, you can see the Sioux St. Marie river in the rapids. It's only a little way up. All right, let's go. Look out for those briars. You know, this country makes me think of home. When I was a kid, I was dying to be an engineer, and I used to build bridges across the creek behind the house. Oh, real ones? Bridges you could walk on? Well, the first time everybody laughed and said it would collapse. And did it? So I got hold of old Blossom. She was our coward, took her across. And after that, I suppose everybody used it. Yes, but that didn't keep them from laughing just the same the next time. I suppose not. Well, here we are. There's the river. You see that tiny stretch down there? Oh, yes, I see. Those are the rapids, only a mile long. That's where they'd have to build the canal. Ms. Burroughs, I have a confession to make to you. The canal is one of the things I came up here to look into. Well, from the way you talked at the table, I thought as much. But back east, everybody says it can't be done. They said that about your bridge, too, didn't they? Ms. Burroughs, I'll tell you something else. You know, you're just the kind of person I wanted to meet him. Well, if I thought that canal was possible... I know it is. Well, I might get backing from Mr. Fairbanks, my boss. Then why don't you write him? Tell him about it. Well, what could I tell him? Well, tell him the company that built that canal has the right to claim the greatest ore-bearing land in the world. Oh, now, wait a minute. I'm not an engineer, Ms. Burroughs. You took Blossom across that bridge, didn't you? Yes, but that... Did she care whether you were an engineer or not? All she asked was that the bridge didn't collapse. You know, you know, it's funny when I... when I listen to you, it makes me feel like I can really do it. Look, Mr. Harvey, why don't you try it? It's a tempting idea, all right, but... well, I hardly know where to start. Well, first, you have to go before the Michigan State Assembly. Do you think they'd give me a grant? Why not? They want the canal and you want to build it. I want to build it more than... more than anything I ever wanted to build in my life. All right. Then the next step is budgets. Will you help me with those? Of course, I'd love to. Machinery, labor, stone. Uh-oh, stone. That's a big problem. Everybody says you'll have to haul it in from the east. But this stone right here, I'll show it to you. Look, the whole top of this hill is limestone, solid limestone. Limestone? Well, that means we can keep the budget down. Oh, this is wonderful. You don't know what it means to me. Oh, Miss Katie, I... you're so... you're so... Yes, Mr. Harvey? Miss Katie, I... I think it's... I think it's going to snow. I... I think there's a blizzard coming. We'd better hurry home. The State Assembly met in January and Charles Harvey was off to Lansing. Then, for six dreary weeks, I heard nothing. To one day, a trapper brought a letter in by Snowshoe. It said... Dear Miss Katie. Miss Katie. I think the Assembly liked our plans for the canal. Our plans? But opposition arose from Major Morris. The project is completely impractical. Congress has allotted the State of Michigan 775,000 acres of public land to be awarded the construction company on the condition that the canal is completed in 10 years. 10 years. Now, Mr. Harvey proposes to build locks 350 feet long, though the longest vessel sailing the Great Lakes measures less than 200 feet. It's a pity that Mr. Harvey's not an engineer. If he were, he would know that the construction he plans would take at least 20 years. In fact, as an engineer, I don't believe you'll ever get it done. That's all I have to say. Mr. Chairman, may I... Yes, Mr. Harvey. Quiet, please. Mr. Harvey has the floor. Gentlemen, I will sign a proviso that my canal must be completed within two years. If I fail... If I fail, the loss will be solely my own and that of my backers. The State of Michigan will still have eight years left in which to authorize a smaller canal built by anyone who wants to. Major Morris, do you consider that fair? I suppose so, since there is no other builder at the moment. Then, gentlemen, if there's no objection, I propose that authorization with a two-year proviso be granted, Mr. Harvey. Objection? Mr. Harvey, the opportunity for a canal is yours. And though I don't see how you'll do it, I hope you win, my boy. Then, for months on end, no word, no sign from Charles Harvey. And for me, the winter days seemed suddenly empty and dreary. Even Mother noticed at a diniton. Casey. Oh, yes, Ma. I thought you were helping me set the table. Oh, I'm sorry, Ma. Katie, your mind's wandering. What are you thinking about? Oh, nothing, Ma. It wouldn't be about that Charlie Harvey, would it? I was remembering a walk we took just before he left. He was just as shy as the first day I met him. Once he turned to me and for a minute, I thought he was finally going to say something. What did he say? Miss Katie. Just Miss Katie. Katie, is it the canal you're interested in or Mr. Harvey? Oh, Ma, it was so much fun working with him. Those walks we took together and the nights we sat up, planning and figuring. You're not falling in love with him, are you, dear? I don't know. What if I am? Because it won't do you much good, honey. What do you mean, Ma? Katie, that boy has only one interest, the canal. There's no room for you in his life. But he might at least have written me. Just don't count on him, dear. That's all I mean. Try not to care too much. Please, Ma, I'd rather not talk about it. Forget him, dear. If he ever does come back, he'll finish that canal and that's the last you'll see of him. What, Katie, honey, what's the matter? Come here to me. Leave me alone, kid. She says all I want is leave me alone. Spring that year did not really come till June 1st. And that was the day Charles Harvey returned to the Sioux with the first boatload of men to build the canal. By summer, the big ditch began to creep across the face of the earth, foot by foot, a relentless race against time. One day in August, when I was down to talk again... What happened? The scaffold of the coffer dam. It collapsed. Oh, no! Fire. Fire, how did it happen? Are you hurt? I'm all right. But there's somebody under those timbers. Here, you men. Let that beam. It's Johnny Cassidy, sir. Johnny. Johnny, where are you hurt? Seems to be my side, sir. Now, don't try to move. Let me see it first. I feel like I can't hardly breathe anymore. Give me your knife, Ira. I'm going to cut this shirt away. Katie, get Dr. Lash at once. Tell him to hurry. Ribs are broke. His whole side's crushed. It looks awful, Dr. Lash. I think I'll move this king over here. It's your move, Ben. Watch yourself. Dr. Lash? What? Oh, please. Johnny Cassidy's in terrible pain. Oh, a little pain won't hurt a man. Go ahead, Ben. I'm waiting. But you've got to hurry. You know, Ben, ever since that traveling salesman pup came up here and started his canal, everybody's got to hurry. Hurry. Listen to me. There was a time, Ben, when you could wait till the spring thoughts came to stake yourself acclaim a land. Now, if you don't sneak off in a roar and blizzard, you'll find somebody from the canal company's been ahead of you and stole it. Wait a minute. I don't care what you think of Mr. Harvey or me, but Johnny Cassidy's dying. Do you hear he's dying? You've got to come and help him. What you do, Miss Katie? You go to my medicine cabinet and take that man a dose of Calamol and Jalop. That's as good as anything for, what is it you say, his whole side's crushed? You'll move, Ben. You were listening to William Holden as Charles Harvey and Marsha Hunt as Katie Boroughs in Builder of the Sioux on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. When Charles Harvey came to the little frontier settlement of Sioux St. Marie, Michigan in 1852 and talked of building a canal that would open up the Great Lakes to the whole country, I felt that here was a man with the courage to see his ideas through. He accepted the challenge to complete the canal within two years, but trouble arose when a collapsing scaffold crushed a workman and Dr. Lash refused to leave a checker game to help him. Early the next morning. So they're leaving, are they? How many? At least a hundred, Mr. Harvey. They said they won't stay on a job where there isn't a doctor they can count on. I've sent for a doctor from Detroit. I'm going to keep him here. Oh, I wonder what Dr. Lash will say. He's no doctor, Miss Katie. What do you mean? I mean, he's never been inside a medical school. Has no diploma, no medical degree, nothing. I checked up on him last night. Oh, no. If Johnny Cassidy dies... Is he feeling any better? Come in. Oh, hello, Ira. Good morning. I better go see if I can do anything for Johnny. Excuse me, Ira. Yes, sir. You know, it's the timber crew, Mr. Harvey. We've run into trouble. More trouble? What kind? Well, you know, we've been cutting firewood in that timber stand across the river. Well, what's wrong with that? Land belongs to us. Yeah, but to get there, we go up a road through an unclaimed strip. Well, last night, somebody chopped down trees across that road and put up a big sign. No trespass. What? We started snagging those trees aside to take our cutters through. Well, just then, Dr. Lash came out of the woods with a gang of saloon tufts. Dr. Lash, huh? Yes, sir. He said that land belongs to him. Since when? Since yesterday. Said he put a claim in for it. Now, what difference does that make? We've got the right of way through that strip. Well, I told him that, but he yelled, you tell that salesman pup to keep his men off my land. Oh, he did, did he? Well, sir, I didn't want to pick no fight. We've got trouble enough in this camp. Does he think I'll let a quack like this? Listen, Mr. Harvey, you start fighting the townspeople and you'll lose what men you have left. Mr. Harvey, Johnny Cassidy, he just died. Ira, go down to the camp and call the men together. Tell them I want to talk to them. Men, I've called you together to tell you that Johnny Cassidy's dead. He died because Dr. Lash couldn't be bothered to help him. But last night I did some checking up on Orrin Lash and I found out that he was never a doctor at all. I've got a good man with a medical diploma coming here from Detroit. He's bringing hospitals and equipment with him. But I want you to know that all these years while Lash has been defrauding you, he's kept a real doctor out of sue. Now, wait a minute. None of that. I'm going down to talk to him now and I think when I get through, we won't see Mr. Lash around here anymore. Winter came and the short days crackled with frost. Every foot of canal had to be wrenched by brute force from the frozen land. I don't know how we ever lived through that year, but by fall of 1854 the big locks were nearly finished and in October the canal company sent an engineer to inspect them. Harvey, who made these topographical surveys? Why, those are the original army maps, Mr. Brooks. Major Morris made them with Congress back in 1852, I believe. Why? Well, they're wrong. Dead wrong. He must have made them at flood level. Let me see. Look there. Oh, the fool. Do you know what this means? They're locks, boy. They're too shallow. 11 feet of water instead of 12. But he's supposed to be an engineer. You'd at least think he'd know how to measure water. You know, boy, I think maybe we can get away with 11 feet. And after all the mistakes, not yours. It's Congress's. You're not legally responsible. No, no, no. I can't do that. Contract calls for 12 feet, Mr. Brooks. I'm going to tear those bottoms out and make them one foot deeper. But Harvey, think of the cost. It's a lot of money in our budget, aren't we? You haven't time. The first ship has to go through that canal in the middle of May. You start ripping those locks up now and you'll ruin us, Harvey. Mr. Brooks. My contract says 12 feet of water. And that's what it's going to be. Every foot of that canal had to be deepened. In February, a diver was sent down to explore an obstruction in the lake channel. Major Morris' map showed it as a sandbar. The diver said... Sandbar? Mr. Harvey, that's a rock ledge. Six foot thick and an acre wide. In desperation, he set out on sleigh to consult engineers in Saginaw. Harvey, the only solution we can see is another cofferdam. That'll cost money. Lots of money. How much? At least 100,000. All right. We'll do it. When can you start? Start? Not until the April 4th, Mr. Harvey. Well, how long will it take? An acre of six foot rock and ten foot of water. I figure that'll take you at least a year. He looked like a beaten man now. Night after night, I could see the lamp light in his office window. Day after day, I could see the lines deep in his face. And one night, I decided to do something about it. Mr. Harvey? Mr. Harvey? Is that you, Miss Katie? What are you doing in your office at two in the morning? I couldn't sleep. There's a moon outside. A walk would do you good. Come along, won't you? No, I've got to do some thinking, Miss Katie. I keep feeling there must be some way to crush that rock. Please come with me. We'll walk down to the river. No, no. I haven't time. There's only one month left. Oh, come on. The fresh air will help you think. Well, all right. I'll go with you. I don't know when I've seen the moon so bright. Yes, yes, isn't it? You know, I was thinking that if we had some sort of a steam punch, like a pile driver... The wind feels so soft tonight. Yes, yes it is. A big steel bar, say 20 or 30 tons, pointed to pierce that rock, but heavy enough to crush it. Look, there's the old steam ship whore. When I was a little girl, I used to love that place. Where do you get the steel bar? Can't hold 20 tons from Detroit on snowshoes. I used to come down here in the early spring to watch the ships when the ice broke out. Well, there must be some way. There must be. Wait a minute. Look, Mr. Harvey, you can't go on this way. You've done your best, but it's... It's just no use. The canal is doomed. Everybody says so. For your own sake. Please, give it up. I can't. I can't give it up. All right. Let's not talk about it now. Not on a night like this. It's too beautiful and quiet out here. Yes, the whole world seems to be asleep. Everybody but us. Look at that moonlight and those boats. Just lying there, waiting for the first spring thaws. Come on, let's go down to the edge. Wait a minute. What is it? Those boats. What's the matter? Suppose we borrow their propeller shafts. Propeller shafts? The first steamer from the east could bring them new ones. What for? I mean, lift the boats out of the ice and... What are you talking about? Steel bars to make the steam punch with. Oh, Miss Katie. Miss Katie, I... Yes, Charles? I can do it. I know I can. I can crush that rock. On May 10th, just nine days before the two years expired, the first boat went through the canal with 100 tons of iron ore. All Sioux St. Marie was there to cheer. Charles Hardy and I stood at the last lock gate. Captain Wells. Oh, hi there, Captain Wells on the Illinois. Hi there, Mr. Harvey. How are the locks, Captain Wells, on the channel? Mr. Harvey, we sailed right through like a fish. You built a good canal, the Sioux. I built. Captain, I want you to meet the real builder of the Sioux. Oh, Katie. Katie. Yes, Charles? Come over here. Captain Wells, you know this girl, don't you? Well, sure. Everybody knows Miss Katie. Well, it won't be Miss Katie Long. I want you to meet the future Mrs. Harvey. And that's the story of the building of the Sioux Canal. But it's much more than that. Yes, it's the story of men like Charles Harvey and women like Katie Burroughs who built the roads and canals and bridges of this country until finally a continent had been spanned. Yet never a bridge factory canal nor city was built, but at the outset someone had called it impossible. It's this enterprising spirit that we proudly call America. Now here's Gain Whitman. Rats cost you money, plenty of money. No matter where you live, how many rats there are, nobody knows. Estimates put the figure as high as half a billion in the United States alone. And that's a lot of rats. On American farms, rats destroy as much food every year as 200,000 farmers can produce. For that matter, there are plenty of rats in any city. I heard not long ago of a fellow in one eastern city who thought he had four or five rats in his place of business. He put out bait, dusted with a rat poison, and in the morning he found 139 dead rats. Today, thanks to scientific research carried out during the war, there is a new poison that is unusually effective for brown rats. It's the one that killed the 139 rats I mentioned a moment ago. The new poison is called N2, spelled A-N-T-U. It may be used in the ordinary ways, but in addition, it may be used in a new way as a tracking poison. Perhaps you've never heard of tracking poisons. Here's how they work. Rats, for some reason, have a habit of licking their feet. All you have to do is sprinkle a tracking poison where the rats will walk in it. They lick their feet, and that's the end of them. While N2 is a special poison with a common rat and is not as dangerous to other animals as most rat poisons, it is a poison and a powerful one. Pets and farm animals, including chickens and other fowl, must be kept away from it. And it goes without saying that children must be kept away from N2, as from any other poison. The DuPont Company supplies N2 to exterminators for professional application in commercial buildings and homes, and to compounders of trademarked rat poisons. If you'd like to know more about N2, write to the DuPont Company, Wilmington 98 Delaware. We'll send you, free of any charge, an illustrated 12-page booklet, How to Get Rid of Rats. Remember, just write to the DuPont Company, Wilmington 98 Delaware. And, too, Alpha Naphthyl Thyrouria is one of the newest of the DuPont Company's Better Things for Better Living, through chemistry. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade brings you Basil Rathbone and A Chance for Jimmy, the story of Francis Henry Brown, a young doctor in Boston, who started the first children's hospital in America. Dr. Brown believed that children were not just small adults, but should be handled with special care in a medical center where children would be treated as children. A medical center where research could be carried on about their particular illnesses. So be sure to listen next Monday at the same time to A Chance for Jimmy, starring that outstanding actor, Basil Rathbone, in the Cavalcade of America. The music for tonight's DuPont's Cavalcade was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Borey. Our Cavalcade play was written by Paul Peters. William Holden will soon be seen in the Paramount Picture, Blaze of Noon. In the cast with William Holden and Marsha Hunt tonight were Bess McCameron as Mrs. Burroughs, Robert Dryden as Dr. Lash, House Jameson as Morris, and Cameron Proudham as Ira. This is Ted Pearson inviting you to listen next week to Basil Rathbone and A Chance for Jimmy on the Cavalcade of America, brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.