 The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Douglas Fairbanks, the star of tonight's DuPont Play, has just returned from Europe, for he's been working as an official of the United Nations Association, and of care to help Europe realize its dream of a better tomorrow. Thank you. It's nice of you to welcome me back home, and it's always nice of the DuPont Company to welcome me back this way, on Cavalcade of America. Yes, there is a dream prevalent in Europe, the fulfillment of which will make a better world. Tonight's DuPont Play is about a dream too, a dream of less than a hundred years ago, which marked the beginning of a new era, a stronger, unified America. The year is 1859, the place, a ship bound from New York to Panama, leaning on the rail of the starboard deck as a young man, as he spares off at the distant horizon, a small hand fluxes his sleeve. Mr. Judah? Mr. Judah? Huh? Oh, hello, little girl. I was told to look for you on deck, Mr. Judah. Were you? And when I found you, I was to tell you something. Oh, you were? What was that? Lunch is now being served in the dining salad. Oh, it is, is it? And if you do not come at once, a nice lady is going to be very mad with you. That's what she said. She did, and who is this interesting person? She said to just mention that she is your wife, and that she is very hungry. Thank you. What's your name? Elizabeth. Mr. Judah, can I, can I ask you a question? Certainly. Is it true that when we get to Panama tomorrow, to get off the boat and go for a ride on Mule? Real Mule? Yes, Elizabeth, only they're called burrows. We ride across the isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean, and then we get on another boat just like this that takes us up to San Francisco. Why do we have to ride on burrows? Burrows. That's what I said. Why do we have to get off the boat at all? Because by getting off the boat, instead of going around Cape Horn, we save two weeks. I like you. Would you like to hear me sing? Not just now, Elizabeth. I don't believe it would be advisable to keep that nice lady waiting any longer. Do you? Will you come and talk to me after your finished eating? Certainly. Will you tell me all about the burrows? Burrows. That's what I said. Will you? Certainly, my dear. You just wait right here, and I'll be back as soon as I'm finished. Darling, you seem so much brighter today. And you've really enjoyed your lunch for the first time since we left Washington. That little girl, Elizabeth, she amuses me. Oh, she's a darling. And I'm certainly grateful to her for giving you back your appetite. Um, Theodore? Yes, Anna? Do you still feel bitter about it, the railroad thing, I mean? Not bitter, Anna. If Congress has decided against my idea for a transcontinental railroad, well, I guess they know what they're doing. Darling, have you reckoned up what it cost? I mean, the round trip and our expenses in Washington? Over $2,000. Oh, we have much left, have we? No. What are you going to do? Oh, there must be someone in California who can use a brilliantly unsuccessful engineer. You are not unsuccessful, darling. And you're the most imaginative, the smartest? I guess I've got too much imagination, Anna. Practical people are afraid of it. You know what they call me on Washington behind my back? Crazy Judah. I know. I'm not crazy, Anna. Darling, those people at the next table are listening. Someday that railroad I've dreamt about will be built. It'll cross deserts and rivers. Yes, and climb over the high seas too. Of course it will, dear. Anna, something has to be done to bring together our people to the East Coast and the West. Otherwise, this nation will be in reality two nations. It's unfamiliar with each other as the Turks and the Icelanders. Well, look at us. Tomorrow we get off this boat at Panama. We ride burrows across miles of pestilential swamp. You know how many Americans have died from swamp fever contracted while crossing Panama? How many ships have been smashed or pirated rounding Cape Horn? Anna, that railroad will be built. It has to be. It will, dear. And you will build it. No, Anna, not me. From now on, Crazy Judah is dead. Behold, the dreamer is no more and in his place there stands the practical man of affairs, the good provider. But, Theodore... I beg you to excuse me now, dear. I have a most important engagement on deck with an extremely attractive young lady. Oh. Don't worry about it. She has promised to sing for me in exchange for a dissertation on the topography of Panama and the correct seat on a burrow. I'll see you later. A relief to have Panama behind us. Those swamps and those awful mosquitoes. When do we reach San Francisco, dear? Tomorrow, I imagine. Anna, that little girl, Elizabeth, have you heard if she's better today? No, dear, I haven't. Her mother hadn't come up on deck and I hate to go down and bother her. I think perhaps you'd better go down in her. Well, don't you think we might ask why the... Oh, here's a steward. No, maybe he knows. Ask him, Theodore. A steward? Yes, Mr. Judah. There's a little girl. Her name's Elizabeth. She was taking the swamp fever when we were crossing Panama a few days ago. Yes, Mr. Judah? How is she? She's... dead, sir. She's... Dead? Oh, no. Oh, the poor child. If she died early this morning, her services will be held at sunset. Services? You mean they're going to... Yes, sir. The captain will read from the Book of Common Prayer and the body will be consigned to the sea. Oh, no. Do they have to... Yes, madam. Particularly in a case like this. Panama fever is contagious. You should know the whole ship might come down with it if the body were allowed to. All right, sir. Thank you very much. You're welcome, sir. If you care to attend the service, we would. We would. On the starboard deck, sir. Good afternoon, sir. We beseech thee to entrust the soul of this child to thy never-failing care and love, and bring us all to thy heavenly kingdom through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Rock of ages, prepare for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let me hold her hand. Come, Peter. Let, dear sweet child, the poor mother. Panama fever. Panama fever. The journey was too much for her. She wasn't very strong. It wasn't the journey. It was Panama fever. Anna, do you realize that through a railroad across America, that child would be alive today? Yes, dear. That's what I was thinking all during... Well, dear door. Anna, I've changed my mind. When this ship docks at San Francisco, I'm going to start all over again. If the government won't help me, maybe some private citizens will. If they won't, I'll go it alone. But, Mr. Gorham, I tell you that I have... If the transcontinental railroad is so important, why did the government turn it down? Because Congress is thinking about something else these days. A civil war. I tell you, it's up to us private citizens. Judah, I want you to answer me one question. Have you made any surveys for this proposed railroad? No, I haven't. Have you located a single pass through the high seers that your proposed line could go through? No, but I have explored those mountains on twenty-one separate occasions, and I'm absolutely positive that a pass can be found... Mind it, Judah. And when you found it, come back and talk to me again. Well, dear door. They want a preliminary survey to prove there's a pass through the seers. There is a pass, Anna. There must be. And you'll prove it to them by finding it, dear. Well, now let's see. We need lots of warm clothing and nourishing food. We? What do you mean by we? Well, darling, you can't go alone, can you? Didn't save. Of course I was thinking of taking somebody with me who... Who? Well, someone who would assist me with a surveying. I've done that before. You helped to get the topographical layout on paper. Well, I can do better than that. I can make sketches of them for you. No, Anna. In color, maybe. Let's show the actual pass the way it really is. No, Anna. Why not? Because it's too strenuous and undertaking for a woman. Why, you might freeze to death up there. But, dear door. Let's say no more about it, shall we? You know how stubborn I can be when I've once made up my mind. Well, it is made up. Absolutely. Almost 7,000 feet. Look. Look, Anna, right up there. The summit. Top of the world. Are you afraid, darling? Yes. For two weeks now, we've been following this path. We've climbed and zigzagged in a route that could easily be graded for a railroad line. Anna, those few feet to the summit, I... I am afraid of them. Afraid to get to the top because of what I'll see. Well, now, dear door. Will it be a sheer drop? Will it be an impossible grade? You mustn't even think such a thing. No, no, I mustn't. There is a pass down the other side. There must be. Come on, Anna. Let's go and look. Getting stronger. I'm beginning to see, Anna, over the rise and beyond. Tell me. What do you see? I see a railroad that has climbed to the stars. Starting down again, down an easy grade, winding around that mountain ahead, traveling down through the pass. Anna, we've found what we're looking for. The pass through the Sierra. The pass for the first railroad across America. You are listening to the DuPont Cavalcade of America starring Douglas Fairbanks in Crazy Judah with Gertrude Warner as his wife, Anna. Cavalcade is sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. And now, back to our DuPont play. Since Congress in 1860 was not very receptive to the idea of a transcontinental railroad, Theodore Judah went back to California and sought private capital to back his enterprise. He's just now addressing a meeting of San Francisco businessmen interested in the project. Mr. Gorham and gentlemen, you asked me to find a pass through the Sierra. I have found it. It runs eastward from the town of Dutch Flat, eastward and over the mountain. Well, gentlemen, I've fulfilled your condition. Are you prepared now to form a company to launch this great project? Mr. Gorham? Mr. Handley? Oh, come gentlemen, surely you have something to say. Mr. Judah. Yes, Mr. Gorham. Mr. Judah, you spent some weeks in the mountains locating this pass. Well, during your absence, an event of some importance to investors in railroad bonds has occurred. The Sacramento Valley Railroad, I believe you're familiar with that line, sir. I surveyed it and built it. It has ceased operation, Mr. Judah. It has gone bankrupt. I see. Do you imply, Mr. Gorham, that it was because of some fault of mine in the construction of the line, perhaps that this occurred? No, I do not, sir. What I do not only imply but give to you is the hard fact is that there is nobody in San Francisco who looks with favor on the idea of investing his money in railroad properties. I'm sorry, sir. Thank you, Mr. Gorham. Thank you very much. I shall now move northward and see if the people of Sacramento share your prejudice. Good night, gentlemen. So, Mr. Judah, you'd like us up here in Sacramento to go in with you. To what extent, Mr. Huntington and gentlemen, I ask only an earnest of your interest and goodwill. Certain final surveys of the route for this railroad still remain to be made. We need the sum of $500 for instruments and expenses. Well, gentlemen, Mr. Judah, you'll have to eat on this trip while you're doing that surveying, won't you? I believe that will be necessary, yes, sir. All right. I'll start it off with a barrel of flour. A barrel of flour? Well, now let me remind you, sir, that you're in California, not in the east. Out here, a barrel of flour is worth $100. Yes, of course. That's very handsome of you, Mr. Huntington. And it brings me to the very essence of this need for this railroad. Gentlemen, how many Americans in this city and all over California are going without bread because flour sells at $100 a barrel? Are you mean this railroad would cut the prices all the way down? In half at least, Mr. Hopkins. Probably further. Oh, now, I don't know that that's so good. Of course it is, sir. You'll make less profit on each barrel, but you'll sell many times more barrels. Every table in the state of California. The widest possible distribution of goods. That's what's going to make these people of this country the most contented on the face of the earth. Well, gentlemen, as businessmen, are you willing to come in? Excuse me, dear. Oh, Hannah. I didn't mean to interrupt. Oh, that's quite all right, dear gentlemen. This is my wife. How do you do? Theodore, this telegram just arrived at the hotel. I thought it might be important. Gentlemen, this telegram is from Washington. I'd like to read it to you. Congress has decided urgent need for transcontinental railroad in view of threatening war. Government will offer land grants and guarantee bonds as soon as you present surveys of route and projected paths through the Sierras. Well, gentlemen, are you now prepared? You can count me and Judah any amount you say. Judah, I've changed my mind. You can make that two barrels. Excellent, gentlemen. Excellent. Well, as soon as this final survey is completed, we start work on the Central Pacific Railroad. The westernmost link of a line collecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1841, I put in my corduroy britches on. I put in my corduroy britches on to work upon the railway. Fill me your re-I-re-A. Fill me your re-I-re-A. Fill me your re-I-re-A. To work upon the railway. Fill me your re-I-re-A. Fill me your re-I-re-A. To work upon the railway. I do this and that. Not bad, eh, Judah? The way these men are digging? The way these men are digging, Mr. Crocker, is fine. But there aren't enough of them. We'll have to lay rails faster or the Union Pacific will meet us before we got east of California. Now, now, Judah, take it easy. From last report, they're proceeding towards a junction with us faster than we're moving towards them. Yes, but they've got twice our manpower, my boy. Then we'll have to work twice as fast. I just roll over from town, sir. A telegram came for you from Washington, D.C., urgent. Urgent, eh? Well, now, let's see what they want. Eh, Congressman Logan. Committee not satisfied with your choice of route over Sierra. Urgent, you come at once. Take first available boat. What's impossible? I can't leave now. Oh, you'd better, Judah. If they hold up those land grants. I can't go, I tell you. We'll buy the land from them. And the bonds? They were bought by the people of California and guaranteed them. We'd have enormous refunds to make out of money we've already spent. I'm afraid you'll have to go to Washington, Judah. Very well. But this, I promise you, sir. It'll be my last trip by boat and through that infernal Panama jungle. My last trip, dear. Now, dear Dora, stop being so restless. At least we've gotten safely across Panama and the jungle. In a few days, this boat will dock in New York and then in no time at all... just weeks and weeks wasted. Boat trips up and down oceans, pack boroughs in Panama jungle. Well, railroad will change all that. Well, maybe the next time we make this trip... Next time? What next time, Anna? Dear Dora, what's the matter, dear? Are you ill? Anna, do you remember our last trip west that little child you remember, Anna? Yes. She was a sweet woman. The name was Elizabeth. What was her last name, Anna? I don't know, dear. She sang for me. Did I tell you that? She sang for me. And then she died of... Panama fever, they said. She caught it crossing the swamps. Just think, Anna. In those days, you had to go all the way down to Panama to get from the United States to the United States. Don't you think that's funny, Anna? Oh, darling, come back to the cabin with me. You're not well. Why don't you laugh, Anna? Didn't you hear? To get across the United States, you had to leave the country and go to Panama. That doesn't make sense at all. Dear, oh, you've got to lie down. There must be a touch of the sun. Come with me, darling, and I'll get the ship's doctor to look at you. Well, what is it, doctor? My name is Mrs. Judah. Did you and your husband board this ship at Panama? What? Yes, we did. Had you come by way of the Panama swamps? Yes. Mrs. Judah, it's not too much sun your husband is suffering from. He has Panama fever. Anna, Anna. Yes, dear door. Oh, darling, do you think you should... Give them to me. Here they are. Now, see here, Anna, this part is the one I found. It's the only route, Anna. When you go back to California, you tell them... You tell them yourself, darling. The doctor said you were going to get well in a little while. Remember when we found it, Anna? You and I together. Up there, almost 7,000 feet. Remember how cold your hands were? Remember, it wasn't there, they said. You couldn't lay tracks over those mountains, they said. Did we show them? We show them, didn't we? Dear door. Doctor! Doctor! I want to be here alone with you, Anna. I want to tell you something. I see something, Anna. Darling. I see a place. A level place in Nevada, maybe, or Utah. Two trains they come toward each other on a single track. Do you know where those tracks lead, Anna? From California, all the way to New York. Oh, darling, don't tire yourself. That's right, Anna. The railroad will be there, and I didn't tire myself anymore. Yes, Anna, my work is done. February 1931. Place Sacramento, California. The American Society of Civil Engineers is meeting to dedicate a monument to one of its charter members, a pioneer of American engineering history. Gentlemen, the inscription on this monument reads, that the West may remember Theodore Judah, civil engineer and tireless advocate of the First Transcontinental Railroad in America. This monument is erected by the men and women of the Southern Pacific Company who today are carrying on the work he started in 1860. Theodore Judah died November 2nd, 1863. His railroad was built past the site of this monument. Over the lofty Sierra, along the line of Judah's survey to a junction with the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah, where on May 10th, 1869, the last fight was driven home. A few Douglas Fairbanks, Gertrude Warner and the Cavalcade players. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade will present one of Hollywood's loveliest stars, Elizabeth Taylor. In our story, an adaptation of the bestseller, the Peabody Sisters of Salem, Ms. Taylor will portray Mary Peabody, a young school mistress who falls deeply in love with the Great New England Scholar. Be sure to listen next week to Cavalcade and our star, Elizabeth Taylor. Tonight's DuPont play, starring Douglas Fairbanks, was especially written for Cavalcade by Arthur Aaron. Mr. Fairbanks' latest picture, State Secret, will be released soon. The music for the DuPont Cavalcade is composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Voorhees. The director is John Zoller. Ladies and gentlemen, this week the Campfire girls have a birthday to celebrate. Over a period of 40 years, Campfire has served more than 500,000 girls of all racial and religious backgrounds. At present, there are more than 360,000 Campfire members across the nation. The DuPont Cavalcade of America salutes these citizens of tomorrow and wishes them happy birthday. The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the stage of the Belasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through Tennessee. Next here, Daddy's little problem child, Baby Snooks on NBC.