Transcript

[00:02.1 – 00:12.5] Friends, God gave us two eyes, two ears, and one mouth so we can see [00:12.5 – 00:15.3] and hear twice before we speak once. [00:15.3 – 00:25.4] And what my two eyes and two ears have seen and heard, I'm going to tell you of some of the miracles before and after AA [00:25.4 – 00:26.1] begun. [00:26.1 – 00:31.2] Like the chairman says, I'm Ed Andy. [00:31.2 – 00:34.3] I'm a recovered alcoholic. [00:34.3 – 00:35.5] Hi, Ed. [00:35.5 – 00:45.5] And please remember that I'm the same as you are, a member of Alcoholics [00:45.5 – 00:46.2] Anonymous. [00:46.2 – 00:53.7] I'm also one of the older members, but remember, I'm just like you are, not any better. [00:53.7 – 01:03.7] And my dear members of AA, I want to thank all of you for coming here today to celebrate the forty-eighth anniversary of [01:03.7 – 01:11.4] the world's first AA group that Clarence Snyder opened forty-eight years ago. [01:11.4 – 01:14.2] And that's a long time. [01:14.2 – 01:22.6] I want to thank Bob Kopech and the committee for having me here today as a speaker. [01:22.6 – 01:32.7] A few years back, a dear friend of mine, the first member of Alcoholics Anonymous [01:32.7 – 01:39.0] in Nairobi, East Africa, came over to visit me in Lorain, Ohio. [01:39.0 – 01:47.4] And they went to Detroit, and we arranged to go ahead and have him be a speaker here two years ago. [01:47.4 – 01:57.5] And the caravan from Detroit was to go ahead and start out on that day [01:57.5 – 01:58.7] for him to be a speaker. [01:58.7 – 02:06.6] But the state highway sent out warnings that the roads are all icy. [02:06.6 – 02:09.3] Do not travel on the highways. [02:09.3 – 02:12.1] So they called about noontime. [02:12.1 – 02:15.5] Again, they said that the warnings are still out. [02:15.5 – 02:17.5] Do not travel on the highways. [02:17.5 – 02:22.2] And at three o'clock, they called and said that they can't make it. [02:22.2 – 02:25.7] Father Lawrence will not be able to be a speaker. [02:25.7 – 02:35.9] So I'm gonna go ahead and have Tom describe the balance of what the situation was [02:35.9 – 02:37.8] at that time he was secretary. [02:37.8 – 02:47.0] Tom, what was the s- Describe or what you, what you said when you called Lorain. [02:47.0 – 02:52.7] Tom. [02:52.7 – 02:53.1] Okay. [02:53.1 – 03:03.1] Well, anyway, Tom called and said that Father Lawrence wasn't able to be here and, uh, if I would [03:03.1 – 03:05.1] come and be a speaker, which I did. [03:05.1 – 03:09.9] And I want to thank this group again for that opportunity. [03:09.9 – 03:20.6] This forty-eighth anniversary of the Vorton group was held Thursday, November the twelfth at hassle Berry, Florida, [03:20.6 – 03:28.2] and also on November the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth at Leesburg, Florida, at Clarence Snyder's Retreat. [03:28.2 – 03:38.2] And Steve Foreman read my letter at the retreat in regards to the forty-eighth anniversary to be held here tonight, November sixteenth. [03:38.2 – 03:40.7] When Mrs. [03:40.7 – 03:50.7] Bill Wilson invited me to the AA Foundation, October the second, nineteen eighty-two, she asked me to tell all the [03:50.7 – 04:00.7] members of AA that she has signed the papers with her attorney and secretary and has turned over the [04:00.7 – 04:04.7] AA Foundation to the AAs forever. [04:04.7 – 04:10.3] So the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous belongs to all of you. [04:10.3 – 04:12.2] You are the members of it. [04:12.2 – 04:22.3] Tapes of this meeting will be sent to Nairobi, Kenya, Asumbi, and Tarzana in Uganda, [04:22.3 – 04:22.9] Africa. [04:22.9 – 04:33.1] If any of you want a tape, Ed Meade will go ahead and give you one of the tapes, but those tapes is gonna be sent to Africa, which they always want the tapes [04:33.1 – 04:33.8] from this group. [04:33.8 – 04:43.8] Now, I would like to go ahead and title this meeting to our dear friend, [04:43.8 – 04:47.0] Clarence Snyder, the founder of this group. [04:47.0 – 04:49.7] The founder of this group. [04:49.7 – 04:51.7] Clarence H. [04:51.7 – 04:58.1] Snyder came into AA February, February eleventh, nineteen thirty-eight at the Oxford Group. [04:58.1 – 05:08.2] At that time, in the Oxford Group in Akron, there was men from the Tire [05:08.2 – 05:10.5] Rubber Company, Goodrich, Firestone. [05:10.5 – 05:15.3] They was the wealthy men from the Oxford Group. [05:15.3 – 05:22.4] Finally, we broke out from the Oxford Group and wanted to start something of our own. [05:22.4 – 05:26.1] And this is the way the procedure went. [05:26.1 – 05:36.1] These wealthy men in Akron, when Clarence Snyder sponsored Warren Chisholm, they said, [05:36.1 – 05:46.1] "We can't have anybody join AA unless they're hospitalized." Clarence Snyder, the originator of this group, was the fighter. [05:46.1 – 05:53.6] He said that, "Everybody doesn't have money like you people from the Goodrich Tire Rubber Company and the Firestone. [05:53.6 – 05:58.0] There's people that don't have money and can't afford to be hospitalized. [05:58.0 – 06:08.3] As long as they're alcoholics," Clarence Snyder says, "they're entitled to join the program." Well, Clarence Snyder, the originator of this group, [06:08.3 – 06:09.4] fought that argument. [06:09.4 – 06:14.5] When Clarence Snyder sponsored the first woman in AA, they objected again. [06:14.5 – 06:17.0] They said, "We don't want no women in AA. [06:17.0 – 06:26.3] They'll get the men drunk." Well, instead of getting the men drunk, I think, and I know, that the women are helping the men stay sober. [06:26.3 – 06:32.2] Clarence Snyder again fought with those wealthy men, and he won that argument. [06:32.2 – 06:42.3] When Clarence Snyder, with all the things that he has done, to go ahead and fight [06:42.3 – 06:48.6] for all of us down here, and that's what we have here today, because of Clarence Snyder. [06:48.6 – 06:55.9] So Clarence Snyder said, "If you people want to operate this program that way, the hell with you. [06:55.9 – 06:59.4] We're gonna start one of our own." So we left Akron. [06:59.4 – 07:07.5] And they says, "What are you gonna call your program?" "We're gonna call it AA, Alcoholics Anonymous." Yeah. [07:07.5 – 07:09.8] Clarence Snyder asked Dr. [07:09.8 – 07:13.6] Borton if he could use the recreation room in his place, and Dr. [07:13.6 – 07:23.6] Borton give him permission to hold the world's AA meeting, the world's first AA meeting, at Borton's recreation room. [07:23.6 – 07:28.9] These wealthy men from Akron came over with clubs and wanted to break it up. [07:28.9 – 07:34.3] But I say, as I always said, that God was on our side. [07:34.3 – 07:43.6] God protected us, and that's where we continued with this Borton group now 48 years later. [07:43.6 – 07:45.0] Here it is today. [07:45.0 – 07:50.5] 48 years ago, these wealthy men from Akron wanted to break it up with clubs. [07:50.5 – 07:51.7] They failed. [07:51.7 – 07:55.2] When Clarence Snyder… [07:55.2 – 08:02.3] A lot of people don't know this, and I'm gonna mention some of the things that you never heard of. [08:02.3 – 08:12.3] When Clarence Snyder was sick in bed in 1930, 84, he called me from Orlando, Florida, and asked me if I would take his place to make a speech [08:12.3 – 08:13.9] in Emory, Wisconsin. [08:13.9 – 08:18.1] And I said that I would, if it wasn't on May the 11th. [08:18.1 – 08:21.3] And he said, "Why? [08:21.3 – 08:31.4] And what is May the 11th?" And I says, "I'm gonna go ahead and be a speaker in North Amherst, Ohio, on May the 11th." And [08:31.4 – 08:41.5] Clarence Snyder from Orlando, Florida, says, in his hospital room, he says, "Andy, you brought some memories." And this is what I didn't [08:41.5 – 08:43.7] know and nobody else knew. [08:43.7 – 08:46.6] And I'm the first one to know it. [08:46.6 – 08:53.2] When he said that I brought some memories to him when I mentioned North Amherst, that I'm gonna be a speaker there. [08:53.2 – 09:03.3] And he said to me, he says, "Ed," he says, his father came from Germany in 1894, and he bought [09:03.3 – 09:06.7] a farm in South Amherst, and he raised nine children. [09:06.7 – 09:12.7] And Clarence Snyder was born on December the 26th, 1902. [09:12.7 – 09:17.5] And he was one of the nine children born in South Amherst, Ohio. [09:17.5 – 09:21.7] And I was born in Lorain, Ohio, nine miles away. [09:21.7 – 09:29.3] And people don't know that Clarence Snyder was born in South Amherst, Ohio. [09:29.3 – 09:39.3] I was asked before this meeting, and I usually ask in many states and many cities, to go ahead and mention a few [09:39.3 – 09:41.3] things that are interesting. [09:41.3 – 09:49.0] And one of the stories is, that I titled, of Don't You Remember? [09:49.0 – 09:55.3] And that story goes along, I think, with most of us when we was drinking. [09:55.3 – 10:01.1] The next day, we didn't remember anything, what we done or where we was or how we got home. [10:01.1 – 10:07.1] And this is the story I titled of Don't You Remember? [10:07.1 – 10:10.2] There was two friends, Charlie and Harry. [10:10.2 – 10:14.9] And Charlie was going to the hospital to visit his friend Harry. [10:14.9 – 10:21.8] And he figured he better go ahead and take something to drink because he knew he, his friend would need something to drink. [10:21.8 – 10:23.8] So he took a pint. [10:23.8 – 10:28.1] When he got there, sure enough, his friend says, "Charlie, am I glad I got a friend like you. [10:28.1 – 10:30.3] For God's sakes, will you go out and get me a bottle? [10:30.3 – 10:36.0] I'm dying for a drink." So his friend Charlie pulled out a pint and handed it to him. [10:36.0 – 10:39.5] He drank half of the contents and handed the bottle back to him. [10:39.5 – 10:48.1] And he says, "I thought you would need something to drink for what you went through last night." "What do you mean, for what I went through last night?" "Don't you remember? [10:48.1 – 10:53.4] Don't you remember when you came over the house and asked me to go see a movie with you? [10:53.4 – 10:57.9] And don't you remember on the way to the movie, you said, 'Let's stop at a bar and get a drink'? [10:57.9 – 11:01.1] And don't you remember we had five drinks in that bar? [11:01.1 – 11:05.6] And don't you remember how I begged you to come out of the bar and go see the movie? [11:05.6 – 11:15.6] And don't you remember when we walked a half a block, you said, 'One more drink in this bar and we'll go ahead and see the movie.' And don't you remember we had five more drinks in that bar? [11:15.6 – 11:20.3] And don't you remember when we come out, you said, 'To hell with going from one bar to the other. [11:20.3 – 11:23.7] Let's go ahead to the liquor store and get a bottle. [11:23.7 – 11:28.0] We'll go ahead and get a room in a hotel, and we'll sit there and drink, and nobody will bother us. [11:28.0 – 11:32.8] To hell with going to the movie.' So we went to the hotel and got a room. [11:32.8 – 11:37.6] And don't you remember when the bottle was empty, I said it was your turn to go and get a bottle. [11:37.6 – 11:42.1] And don't you remember when you said, 'To hell with going up and down that damn elevator. [11:42.1 – 11:43.1] It takes too long. [11:43.1 – 11:53.1] I'll just open up the window and I can fly over there faster.' Don't you remember that?" And his friend Harry looks to Charlie [11:53.1 – 11:56.1] and he says, "Well, Charlie, you and I have been friends for many years. [11:56.1 – 12:10.8] If I wanted to do such a crazy thing as open the window and fly down to the liquor store, why the hell didn't you stop me?" "Stop, hell, man, I thought you could make it." [12:10.8 – 12:19.8] Now, we all have had opportunities to go ahead and sponsor somebody. [12:19.8 – 12:22.8] We sponsor them, sometimes we fail. [12:22.8 – 12:27.7] And this is a true story, a very true story. [12:27.7 – 12:36.5] I, I tried to sponsor this man for four years, and I failed, and I'm glad that I failed. [12:36.5 – 12:45.9] Because if I would succeed, I wouldn't be able to tell you this interesting story. [12:45.9 – 12:55.3] Addie Harrison was an alcoholic if there ever was one, but he was a different kind of an alcoholic. [12:55.3 – 13:04.2] He was a man, if somebody was criticizing somebody, he would always fight for the underdog, defend that underdog. [13:04.2 – 13:09.5] He'd always defend them, and that's why he had so many friends. [13:09.5 – 13:18.9] Anybody running for public office, see Addie Harrison, he'll help you get elected, which he did: mayors and councilmen and judges and prosecutors and county commissioners. [13:18.9 – 13:24.2] And they offered him high positions, but he didn't want a job. [13:24.2 – 13:25.4] He was an alcoholic. [13:25.4 – 13:29.3] He's got to have money for his booze. [13:29.3 – 13:37.1] So he'd be by the city hall and the courthouse on Lakeside Avenue hitting the politicians that he'd done favors for to get them elected into office. [13:37.1 – 13:40.0] They never turned him down. [13:40.0 – 13:42.6] They'd always hand him a five, ten, or a twenty. [13:42.6 – 13:52.7] But it's just like the old saying goes, "Good things come to an end sooner or later." And one of the county commissioners suggested, he says, "Addie's such a nice guy. [13:52.7 – 14:02.8] Let's all pitch in buying a camping outfit, cooking utensils, groceries, and get a county truck and take him out to the county line about forty miles, and he won't be [14:02.8 – 14:05.2] down here to bother us." That's a good idea. [14:05.2 – 14:08.7] They took him out to the county line, set up this tent. [14:08.7 – 14:11.2] Two days later, it started raining. [14:11.2 – 14:17.7] After the rain, he went to the creek to watch the water flow, and they seen a little dog floating down the creek. [14:17.7 – 14:25.2] He ran up ahead and he saved that dog, took him to his tent and dried him and fed him, and he named that dog Rex. [14:25.2 – 14:28.2] He trained him. [14:28.2 – 14:29.3] He had a lot of time. [14:29.3 – 14:35.0] But the fall of the year come along, the politician says, "We can't leave that man out there in that tent. [14:35.0 – 14:35.8] It's getting cold. [14:35.8 – 14:42.4] We better send the county truck over there and bring him back to his mother on Fulton Avenue and Walton Avenue," which they did. [14:42.4 – 14:46.1] But in the spring of the year, back out to the county line. [14:46.1 – 14:50.2] In the meantime, dog Rex is getting wiser and bigger and heavier. [14:50.2 – 15:00.4] The second fall of the year, when it got cold, they brought him down to his mother at Fulton and Walton Avenue, and that was the year they opened up wine [15:00.4 – 15:08.5] stores with barrels of wine on stands and a spigot and a drip pan on the floor of the spigot. [15:08.5 – 15:13.7] Addie went over to the wine store to get a gallon of wine with his dog Rex. [15:13.7 – 15:23.9] And he was talking politics with the proprietor, three inches of snow on the ground, not very many people [15:23.9 – 15:25.6] coming into the wine store. [15:25.6 – 15:31.3] And when he was getting ready to go, he hollered to his dog, "Rex," yeah? [15:31.3 – 15:36.1] Friends, that dog heard him, but he only moved his leg. [15:36.1 – 15:42.2] He hollered again, "Rex." That dog heard him again, but he only moved his leg. [15:42.2 – 15:50.7] So Addie ran, ran up to the dog with the proprietor and picked the dog up on his four legs and the dog fell back down again. [15:50.7 – 16:00.2] Addie Harrison says, "What happened to my dog?" And the proprietor says, "You know, while we was talking politics, I seen the dog go over toward the drip pans. [16:00.2 – 16:10.4] He was licking that wine, and he got drunk." Addie Harrison carrying a forty-five pound dog from West Twenty-Fifth Street and Walton Avenue [16:10.4 – 16:14.1] to Fulton Road with a gallon of wine in his left hand. [16:14.1 – 16:19.0] He laid the dog down on the kitchen floor and covered him with a blanket. [16:19.0 – 16:23.5] The next morning, Addie got up and the dog was up running around. [16:23.5 – 16:24.9] He was happy about it. [16:24.9 – 16:29.3] That dog came over to his master's hand and licking it. [16:29.3 – 16:32.0] He licked his master's hand. [16:32.0 – 16:34.7] Why did he lick his mas–? [16:34.7 – 16:41.7] That was an answer for, "Thank you for bringing me home," that he didn't remember how he got home. [16:41.7 – 16:48.3] How many of us was out on a drunk and we– somebody would bring us home, the next day we didn't remember how we got home? [16:48.3 – 16:52.4] But here's a dog licking his master's hand. [16:52.4 – 16:57.8] "Thank you for bringing me home." At night, they went down to the wine store to get- [16:57.9 – 17:02.2] Go ahead and get a gallon of wine for this dog, Rex. [17:02.2 – 17:12.2] And just as they turned in that doorway of that wine store, that dog grabbed them by the leg and he pulled them from the doorway of that wine store to the corner [17:12.2 – 17:14.7] of West 25th Street, and they held him there. [17:14.7 – 17:24.8] Addie Harrison, with the empty gallon in his left hand, raised his right hand to heaven and he said, "God, are we supposed to be [17:24.8 – 17:25.5] humans? [17:25.5 – 17:28.5] That dog has got more brains than what we got. [17:28.5 – 17:30.8] He was in that wine store last night. [17:30.8 – 17:40.8] He got drunk and sick, and he doesn't want to go back in there again, and he doesn't want his master to go back in there." Addie patted [17:40.8 – 17:43.2] the dog on the head and he said, "Come on, Rex. [17:43.2 – 17:44.5] We'll go and see Aunt Andy. [17:44.5 – 17:53.7] We'll join AA." Empty trash container, walked on West 25th Street and dropped it in, and they came over to the house about 7:30 at night. [17:53.7 – 17:56.4] And I says, "Come on in, Addie," with his dog, Rex. [17:56.4 – 18:01.8] "What can I do for you?" He said, "I want to join AA." "Well, it's about time. [18:01.8 – 18:11.3] I tried to get you to join for eight, four years." So I says, "Addie," I says, "It's too late to take you to a meeting tonight. [18:11.3 – 18:14.7] And I'm flying to Pittsburgh tomorrow to make a speech, and I'll give you a card. [18:14.7 – 18:24.8] You take it to the ban- give it to the chairman at the Banister Hall and tell him that I sent you there." In them days, [18:24.8 – 18:29.9] we had doortenders at meeting places. [18:29.9 – 18:34.3] A person was drunk or smelt of booze, they wouldn't permit them in. [18:34.3 – 18:40.6] I says, "Addie," I says, "Anybody joining AA, they must have a sponsor. [18:40.6 – 18:45.8] Who is gonna be your sponsor?" He says, "My dog, Rex, is my sponsor. [18:45.8 – 18:47.0] He wants to join, too. [18:47.0 – 18:57.2] He's an alcoholic." So they went over to the Banister Hall the next night, and [18:57.2 – 19:07.3] the doortender said, "I'm sorry, this is only for alcoholics." And Addie Harrison had a sort of a comical stutter, and I'll apologize for that. [19:07.3 – 19:17.4] And he says, "Th- th- th- I understand you say that th- th- this is only for a- alcoholics?" And the doortender says, [19:17.4 – 19:21.5] "Yes, sir." "W- w- w- w- w- l- l- l- l- let me tell you something. [19:21.5 – 19:26.3] My dog, Rex, is an alcoholic and I'm an alcoholic and he's my sponsor. [19:26.3 – 19:35.3] Come on, Rex, let's go in." They went in, and the word got around like a house afire, and they never had no problem getting in AA meetings after that. [19:35.3 – 19:45.3] Now, would you believe, from the beginning of AA, we had meetings on Eagle [19:45.3 – 19:50.7] Avenue, East 55th Street at the Salvation Army. [19:50.7 – 19:57.1] Would you believe, we paid people to come over and listen to us. [19:57.1 – 20:01.4] And they– we was called at that time the Holy Rollers. [20:01.4 – 20:03.4] And they'd say, "The Holy Rollers are coming. [20:03.4 – 20:11.5] If you go ahead and l- listen to what they say about alcoholism, they'll pay you to go ahead and listen to them." We was called the Holy Rollers. [20:11.5 – 20:14.3] That was the beginning of AA. [20:14.3 – 20:16.3] Dr. [20:16.3 – 20:24.6] Bob, in 1940, he said, "Ed, you know you can't take it with you." And I'll never forget that. [20:24.6 – 20:25.5] If Dr. [20:25.5 – 20:30.5] Bob was living today, I'd say, "Doc," I says, "it's no problem taking it with you. [20:30.5 – 20:42.5] The big problem is to make it last until you go." Now, you people have read about history, and [20:42.5 – 20:43.8] history is wrong. [20:43.8 – 20:46.3] History is wrong. [20:46.3 – 20:49.2] Washington will prove it. [20:49.2 – 20:51.1] Write to the Library of Congress. [20:51.1 – 20:53.8] They'll prove it to you that history is wrong. [20:53.8 – 20:59.9] They say that Ronald Reagan is the 40th president of the United States. [20:59.9 – 21:02.4] History is wrong. [21:02.4 – 21:05.0] He's the 41st president of the United States. [21:05.0 – 21:12.9] You go ahead and see calendars and everything, libraries, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. [21:12.9 – 21:13.8] That's wrong. [21:13.8 – 21:15.5] He's the 41st. [21:15.5 – 21:17.2] And this is how it happened. [21:17.2 – 21:22.3] In 1848, we didn't have AA. [21:22.3 – 21:27.5] People didn't know what alcoholism was then. [21:27.5 – 21:29.9] But there was drunks. [21:29.9 – 21:32.2] There was drunks. [21:32.2 – 21:40.3] And Taylor was to be sworn in as the President of the United States in 1848. [21:40.3 – 21:45.8] And he said, "I will not be sworn in as the President of the United States on a Sunday. [21:45.8 – 21:46.9] I'm a church-going man. [21:46.9 – 21:48.0] I believe in God. [21:48.0 – 21:52.7] You gotta wait until Monday." Well, we gotta have a president for one day. [21:52.7 – 22:00.1] And Atchison was next in line to be sworn in as the president, and Atchison was a big drunk. [22:00.1 – 22:03.1] Like many of us, we'd be drunk on Saturday and Sunday. [22:03.1 – 22:13.0] So they went over to Atchison house, the judge with the Bible and the committee, and Atchison laying on a bed, dead drunk. [22:13.0 – 22:21.0] The two men picked him up, put his hand on a Bible, swore him in as the President of the United States, and laid him back down on the bed. [22:21.0 – 22:31.1] Monday morning, Atchison came over to see Taylor be sworn in as the President of the United States, and they was asking him, "Well, how does it feel [22:31.1 – 22:34.0] to be a President of the United States for one day?" "What are you talking about? [22:34.0 – 22:39.1] I was in bed sleeping." He didn't even remember he was sworn in as the President of the United States. [22:39.1 – 22:39.8] And that's… [22:39.8 – 22:46.2] Anybody wants to write to Washington, to the Library of Congress, and they'll tell you the, just exactly what I told you here. [22:46.2 – 22:50.5] I had my first drink in 1912. [22:50.5 – 22:58.4] My grandfather bought a potbelly stove and he wanted to go ahead and celebrate it, so he give me five cents to go to the saloon and get a five cent pail of beer. [22:58.4 – 23:02.7] In those days, children, they didn't have laws like they have now. [23:02.7 – 23:05.3] Children could go ahead and buy beer for their parents. [23:05.3 – 23:11.5] So he told my grandmother, he says, "Don't forget to rub some lard in the inside of the pail. [23:11.5 – 23:13.0] The lard will kill the foam. [23:13.0 – 23:16.8] You'll get more beer for a nickel." I went and I got that pail of beer. [23:16.8 – 23:22.4] He filled three glasses, one for each of us, and that was the first drink I had in 1912. [23:22.4 – 23:32.7] In those days, people raised large families, and there was either a birthday or a christening, and I'd always manage to get my beer at those occasions. [23:32.7 – 23:35.8] If there wasn't, the saloon keeper's son was a friend of mine. [23:35.8 – 23:39.8] We'd go down his father's basement and drink POC Pilsner beer. [23:39.8 – 23:44.9] Some of you old-timers down here remember POC Pilsner beer, yeah. [23:44.9 – 23:52.4] Now, we're gonna change the scene from that saloon basement for a few minutes, and then we're coming back to it. [23:52.4 – 23:59.6] I was playing pig knife between the curb and the sidewalk, and I seen a drunken man coming down the sidewalk. [23:59.6 – 24:05.6] In those days, children were afraid of drunken men, so I ran on the yard, put the hook on the gate, waiting for the drunken man to go by. [24:05.6 – 24:07.9] But instead, Mr. [24:07.9 – 24:14.2] Kurtz, the most wealthiest, most respected man in the community, approached this drunken man. [24:14.2 – 24:15.3] Well, as long as Mr. [24:15.3 – 24:19.1] Kurtz was there, I wasn't afraid, but I was inquisitive to see what Mr. [24:19.1 – 24:26.7] Kurtz was telling this drunken man, and these are the words I heard: "Stanley, you are a good man. [24:26.7 – 24:30.0] You got a nice wife, nice children, nice home, and a good job. [24:30.0 – 24:32.5] But Stanley, you drink too much. [24:32.5 – 24:34.9] Why do you drink so much for? [24:34.9 – 24:36.7] Look at me, Stanley. [24:36.7 – 24:37.8] I drink every day. [24:37.8 – 24:40.7] I take a drink in the morning, drink at noon, drink at night. [24:40.7 – 24:43.2] Did you ever see me drunk?" "Never, Mr. [24:43.2 – 24:47.7] Kurtz." Now, next time I seen Mr. [24:47.7 – 24:57.8] Kurtz talking to another man, drunk, I was inquisitive again, and I heard him say this: "Harry, why do you drink [24:57.8 – 24:58.6] so much? [24:58.6 – 25:04.7] Harry, you've got a beautiful wife, a nice home, nice children, a good job. [25:04.7 – 25:07.6] Why do you want to drink so much for, Harry? [25:07.6 – 25:08.7] Look at me, Harry. [25:08.7 – 25:10.0] I drink every day. [25:10.0 – 25:13.7] I take a drink in the morning, drink at noon, drink at night. [25:13.7 – 25:16.2] Did you ever see me drunk?" "Never, Mr. [25:16.2 – 25:17.8] Kurtz." Now, Mr. [25:17.8 – 25:28.1] Kurtz's name is coming back in 1919 and in 1929 in my speech, and we're coming back to the saloon basement with my friend Floyd [25:28.1 – 25:30.1] drinking POC Pilsner beer. [25:30.1 – 25:40.1] I said, "Floyd, what's in them 50-gallon barrels with siphon hoses hanging down?" He says, "Those are whiskey barrels." "Let's drink some whiskey." So we siphon [25:40.1 – 25:45.5] a few swallows of the whiskey and went across the street and got the double axe and chopped some wood for the potbelly stove. [25:45.5 – 25:55.6] And friends, believe it or not, 15 feet away from that pile of kindling wood that I chopped, 68 years later, a woman opened up a [25:55.6 – 25:56.5] AA meeting. [25:56.5 – 25:58.5] 68 years later. [25:58.5 – 26:07.2] Now, I went to the parochial school, and the nuns and the priest would go ahead and have me do different errands. [26:07.2 – 26:11.7] He'd send me down to the basement to fill the containers of holy wine. [26:11.7 – 26:20.9] Now, God sent Adam and Eve in the orchard and instructed them not to go ahead and pick any fruit, but they did, and that changed the history of the world. [26:20.9 – 26:23.6] But the priest didn't say that I shouldn't drink any wine. [26:23.6 – 26:25.9] He didn't say that I could, either. [26:25.9 – 26:30.6] So I filled those containers of ho- holy wine. [26:30.6 – 26:39.4] And believe me, sometimes I drank so much of that holy wine, I really thought I was holy. [26:39.4 – 26:50.1] Now, in 1915, they opened up the [26:50.1 – 26:56.8] grand opening of one of the biggest churches in Lorain County, the biggest parish in Lorain County, 1915. [26:56.8 – 27:02.9] And for the grand opening of December the 25th, they wanted to go ahead and have a boy to guide Jesus. [27:02.9 – 27:09.8] And by a coincidence, the priest and the nuns chose me to guide Jesus. [27:09.8 – 27:16.7] The church is filled to capacity, and the standing room is occupied, and I'm down there as a little boy guiding Jesus. [27:16.7 – 27:19.1] And I said, "Don't worry, Jesus. [27:19.1 – 27:19.9] I'm guiding you. [27:19.9 – 27:25.6] I'm protecting you, that no harm will ever come to you." Yep, those are the words I said. [27:25.6 – 27:33.3] In 1917, I had the soldier's uniform, and I paraded for President Wilson on Superior Avenue on that December the 25th. [27:33.3 – 27:37.8] I was guiding Jesus in that church, and I said again, "Don't worry, Jesus. [27:37.8 – 27:48.3] I have a rifle and a uniform now to guide you and protect you, that no harm will ever come to you." Friends, you hear during my lead, He's been protecting [27:48.3 – 27:49.5] me ever since. [27:49.5 – 27:52.9] He has been protecting me ever since. [27:52.9 – 28:03.9] In 1919, I got a job in the post office as a letter carrier, and by a coincidence, I got route number three from 14th and Broadway, where [28:03.9 – 28:05.7] I was born and where Mr. [28:05.7 – 28:06.6] Kurtz lived. [28:06.6 – 28:10.4] Delivering the mail like a letter carrier does from a distance. [28:10.4 – 28:12.3] Now, this is 1919. [28:12.3 – 28:12.9] I said Mr. [28:12.9 – 28:17.8] Kurtz's name is coming back in 1920– 1919 and 1929. [28:17.8 – 28:25.4] From a distance, I looked, and I seen a man staggering from one side of the sidewalk to the other, and I said, "Hell, that looks like Mr. [28:25.4 – 28:29.3] Kurtz." Well, when he got to me, it was Mr. [28:29.3 – 28:30.0] Kurtz. [28:30.0 – 28:32.6] It was only half a block from where he lived. [28:32.6 – 28:35.6] I helped him get home with my mail carrier's uniform. [28:35.6 – 28:45.7] And I said, "All these years, from 1912 to 1919, he's selling drunks, and he takes a drink in the morning, a drink at noon, [28:45.7 – 28:46.7] and a drink at night. [28:46.7 – 28:48.1] Nobody ever seen him drunk. [28:48.1 – 28:53.0] Well, by golly, he's drunk now." And every time I seen Mr. [28:53.0 – 28:57.2] Kurtz from 1919 to 1929, he was drunk. [28:57.2 – 29:07.2] And as wealthy he was, and the most respected man that he was, he lost that respect, and he lost everything he had, [29:07.2 – 29:11.9] and he died in a one-room rooming house in South Lorain. [29:11.9 – 29:13.6] He died. [29:13.6 – 29:23.8] Now that shows a man that takes a drink in the morning, drink at noon, drink at night sociably, but he became an alcoholic. [29:23.8 – 29:27.7] Now he doesn't take that drink only at morning, noon, and at night. [29:27.7 – 29:29.5] He's got to have it all the time. [29:29.5 – 29:37.3] And he's broke, so he rigged up a still and the revenue agents raided him, but they knew how wealthy he was and he wasn't selling it to nobody. [29:37.3 – 29:41.1] He was only making the booze for himself, so they didn't press any charges. [29:41.1 – 29:46.7] In 1922, I got married. [29:46.7 – 29:53.3] And my wife said to me, she said that I was drinking too much. [29:53.3 – 30:02.7] And I said, "Well, I'll tell you, I'm going to go ahead and take three quarters." That's 25 cents a drink for three drinks. [30:02.7 – 30:07.0] "And I'm not going to even drive the Tin Lizzie," the Model T Ford. [30:07.0 – 30:13.6] "I'm going to walk to the bootlegger." That was on June 18th, 1922. [30:13.6 – 30:17.3] I walked to this bootlegger. [30:17.3 – 30:18.9] I walked down East Avenue. [30:18.9 – 30:23.6] George down there knows where East Avenue is in Lorain. [30:23.6 – 30:26.5] East Avenue and 22nd Street. [30:26.5 – 30:31.4] We have the central AA office on 22nd Street on the West 22nd. [30:31.4 – 30:33.2] This was on East 22nd. [30:33.2 – 30:37.0] I heard somebody call my name. [30:37.0 – 30:37.5] I looked around. [30:37.5 – 30:47.6] It was a fireman on a porch with a fireman's uniform and he said, "Ed, where you going?" I said, "I'm going to the bootlegger to get a couple of drinks." "Come on, they sell it in here." So I went in there. [30:47.6 – 30:52.6] I bought him a drink and bought myself a drink and I said I'd buy another drink, but I only had three quarters. [30:52.6 – 30:53.4] He said, "That's all right. [30:53.4 – 30:54.8] The bootlegger will cash your check. [30:54.8 – 30:57.4] Your checks are good." I didn't bring my checkbook. [30:57.4 – 30:59.6] Well, he's got some blank checks there. [30:59.6 – 31:03.2] This is June 18th, 1922. [31:03.2 – 31:09.2] So I cashed the check and we drank and played cards, just passed the time away. [31:09.2 – 31:13.8] 2:00 in the morning, I was ready to go home and the bootlegger said, "What, so you was going home? [31:13.8 – 31:15.1] Plenty of rooms upstairs. [31:15.1 – 31:17.3] You can sleep up here." We slept there. [31:17.3 – 31:24.5] June 19 in the morning, the bootlegger's wife fixed breakfast and fixed lunch and I cashed another check. [31:24.5 – 31:34.6] I fixed supper, and the 20th and 21st and 23rd and the 24th, and I cashed another check and we was drinking and playing cards, and the 25th and [31:34.6 – 31:38.1] July the 1st and July the 2nd until July the 8th. [31:38.1 – 31:45.1] I was there, intended to only buy three drinks from June 18th to July the 8th. [31:45.1 – 31:52.1] And I said, "Hell, I'm going home." I went home. [31:52.1 – 32:02.3] My wife says, "I thought you said you was going to go to the bootlegger and buy only three drinks." While you was gone from June 18th to July the, of June 18 to July the 8th, I found another [32:02.3 – 32:03.0] place to live. [32:03.0 – 32:05.2] You know too many bootleggers in Lorain. [32:05.2 – 32:09.1] So I bought a place in a small town. [32:09.1 – 32:15.8] So we moved to another town, Erie County, from Lorain County to Erie County. [32:15.8 – 32:18.9] Well, it wasn't too long. [32:18.9 – 32:28.5] I didn't only know bootleggers in Lorain County, but also in Erie County: Vermilion, Birmingham, Henrietta, North and South Amherst, all the way in through there. [32:28.5 – 32:37.1] Well, in 1924, I commenced to realize that I was an alcoholic. [32:37.1 – 32:47.1] My hands would shake, but I thought I'd found a solution for it by going ahead and taking some drink, something to drink [32:47.1 – 32:48.4] that would stop the shakes. [32:48.4 – 32:55.7] But the more shakes I had, the more I had to drink and I was in the second and third and fourth stages of alcoholism. [32:55.7 – 33:00.4] And I wanted to commit suicide. [33:00.4 – 33:02.7] I couldn't stop drinking. [33:02.7 – 33:10.3] I'd walk through the woods and chew on bark leaves and roots thinking I'd find a chemical to go ahead and stop the craving, craving of alcohol. [33:10.3 – 33:11.1] Nothing helped. [33:11.1 – 33:16.4] My in-laws offered me a solid gold watch if I'd stop drinking for 30 days. [33:16.4 – 33:18.1] I couldn't stop for 30 minutes. [33:18.1 – 33:24.3] Friends, remember those words that I said, "Jesus, I'm guiding you. [33:24.3 – 33:34.4] I'm protecting you that no harm will ever come to you." I walked out of that house, went to a bootlegger, and I ordered a pint of whiskey and two [33:34.4 – 33:44.4] quarts of home brew, and that's when I said, "God, guide me and protect me that I'll never go through this torture the rest of my life," [33:44.4 – 33:47.9] that I had to drink rubbing alcohol to stop the shakes. [33:47.9 – 33:52.0] I beg you, God, never to have me go through that torture again. [33:52.0 – 33:54.5] Now we're coming back to the table. [33:54.5 – 33:55.6] It's 6:12 PM [33:55.7 – 33:56.4] Seventh Avenue. [33:56.4 – 34:06.9] Two Sundays and two nights later, this is on a Tuesday night, and I said to Sam, "Get me a gallon of whiskey and a pint to take out." He [34:06.9 – 34:08.1] got me a gallon, a pint. [34:08.1 – 34:13.5] Went, got a shovel, and I dug a hole about 10 by 14. [34:13.5 – 34:14.6] It was easy digging. [34:14.6 – 34:18.6] People raised a lot of celery, black dirt around Ravenna. [34:18.6 – 34:20.2] They raised a lot of celery there. [34:20.2 – 34:25.5] And I put that gallon of whiskey in that hole and put a board over top of it. [34:25.5 – 34:32.6] I folded my hands to the eastern sky and I says, "God, I'm asking you for help again. [34:32.6 – 34:44.0] Please, God, guide me and protect me that I won't touch a drop out of that gallon of whiskey unless I'm too sick and too shaky to make it to the bootlegger." That's [34:44.0 – 34:46.1] two Sundays and two nights later. [34:46.1 – 34:54.1] Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I know that I'm gonna meet Schmitty Sunday morning. [34:54.1 – 34:57.4] Sunday, the third Sunday come along. [34:57.4 – 35:00.2] Schmitty was outside. [35:00.2 – 35:01.3] He wasn't inside. [35:01.3 – 35:02.3] He was outside. [35:02.3 – 35:11.3] And he grabbed me and he hugged me, he kissed me and he says, "Johnson, I never, never wanna lose you. [35:11.3 – 35:16.3] I never wanna lose you." I says, "Schmitty, I never wanna lose you either. [35:16.3 – 35:19.6] God sent me to you and I never wanna lose you. [35:19.6 – 35:28.3] Let's go in and get something to drink." He says, "Johnson, I waited down here about a half hour and something happened to Sam, the bootlegger. [35:28.3 – 35:29.5] He didn't open up yet. [35:29.5 – 35:31.4] His car evidently broke down. [35:31.4 – 35:37.9] He didn't open up the place." We talked another 10 minutes and believe me, Schmitty turned blue in his face. [35:37.9 – 35:41.6] His hands and his head was shaking. [35:41.6 – 35:43.6] I grabbed Schmitty. [35:43.6 – 35:46.3] I grabbed that man. [35:46.3 – 35:55.1] I put that man in my Model T Ford and drove down Highland Avenue and down Wall Street. [35:55.1 – 36:01.8] And he says, "Ed, where are you taking me?" I says, "I'm taking you down to get us something to drink. [36:01.8 – 36:03.1] You gotta have something to drink. [36:03.1 – 36:13.3] You got the DTs." I took that gallon out of that hole and I took the cork off and held it for him and he took one big drink and he stopped [36:13.3 – 36:20.0] for a breath and took the second drink and stopped for another breath and took the third drink and then the fourth drink. [36:20.0 – 36:26.2] And I says, "You want any more, Schmitty?" He says, "No." He says, "Johnson, that's a lifesaver. [36:26.2 – 36:36.3] You saved my life, Johnson." So I put the cork back in the bottle to put it back in the hole and he says, "Johnson, aren't you gonna have a drink?" I says, "Schmitty, I can't." "Why [36:36.3 – 36:46.4] not?" I says, "When I put that gallon in the hole on a Tuesday night, I looked in the eastern sky and I said, 'God, guide me and protect me that I won't touch a drop out of that [36:46.4 – 36:52.1] gallon unless I'm too sick and too shaky to make it to the bootlegger.' And Schmitty, I'm not too shaky. [36:52.1 – 36:58.1] I can make it to the bootlegger." He says, "I don't blame you for keeping the promise." "So come on in, Schmitty. [36:58.1 – 37:00.9] Meet the wife." So we went inside. [37:00.9 – 37:11.0] I said, "Rose, this is Schmitty, the well-dressed man that I was telling you about." And she said, "Did my [37:11.0 – 37:19.3] husband tell you how he prayed for five years and five days and a vision of God appeared and said, 'Take your family and move to Ravenna, Ohio'? [37:19.3 – 37:29.5] Did he tell you how he looked for a well-dressed man for 11 days and on the 12th day at Sam's Bootlegging Joint you came over to his table and he told you that you are the well-dressed [37:29.5 – 37:29.9] man? [37:29.9 – 37:35.5] Did he tell you about the blisters on his knees from praying?" "Yes, he explained everything to me. [37:35.5 – 37:43.0] He explained everything to me." And we talked for another 10 minutes and Schmitty says, "Let's go over, Johnson. [37:43.0 – 37:51.6] Maybe we can go ahead and, and see if Sam opened up now." We went down there and Sam was open and he apologized for being late. [37:51.6 – 37:55.3] We each ordered a pint and a pitcher of wine. [37:55.3 – 37:58.0] Now, these are the way the things that happened. [37:58.0 – 38:03.9] We sat at the same table, Schmitty across from me. [38:03.9 – 38:06.8] We was drinking this and calming my shakes down. [38:06.8 – 38:13.1] And the door opened up and a man about 300 pounds walked in, hollered over to Sam the bootlegger. [38:13.1 – 38:15.8] He says, "Get me a pint." He says, "I'm in a hurry. [38:15.8 – 38:26.0] Get me a pint to take out." That big husky man came over to Schmitty's shoulder, to the back of Schmitty and put his hand on his shoulder and he says, "Doc," he says, "How are you?" And Schmitty [38:26.0 – 38:27.6] looked around to see who it was. [38:27.6 – 38:28.8] He says, "Pretty good, Harry. [38:28.8 – 38:32.3] How have you been?" He says, "We've been hauling a lot of sand from the pit to Ravenna. [38:32.3 – 38:42.6] We've been pretty busy." Sam the bootlegger brought his pint and he put his in his inside coat pocket and he's put his hands back on Schmitty's shoulder and patted it and he says, "Doc, take care of yourself. [38:42.6 – 38:44.7] I'll see you again." And he walked out. [38:44.7 – 38:48.4] I says, "Schmitty, that man just walked out, called you Doc two different times. [38:48.4 – 38:50.8] What's that, your nickname?" He says, "No, I'm Dr. [38:50.8 – 38:55.9] Bob Smith from Akron, Ohio." There's the vision of God guided me to Dr. [38:55.9 – 38:56.9] Bob Smith. [38:56.9 – 38:59.6] I says, "Schmitty, I owe you an apology. [38:59.6 – 39:05.8] When we first met and you gave me the name Smith, I thought you gave me an alias name and I gave you the name Johnson. [39:05.8 – 39:07.1] My name is not Johnson. [39:07.1 – 39:10.8] My name is Ed Andy." Then we became better friends. [39:10.8 – 39:13.1] We became real good friends. [39:13.1 – 39:20.0] He'd come up on a Sunday morning, he'd come down to the house and I'd always manage to have something to drink at the house. [39:20.0 – 39:22.6] He'd come down to the house and we'd drink down there. [39:22.6 – 39:29.5] Finally, after a time in 1932, he came over and he says… [39:29.5 – 39:32.3] He gave me three names. [39:32.3 – 39:35.9] He called me sometimes Ed, sometimes Andy and sometimes Eddie. [39:35.9 – 39:43.1] He says, "Andy," he says somebody squealed at him at the city hospital in Akron that he had a drinking problem. [39:43.1 – 39:44.2] Now Dr. [39:44.2 – 39:50.3] Bob was at that city hospital and he had more friends, even doctors and nurses. [39:50.3 – 39:52.6] They wouldn't go ahead and squeal on him. [39:52.6 – 39:55.2] But this one party wanted to help Dr. [39:55.2 – 39:57.8] Bob with his drinking problem, so they wrote in to Dr. [39:57.8 – 39:59.9] Michael Miller in Cleveland, Ohio. [39:59.9 – 40:00.7] Now Dr. [40:00.7 – 40:03.4] Michael Miller was experimenting with alcoholics. [40:03.4 – 40:04.7] And he wanted Dr. [40:04.7 – 40:06.7] Bob to come over and talk to him. [40:06.7 – 40:08.7] So Dr. [40:08.7 – 40:14.0] Bob came over to the house with the letter and he says, "Andy, I don't want to go down there. [40:14.0 – 40:23.9] You take the letter and see what it's all about." So I said, "I'm not gonna go ahead and drive my Model T Ford into Cleveland." They didn't have highways and byways like they have today. [40:23.9 – 40:28.3] Why, they was delivering freight with horse and wagons on Euclid and Superior Avenue then yet. [40:28.3 – 40:38.3] Say, "I'm gonna take the interurban." I took the interurban and this letter, and I asked the conductor, I said, "Where do I get off at this address?" He let me off at [40:38.3 – 40:40.9] 9th and Prospect Avenue, and I didn't know Cleveland. [40:40.9 – 40:45.5] The only time I was in Cleveland, when I paraded for President Wilson on Superior Avenue. [40:45.5 – 40:51.9] The Terminal Tower, where the Terminal Tower is today, was a one-story hotdog stand at that time. [40:51.9 – 41:02.0] So I walked one block south, and here's a f- four-story Salvation Army building at Eagle Avenue [41:02.0 – 41:03.0] and East 9th Street. [41:03.0 – 41:05.5] Across the street was the Erie Street Cemetery. [41:05.5 – 41:08.6] I didn't know Cleveland, but I had plenty of time. [41:08.6 – 41:09.2] I don't see Dr. [41:09.2 – 41:11.8] Michael Miller until 4:30 in the afternoon. [41:11.8 – 41:13.6] This is only 10:30 in the morning. [41:13.6 – 41:16.5] So I walked down Eagle Avenue. [41:16.5 – 41:23.9] I didn't know what Eagle Avenue was then, but every other doorway, I'd go ahead and see a couple of men sitting there with bottles drinking. [41:23.9 – 41:32.5] When I got down to the end of Woodland Avenue, there was a man about my age sitting down, and I says, "Say, what's all them guys drinking down there? [41:32.5 – 41:42.6] Don't the police bother them?" And he says, "Ah," he says, "They're all alcoholics." He says, "They don't bother nobody, and the police don't bother them." "Is there a bootlegger around here?" You would be surprised [41:42.6 – 41:43.7] who this man was. [41:43.7 – 41:45.7] You will be surprised. [41:45.7 – 41:55.8] He said, "Yeah, there's Angelo's right here." So I says, "Come on, I'll buy you a drink." So we went in and I says, "Two drinks." And the bootlegger [41:55.8 – 42:00.3] says, "10 cents in advance." I didn't know it was skid row. [42:00.3 – 42:02.9] You gotta pay first before you get the drinks. [42:02.9 – 42:04.7] So we had the drinks. [42:04.7 – 42:07.0] I think he had a tub with a dipper. [42:07.0 – 42:08.7] I think it was lime mixed with water. [42:08.7 – 42:09.7] But anyway, what the hell? [42:09.7 – 42:11.6] An alcoholic doesn't care what it is. [42:11.6 – 42:14.4] So I laid down another dime. [42:14.4 – 42:22.1] I says, "Give us two more drinks." "And how much is a bottle?" "15 cents a half a pint, 25 cents a pint." "Give me two pints." Uh, give me two pints. [42:22.1 – 42:25.6] We walked out, and I asked this friend, I said, "Well, here's a pint. [42:25.6 – 42:34.9] You can have this." And he, I said, "Where is the lake from here?" He says, "Walk down past the public square over the lakeside, in the back of the courthouse is the lake. [42:34.9 – 42:37.3] You can't miss it." I got plenty of time. [42:37.3 – 42:38.8] I thought I'd go up by the lake. [42:38.8 – 42:47.3] He said to me, he says, "Do you get down here often?" I say, "Yeah, I get down here quite often." It was the first time I ever was in that district. [42:47.3 – 42:50.9] He said, "Well, if you get down here again, just ask for Clarence. [42:50.9 – 42:52.1] Ask for Clarence. [42:52.1 – 43:02.2] I'm usually down here on Eagle Avenue on skid row, and if you don't find me here, I'm laying in the cemetery on a tombstone I use for a pillow." Friends, that man that I gave that [43:02.2 – 43:10.2] pint, when I joined the O- Oxford Group, it was Clarence Snyder that I gave the pint of whiskey to on Eagle Avenue in 1932. [43:10.2 – 43:13.5] In '38, we met again at the Oxford Group. [43:13.5 – 43:23.5] So I went down past the courthouse on Lakeside Avenue, and there's hundreds and hundreds of men working and trucks going back and [43:23.5 – 43:25.8] forth with concrete like Antrim and Annhill. [43:25.8 – 43:35.9] And I said to a man, "What are they building down there?" He says, "They're building a municipal stadium for the Cleveland Indians to play ball in." So I got plenty of [43:35.9 – 43:37.4] time to 4:30 to see Dr. [43:37.4 – 43:38.4] Michael Miller. [43:38.4 – 43:41.0] I s- drinking, nursing that bottle. [43:41.0 – 43:42.7] At 1:30, the bottle was empty. [43:42.7 – 43:46.3] So I wrote a note and I put it in the bottle. [43:46.3 – 43:51.8] And when they was unloading a load of that concrete, I tossed it in the foundation of the municipal stadium. [43:51.8 – 43:59.4] And I says, "Hell, they'll never find that bottle in a thousand years." But you would be surprised what that bottle has done. [43:59.4 – 44:07.9] I never mentioned that bottle until 1940, when I led a meeting in Akron, Ohio, about AA and people joining AA. [44:07.9 – 44:18.0] In 1941, '42, '43, the stadium was opened up and people were going down the stadium with bottles, and some of them were members of AA, and they'd pass the bottle to a member [44:18.0 – 44:18.6] of AA. [44:18.6 – 44:23.8] But that member heard my story about the bottle in the foundation of the municipal stadium. [44:23.8 – 44:24.5] "No, thanks. [44:24.5 – 44:31.4] I don't want it." That bottle can't walk or talk, and that bottle has saved many women and men from taking a drink. [44:31.4 – 44:38.7] Now, I would go ahead and see Dr. [44:38.7 – 44:39.6] Michael Miller. [44:39.6 – 44:44.5] He introduced me to a man, and I thought it was just another alcoholic. [44:44.5 – 44:46.0] He was a well-dressed man. [44:46.0 – 44:51.1] But two days later, I found out that this man was Mark Hanna. [44:51.1 – 44:55.0] He was from the richest family in the state of Ohio. [44:55.0 – 44:56.7] You people know the Hannas. [44:56.7 – 44:58.3] You know they're not poor people. [44:58.3 – 45:00.7] They're the richest people in the state of Ohio. [45:00.7 – 45:03.1] They're not millionaires, they're billionaires. [45:03.1 – 45:05.6] So Mark Hanna and Dr. [45:05.6 – 45:12.8] Michael Miller was told to see that he's experimenting with alcoholics, and he wants us to go ahead and help him. [45:12.8 – 45:14.1] Mark is an alcoholic. [45:14.1 – 45:15.0] I'm an alcoholic. [45:15.0 – 45:15.2] Dr. [45:15.2 – 45:16.2] Michael, Dr. [45:16.2 – 45:18.6] Mi- Bob sent me down there in his place. [45:18.6 – 45:25.3] So he says as soon as the city of Cleveland gives him a place where we can experiment with alcoholics, he'll let us know. [45:25.3 – 45:28.8] So we was ex- experimenting with alcoholics. [45:28.8 – 45:35.4] A year later, we, we got a place in Warrensville Workhouse, nine beds to experiment with alcoholics. [45:35.4 – 45:45.7] If we had wanted more alcoholics, we had a telephone number, and if you people remember where the Burke Airport is now, that was nothing but a dump down there, and that's where the [45:45.7 – 45:52.4] alcoholics, they had shanties, and living in those shanties and drinking and very little food that they had. [45:52.4 – 45:55.8] Now, what Dr. [45:55.8 – 46:06.3] Bob, uh, what that man has done, Clarence Snyder, Bill Wilson- From the beginning [46:06.3 – 46:10.4] of AA, this is what we got from all of that. [46:10.4 – 46:14.6] This is what we have from that because we worked at it. [46:14.6 – 46:16.4] You people have sponsored people. [46:16.4 – 46:22.0] You people has brought others into the program, and that's what we have today. [46:22.0 – 46:25.6] We– look at all these people down here, a full auditorium. [46:25.6 – 46:29.9] Not a one of them has got a drink in them of alcohol. [46:29.9 – 46:32.9] There's something that God has given us here. [46:32.9 – 46:38.0] God has given us this program, and He's gonna protect this program. [46:38.0 – 46:39.6] He's gonna go ahead and protect it. [46:39.6 – 46:43.4] It's just like when we started, we wanted to write a book. [46:43.4 – 46:46.7] We thought we'd go ahead and get a book. [46:46.7 – 46:49.1] And what is the title of the book? [46:49.1 – 46:51.2] God is with us again. [46:51.2 – 46:56.2] The title of the book, we voted, it was The Way Out, but God didn't like that title. [46:56.2 – 47:04.5] He says, "I'll fix those alcoholics," and He wouldn't harm us physically, but He would scare the wits out of us mentally. [47:04.5 – 47:07.7] So finally, all of us are superstitious. [47:07.7 – 47:16.6] Number thirteen, black cats crossing us, breaking mirrors, spilling salt on a table, walking under a ladder. [47:16.6 – 47:17.9] We're superstitious. [47:17.9 – 47:25.0] So God arranged this when we finally wanted to title this book The Way Out. [47:25.0 – 47:35.0] And Fritz, our own member in Washington, DC, decided for curiosity sakes to see if there's any books titled The Way Out, and there was twelve, and we'd have been [47:35.0 – 47:36.1] the thirteenth ones. [47:36.1 – 47:38.9] And we're su-superstitious. [47:38.9 – 47:43.5] Even elevators jump from twelve to fourteen and miss that thirteenth. [47:43.5 – 47:49.7] So we got another name for it, and that's what we have today: Alcoholics Anonymous. [47:49.7 – 47:54.4] That's the name we got, and that's the name that God was satisfied with. [47:54.4 – 47:56.4] He was satisfied with that name. [47:56.4 – 48:06.6] How many of you can remember of people losing jobs, losing jobs [48:06.6 – 48:07.5] after jobs? [48:07.5 – 48:12.0] Well, let me tell you about one man. [48:12.0 – 48:14.4] He lost his job. [48:14.4 – 48:16.2] You read about him. [48:16.2 – 48:19.2] You've seen him on– his picture on TV. [48:19.2 – 48:22.6] Every newspaper in the United States had his picture. [48:22.6 – 48:25.6] Every television had his picture. [48:25.6 – 48:27.1] There was rewards out for him. [48:27.1 – 48:27.6] Yeah. [48:27.6 – 48:31.3] Because this man turned out to be an alcoholic. [48:31.3 – 48:33.3] And who was this man? [48:33.3 – 48:37.4] The governor of West Virginia, if you remember. [48:37.4 – 48:39.3] The governor of West Virginia. [48:39.3 – 48:43.2] He was warned about his drinking, but he didn't listen. [48:43.2 – 48:47.1] You people are here today because you listened to somebody. [48:47.1 – 48:48.9] That's why you're here sober. [48:48.9 – 48:50.0] You're here. [48:50.0 – 48:51.2] You're getting somewhere. [48:51.2 – 48:53.1] You're accomplishing something. [48:53.1 – 48:55.9] You're doing something good for yourself and your body. [48:55.9 – 48:57.6] That man didn't listen. [48:57.6 – 48:59.8] He was a governor of Wi-West Virginia. [48:59.8 – 49:02.1] He went to Kentucky drinking. [49:02.1 – 49:06.4] He was warned about his drinking, and he kept on the drinking and drinking. [49:06.4 – 49:08.9] Finally, there was a big reward. [49:08.9 – 49:12.9] Every television station in the United States had his picture. [49:12.9 – 49:15.0] "The governor of West Virginia is missing. [49:15.0 – 49:19.0] Anybody can find him, there's a five thousand dollar reward." Nothing. [49:19.0 – 49:19.6] Nobody. [49:19.6 – 49:30.1] Two and a half years later, a salesman from, salesman from Charleston, West Virginia, got in a cab in Chicago, [49:30.1 – 49:30.9] Illinois. [49:30.9 – 49:35.3] And the cab drivers, they got their pictures in the back of the driver's seat. [49:35.3 – 49:42.6] And he looked and, "Hell, that's the governor of West Virginia driving a cab." So he got the cab number, notified the FBI. [49:42.6 – 49:44.5] FBI went over there. [49:44.5 – 49:54.5] "Are you the governor of West Virginia?" "Yes." "What happened?" "Well, I went on a drunk, and I was ashamed to go back to the capital of Charleston, and this is where [49:54.5 – 49:57.9] I wound up." And he finally went to a mission there one day. [49:57.9 – 49:59.2] They had a AA meeting. [49:59.2 – 50:00.0] He was hungry. [50:00.0 – 50:04.9] Had some donuts and coffee, and he finally sobered up and got a job driving a cab. [50:04.9 – 50:06.9] Now, there's something that happened. [50:06.9 – 50:09.2] A man that didn't listen. [50:09.2 – 50:17.5] Bill Wilson and I went to Des Moines, Iowa, as speakers at the conference in Des Moines, Iowa. [50:17.5 – 50:25.3] When we got through speaking, the– Ray Harrison, the prosecutor, was a member of AA. [50:25.3 – 50:31.0] And he said, "You fellas are members of AA who've got some experience. [50:31.0 – 50:35.2] I got a dear friend of mine that has a problem. [50:35.2 – 50:38.6] He's an alcoholic, and his wife is getting a divorce. [50:38.6 – 50:40.4] He's ready to lose his home. [50:40.4 – 50:42.3] He lost his job and lost his friends. [50:42.3 – 50:49.4] Will you please go over and talk to him?" Bill Wilson and I went over and talked to him for two and a half hours. [50:49.4 – 50:53.4] But we was warned that there was police talk to him. [50:53.6 – 50:55.4] Businessmen, the mayor talked to him. [50:55.4 – 50:59.7] 20-some men talked to him before Bill Wilson and I did. [50:59.7 – 51:05.7] When we got through, he said, "I never heard people talk the way you do. [51:05.7 – 51:08.0] I never heard such a talking. [51:08.0 – 51:09.6] I'll join AA. [51:09.6 – 51:15.6] I'll join AA." I says, "Well, Bill and I are flying to Cleveland tomorrow. [51:15.6 – 51:25.6] You listen to Ray Harrison, he's in AA, and do what he tells you." And I said, "If you listen to Ray Harrison, I'll guarantee and I'll stake [51:25.6 – 51:35.2] my life that you'll be on top of the world in no time." Yes, a year later, he called me up and says, "Mr. [51:35.2 – 51:44.3] Andy, I don't know what kind of a magic you people got in AA," but he says, "That man that you and Bill talked to," he says, "His wife dropped the divorce. [51:44.3 – 51:45.2] He's not gonna lose… [51:45.2 – 51:46.3] He's got his job back. [51:46.3 – 51:49.0] He's not gonna lose his home, and he's got his friends back. [51:49.0 – 51:49.5] What do you think? [51:49.5 – 51:53.3] He's running for governor of Iowa." Running for governor. [51:53.3 – 52:03.8] Chief Martovich, some of the old-timers remember Chief Martovich, the police chief of Cleveland, called me and asked me to go ahead and see what I could do with Jim Cassidy [52:03.8 – 52:08.9] on skid row, one of the top prosecutors in Cuyahoga County, on skid row. [52:08.9 – 52:11.2] He lost his law practice and lost everything. [52:11.2 – 52:14.8] So I picked up Jim Cassidy on skid- Eagle Avenue. [52:14.8 – 52:20.2] Took him down to Harold's, Harold's house, Harold Shaw's house. [52:20.2 – 52:22.9] Had him stay there and told him we'll go to St. [52:22.9 – 52:24.5] John's Cathedral and pray. [52:24.5 – 52:28.5] We helped him with his clothing and everything, with his room and board. [52:28.5 – 52:34.2] A year later, I flew to Columbus, got him his law practice back, and opened an office at St. [52:34.2 – 52:37.6] Clair and Ontario Street on the 11th floor. [52:37.6 – 52:47.6] And I says, "Jim," I says, "you need a lot of business." And I says, "The office buildings are all offices on the front of the building, but the back [52:47.6 – 52:57.6] end is all the FBI headquarters." I says, "The FBI owes me a plenty for what I've done for this country." I says, "I'm gonna see the head of the FBI." So I went over there, [52:57.6 – 53:00.9] and the head, one of the FBI grabbed me and hugged me. [53:00.9 – 53:03.3] He says, "Andy," he says, "I'm glad to see you. [53:03.3 – 53:13.5] What can I do for you?" "When I tell you, you'll be sorry that I came in here because I want you to do something." I says, "A man down here, Jim Cassidy, opened [53:13.5 – 53:14.1] an office. [53:14.1 – 53:15.0] He's got a go-ahead. [53:15.0 – 53:20.4] A lot of people, they come to the FBI with complaints, but the government has nothing to do with it. [53:20.4 – 53:22.1] They gotta get their private attorney. [53:22.1 – 53:24.3] So send them over to Jim," and that's what they done. [53:24.3 – 53:31.4] A year later, I ran Jim Cassidy for judge of the municipal court. [53:31.4 – 53:34.5] You people have seen Judge Cassidy. [53:34.5 – 53:37.3] He won six terms as a judge. [53:37.3 – 53:40.4] He was one of the best judges in Cuyahoga County. [53:40.4 – 53:41.7] Now, there's an answer. [53:41.7 – 53:42.9] A man on skid row. [53:42.9 – 53:46.7] He needed some help, just like all of us. [53:46.7 – 53:49.4] We needed some help, and we got it. [53:49.4 – 53:54.1] And by doing that, that's how we go ahead and accomplish something. [53:54.1 – 53:57.4] We could accomplish those things by h- by help. [53:57.4 – 54:04.1] I said so many times that AA is one of the most expensive programs in the world. [54:04.1 – 54:11.4] There isn't a no- another program in the world as expensive as AA, and yet it costs not one penny to get into it. [54:11.4 – 54:16.5] You pay before you get into it, and this is what I'm talking about. [54:16.5 – 54:18.7] Pay before you get into it. [54:18.7 – 54:20.5] Dr. [54:20.5 – 54:30.7] Bob said to me, he says, "Ed, how can we get more people to know about AA?" I'm gonna ask the mayor of Cleveland if I can open an office at the central police [54:30.7 – 54:33.9] station and have the judges refer alcoholics to my office. [54:33.9 – 54:41.8] This is a miracle, and this is how somebody paid a fortune to get in AA. [54:41.8 – 54:47.7] Uh, paid a fortune, and yet it didn't– he didn't have to pay a penny to get into it. [54:47.7 – 54:53.5] They brought a man over to my office at 21st and Payne. [54:53.5 – 54:58.0] They give me the report, and I say, "Well, you don't have no address on here. [54:58.0 – 55:08.2] What's your address?" He says, "I don't have any." "Well, where do you sleep?" "I sleep in the parks or park benches, wherever I can find a place to sleep." And I said, "Well, you got an alcoholic problem." [55:08.2 – 55:18.1] I says, "Did you ever try to do something about it?" He says, "We tried everything." And he told me the story, that he came from a millionaire family in Buffalo, New York. [55:18.1 – 55:21.0] And I'm saying, this is a miracle in AA. [55:21.0 – 55:28.3] Told me the story, and every time he'd get drunk, the newspapers would go ahead and have a big write-up, ruining the reputation of the family. [55:28.3 – 55:33.9] And the family got tired, just like we get tired of many of us doing the wrong thing and by not listening. [55:33.9 – 55:44.0] And they says, "Why the hell don't you get out of the state and go somewhere, and if you're sober for a year, come back home?" He says, "That's what I done." He says, "From the beginning, I was living [55:44.0 – 55:49.4] in motels and hotels," he says, "and drinking the best of whiskey, and they won't send me any more money. [55:49.4 – 55:59.6] Now I'm panhandling and living in parks and sleeping in park benches." "Do you want to stop drinking?" He says, "I'd do anything to stop drinking." So with my influence, [55:59.6 – 56:04.7] I put him in Verne Benders at 8023 East Detroit, Detroit Avenue, AA Hospital. [56:04.7 – 56:06.7] I had him there five days. [56:06.7 – 56:11.5] After he got out, I had a job for him at the Cleveland Diesel at 106th and Madison Avenue. [56:11.5 – 56:14.8] I got a room, gave him some money, took him to AA meetings. [56:14.8 – 56:16.6] Remember, I said this is a miracle. [56:16.6 – 56:19.1] Introduced him to fellows. [56:19.1 – 56:21.5] I said, "Here's a man that wants to stop drinking. [56:21.5 – 56:29.3] Take him to AA meetings." That man went to AA meetings for one year and three days, and he came up to me and he says, "Mr. [56:29.3 – 56:36.9] Andy," he says, "Remember the story I told you at the central police station, that the folks said that if I'm sober for a year, I could go back home? [56:36.9 – 56:41.0] How can I prove to them that I've been sober for a year?" I'll fix that up. [56:41.0 – 56:51.0] So I went to a drugstore and got a roll of glazed paper and had hundreds of names go ahead and sign that scroll and sent it to his mother in Buffalo, New York, with a letter [56:51.0 – 56:57.6] stating that, "Your son has been sober for one year and three days, and he's coming back to Buffalo." He went to Buffalo. [56:57.6 – 57:01.1] He was there six years and four days without a drink. [57:01.1 – 57:03.2] One year and three days in Cleveland. [57:03.2 – 57:06.0] That's seven years and seven days without a drink. [57:06.0 – 57:12.1] One morning, he got up and he said to his mother and brothers, he says, "I'm afraid I'm gonna stop drinking. [57:12.1 – 57:13.8] I'm gonna start drinking. [57:13.8 – 57:16.7] I know that something tells me I'm gonna start drinking. [57:16.7 – 57:26.1] God, help me, I never want to start drinking again." So his brother says, "Well, why don't you go ahead and make arrangements with the airlines and fly to Cleveland where y- Mr. [57:26.1 – 57:28.5] Andy had you hospitalized in that hospital. [57:28.5 – 57:31.8] Maybe that'll change your mind." Remember I said it's a miracle. [57:31.8 – 57:42.0] Well, he rang the doorbell at 8023, and a nurse come out, and he says, "Can I help you?" "I want to check in for five days." Here's a man from a millionaire family with tailor-made [57:42.0 – 57:43.2] suits, nice luggage. [57:43.2 – 57:49.4] And the nurse says, "Have you been drinking?" "No, I haven't had a drink for seven years and seven days, but Mr. [57:49.4 – 57:57.2] Andy had me hospitalized here, and I'm afraid I'm gonna start drinking, and my folks suggested that I come in and check in for five days. [57:57.2 – 58:00.3] Maybe that'll change my mind." So she invited him in. [58:00.3 – 58:02.2] Now, he's a guest there. [58:02.2 – 58:04.4] He doesn't need no medication. [58:04.4 – 58:06.2] He's a guest. [58:06.2 – 58:10.6] He don't have to go to bed at nine o'clock at night with the rest of the patients. [58:10.6 – 58:13.2] They don't take his matches, cigarettes, or lighter away. [58:13.2 – 58:14.8] He's a guest there. [58:14.8 – 58:16.7] Well, he talked till 11 o'clock with Mr. [58:16.7 – 58:17.0] and Mrs. [58:17.0 – 58:21.1] Vern Bender and decided he'd retire and went to bed. [58:21.1 – 58:27.4] 12:30 in the morning, he heard a commotion and he put his trousers on in the bathroom and got his lighter and cigarettes and walked out in the lobby. [58:27.4 – 58:33.1] There was two police officers standing there and a nurse and a doctor kneeling down, examining a man on a stretcher. [58:33.1 – 58:39.5] And when th- this man, Walter from Buffalo, New York, heard the doctor pronounce the man on the stretcher dead. [58:39.5 – 58:49.7] The doctor said to the two police officers, "Let's go to the kitchen and get a cup of coffee while a nurse makes out a report." Walter, looking at that man on the stretcher, and he hollered [58:49.7 – 58:50.7] out to that nurse. [58:50.7 – 58:52.3] He says, "That man isn't dead. [58:52.3 – 58:57.4] I just seen him move his eyes." They start rubbing and massaging his heart, calling for the doctor. [58:57.4 – 58:59.3] The two police picked him up, put him on a bed. [58:59.3 – 59:00.7] They give him some medication. [59:00.7 – 59:06.7] And folks, that man was eating breakfast at 7:30 in the morning with the rest of the patients. [59:06.7 – 59:15.1] Walter from Buffalo, New York, says, "I know now I'll never take another drink." He called the airlines, made reservations to fly back to Buffalo. [59:15.1 – 59:16.8] He only stayed for one day. [59:16.8 – 59:24.6] Now, that man on that stretcher, that this man from Buffalo, New York, saved his life, did that man listen? [59:24.6 – 59:26.1] That man didn't listen. [59:26.1 – 59:28.0] He didn't listen. [59:28.0 – 59:33.2] His father was one of the millionaires, lived in next to John D. [59:33.2 – 59:39.0] Rockefeller, 36th and Euclid Avenue, where all them mansions in the olden days was. [59:39.0 – 59:46.9] His father was a millionaire, and he sent his son to college to educate him, to continue with his business. [59:46.9 – 59:50.6] Did he listen? [59:50.6 – 59:51.5] He didn't listen. [59:51.5 – 59:52.4] He kept a-drinking. [59:52.4 – 59:56.0] He'd go to Europe and go to France and England and drinking and drinking. [59:56.0 – 59:57.6] He became an alcoholic. [59:57.6 – 59:58.8] His father died. [59:58.8 – 60:06.6] He sold the business, sold one of the mansions, sold another mansion, and another mansion. [60:06.6 – 60:11.8] This is the man that was on that stretcher that the man, the doctor pronounced dead. [60:11.8 – 60:20.2] Finally, there was only one mansion left, and he wanted his mother to sell that, and he wouldn't– she wouldn't do it. [60:20.2 – 60:29.4] He finally made arrangements with a real estate man that she could live there if she sold it. [60:29.4 – 60:31.3] She could live there the rest of her life. [60:31.3 – 60:33.1] So she sold it. [60:33.1 – 60:37.6] He peddled the rest of that money for booze. [60:37.6 – 60:38.5] Yeah. [60:38.5 – 60:41.1] And he was drunk driving a car. [60:41.1 – 60:44.3] You've probably seen, many of you have seen that man. [60:44.3 – 60:48.3] He got in a smashup, automobile smashup. [60:48.3 – 60:50.4] Had his two legs amputated. [60:50.4 – 60:54.0] He says, "I better do something with my drinking problem. [60:54.0 – 60:57.3] Better, better join AA." He finally joined AA. [60:57.3 – 60:59.6] You see how much it cost him to join? [60:59.6 – 61:09.6] He lost his father's fortune, his mother's mansions, and jewelry, and diamonds, then he finally joined AA, and it didn't cost one penny to join it. [61:09.6 – 61:12.6] He paid his dues before he got into it. [61:12.6 – 61:22.1] Now, that shows how expensive it is to go ahead and get in AA, and it still doesn't cost anything. [61:22.1 – 61:30.3] Now, I got a letter in my museum, a letter in my museum from Mark Hanna. [61:30.3 – 61:34.1] In this letter it says… [61:34.1 – 61:39.9] Now, you gotta visualize that the, the wealthiest family in the state of Ohio. [61:39.9 – 61:45.2] And in this letter, he says, "Ed," he says, "Alcohol is a funny thing. [61:45.2 – 61:55.4] It has no respect for the poor or for the rich." And that reminds me when the reporter from the Detroit News [61:55.4 – 62:03.8] asked me to make a speech at Scripps Mansion at the lake, river, um, on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. [62:03.8 – 62:08.1] Scripps donated that mansion for Catholic priest alcoholics. [62:08.1 – 62:18.6] And I said to these 18 Catholic priest alcoholics, "Now, you are all a servant of God, but you've got to remember that alcohol [62:18.6 – 62:25.0] has no respect, not even for a servant of God." It has no respect for nobody. [62:25.0 – 62:27.9] Now, to go ahead. [62:27.9 – 62:32.5] I got a call from Toledo, Ohio. [62:32.5 – 62:34.1] Mrs. [62:34.1 – 62:36.7] Steve Bond, her husband a millionaire. [62:36.7 – 62:37.0] "Mr. [62:37.0 – 62:40.9] Andy, Steve has no confidence in nobody but you. [62:40.9 – 62:42.8] He's– you're the only man he trusts. [62:42.8 – 62:43.8] He's in Pittsburgh. [62:43.8 – 62:47.2] He's in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on a five-week drunk. [62:47.2 – 62:48.0] Mr. [62:48.0 – 62:55.0] Andy, please fly to Pittsburgh and bring him into Cleveland to the AA hospital." Here was another man that didn't listen. [62:55.0 – 62:57.1] A millionaire. [62:57.1 – 62:59.5] Got oil fields in Oklahoma. [62:59.5 – 63:04.4] Owns practically all the filling stations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [63:04.4 – 63:07.8] I flew to Pittsburgh, got two tickets on the way back. [63:07.8 – 63:13.3] Well, in them days, airlines wasn't as modern, modern as they are today. [63:13.3 – 63:17.5] They had church benches in the airlines in them days. [63:17.5 – 63:20.5] You walk up a gangplank on the airport field. [63:20.5 – 63:25.6] Went over there and three of his hired men was taking care of him. [63:25.6 – 63:28.5] And Steve Bond was asking for a drink. [63:28.5 – 63:34.1] "Please give me a drink." One of the hired men didn't understand what an alcoholic was, so he give him a cup of water. [63:34.1 – 63:38.5] He's like, "What the hell you want to do, kill that man?" I said, "He wants a drink. [63:38.5 – 63:39.4] He doesn't want water. [63:39.4 – 63:40.8] He wants whiskey." Well, I brought… [63:40.8 – 63:44.9] I knew what Steve Bond was, on a five-week drunk, so I had a pint. [63:44.9 – 63:53.4] I had a fifth in my satchel, and I poured about a half a cup, put it, had it against the wall and poured it down and said to the men, "Get him shaved up and dressed up. [63:53.4 – 63:57.2] I got to get that 7:05 plane for Cleveland." They got him ready. [63:57.2 – 63:59.9] We was in a waiting room in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [63:59.9 – 64:09.9] There's only three of them in a waiting room, and a big husky man walking back and forth, and Steve Bond says, "Andy, please give me a drink." And I said, "Steve, that man [64:09.9 – 64:11.0] looks like a detective. [64:11.0 – 64:16.4] I'm going to go ahead and talk to him first." So I took the satchel with the fifth in there and went over to this man. [64:16.4 – 64:21.9] I said, "That man sitting in the seat down there, I just flew in from Cleveland to take him into an AA hospital. [64:21.9 – 64:26.3] He's an alcoholic, and he's asking me for a drink, and I thought you was the detective. [64:26.3 – 64:29.0] I better talk to you first." He showed me his badge. [64:29.0 – 64:30.0] He was a detective. [64:30.0 – 64:30.9] "But that's all right. [64:30.9 – 64:32.8] I know what you boys have to go through. [64:32.8 – 64:36.1] You give him a drink." So I give Steve Bond a drink. [64:36.1 – 64:39.3] I said, "Steve, we can be turned down by the stewardess. [64:39.3 – 64:44.6] When we walk up that gangplank, hold on to me tight as you can." And he held on. [64:44.6 – 64:52.2] I put him on the window side of the plane, and he says, "Please give me another drink." I give him that drink, and he went and fell asleep. [64:52.2 – 64:56.3] Five minutes later, the stewardess come up, whispered in my right ear and said, "Mr. [64:56.3 – 65:02.9] Andy, we got to make an emergency landing in Youngstown, Ohio." Steve Bond is sleeping, five weeks on a drunk. [65:02.9 – 65:08.6] And I wasn't too inquisitive what the landing was going to be, but I just prayed to God we make the landing. [65:08.6 – 65:16.4] We made the landing in Youngstown, Ohio, and the plane landed in the field, and the doors opened up, and 24 Indians got on the plane. [65:16.4 – 65:19.5] 24 Indians. [65:19.5 – 65:24.6] The plane got back in the air, and 10 minutes later, Steve Bond woke up and seen all them Indians. [65:24.6 – 65:34.7] He says, "Andy, where the hell are you taking me?" I said, "I'm taking you into Cleveland, Steve." I says, he said, "They don't have people around here like that." Well, I [65:34.7 – 65:44.7] found out later they was flying from India to the Cleveland Public Auditorium to the World's Conference, and their plane had engine trouble, and our plane had orders to pick them up, [65:44.7 – 65:46.7] that Steve was on on a five-week drunk. [65:46.7 – 65:51.7] Well, I called from Pittsburgh to Tom Tobin and Vern Bender. [65:51.7 – 65:55.0] They met me at the airport, and I says, "Here is the bottle. [65:55.0 – 65:57.9] Kill the damn thing now." So he killed the rest of the bottle. [65:57.9 – 66:01.6] Five days later, now here's a man that didn't listen. [66:01.6 – 66:02.9] You people listen. [66:02.9 – 66:04.0] That's why you're here. [66:04.0 – 66:10.0] Five days later, the doctor from the hospital at 823 Detroit called me and said, "Mr. [66:10.0 – 66:11.1] Andy, come on over. [66:11.1 – 66:16.3] We want to talk to Steve Bond." And we took him in a private room, and we talked to him. [66:16.3 – 66:25.0] And the doctor said to Steve, "Steve, you've been hospitalized so many times for alcoholism." Now, he's a millionaire. [66:25.0 – 66:35.4] And he says, "Did you ever think of taking the spiritual part of the program?" He had that, I'll never forget, that bathroom, maroon bathroom, [66:35.4 – 66:36.9] bathrobe on. [66:36.9 – 66:44.6] He pulled out a $100 bill and shook it in front of the doctor's face, and he says, "Doc, I make more damn money in one day than you make in a whole year. [66:44.6 – 66:53.5] Here is my spiritual part of the program." And I says, "Steve, you should pray to God first, and then the money will come." Yes, he didn't listen. [66:53.5 – 66:55.6] Six months later, he died. [66:55.6 – 66:57.3] He left all that fortune. [66:57.3 – 66:58.9] He left that fortune. [66:58.9 – 67:03.3] That's why I say that you people are here today because you listen. [67:03.3 – 67:05.0] You're going to get somewhere. [67:05.0 – 67:06.8] You're going to have a clear mind. [67:06.8 – 67:08.4] You can use judgment. [67:08.4 – 67:09.0] You can got… [67:09.0 – 67:11.9] You're, you're respected. [67:11.9 – 67:14.3] You're respected by everybody, and you know it. [67:14.3 – 67:15.2] You're respected. [67:15.2 – 67:17.8] I will go ahead. [67:17.8 – 67:28.4] For the rest of my living life, for the rest of my living life, I always want to remember [67:28.4 – 67:35.5] that I would rather have the spirit of God in my heart than the spirits of alcohol in my head. [67:35.5 – 67:41.0] And thank you all for coming to the 48th anniversary, and bless you all.