 Proudly, we hail! From New York City where the American stage begins, here is another program with a cast of outstanding players. Public Service Time has been made available by this station for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story as Proudly, we hail one of America's early inventors, Samuel Colt, is entitled Young Man on a Powder Keg. This is the story concerning the development of the Colt Revolver, a pistol that commanded great respect on America's young frontier. Our first act curtain will rise in just a moment, but first, Young Man, why not let a thought for tomorrow be your thought for today? Right now, your United States Army, the Senior Service, needs qualified technicians in such varied and interesting fields as radio, radar, meteorology, photography, and many, many others. Yes, you can be trained to do a job and acquire a skill that will be of great benefit to you for the rest of your life. You can also take pride in the fact that you answered your country's call in time of great need. Why not let a thought for tomorrow be your thought for today? Visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station and then list in the United States Army. And now your Army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production Young Man on a Powder Keg. He was a Connecticut Yankee from Hartford, and his name was Sam Colt. Sam led an interesting, productive, and somewhat noisy life. During his boyhood days in Hartford, something more than a century ago, he was continuously engaged in carrying on experiments with a rather dangerous product called gunpowder. In fact, the neighbor said somewhat shakily, wherever there was noise, there was Sam Colt. Sam just couldn't stay away from the stuff, and as a result, his father, a calm, judicious man, finally felt prompted to address a few remarks to his lethal offspring. This is the last time. Absolutely the last time. I've warned you, your mother has pleaded with you and Reverend Beggs has tried to reason with you. Nothing seems to enter that skull of yours, but fiendish ideas in which to endanger the lies and property of the neighborhood. What is the matter with you, sir? Are you deranged? But father... Quiet! Do not butt me, young man. I want no words from you, not a syllable. There are no words in the English language or any language which can explain your blowing the roof off the Perkins Bar. But father... Now be still! And you have replaced and repaired the damage that you've done. You will assist your mother in packing your bags. You are leaving for Amherst Academy this evening. For Amherst? But why, father? Why, young man? Why? Why for the good of your poor mother's peace of mind, for the development of your fragile senses, the control of my blood pressure, and the safety of this city? Did you get it? You bet. Look, that's dandy. Anyone see it? Not me. It's almost done, Sam. You hold on to that end. What are you supposed to do? Oh, it'll make the biggest noise you ever heard. A lovely noise. Are you sure we should do it, Sam? I mean, suppose... Ted Stevens, I thought we swore. I know, but... Gee, Mr. Stanton might have a cent home when my father would... No, Stanton will never know who did it. No one will. Are you sure? Of course I'm sure. Now, give me the end of that. That's an awful lot of powder. I wish we had more. Yeah, now it's all done. Nothing left to do but light her up and let her go. We're not gonna stay in here, are we? Of course not. See, this fuse will give us plenty of time. All right, now you unlock the door. We'll run around the corner and down the bank. Ready? I'm scared, Sam. If you're that scared, go on. Just leave the door open. I'll do it myself. No, hurry up and light it. Not gonna lock that door. Coast clear. As Sam figured, it made a lovely noise. Such a lovely noise that it blew out all the winners in Amherst Academy. It was young Sam's most successful effort to date, but for one minor detail. The fuse had burned far more rapidly than the budding inventor had planned, and he and his young friend were very nearly a part of the explosion. Luckily, they suffered no more than tattered clothes and singed hair, but unluckily, it enabled old Stanton to quickly pin guilt where it was so justly deserved. Colt, in the 35 years that I've been associated with Amherst Academy, it's often been my privilege and sometimes my misfortune to see many young men come and go. I think I can safely say in all that time I have never made the acquaintance of a young man who's devilish and inhuman character, who's incredible and Mephistophelian pursuits can in any way equal that of your son. The best that can be said for him is that he's not normal. The sooner you remove him from these premises, the sooner we shall all sleep easier in our beds. And, Mr. Colt, I shall send you the bill required to repair 426 windows. Good day, sir. Laugh all you like, Messiah. I can see no humor in it. Young fool will succeed in killing himself and breaking me in short order. Oh, now, Adam, so the lad does have a bit of the old nick in him. Old nick, you call it. He puts old nick to shame. I tell you, Messiah, I'm worried. Worried. So he loves guns and gunpowder, eh? Well, there's only one answer to that. Get him away where he can lay his hands on neither. A trip to the moon, perhaps. Messiah, I tell you, he can lay his hands on gunpowder. Not on my ship, he can't, Adam. On your ship? Aye. What the lad needs is a bit of discipline and something else to occupy his mind. What better place than on board the Carlo? The Carlo? The Carlo? Well, but, Messiah, I... I couldn't ask you to do that. Ask me nothing, Adam. It'll be no pleasure, Cruz. I'll sign him on as cabin boy and have no fear. He won't find time to be thinking on the joys of gunpowder. You know, Messiah, you may have the answer to it. I have no doubt. Nothing better to build a man than the slant of the deck and the feel of the wind. Adam, I'll make a man out of him that you may wager. When do you leave? A short week. Then a good two years before we drop anchor in Boston Harbor. Oh, my old friend, how can I thank you? How can I thank you? Thank me by filling my glass, and we'll drink to a safe voyage and a long one. Come for a bit, Sammy. Aye, come off it, lad. Huh? What? You're a fawn one, you are. What's the matter? Indian Ocean put you to sleep? No. No, Toby, I... I was just watching the way you moved the helm. The way I moved the helm? And what's wrong with the way I moved the helm? She's on a course, steady and true. No, I didn't mean that. It's just that every time you turn the wheel, no matter which way, each spoke comes directly in line with that catch there. And pride tell what's that got to do with the price of caught fish? Nothing. It's just that catch will hold each spoke in line should you want it to. Now, you don't tell me. Now, you bet I ain't the greatest discovery since rum. I think you better write it all down, lad. It might not have been the greatest discovery since rum, but it was the greatest discovery in Sam Cote's life, or even in the middle of the Indian Ocean. His mind was never far from the thought of guns and powder. And what are you doing down there behind those barrels, my fine bucko? Oh, sir, I... I didn't hear you. I don't wonder. What you got there behind you? It's nothing, sir. I'm sure it's not, so let's have a look. Lively. Not a bad piece of carving. What is it, some kind of gun? Yes, sir. Can't you forget guns, Sam? I don't think so, sir. Least ways, not this kind. Oh, so this is different kind, hey? And what makes it so different? The cylinder there. Oh, oh, this bump here. I thought you just hadn't finished it. This is part of the gun. What's it supposed to do? Well, you see, sir, last night when Toby was on the helm, I happened to notice the way the spokes on the wheel always come into the line with a catch. Spokes on the wheel? What's that got to do with a gun? Nothing, except I figured a series of chambers in a gun could be made to come in line with a barrel, like the spokes on the helm come in line. Well, you'd have a gun that could shoot four, five, maybe six times. Mm-hmm. You don't say. Five, maybe six times. Yes, sir. And I... Be lay there. You'd best lay after and give the cook a hand. As for guns that shoot once or 20 times, I'll have none of them aboard my ship. If you've got to be carving things out of wood, do it on your own time when you're off watch. Now, look lively. Yes, sir. Aye, aye, sir. I'll be boiled in blubber if I don't think the lads aren't something. Blast if I don't. Ain't nobody else. What do you want? Ackerman? I ain't standing in your way. They said you were a mechanic. Well, ain't none better. But I don't need no apprentices. Oh, I'm not looking for a job, sir. I want to give you one. Give me one, eh? Well, now fancy that. What kind of job could a young whippersnapper like you be giving me? I have a model here that I carved out of wood and some drawings I've made of a new kind of pistol. I have some money, and I like to make them. Here are your two guns, just the way you wanted them, Mr. Colt. You don't think they'll work. I told you what I thought when you first came in here two months ago, and I haven't changed my opinion. If you made them as I asked, they'll work. And I'll wage you they'll not work, no matter who made them. You, sir, are a young fool. I hope this teaches you a lesson. Can we try them out? Try them out. I made them for you against my better judgment, but I'll be no witness to what happens when you try to shoot them. We'll put them in a vise and run a string from the trigger. There'll be no danger. You want to wreck my shop? Now, see here, Mr. Meeker. I paid you good money to do this work. All the money I had. And I'm going to test your workmanship right here and now. My workmanship. My workmanship. It has nothing to do with my workmanship. I said it was a blameful idea, and I, yeah, look here, what are you, what are you up to there? Stop your screaming, Meeker, and run this ball of string around the corner there. I'll attach this end to the trigger. If you damage my shop, I will... I'll be still. Why, of all the infertile cheek? What do you mean? I said be still. Now, give me the strength. Yeah. Right here. I'm ready to give it a try. I've got the shots in the gun. I'll pull the trigger six times. Are you ready? Go ahead, but I'm... Blew up the whole gun. Blew up. Yes, that's what I said it would do. Now, will you believe your bet is? We'll try the other one. You can try 50 of them, and it will happen every time. We'll see about that. Look at it. Young man better, you saved your money. Oh, shut up. You get out of my shop. Now, get out of here at once. I'll take no guff from young wastefuls like you. Go on. Get out. Get out. Get out. The first one blew up, and the second one won't work at all. It was poor workmanship, father. He didn't know what he was doing. It seems that you didn't either. Now, she wouldn't have spent all your money on a man who couldn't do a good job. Not that I agree that he didn't do a good job. This whole thing sounds quite fantastic to me. Father, I tell you, it will work. Samuel, I'm not going to lend you any money. As long as you had your own money, I couldn't stop you from pursuing this madness of yours. You're nearly a grown man, Samuel. High time you began acting and thinking like a man. High time you settled down to some honest work. Good job for you and my textile factory. Father, I don't want to work in the factory. It's not a matter what you want. It's a matter what you're going to do. Since two years at sea, it didn't seem to get rid of any of your silly ideas. You'll see how working in the mill affects them. Guns that shoot six times. Of all the preposterous nonsense. You are listening to the proudly we hail production of Young Man on a Powder King. We'll return to our story in just a moment. It shall not happen here. That is the unspoken prayer of every man in the United States Army. That is the unspoken reason for our growing military might. But the time has come to speak. The time has come to tell of that small phrase, those five words, it shall not happen here. Let us speak only to those young men of America who have not taken pause to think. Let's shout it in a voice that will reach into every city and village across the length and breadth of this great land. Young man, you are needed. You are needed to help preserve the peace. You are needed to serve in your United States Army to ensure for your loved ones that it shall not happen here. You are urged to visit your local United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station today and enlist in the United States Army. The need is urgent. Do it today. You are listening to Proudly We Hail and now we present the second act of Young Man on a Powder King. Working in his father's textile mill was not Sam Colt's idea of getting anywhere. He figured that if he saved everything he made maybe in 20 years he'd have enough to hire a good mechanic to make a working model of his gun. This thought gave the young man cold chills but where to get hold of enough money short of robbing a bank? Sam found the answer at the mill laboratory. On his time off he devised a contraption to make laughing gas something that in those days few knew anything about. His first exhibition was given on a street corner and out of its success audiences from Boston to the Ohio frontier were soon flocking the hair. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to present to you at this time the renowned and mysterious Dr. Benjamin Colt of New York, London and Calcutta. Dr. Colt will demonstrate for you some of the unnatural and baffling secrets he uncovered while in the Far East. Who can bring laughter to the hearts of the sad? Who can bring tears? When the tour was over Dr. Benjamin Colt discarded his robes and became once again playing Sam Colt. With the money he'd earned he hired John Pearson an excellent mechanic to produce what old meeker couldn't. Pearson came up with two beautifully performing guns and Sam was off to England to take out Patton. In 1836 he was back home again applying for American Pattons and shortly after that President Andrew Jackson received a young visitor. Well young fellow, my secretary tells me you've been past an old tunnel out of him never sit down with me. Yes, I have, Mr. President. Well then, sit down. What's it all about, Mr. Colt? Is that right? Yes, sir. I'm Sam Colt. What you got there in that box, Sam? There for you, Mr. President. Oh, yeah? Well, oil me in baggies. Where did you get these beauties, son? I had them made especially at my factory in New Jersey. They're my own invention. Each one shoots six shots without reloading. Six shots out of one gun? Son, you come along with me. I want to try these out. How many of these here pacify as you making in that factory of yours? Well, that's the thing, Mr. President. My stockholders are worried about conditions. They won't put up much money and the methods I use in manufacturing the gun are different. They're more costly but they're better. We had a big order. We could cut our costs. Right now we have to charge too much and not many folks can afford the finished product. Well, sir, if we could get a contract from the Army... Do you like a recommendation from me? If you think my gun is worth it, Mr. President. Sam, man with your gun is equal to six without it. I'll write you the best letter I know how. A letter was a good one but the times weren't. Before Sam could convince the Army that a six-shooter was not as complicated as it sounded, the Depression of 1837 hit, closed the factory, and Sam found himself paunting his revolvers for room and board. During this slack period, he invented a waterproof cartridge of tin foil that made the loading of his gun ten times as rapid as before. Back to Washington he went and there he ran into a party of men from Texas who'd come east to gain statehood for their republic. One of these men was Captain Sam Walker of the Rangers. Only one gun worth a hoot in Texas, and that's this here gun of yours, Mr. Colt. One of my job in coming east is to buy from you every colt you can supply us. I'm glad you find my gun to your liking, Captain Walker, but I'm afraid the only colts you'll find are in pawn shops here and in New York. My company's on the verge of bankruptcy and we have no orders. Well, that's hard to believe, Mr. Colt. If folks living here only knew what it's like out west, you'd lack no orders. Captain Walker, I've decided to do nothing more with it until more people have heard of me and my gun. Well, how do you aim to do that, Mr. Colt? I don't know, but I'll find a way. I'll find a way. And find a way he did. Right about this time, Great Britain and the United States were having a bitter argument over the Canadian boundary. The possibility of actual warfare loomed large in the public mind and fearful of the British Navy demands were made from all sides that our harbors be protected from attack. It was at this moment that Sam Colt stepped forward with a perfectly timed announcement. I have perfected a submerged mine system that will guard any harbor from any fleet. I moved that this committee vote to appropriate Mr. Samuel Colt $20,000 to put into use his harbor defense battery. Read all about it. The vote to give demonstration at Coney Island. Read all about it. On by an enthusiastic press, a tremendous crowd assembled at Coney Island to watch Sam perform. An obsolete gunboat was to be the victim of his genius. And although it was quite a step from the Perkins barn, the end result was to be the same. Gone contraption works. The country went wild, proclaimed him a national hero, and whereas once he toured in the role of Dr. Benjamin Colt rejecting his audiences to laughing gas, he now appeared as Colonel Sam Colt, military genius, and went merrily on his way, blowing up obsolete gunboats in the East River, in the Potomac, wherever he was asked. And then, just when it looked like things were straightened out with Great Britain, war flared up along the Texas border with Mexico. A quicker week in lay hands on what we want, a quicker this war will be ended. About Captain Walker, we told you the Colt factory is closed. Now, the gun we suggest... Back in you pardon, Congressman. The gun you suggest we ain't using. I'll find Colt myself and see what he has to say. Why'd you guys do that? I can't, sir. What could we do to you when you did? Why not let me be the judge of that, sir? It's true, Captain Walker, the plant's been closed for over five years. The machinery's rusted. There wouldn't be time to meet your order. Sam, isn't there some way you can do it? We need those guns. We need them bad. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You got an idea? Yes, I think I have. If I drew up the specifications for the gun and contracted different companies to make the different parts, you'd get your order quicker than Greece Lightning. All right, Gingo, let's get to work. I've got the money. You draw the plans. Huh? What's the matter? There's only one trouble, Captain Walker. I don't have anything to draw them from. I don't even own one of my own guns. Well, I do. I most certainly do. I own two of them. Here. Here, take them both and start drawing, son. We got a war to win. Captain Walker went back to Texas with a thousand Colt revolvers, and, as you can well imagine, they changed the military thinking of two hemispheres. European observers of the war sent home word that a young American inventor named Samuel Colt had developed the most deadly weapon ever seen. Sam, I'm proud of you. It's a big moment for me, Father. Remember, Sam, when folks thought the city of Hartford was in danger, as long as you were around, now look, brand new factory, lots of people working for you, orders from all over the world, and you're still just a young sprout. I guess I must have given you and Ma a lot to worry about in those days. You sure did, son. Never forget the time you blew the roof all the way over. He was a Connecticut Yankee from Hartford, and his name was Sam Colt. He invented a new kind of gun, and that gun left its mark on the pages of our history. Sam Colt. He was quite a fellow. Plan ahead to get ahead. There's sound advice for you young men of America, and here's how you can act on that advice. Your United States Army is offering a bright future in such interesting technical fields as radio, radar, electronics, mechanics, meteorology, photography, and many, many others. Perhaps you're not qualified in any of these urgently needed skills. Well, here's the answer to that. The United States Army, through its many fine technical schools, is prepared to train you in the field for which you show an aptitude. Now there's a great opportunity, your opportunity to plan ahead, to get ahead. For full details, visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Station now. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail, presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This program featured a cast of outstanding players. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in this same station next week for another interesting story on Proudly We Hail.