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Great Days in Dayton
Hour of Crisis


 

“Great Days in Dayton”

 

Reproduced on these pages is the full script of a “Great Days in Dayton” broadcast. All music and sound effect “cues” are indicated just as they appear on the working scripts used by the cast. The sponsor hopes that you will find interesting these dramatized episodes from the life story of your city.

 

“Great Days in Dayton” is a Presentation Sponsored by

THE DAYTON POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY

 

SCRIPT No. 4 – “HOUR OF CRISIS”

 

MUSIC

Theme. Starts fortissimo, then fades behind . . .

ANNOUNCER: “Great Days in Dayton!”

            [Music : Swells and fades behind . . .]

 

ANNOUNCER: The Dayton Power and Light Company brings you another chapter in the thrilling history of your own city, Dayton. Each Sunday at this hour we present a new drama from Dayton’s past. Characters of other days re-enact for you their parts in the vivid dramatic events which began with the struggles of the first settlers in the wilderness nearly a century and a half ago. Week by week we carry the story forward through the trials and tragedies, the achievements and triumphs of the growing community. A century and a half of civic history, presented in the form of exciting drama! [PAUSE.] Our programs originate in the auditorium of the Dayton Art Institute, where these historical plays are presented by the professional company of the Dayton Civic Theatre, and where an audience of guests is assembled to see as well as hear the broadcasts. The Dayton Power and Light Company invites you, too, to be a guest at one of these programs, and later we shall tell you just how you can accept this invitation. But now let me present your master of ceremonies, Mr. Charles McLean, who will introduce you to this week’s drama of “Great Days in Dayton.” [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

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NARRATOR:  What makes a city great? Surely it is not mere size. Area, population, business, industry, the number of homes and factories . . . these things cannot in themselves constitute civic greatness. Rather it is the spirit of the people, their courage under adversity, their will to achieve. It is that quality alone which can justify true civic pride. And it is that quality in the citizenship of Dayton which our sponsors, The Dayton Power and Light Company, wish to stress through the presentation of these historical dramas. [PAUSE.] This week we present the story of Dayton’s first crisis, the first challenge to the spirit of its people. It was a blow struck at the very life of the infant community . . . and we shall see how that blow was met. Come back with me, then, to the bitter winter of 1798, when snow and ice covered the tiny frontier settlement of Dayton, and when doubt, fear and discouragement assailed the hearts of its people. It is night. Cold winds sweep across the frozen river and wolves howl in the forest. Every citizen of the settlement is gathered at Newcom’s tavern. The community faces its first great trial. Colonel George Newcom speaks. [Music : Fades out.]

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NEWCOM: Folks, I know as well as any of you that this matter of land titles is a mighty serious one. We’re in bad trouble. But before we can decide what to do, we ought to know just what our trouble is. I’m goin’ to call on Dan Cooper, one o’ our leadin’ citizens, to tell us. He knows all about it. Dan, stand up. [Buzz of Talk. Pounding on Table. Chair Scrapes.]

COOPER: Our trouble goes back to the land deal between Congress and Judge John Cleves Symmes in 1787. That seems like a long time ago, though it’s only eleven years. Judge Symmes made a proposal to Congress to buy all the land lying between the two Miami rivers. The judge knew that Congress would take a long time to accept his proposal . . . that’s the way Congress is about most things . . . but he was sure that his terms would be accepted in the end. So he went ahead and resold parcels of the land, including what we have here in Dayton, to settlers who wanted to move in. Now we’ve just learned that Congress has finally turned down Judge Symmes’ proposal. And that means that the judge has never really held a title to the land, and so couldn’t legally sell it. Now, . . .

VOICE 1: Just a minute, Dan Cooper. Does that mean we don’t own our land here in Dayton?

COOPER: Well, you see, it’s this way. We . . .

VOICE 2: Sure, I see. We settlers who came here when there wasn’t an axe laid to a tree, when there wasn’t one log lying on another to make a cabin . . . we haven’t got any rights to our own land!

COOPER: If you’ll let me explain . . .

VOICE 3: How about the work we’ve done? I’ve cleared ten acres of my own, grubbing out stumps that nigh broke my back. I built my own cabin and I helped build others. I’ve worked like a galley slave, day in and day out. And now you say I’m to lose everything!

VOICE 2: Yes, and how about the town garden? There’s all that land west of Wilkinson street, acres of it, where we grow the beans and peas and corn and other green vegetables for our families. There ain’t a man in this room that didn’t help clear that land. And there ain’t a woman or child in Dayton that hasn’t helped work it. Are we to lose that, too?

COOPER: It’s a question of who really owns the land . . . a question of titles.

VOICE 1: And who’s got a better title than ours? What’s wrong with a tomahawk claim? A man goes out and blazes some trees to mark the land he’s going to clear and farm. He does clear it and farm it. Well, it’s his, ain’t it? Why, right over in Pennsylvania a man can have four hundred acres just for building a cabin and raising one crop. And after he’s done that he gets the thousand acres next to it. All this is public land, American land. Well, we’re Americans, and I’d like to know who’s got a better right to the land than the man who takes it and makes it fit to live on.

VOICE 2: They’ll not take my land away from me, title or no title, not as long as I can fight for it with my bare hands.

COOPER: Hold on, hold on, all of you! We may as well face the facts. Our titles aren’t good. But we want to make them good, not only for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children. And we can do it.

VOICE 1: How’s that?

COOPER: Congress has passed a preemption act, giving all of us early settlers the first right to buy these lands from the government.

VOICE 2: But we already bought ‘em, on the Symmes deal.

COOPER: That’s what we thought. But I tell you that Judge Symmes had no right to sell.

VOICE 3: Dan, you say we have the first right to “buy” these lands from the government. Does that mean we got to pay out money for them?

COOPER: Yes, it does. Congress has set a price of two dollars an acre. [Uproar.]

VOICE 1: [Appalled.] Two dollars an acre! And I suppose it’s cash.  

COOPER: That’s right.

VOICE 2: Well, ain’t that justice for you? Two dollars an acre, cash! Don’t Congress know there ain’t no cash out here? Don’t they know we live by barter? Corn, honey, beeswax, skins and smoked meats . . . that’s our cash. And can we sell our stuff for cash? We can’t! It’s all we do to trade for enough to live on. Two bear skins for a barrel of flour, a buck skin for a pair of stockings, and two doe skins for this shirt I got on my back. Cash? Why, there ain’t enough cash in Dayton right now to buy five acres of farmin’ land out beyond the edge of town. So where are we goin’ to get the cash to buy all the land we’ve thought was ours already? Thousands of dollars, that’s what it’d take. I tell you we’re all ruined. We’ve lost everything we’ve worked for.

VOICE 3: How about it, Dan? Aint’ that about the truth?

COOPER: I don’t know. It can’t be that bad. There must be some way out. But so far I don’t see it. Colonel Newcom, can you see anything that’ll help us?

NEWCOM: I can’t, Dan. I’ll be honest. I can’t. But I got something else I want to say before we all give up and quit. We came here in good faith, every one of us. We gave the sweat of our brows and the toil of our bodies to makin’ new homes for ourselves in the wilderness. And we’ve done it. Dayton’s no frontier post. There’s fourteen families livin’ here. Fourteen! That makes Dayton a town! There’s not anyone can wipe out a community like that, titles or no titles. We’re here to stay! I don’t know how we’re goin’ t’ do it, but we are. Dayton’s goin’ to grow and prosper, an’ somehow all of us are goin’ to prosper with it.

 

VOICES: That’s right, Colonel . . . That’s the way to talk, George . . . That’s all right for talk, but where are we goin’ t’ git the cash? [Ad lib Babble, Pro and Con. Pounding on the table.]

COOPER: We’re not getting anywhere this way. We’ll have to work out a definite plan. Let’s all think this over for a few days and then meet again. I agree with Colonel Newcom. There’s a way out of our troubles, and we can find it. [Babble swells and fades.] [Music  : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

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NARRATOR: Through the long, cold winter nights, at Newcom’s tavern and in the settler’s cabins, hope fought against discouragement. Finally, the citizens of Dayton decided on an appeal to Congress. It was drawn up and presented by Ben Van Cleve at another meeting at Newcom’s tavern. [Music : Fades out.]

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BEN: A lot of this petition deals with the limit and measures of our lands here at Dayton. You know all about that, so I’ll skip that part and read the actual petition. Here it is. [PAUSE.] To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress Assembled: On the 5th of November, 1795, forty-six persons engaged to become settlers at Dayton, but from the many difficulties in forming a new settlement so far in a wilderness country, only fifteen of those came forward, with four others, making nineteen in all. We had not faith in the friendship of the savages. Our settlement was immediately on their hunting grounds. We were not able to keep a horse amongst us during the first season, by reason of their stealing. The scarcity of provisions had raised flour to nine dollars a barrel, and other articles in proportion, which we had to purchase and transport fifty miles through a wilderness, clearing roads, etc; under all these and many more difficulties we labored in hopes of obtaining our lands at a low rate and the small gratuity offered. We beg leave to state to your honorable body that your petitioners have been at vast expense, labor and difficulty in forming the said settlements, and have received no recompense nor privilege other than subsequent settlers; that they first opened the way, in consequence of which the country has become populous and the United States has received a handsome revenue from the sale of the lands. We pray that Congress will make to us such gratuity in lands, or deduction from payment of land, or grant such other relief as our cause merits. [PAUSE.] Well, folks, that’s the meat of it. Now, if we’re satisfied with it we should all sign it, every one of us, so that Congress will know that it’s a real petition from every citizen of Dayton. What do you say?

VOICES: Sounds all right to me . . . . . Certainly puts our case in plain language . . . . . Ought to get us some help . . . . . Sure, I’ll sign . . . . . That’s right, we’ll all sign it. [Music : Swells and fades behind. . . ]

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NARRATOR: Weeks later, while Dayton’s settlers waited fearfully in their snow-bound cabins, their petition finally received attention in the halls of Congress. [Music : Fades out. Buzz of conversation. Pounding of gavel.]

 

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VOICE 1: The chair recognizes the gentleman from Rhode Island. [Buzzing subsides. ]

VOICE 2: [Sour.] I oppose this petition from the settlers of . . . of . . . what’s the name of the place?  . . . oh, yes, Dayton, in the Northwest Territory. We are in no way bound to honor their contracts with Judge Symms, since he had no title to the lands which he presumed to sell. If these settlers find themselves now the victims of ill fortune, it is but the result of their own folly in failing to examine the true ownership of the lands they settled.

VOICE 3: Mr. Speaker!

VOICE 1: The chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

VOICE 3: The previous speaker comes from a state long since settled and pacified, orderly in its administration of law and property. But he is ill acquainted with the hazards of the frontier and with the uncertainties frequently involved in properties and titles. These settlers at Dayton had at their service no lawyer . . . such as the gentleman from Rhode Island . .  . [Mild laughter] to examine fully into land titles. Yet the settlers acted in good faith. Indeed they had more than good faith. They had the courage and strength of purpose which have made this country free, which have carried the borders of trade and civilization ever farther into the wilderness. It is an heroic spirit, one on which the future fortunes of these United States must depend. For that spirit, if for nothing else, these people of Dayton should be granted the relief sought in their petition. [Buzz of comment.]

VOICE 2: [Sour.] The gentleman from Pennsylvania paints a glowing portrait of these settlers in Dayton. But I submit that such words of praise do not take the place of dollars needed badly in the Federal Treasure. [Vehemently.] This government must raise money by the sale of public lands, of which it has not an inexhaustible supply. Hundreds of thousands of acres in the Northwest Territory must be given as free grants to the veterans of the War of Independence. Where, then, shall we find other lands sufficient to produce, by sale, the badly needed revenues? [PAUSE.] Shall we return to the voters in our several states and face the many-voiced accusation of having squandered the public lands? Or shall we better deny the unreasonable demands of a handful of non-voting settlers in a distant territory? [Buzz of comment. Some laughter.]

VOICE 4: Question! Question!

VOICE 1: The question shall be put. Those disposed to grant the petition of the settlers at Dayton, in the Northwest Territory, so signify by saying “Aye.” [Small chorus of “Ayes.”] Those opposed, “Nay.” [Loud chorus of “Nays.”] [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

 

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NARRATOR: ON a bitterly cold night in the dead of that dreary winter Ben Van Cleve forced his tired horse over the last few miles of the long trail from Cincinnati to Dayton. Wearily he dismounted at the door of Newcom’s tavern and entered to find George Newcom, Sam Thompson, Dan Cooper and a few other citizens waiting for him. [Music : Fades out.] [Heavy door opening. Wind.]

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VOICES: Here’s Ben at last . . . . . He looks half frozen . . . . . What news, Ben? [Heavy door closes. Wind down and behind.]

BEN: [Low.] I’m cold  . . . and very tired.

NEWCOM: Here’s something’ll warm you, lad. [Jug gurgles] There, drink that down. [Ben coughs.] Sure takes hold, don’t it?

BEN: Sure does.

THOMPSON: Come, Ben, my boy! We’re all fit to bust waitin’ for your news.

BEN: And I have news . . . but it’s bad. The Congress has denied our petition.

THOMPSON: Oh! [Pause.] What will Dayton do now?

NEWCOM: Shucks! There must be some way out, like I’ve said all along. What do you say, Dan?

COOPER: I’m not saying anything, George, but I’m doing a lot of thinking. It’s a big problem we’re facing, bigger than ever now.

THOMPSON: It ain’t goin’ t’ be so bad for some of us, those who’ve been the luckiest and worked the hardest. But there’s others who’ve been just plain unlucky, no matter how hard they’ve worked. They can’t make it . . . not now, or this year, or next year. [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

 

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NARRATOR:  Sam Thompson’s prophecy was only too true. As winter wore into the aching thaws of spring, several settler families were unable to face another season of toil without hope. Sam Thompson and George Newcom paid a visit to one cabin where despair had brought defeat. [Music : Fades out.]

 

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JONATHAN: Guess that’s all o’ the beddin’, Hetty. Hold this knot while I draw the bundle good and tight. [Grunts.] That’s it. Now, you git the pots and pans together while I carry this out to the wagon. [Grunts.] Sure makes a heavy load.

HETTY: You’d ought to have someone to help, Jonathan. [Rattle of pots and pans. Children crying.] Hush, children. There ain’t nothin’ to be scared of. An’ we’re going for a nice long ride through the woods. [Crying subsides but continues intermittently.] [Knock on door.]

JONATHAN: Come in! [Door opens.]

NEWCOM: What’s all this, Jonathan? Folks told me you and Hetty were figurin’ to move away from Dayton, but I couldn’t believe it. Put down that there bundle and let’s talk a bit. [Grunt. Thump of falling bundle.]

JONATHAN:  ‘Fraid there ain’t no use, Colonel Newcom. Me an’ Hetty’s been figurin’ an’ studyin’ day and night through the winter. But we can’t see no other way. Can we, Hetty?

HETTY: Nary a way. [Children cry.] Children, you hush up while Colonel Newcom and Mr. Thompson are here.

THOMPSON: Jonathan, you know the rest of us would be glad to help out any way we can.

JONATHAN: We’ve took all the help we can, Sam. Pride won’t let us take no more, specially not from folks that ain’t much better off than us. ‘Tain’t no one else’s fault that I had bad luck with my corn last summer and worse luck with my trappin’ this winter. We might git along somehow if it was just feedin’ an’ housin’, even with the four children. But I ain’t had no education, like some, so there ain’t no chance for me to git ahead at trade or anything. With six to feed I know I can’t never raise the cash to pay for my land. So . . . there ain’t no use talkin’ about it. We’re leavin’ . . . this mornin’.

NEWCOM: But what are you goin’ t’ do, Jonathan?

JONATHAN: We’re goin’ back to Cincinnati. I figure I can git me a job there . . . enough fer us to live on anyway, even if we can’t git ahead. Maybe later there’ll be another chance to settle somewhere and go to farmin’ again . . . without havin’ to lay out no cash to the government.

HETTY: It’s the children we’re thinkin’ of mostly, Colonel Newcom. We want them to have the things Jonathan an’ I ain’t never had . . . good food and good clothes and good education. But they can’t have ‘em here in Dayton . . . not if our land’s goin’ to be took away from us.

JONATHAN: Colonel, you an’ Mr. Thompson and the others have been mighty kind to us, an’ we thank you for it. But there ain’t nothin’ anyone can do or say that’ll keep us here in Dayton. Come on. Hetty, git the things together and bring the children. We’re leavin’. [Children cry loudly.]

HETTY: Hush up, children. Help your ma with these pots an’ pans. [Rattle of pots and pans. Crying fades out.] [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

 

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NARRATOR: In the months that followed there were similar scenes. Other families, facing the loss of everything for which they had toiled, left Dayton in despair. Vacant cabins along Water street stared dismally out across the river. But other families, those whose courage and spirit were destined to preserve and safeguard the future of Dayton, chose to remain. Among these citizens was Daniel C. Cooper, Dayton’s first first citizen. In his heart there grew a great and generous resolve, which he confided to his wife as they sat before a log fire in their cabin late one night. [Music : Fades out.]

 

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COOPER: You see, Sophia, it’s not just the settlers themselves I’m thinking of. It’s the town. It’s Dayton. There’ll be other families coming to take the places of those who have moved away. They’ll come, though we can’t expect many of them because of the cash price the government has set on the land. They’ll have to be people with money. But that isn’t the only kind we want in Dayton. We want people who have courage and spirit, whether they have a penny or not. We want people who will work, and sacrifice themselves to make Dayton a good town, not just a rich town.

SOPHIA: But how can we expect to get that kind, Dan, when it takes money to start with?

COOPER: I’m coming to that, Sophia. But first I want you to see Dayton as I can see it in the years to come. Not just a collection of houses and taverns and mills. Not a few hundred or a few thousand people who happen to live in the same town. Instead, it’ll be a community of people who all have the same spirit and purpose. They’ll think of Dayton first and themselves last. They’ll want their town to keep its beauty. For instance, there’s a pretty piece of ground just east of St. Clair street and north of Third street. I’d like to see it made into a beautiful park, and kept that way forever. And the kind of people I’m talking about will want the same thing. They’ll want handsome public buildings on our wide streets. They’ll want schools built of brick and stone instead of logs. They’ll want churches, churches where everyone can worship according to his faith.

SOPHIA: Land sakes, Dan, aren’t you looking a might long way into the future?

COOPER: Yes, I am, because I know it takes looking into the future, and planning that future, if we expect to make Dayton a good town.

SOPHIA: But what has all this to do with our troubles today . . . the land titles and all?
COOPER: Just this, Sophia. Someone has to make sure of Dayton’s future. Someone has to make sure of our land titles. [PAUSE.] Sophia. I’m going to buy the whole town of Dayton from the government.

SOPHIA: Dan Cooper, whatever are you talking about? [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

 

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NARRATOR: Late the next night, at Newcom’s tavern, Daniel Cooper finished outlining his plan to George Newcom, Sam Thompson and Ben Van Cleve. [Music : fades out.]

 

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COOPER: Well, there it is, gentlemen. That’s the way I plan to do it. I’ve given it a lot of study and I think I can manage it. But maybe my plan’s wrong somewhere. If it is, I want you to tell me so. What do you think, Sam?

THOMPSON: [Slowly.] No, Dan, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with your plan . . . not a thing. But all the time you’ve been talkin’ I’ve been sittin’ here thinkin’ what a lot of courage it’s goin’ to take to do it. It’s a mighty big risk, Dan. You can get along in Dayton well enough the way you’re goin’ now. But if you try this, and it don’t work, you’ll lose everything you’ve got, or ever hope to get. Ain’t that right, George?

NEWCOM: Yes, sir! There can’t anyone say George Newcom is one to hold back from takin’ a chance, but what Dan’s aimin’ to do all by himself just about floors me. How about you, Ben?

BEN: Yes, I think it’s a big chance. But I see what’s back of all this in Dan’s mind. Dayton’s never going to be the town we all want it to be unless someone is bold enough to take that big chance now. I’m mighty glad Dan’s willing to do it.

COOPER: And I’m glad you all agree with me. Now . . . the next thing is to go to the government land commissioners in Cincinnati. And I want the three of you to go with me. Can you go tomorrow?

NEWCOM: Sure, we can. I’ll have Mrs. Newcom get an early breakfast for us here at the tavern, and I’ll see to the horses myself. We’ll start at dawn. All right, Sam? And you, Ben?

THOMPSON: Yes, I’ll be glad to go.

BEN: I’ll be ready. [Music : Swells and fades behind . . . ]

 

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NARRATOR: Two days later these four Dayton pioneers appeared at the government land commission office in Cincinnati. At first Daniel Cooper’s plan was treated with a mixture of surprise and scorn by the government commissioners. [Music : Fades out.]

 

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VOICE 1: But Mr. Cooper, according to these plats you’ve shown us you propose to buy a total of three thousand one hundred and ten acres. That includes all of the town of Dayton and a lot of outlying land beside.

COOPER: That’s right.

VOICE 1: Any of you other commissioners got anything to say?

VOICE 2: I have. I think he’s out to hornswoggle the government, the way these settlers are always trying to do.

NEWCOM: You can’t talk that way about Dan Cooper as long as George Newcom is standin’ by. Come on outside with me and I’ll stuff them words down your throat.

COOPER: Easy, George, easy.

VOICE 1: Maybe you’re too suspicious, Joe.

VOICE 2: No I ain’t. Here’s four settlers from a wide spot on the north trail that they call Dayton. One of ‘em’s talkin’ about buyin’ six thousand dollars worth of government land. Where’s he goin’ to get the money?

COOPER: [Quietly.] I have the money to make the first payment now. The government is welcome to examine my cash credits in Philadelphia. And I’m confident that I’ll be able to meet the future payments when they mature. You can ask Sam Thompson about that, or Ben Van Cleve.

VOICE 1: How about it, Mr. Thompson?

THOMPSON: I’m sure he can. Mr. Cooper’s got the best farm anywhere near Dayton, and it’s a big one. He’s got a grist mill there and he’s fixin’ to build a big saw mill in Dayton. He’s got an interest in most of the town’s trade along with me and George Newcom and others. Dan Cooper’s bound to prosper along with the town itself.

VOICE 1: And you, Mr. Van Cleve?

BEN: Mr. Cooper’s got more than just the money he needs for the first payment to the government. He’s got faith in Dayton and in Dayton people. That faith, along with his business sense, is enough to guarantee this land purchase.

VOICE 2: Since when is faith in a frontier settlement good for cash? You can’t tell me about Dayton. I’ve been there. A dozen cabins strung along the river bank in the middle of nowhere. And that’s all it’s ever going to be.

NEWCOM: Listen, you! You’re talkin’ about my town, Dayton! You come on outside and I’ll show you . . .

COOPER: George, keep still, will you?

VOICE 1: There’s no sense in talking that way, Joe. We’re here to sell government land to anyone who can pay for it. Mr. Cooper, the Commissioners will consider your proposal, along with your present assets and your prospects for carrying through the future payments according to the government’s terms. You will be advised of our decision as soon as possible. [Music : Fades out.]

 

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NARRATOR: We come now to the final scene of our drama . . . a town meeting held, as usual, at Newcom’s tavern. Sam Thompson is speaking. [Music : Fades out.]

 

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THOMPSON: . . . and so through all of these long months we’ve been discouraged and hopeless, fearing that we’d lose the lands we’ve worked so hard to make our very own. Well, now that danger is gone. Dan Cooper has taken up all the land pre-emptions for the whole of Dayton and the surrounding country. Instead of dealing with the government commissioners, paying cash on the barrel-head or losing our land, we’ll all be dealing with Dan Cooper; and that means we’ll get help and sympathy and understanding. We’ll pay for our lands bit by bit, according to our means and how we prosper, each and every one of us. It makes Dayton folks sort of one big family, trusting each other and working all together to make Dayton the finest town in the whole Northwest Territory. [PAUSE.] Now, Dan, I want you to stand up and let the folks of Dayton look at their leading citizen. [Cheers.]

COOPER: What I have done is no more than any of you would have done if he could. And for doing it I ask only one reward. It’s this : that through my action we may all be bound more closely together, that we may plan and work together, not merely for ourselves but for each other, and above all for Dayton. [Cheers.]

THOMPSON: Well, now, you all know that a meeting in Dayton can’t be closed right without a few remarks from George Newcom. George, the folks are waiting to hear from you. [Laughter.]

NEWCOM: I was plannin’ to make a speech tonight, like I usually do. But somehow, settin’ here and listenin’ to Sam Thompson and Dan Cooper, an’ watchin’ the happiness in the faces of all you folks . . . why, it don’t seem like I got anything to say. Besides . . . well, I guess it’s smoke or somethin’ getting’ into my throat an’ closin’ it up . . . an’ getting’ into my eyes, too . . . so it seems like . . . I . . . can’t . . . [Long moment of dead silence.]

CHILD’S VOICE: [Off.] Look, Mamma, Colonel Newcom’s crying. [Music : Swells to fortissimo and fades behind. . . ]

 

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NARRATOR: And so ends the fourth chapter of “Great Days in Dayton.” We have seen today how the faith and courage of Daniel Cooper, backed by the perseverance of other Dayton citizens, carried Dayton through its first great crisis. As the years roll by in the dramas presented in our future programs, we shall see other crises, and again and again we shall see how Dayton’s civic spirit rose to meet those trials. [PAUSE.] Next Sunday, at this same hour, we shall present “Thunder in the North,” a vivid dramatization of Dayton’s part in the War of 1812. Against scenes we know today, but from the past of a century and a quarter ago, we shall hear the roll of drums, the blare of bugles and the tramp of marching feet, as the frontier forces gather in Dayton to take part in America’s final struggle for independence. [Music : Swells and fully fades out.]

 

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ANNOUNCER: “Great Days in Dayton” is sponsored by The Dayton Power and Light Company. It is broadcast each Sunday afternoon at five o’clock from the auditorium of the Dayton Art Institute and comes to you over Station WHIO. All dramatic roles are played by members of the professional company of the Dayton Civic Theatre. Your narrator has been Charles McLean. Your announcer is Morton DaCosta. [PAUSE.] The Dayton Power and Light Company is well aware that its own growth and development . . . in supplying gas, electric light and power service, and city steam service . . . to the Dayton public, has been due almost entirely to that strong civic spirit which characterizes the people of Dayton, a spirit which has insured Dayton’s steady growth and advancement. And so, to a great degree, these programs are an acknowledgement of the pride that this company takes in the progress of its community. [PAUSE.] We’re sure that you will want to see as well as hear a “Great Days in Dayton” broadcast. Here’s how to do it! Go to the Gas and Electric Building at 25 North Main Street. On the first floor you will find the “Great Days in Dayton” box-office. Ask there for as many tickets as your party will want, for next Sunday or for any future performance. Remember, these tickets are free . . . to everyone in Dayton! [PAUSE.] And be sure to tune in next Sunday, at five o’clock, for “Thunder In The North,” the next drama in “Great Days In Dayton.”

 

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