Pioneers for the Millions of Social Drinkers Who Haven’t Fallen Yet – Ed A.

My lead is going to be something of miracles before AA and after AA. But you follow my lead and you'll see that God has got something to do right from the very beginning, after I follow with my lead. God is through the whole lead. Last night, Clarence Snyder mentioned about how tough it was from the beginning of AA. It was tough. It was tough in those days. I remember we would have maybe 25, 30, or 40 members in AA and pass the collection box. Very seldom you would find a quarter in there. It would be pennies, nickels, and dimes. That's how tough it was from the beginning. It was tough, like Clarence Snyder said. Clarence Snyder opened the Borden Group. Out of Akron, the world's first AA group, the Borden Group. He had it tough, like he said last night, that they followed him and wanted to break the group up. But he stuck to it. He fought it. What did he have when he opened the Borden Group? He asked Mr. Borden to go ahead and give him a little place to hold an AA meeting. Mr. and Dr. Borden gave him a recreation room to hold the first AA meeting. The first AA meeting. The first AA meeting that was held. The world's first AA meeting. The pioneer group. And we are all pioneers today. I mentioned when I led Clarence Snyder's 43rd anniversary in Cleveland that he opened up in Cleveland Heights, the first group. And I mentioned then that I was standing on the mountain in Colorado Springs and I wondered how them pioneers ever made it. They made it through the west, to open the trails through the west. They died. They froze to death, starved to death. They had the detour from the Colorado mountains to New Mexico, to the flat ground. But they made it. And that's the way it is in Alcoholics Anonymous. There are millions and millions of alcoholics that have died from alcoholism. Whatever you do to go ahead, after you lay your heads on pillows, to know that alcoholism is the only thing you can do. And that's the way it is in Alcoholics Anonymous. There are millions and millions of alcoholics that have died from alcoholism. Awkwardly and You see the world towards the future. You see the world towards the future. You come out of it the next day and realize how you should fight. You have been running it now, not for a long time, you've been living it. And there's a free opponent all over the world. If your religion that wants to get the Pope to deliver the wine, no one is going to tell you. And we've found for the first time. And we got the papes. And we've found theta papes. And we've found the diverse studies. be sure to go ahead and rub the inside of the pail so it'll kill the foam and you get more beer for a nickel. I brought that pail of beer home. He filled three glasses, one for each of us, and that was the first drink I had in 1912. In those days, people raised large families, and there was either a christening or a birthday party, and I'd always manage to get my beer at the christening or birthday. If there wasn't, the saloon keeper's son was a friend of mine, and we'd go down his father's basement and drink P.O.C. Pilchner beer. Now, I'm going to change the scene from that saloon basement for five minutes. I was playing peg night between the curb and the sidewalk, and I seen a drunken man coming towards me. 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. But instead, Mr. Kirch, the most respected and the most wealthiest man in the community, approached this drunken man. As long as Mr. Kirch was there, I wasn't afraid. But I was inquisitive to see what Mr. Kirch was doing. I was inquisitive to see what Mr. Kirch was doing. I was inquisitive to see what the drunken man was telling the drunken man, and these are the words I heard. With his hand on Stanley's shoulder, he said, Stanley, you are a good man, Stanley. You got a nice wife, nice children, nice home, and a good job. But Stanley, you drink too much. Look at me, Stanley. I drink every day. I take a drink in the morning, drink at noon, and drink at night. Stanley, did you ever see me drunk? Never, Mr. Kirch, never. That was the first time I ever heard anybody say about drinking too much. The next time I see Mr. Kirch talking to a drunken man, I'm going to tell him, I was inquisitive again, and I heard these words. Harry, you are a good man, but you drink too much, Harry. You got a nice wife, nice children, a good job, and a nice home. You drink too much, Harry. Look at me, Harry. I drink every day. I take a drink in the morning, drink at noon, and a drink at night. Did you ever see me drunk? Never, Mr. Kirch. Now, Mr. Kirch's name is coming back in 1919 and in 1929. Remember what I said, that he was the most, wealthiest man in the community, and the most respected man in the community, and see what those years in 1929 will do. Now, I was a young boy going to the parochial school in Lorain, Ohio, and one of the biggest churches that they built in Lorain, Ohio, the biggest parish in the county. And the priest would go ahead and have me do different errands for him. They'd send me down to the basement to go ahead, and fill the containers with holy wine. Now, God asked 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. But the priest didn't say that I shouldn't drink any wine. They didn't tell me I should either. But I always drank some of the holy wine when I was filling the containers. And believe me, I drank so much of that holy wine, sometimes I was really thinking I was holy. Now, they built that big church, the biggest church in Lorain County. And they had a vote. They wanted to go ahead and have a boy guard the Jesus in the manger on the grand opening of the church, December the 25th. They wanted to have a boy guard the Jesus in the manger, and by a coincidence, I was voted the guard the Jesus in the manger. The church was filled to capacity, standing room was all occupied, and I'm guarding Jesus in the manger. And what did I say? Remember these words through my whole lead. Don't worry, Jesus, I'm guarding you, I'm protecting you, that no harm will come to you. Those are the words. In 1917, I had the soldier's uniform on and a rifle parading for President Wilson on Superior Avenue in Cleveland. That December the 25th, I was guarding Jesus in the manger again on Christmas Day. And I said, don't worry, Jesus, I have a rifle in the uniform now to guard you and protect you, that no harm will come to you. Remember those words. I got a job in 1919 in a post office as a letter carrier. And you know how a letter carrier delivers mail from house to house. And from a distance, I see a drunken man coming down the sidewalk staggering from one side to the other, and I said, oh, no, no, it can't be him. It can't be Mr. Kurtz. But the nearer he got to me, the more convinced I was it was Mr. Kurtz. It was only after I got to the post office that I was able to get a job. And I said, oh, no, no, half a block from where he lived, I helped him get home with my mail carrier's uniform. And I said, all these years, from 1912 to 1919, he was telling people, all the drunks that he takes a drink in a morning, a drink at noon, and a drink at night, and nobody ever seen him drunk. Well, by golly, he is drunk now. And every time I seen Mr. Kurtz after that, he was drunk. In 1929, he lost everything that he had. Now, he's an alcoholic. He doesn't take a drink in a morning, and a drink at noon, and a drink at night. He's got to have something to drink all day and all night. And he's broke, so he manufactured his own booze. And the agents caught him, the federal agents caught him, and they knew how wealthy he was, so they didn't press any charges. He was only making the booze for himself. Six months later, he died. Now, there's an example of a man drinking sociably, a drink in a morning, a drink at noon, and a drink at night. Now, in 1919, I got a job in that post office, and in 1920, I got married. And my wife said that I was drinking a little too much. And I said, I'll try to cut it down. I'm going to the bootlegger, and I'm going to only take three quarters, and I can't get drunk on three quarters. I'm not even going to drive the car. I'm going to walk. As I walked down East Avenue, I heard somebody call my name, looked around. It was a fireman with a fireman's uniform. And he says, Ed, where are you going? I said, I'm going over to get a couple of drinks. Come on in here. They sell it in here. So I went in. I bought him a drink and bought myself a drink. That's it. I'll buy another drink, but I only had three quarters. I only got one left. That's all right. The bootlegger will cash your check. Your checks are good. I didn't bring my checkbook. He's got some blank checks here. That was on the 18th day of June. I cashed a check for $25. Two o'clock in the morning, I wanted to go home. The bootlegger says, don't go. He says, plenty of rooms upstairs. Sleep up here. So the fireman and I slept there. His wife fixed breakfast and lunch at noon time and supper at supper time. And I cashed more checks and more checks on the third and the fourth and the fifth and sixth day. Didn't even go out of the house until the eighth day of July. I only intended to buy three drinks. When I went home on the eighth day of July, my wife says, I thought you said you was going to go to the bootlegger and spend three quarters while you was going from the 18th of July. The day of June until the eighth day of July, I found another place to live. You know, too many bootleggers in Lorain were going to move to a small town. Fine. We moved to another county in a small town. Now it wasn't too long. I knew the bootleggers in Lorain and Erie County. In 1922, I found out that I was an alcoholic. My hands would shake, but I found a solution for it. Oh boy, did I find a good solution for that. By taking something to drink, it'll stop the shaking. I found a solution for the shakes, but I had the shakes so darn often I had to go ahead and drink more. And I was in the second stages of alcoholism. And in 23, I was in the third stages of alcoholism. And in 1924, I was in the fourth stages of alcoholism. I'd walk through the woods and chew on bark and leaves and roots thinking I'd find a chemical that'll stop the craving of alcohol. Nothing helped. And if any of you never went through the third or fourth stages of alcoholism, thank God that you never will. Because if you think Halloween has funny faces, you should know that it doesn't. You should go through the third and fourth stages of alcoholism and see the funniest faces you ever see in your life, even with your eyes closed. My in-laws offered me a solid gold watch. If I'd stopped drinking for 30 days, I couldn't stop for 30 minutes. When the Warner Brothers studios asked me to come to Hollywood to write the script for The Lost Weekend and Ray Milan won the Oscar, I had one hell of a time showing the carpenters how to go ahead and build a dummy wall so they could shove snakes and rats and little mice carrying bales of hay through their walls. That was the third and fourth stages of alcoholism. I was in the third and fourth stages of alcoholism. What am I going to do to stop this craving of alcohol? So I wanted to go ahead and get the shotgun and shoot myself. But the bell was too long, and I couldn't. So something told me to go ahead and hang myself. So I went in the garage and got a rope, and I threw it over the rim. Threw the rope over the limb, and when I was ready to put the rope around my neck, I wished to God that somebody would have taken a picture of that thing. And I took a picture of that to see hundreds and hundreds of birds flying all over me, my face and head and body and all over it. I didn't even have time to put the rope around my neck. I pulled the rope back off of the limb and threw it alongside of the gods and walked down the path and seen all them birds on the limbs. Now what the hell was them birds flying all over me? Remember what I said, I'm guiding Jesus in a manger. Now he's guiding and protecting me. There was no Catholic church in Florence, Ohio, so I drove my Model P for a while. I walked toward the Wayman seeing Father Kelly down there. A man called me up and asked me, Father, I got a terrible alcoholic problem. Will you please help me? He put his hand on my shoulder and he said, Son go home and pray. God'll answer your prayers. Father, I already done that. He put his hand back on my shoulder again. He said, Son, go home and pray harder and pray longer. God'll answer your prayers. That was the first time I had any confidence that there was something that was going to happen with my alcoholic problem. I went home and prayed, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, with blisters on my knees. God, how much longer do you want me to pray to help me with that alcoholic problem? But I remember what the priest said, pray harder and longer, and I prayed five days longer, and the vision of God appeared in the front of me. And the voice of God said, slowly, take your family and move to Ravenna, Ohio. There you will meet a well-dressed man. Four and a half billion people on this earth wouldn't know who that well-dressed man would be, not even he, not even me. Only God knew what he would be. I told my wife about it, and she said, that must be an answer to your alcoholic problem. Where is Ravenna? Being acquainted with cities and states while working in the post office, I said, it's near Akron in Portage County. The following Sunday, we moved for the car. We drove to Ravenna, Ohio, looked over the town, stayed overnight, rented a place on Wall Street, come back to Florence, Ohio, arranged a moving van. A day before moving, like an alcoholic would think, I won't know any bootleggers in Ravenna, I'd better take a supply with me. So I went to a fiver and got three gallons of blackberry wine, went to a bootlegger and got two gallons of whiskey. The next day, the van come, I put that in a Model T Ford sedan and followed the van to Ravenna, Ohio. We set up housekeeping on a Tuesday. I told my wife on a Wednesday, I'm going to go ahead and follow God's instructions and meet the well-dressed man. I stood on corners in Ravenna, moved in different spots all day long, nothing happened. When I got home, my wife said, did you have any luck finding the well-dressed man? I says, Rose, that isn't the way that God said that. He says, move to Ravenna, there you will meet a well-dressed man, not find him. Thursday was the second day. I stopped at different spots, moved in different places. In the afternoon, I went into a hat store and bought a derby hat the same as Jimmy Walker, the mayor of New York City wore. I thought I'd be presentable when I meet the well-dressed man. Friday was the third day. Nothing happened. Saturday the 4th, Sunday the 5th, Monday the 6th, Tuesday the 7th, Wednesday the 8th, Thursday the 9th, Friday the 10th, and Saturday the 11th. Nothing happened. God, what are you doing to me? I followed your instructions for 11 days. I didn't even take them. I didn't take time to go ahead and look for a bootlegger only to meet the well-dressed man. My three gallons of blackberry wine is going, and I'm down to the bottom of the second gallon of whiskey, and I haven't met the well-dressed man. What are you doing to me, God? I was disgusted on that 11th day. The next day was Sunday. I thought I had a little more whiskey in the second gallon. I knew the wine was all gone, and that was empty. God, what are you torturing me for? I followed your instructions. I was so sick and shaky. My eyes were bloodshot, and I says, God, forgive me. I'm too sick and too shaky to go ahead and look for the meet the well-dressed man today, but please, Lord, help me find a bootlegger or I'm going to die. I was afraid to drive my Model T Ford, so I walked. As I walked, I prayed, God, help me find a bootlegger or I'm going to die. My head was ready to fall off of my shoulders. I shook home. Finally, I stopped, and I looked up in the sky, and I says, thank you, Lord. Thank you. You are good to me after all. I said, thank you. That Sunday morning, coming towards me at 930, I stopped this drunken man, and I showed him my shaky hands. I said, mister, I'm not a revenue agent. I'm an alcoholic. Will you please help me find a bootlegger? That man was drunk, and he was so kind, he took me by the arm. He says, sure, I'll take you to a bootlegger. We walked back about a block from the direction he came, and I says, he can't be the well-dressed man. He's just an ordinary dressed man. He took me through a back end of a two-story brick building, introduced me to some of the men, and I said, I'm not a well-dressed man. He says, Sam, the bootlegger, he says, Sam, this is a friend of mine. He wants something to drink, a pint and a pitcher of wine. I said, yes. We sat down at one of those 30 by 30 tables one side against the wall. In the pitcher of wine and a pint of whiskey come, I says, fill the glasses. I'm too shaky. So he filled himself a glass, one ounce glass of whiskey and a half a glass of wine. I says, pour my whiskey in this wine glass. He poured about over a half a glass of whiskey, and I downed that. But I didn't forget what I prayed for. I says, thank you, Lord. Thank you for showing me this man to bring me to a bootlegger. I would have died. He drank a shot of liquor, washed it with wine. He says, I was on my way home when I met you. And he says, thanks for the drinks. I hope to see you again. He walked out. I finished the rest of the pint, ordered another pint, and had a couple of drinks out of that. My shakes calmed down. They was calmed down. That seat is empty now. This man just walked away from that seat. I'm sitting right across from it. And the door opened up. Been a nicest. Well. Dressed man walked in and said to Sam, get me a pint and a pitcher of wine. That well-dressed man came over to my table and said, can you use some company? Mister, could I use some company? Please sit down. Have a drink. I poured him out a drink in his one-ounce glass, but he was as shaky as I was. I says, you need a stiff drink. So I poured him out about three-quarters of a glass of whiskey in his wine glass, and he downed that, and it was like only five minutes ago what he said. Did I need that this morning? Did I need that this morning? I said, isn't there somebody on this God's earth can help people like you and I with an alcoholic problem? He reached over his hand, by the way, my name is Smith. I figured in them days, 1929, who gave a right name in a bootlegging joint or checked in a motel or hotel? You always check in under an alias name, and I figured he's given me an alias name. I said, Smitty, glad to meet you. My name is Johnson. I said, isn't there somebody on this? God's earth can help people like you and I. Johnson, they tried everything for hundreds and hundreds of years, and they haven't found a solution for it yet. Smitty, I'm going to find a solution if it's going to kill me, because if I don't, this booze is going to kill me anyway. I hope you do find a solution, Johnson. His hands was calming down. He was calming down from the shakes that he had. And I said, Smitty, I'm going to tell you something, and I want you to listen to every word I tell you. Johnson, I'm listening. And I told Smitty. Just. Just what I told you. How I walked through the woods and chewed on bark and leaves and roots, thinking I'd find a chemical to go ahead and stop the craving of alcohol. How I went to the priest, and the priest told me to pray. I prayed for five years, and five days, and a vision of God appeared, and the voice of God said, take your family and move to Revan, Ohio. There you will meet a well-dressed man. Smitty, I looked for 11 days for that, to meet that well-dressed man. This morning is the 12th day on a Sunday, and I says, God forgive me, I'm too sick and too shaky to look. I look for the well-dressed man, and here you come in and tell Sam that you want a pitcher of wine and a pint of whiskey, and you came over to my table and asked me if I could use some company. You are the well-dressed man. And he looked at me, and he says, Johnson, he says, this is very, very, very interesting. Smitty, my wife will be so glad that I finally located the well-dressed man. Will you come over to the house and meet the family? Not this Sunday, Johnson, but I promise to be over some other Sunday. Sam is getting my supply ready. And I'll be over some other Sunday. Sam, get me a pint to take out. I can't wait till I get home and tell the wife that I finally located the well-dressed man. When I even took shortcuts through the fields, getting down on Wall Street in Ravanna, when I got home and told the wife, well, it finally happened, I've located the well-dressed man. Why didn't you ask him to come over? I did. But he promised to be over some other Sunday. So I was so happy that I located the well-dressed man, went over to the Branson Player Piano, and I start playing and singing. And highways are happy days when they lead the way to home. That night, I was back to the bootlegger. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, looking for Schmitty. I didn't see him. And I said to Sam, I said, has Schmitty been around this week? Oh, he don't come around during the week, only on Sunday morning. So the next day was Sunday, and Schmitty was already there. And he put his arms around me. Johnson, I thought about you all week. And what you told me is something so interesting. Johnson, I never. Want to lose you. I never want to lose you. Schmitty, I don't want to lose you either. You're my well-dressed man that God told me about. So, Schmitty, can you make it down to the house and meet the family today? No, Sam has got my supply ready to go ahead and take. And he says, I can't go ahead and make it today, but I promise to be over some other Sunday. Now, that's two Sundays that I met Schmitty. I know him by the name of Schmitt. He knows me by the name of Johnson. So he went with his supply and I got my supply and I went home. I was back down to the bootlegger that Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday night. Now, that's two Sundays and two nights later. I'm at the bootlegging table setting where I met Schmitty. Two Sundays and two nights previous. And I was so relaxed that I finally located the well-dressed man. And what God said was true, that I would locate a well-dressed man. So now we're going to change the scene from this bootlegger table just like we changed the scene before. The change the scene, I'm going to tell you what happened two and a half months previous to that. And then we're coming back to the bootlegging table. Two and a half months previous to that, I came home very drunk. And I got up that morning, shaky as I always was. And I always try to manage to have a pint for an eye-opener in the morning, but I looked through the closed closet and fell all the coats and there's no pint. I laid on the bed and I says, I know that I had a pint in there. I tried it again. Tried all the coats. Nothing. Nothing there. There it is again. I laid on the bed. God, you've got to help me. You've got to help me get something to drink. I'm going to die in this bed if you don't help me, God. I'm sitting down there and I said, Sam, get me a gallon of whiskey and a pint to take out. He got a gallon of whiskey and a pint. I went home and got a shovel and I dug a hole, 10 by 14. And I put that gallon in the hole and the board over top of it. And I stood there and looked up in the sky. God, I need you. I need your help. Please, God, help me never to touch that gallon of whiskey in that hole unless I'm too sick and too shaky to make it to the bootlegger. Please help me, God. That's two Sundays and two days later. I was down to the bootlegger on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the third Sunday Schmitty will be there. I'll be glad to go ahead and see my well-dressed man. Schmitty was already outside and he put his arms around me. Just like Clarence always does. We hug each other. We're so glad to meet each other. And he says, Johnson, I'm so glad. I was talking to some of my friends about what you've done and what you said. He says, it's very, very interesting. Let's go in and get something to drink. Oh, Johnson, I waited here about a half hour. Something happened to Sam. He's not here yet. This car evidently broke down. And we talked another 10 minutes and Schmitty showed me his hands. He says, Johnson, if he don't come pretty soon, I'm going to throw a jerry. Schmitty, for God's sakes. Hold everything. I helped him get in my Model T Ford and he says, where are you going? I said, I got a gallon of whiskey at the house. You sure you got a gallon? I just put it there Tuesday night. Well, I hope it's there. Don't worry. It's there. I went over there and took the board off, took the gallon out, took the cork off, and I held it. He was too shaky. I held it for him. He took a big drink and stopped for a breath and took another and a third and a fourth drink. He wanted more. Johnson, you're a lifesaver. You're a lifesaver. And I put the cork on to put it back in the hole. Johnson, aren't you going to take a drink? I can't. Schmitty. So I put the gallon in the hole in the board over top of it and he says, well, why can't you take a drink? Schmitty, when I put that gallon in the hole Tuesday night, I looked up in the sky and I asked God to guide me and protect me not to touch a drop of that whiskey in that hole down there unless I'm too sick and too shaky to make it to the bootlegger. And Schmitty, I'm not too sick and too shaky. I can make it to the bootlegger. And Schmitty says, I don't blame you for keeping your promise. Schmitty said, let's go over. Maybe Sam was there. We went down to the bootleggers. And Sam was there. And Sam apologized that his car broke down and he couldn't open up on time. So we each ordered a pitcher of wine and a pint and sat in the same seats at the same table, drinking. We was calmed down. Our shapes was calmed down. We didn't have the shapes. And the door opened up. And the big husky man, about 300 pounds, walked in and said to Sam, get me a pint to take out. I'm in a hurry. That big husky man came over to the back of Schmitty, put his hand on Schmitty's shoulder and patted it. And he says, Doc, how are you? Schmitty looked around to see who it was and he says, Harry, pretty good. How have you been? There's a lot of sand from the pits of Ravenna. We've been pretty busy. The bootlegger brought his pint of whiskey and put it in his coat pocket and he put his hand back on Schmitty's shoulder and he patted it. He says, Doc, take care of yourself. I'll see you again. And he walked out. I says, Schmitty, that man just walked out and called you Doc two different times. What's that, your nickname? He says, I'm Dr. Bob Smith from Akron. There you are, folks. Now I says, Schmitty, when we introduced ourselves three Sundays ago, I thought you'd give me an alias name. So I give you a name. My name is Johnson. My name is not Johnson. My name is Ed Andy. So we introduced ourselves the proper way. Now we talked. We talked and talked. What could we do to help an alcoholic? Now you're a doctor. Schmitty, you're a doctor. Can't you do something to help him? He says, it's only pills. It wouldn't do any good. They tried for hundreds and hundreds of years to go ahead and help an alcoholic. They haven't found a solution for it yet. And we talked about it. We talked about it. I wrote. I wrote a seven-page letter, and I give it to Schmitty to sign, to read and sign. Now why did I do that? You'll see as I go along with my lead, why did I do those things? But there was something telling me to do it. When Schmitty was reading the letter, he says, he didn't call me Johnson anymore. He had three names, Ed, Eddie, or Andy. He says, Eddie, he says, if somebody reads this letter now, they'll put us both in a straitjacket. And I said, why? He says, well, the way you got it written, he says, there'll be men walking on the moon. And I said, well, that's the way it was. The men did walk on the moon. And the second item where I mentioned that there'll be millions and millions and millions of men and women that have found a solution for alcoholism by the year of 2032. This is nowhere near 2032, and there's already six and a half million in AA. And the third article was that in 2014, there was a solution for alcoholism. And I said, why? Why? Well, I said, okay, let's start over. In 2014, there will be millions and millions and millions of men and women that'll die from bombs. And I said, why? Why? Why, I said, because there will be millions and millions, then there will be millions and millions of men and women that'll die from bombs. Clarence Snyder remembers that one blocks out. There was a four-story Salvation Army building across the street. It was the Erie Street Cemetery. It was the Erie Street Cemetery. The sign read Eagle Avenue. I didn't know what Eagle Avenue was. It was against the Salvation Army building. Two men there, three men there were bottles drinking. I walked down Eagle Avenue. About every other doorway, there was a couple of men with bottles. couple of men with bottles drinking. When I got to Woodland Avenue, I said to a man sitting down, what's all those men down there drinking? Don't the police bother them? He says, ah, they're all alcoholics. They don't bother nobody, and the police don't bother them. I says, is there a bootlegger around here? Yeah, there's a bootlegger right there. Come on, I'll buy you a drink. And then I says, give us two drinks, 10 cents in advance. 10 cents? That's cheap. They had a galvanized wash tub and a dipper, and they'd go ahead and dip that out. I don't think it was whiskey. It was lye mixed with water. So I laid down another dime and got two more drinks. I says, how much is a bottle? He says, 15 cents a half a pint, 25 cents a pint. Give me two pints. At 4.30, I seen Dr. Michael Miller. He introduced me to a man, or a man, I figured. But the next day, I found out, Clarence Snyder knows who the man is. The man was Mark Hanna. Hanna's from one of the wealthiest families in the state. They're not millionaires. They're billionaires. Dr. Michael Miller introduced me to him and told us what he wanted to do. And I said, well, Dr. Bob couldn't come over here, so I took his place. He wants to know what this is all about. And he told us that he's going to go ahead and find a way and a place to go ahead and help alcoholics. Well, at that time, there was a Hoover dump down there with the Coast Guard. Now it's the Burke Airport. They filled all that in. And we was going ahead and experimenting with alcoholics. And we were going ahead and experimenting with alcoholics. The city gave us a place in Warrensville Workhouse, and we was experimenting with them. We'd need more alcoholics. We'd call the police station. They'd go down to Hoover Dump and go ahead and get a load of alcoholics. And we was saving them guys there. The city, information of Dr. Bob, every Sunday, I'd go ahead and see Dr. Bob. And then Dr. Bob told me that he finally located what they call the Oxford Group in Akron, Ohio. He located the Oxford Group, and by that time, we had, then he met Dr. Bob. He met Dr. Bob. He met Dr. Bob. He met Dr. Bob. He met Dr. Bob. He met Dr. Bob. Bill Wilson, Bill Wilson, Clarence Snyder's going to the Oxford Group. Oxford Group for Sinners, the way Clarence Snyder's. That's where we learned where the Sinners was. We've got a lot of experience from the Sinners. We had our program completed. And Mark Hanna, they also owned the newspapers down there, practically the biggest part of the downtown district of Cleveland. It was wealthy people. So Mark Hanna, with his authority, got the newspaper reporters to go ahead and write a story. We finally found a solution for alcoholism. It was published in the plane dealer, in the news, in the press. And finally, the medical board stepped in. We want what you got. Dr. Michael Miller says, nothing to do with it. You'll make a racket out of it, and doctors will get rich. This is for alcoholics. We wouldn't give it to them. So finally, the government stepped in and said, as long as you boys are interested in alcoholism, they offer Dr. Michael Miller a complete charge of Lexington, Kentucky, alcoholics and dope fiends and all. And they offered Mark Hanna and I the assignment to go to Cordoba, the Republic of Argentina to study alcoholism over there. Mark Hanna says, I already got an assignment as a vice president of a manufacturers, traders and trust company, a banking institution in Buffalo, New York. So I went to South America. While I was in South America studying alcoholism, Dr. Bob was writing to me, and I told Dr. Bob that I was coming back, flying back from South America on the 23rd day of October, 1939. Dr. Bob says, Andy, when you go ahead and come back, call me. It's very important. Call me at this number. I called him on the 23rd of October, and he says, come over to Acton, meet me at the Portage Hotel. I want you to meet a friend of mine. And that's on the 24th day of October, 1939, when he introduced me to Bill Wilson. And he says, Andy, he says, you've got a lot of experience with alcoholics, with Dr. Michael Miller in South America and Cordoba. We need a man like you to help us with this AA program. We need a man like you. I says, Dr. Bob, you need a man like me to help you with the AA program. You're asking me for help. Dr. Bob, do you remember 10 years ago, 1929, when I told you at the bootlegger and Sam's bootlegging joint that the vision of God appeared and the voice of God said, take your family, move to Ravenna. You'll meet a well-dressed man, and you as the well-dressed man, now you're asking me to help you? Dr. Bob, I'll do anything for you. I'll do anything. You need more people in AA. How can we do it? With the experience I had with Dr. Michael Miller in the police courts down there, I'll ask the mayor if I can't open the office in the central police station of 21st and Payne and have the judges refer alcoholics over to my office. They referred alcoholics. I put in thousands and thousands through there, thousands of alcoholics. Dr. Bob says, you've done so well. How about going in through the West and open some of the groups? I went through California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. I started a program in California. Judge Charles Hughes of the Superior Court was the one that was responsible and cooperated with me. Last year when I had an appointment with the 19 judges in Los Angeles, I thanked them for the cooperation of Alcoholics Anonymous on what they've done. And they give me a report since I originally had the idea. In California, they said that I had to have that through the whole United States. I'm only one man. I can't do all of that. I'm doing all I can. But they give me a report. I'm only one man. I can't do all of that. I'm doing all I can. But since that time, they put in 79,000 men and women in the AA. Now, there's other states that I originated ideas for Alcoholics Anonymous. But I'm going to tell you one of Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona. I got in Phoenix, Arizona in the afternoon at 2.30. Where am I going to go to open up a group down here? Should I go to a judge, a priest, Salvation Army, or where? But I see now again, he's the one that's doing it. Not me. I couldn't figure it out. I only wanted, I'd seen a restaurant. I only wanted a hamburger and a cup of coffee. When I went in that restaurant, there was 36 seats empty against the counter. 36 seats. I took about the middle section while I was eating a hamburger, drinking a coffee. But all them seats, it was just empty. A drunk came over and sat right alongside of me on my left side. A drunk. And a waitress come over with the menu and he says, no. Just give me the same thing he's got. She went over and got a hamburger and a cup of coffee and he started a conversation. And he says, boy, I'm afraid to go home. I said, what's the matter? Your wife going to raise hell because you drink? Oh, no, I'm the drinking problem. And that's called Alcoholics Anonymous, AA. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go home with you. Will you do that? Yes, I'll go home with you. So we drove and the mother and father at the ranch, they find, well, he's finally coming home after three weeks. He's finally coming home. But they didn't know I was in a car. And when he got nearer to the house down there and I seen the father with a belt of bullets and a gun hanging down on the right side. And I said, brother, I'd better do some fast talking when I get out of this car. So when I got out of the car, my name is Mr. Randy. I came from Cleveland, Ohio to go ahead and open up an AA group for people that's got an alcoholic problem. I just met your son about 20 minutes ago. Well, that cleared that. And I told him what AA was and what it can do to help an alcoholic. He invited me and I stayed overnight. So the father said that he would do everything to go ahead and help me out. And that's where we opened up the first group. And I sponsored the first band in Phoenix, Arizona. There is an example. Now, when I led the first meeting in Akron in 1940, Dr. Bob and I went over to the Kessler's donut shop that Clarence Snyder was in many and many a times on Market Street. And I told the waitress, get me two dozen coconut donuts to take out. So from there we went over. She said, I'll put the tray right into the bag. And you can take it that way, a plastic tray, just a plastic tray. We went over to Dr. Bob's house. We each had Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson and I had two donuts a piece and coffee. And Dr. Bob then said, let's the three of us get down on our knees and pray to God to help us with this AA program. We got down on our knees and we prayed. Did God help us with the AA program? Look at here. And all over the world, people in AA. He sure did help us. He did help us. Dr. Bob says, Ed, you like coconut donuts. I'll put the rest of the donuts in a tray right in the bag and you can take it home. We took it home. A few days later, we ate the donuts. I got the plastic tray, 1940. What am I going to do with it? It's not worth 20 cents. I'm going to keep it. I kept it. I have that plastic tray in my museum today. Femwood gold in the whole building center. It's on the wall, hanging not too far away from Clarence's house. Snyder picture on the museum wall. With the inscription on there, Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson ate coconut donuts out of this tray at Dr. Bob's house in 1940. Now there's in the museum. I was offered at that time, I wouldn't go ahead and give 20 cents for the tray. Four months ago, I was offered $2,500 for it and I wouldn't sell it. I wouldn't sell it because they won it for a souvenir from Dr. Bob. And I told Sue Windows down there. Sue Windows, Clarence Snyder knows. And I'll never forget the time that Dr. Bob said let's the three of us get down on our knees and pray to God to help us with the AA program. And from that day on, it's in my mind, I want to go ahead and buy that house and keep that as a souvenir where Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson and I prayed and asking God for help. Now those are the things of AA, how it done. AAB today. All of you have read of the Mayflower. Landed at Plymouth Rock. But the official reading of that is it landed at Cape Cod first and then it continued to Plymouth Rock. And that's the way it was with AA. It started in Akron. But there's the man, Clarence Snyder, that took it out of Akron. He was a good navigator. Brought it out of Akron into Cleveland Heights with Dr. Borden's group. Opened that group there. And that's where A.A. started. In other cities, because of Clarence Snyder. There's the man that's responsible for what A.A. is today. He is the man that worked hard. He was insulted. He was kicked around and everything. But what did he do? He fought. He fought, and that's what we have today. The miracles of A.A. when I had the office in the Central Police Station, two police officers brought a man over, and I says, give me the report. I'll take him in front of the judge later on. And he says, some of the miracles of A.A. I looked at the chart, and I says, well, you don't have no address down here. What's your address? I don't have any. Where do you stay? He says, I sleep in a park or in the doorways wherever I can. And I says, well, you've got an alcoholic problem. You've been arrested before for drinking. And he says, and he told me the story that he came from a millionaire family in Buffalo, New York. Every time he'd get drunk, the newspapers would have a big write-up, and ruining the reputation. And the reputation of the family, and the family got tired, and he says, why the hell don't you go ahead out of the state and go ahead and drink all you want, and if you're sober for a year, come on back home. So that's what I done. I had money from the beginning, living in motels and hotels and drinking good whiskey. And he says, my money ran out, so now I'm panhandling, sleeping in parks and in doorways. Do you want to stop drinking? I'd do anything to stop drinking. So I took him to Vern Bender, Charles. Snyder, Clarence Snyder knows where Vern Bender is. It was on 8023 Detroit Avenue. Took him to Vern Bender's. He didn't have any money, but I had authority and influence. Put this man in for five days. When he was discharged, I had a job for him at the Cleveland Diesel. I had a room for him, gave him some money, and took him to the AA meeting. Now understand, this is a miracle. Introduced him to fellows at the AA meetings, and I said, here's a man that needs AA. He wants to stop drinking. Take him to different groups. That man went to a meeting for one year and three days. Without missing a day of meeting. After one year and three days, he come up to me and he said, Mr. Andy, I told you the story that my folks said if I'm sober for a year, I could come back home. How am I going to prove to them that I was sober for a year? Don't worry, I'll fix that. So I went into a drugstore and got a roll of glazed paper and sent it to about 12 meeting places with thousands of names on there. And I wrote a letter and sent that to his mother in Buffalo, New York. And I said, all these names on this roll will verify that your son was sober for one year and three days and he's coming back. Back home to Buffalo. He went back home. Now, he was in Buffalo four years and six years and four days. Six years and four days, one year and three days in Cleveland. That's seven years and seven days he was sober, not having a drink. One morning, he got up and he told his brothers and his wife, his brothers and his mother, his father was dead. He said, you know, something happened to me. Something happened to me that I'm going to start drinking again. God Almighty, help me. I don't never want to start drinking again. A well-educated family, a millionaire family, his brother says, well, why don't you call the airlines, make reservations and go to that hospital where Mr. Andy had you hospitalized? Maybe that'll change your mind. That's a good idea. He came to 8023 Detroit, rang the doorbell. A nurse come out and she says, can I help you? I want to check in for five days. Have you been drinking? I haven't had a drink for seven years and seven days. But Mr. Andy had me hospitalized down here seven years and seven days ago. And I'm afraid that I'm going to go ahead and start drinking. My folks suggested that I come over here. And check in for five days. Maybe that'll change my mind. So they invited them in. He was a guest there. He didn't need no medication. They didn't have to put him to bed at nine o'clock with the rest of the patient. They didn't have to go ahead and take his lighter and cigarettes away or matches. He was a guest there. He stayed till 11 o'clock at night talking with Mr. and Mrs. Bender. And decided that he would go to bed. He went to bed at 1230 in the morning. He heard a commotion. He put his trousers on in the bathroom, got his lighter and cigarettes, walked in the hallway down there. And he seen two police officers. There was a nurse and a doctor kneeling down examining a man on a stretcher. When Wallace was standing there with a cigarette in his mouth, he heard the doctor pronounce the man on a stretcher dead. So the doctor said to the two police officers, let's go in the kitchen and get a cup of coffee while the nurse makes out a report. While he was in the kitchen, Wallace was standing and looking at the man on a stretcher. And he yelled out to the nurse. He says, nurse, that man isn't dead. I just seen him move his eyes. Now, folks, if that man was under medication, you know what would happen. The nurse would take him by the arm and say, you're seeing things. You better go to your room. And in the first place, he wouldn't be allowed in the lobby. So they called for the doctor and the police. And the two police picked him up, put him on the bed, and the doctor gave him some medication. 7.30 in the morning, that man was eating breakfast with the rest of the patients. That's a miracle. Wallace went over to the phone, made reservations to go back to Buffalo, New York. He stayed one day. I know now I won't take another drink. That's a miracle. I'm going to tell you one about the mayor of Dayton, Ohio. That's another miracle. The mayor of Dayton, Ohio, asked me to come to Dayton for two weeks to go ahead and talk to the judges, probation office, police, and prosecutors, doctors and nurses and sheriffs, to tell them what AA is, what it can do to help an alcoholic. I spent two weeks there. I thought I'd done my duty. But Dayton, Ohio, is coming back when I'm on a train going through the state of Illinois at 125 miles an hour, and Dayton will come back then. When I got back to my office, there was a letter down there. It was a letter from Ray Harrison, a prosecutor of Des Moines, Iowa, asking me to go ahead and be a speaker at the Midwest Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, with Bill Wilson. I called him up from Hotel Cleveland, and I told him that I would accept. A week later, Bill Wilson called me from New York. That's when he went back to New York, and he said, I heard you're going to be a speaker at the Midwest Conference. And he said, I'll meet you at Hotel Cleveland. We'll both fly over there. I agreed to that. Four days later, I got a call from the central office in Chicago asking me to go ahead as long as I'm going to Des Moines, Iowa. If I wouldn't, go ahead and start out a day sooner and lead a meeting in Chicago. I agreed to that. I called Bill Wilson back in New York, and I said, my plans have changed. I'll meet you in Des Moines, Iowa. I led the meeting in Chicago. This is another miracle. Why do these things happen? God Almighty is guiding all these moves. He's making all them moves. I led the meeting in Chicago, went to the airport to get my plane, and I missed the plane. How could I miss that plane? But whenever that power greater than ourselves arranges things, he's going to have it his way. Not my way. I went to the ticket office, and I said, I missed the plane. What would you suggest I do? And he looked at the chart. He says, get a cab. Go to the South Street station. There's a Rock Island rocket that leaves there. It'll get you in Des Moines, Iowa on time. Went to the Rock Island rocket station. Ticket for Des Moines. What train? The next train leaving. Sorry, this is a reservation train. There isn't a vacant seat on there. What would you suggest I do? Come back in about an hour. If there's any cancellations, I'll go ahead and save you a seat. An hour later, I come back. Any cancellations? No cancellations. Well, I'll go back. I'll go back. I'll go back. I'm Mr. Andy from Cleveland. I'm going to be a speaker on Alcoholics Anonymous in Des Moines, Iowa. What did you say? I'm going to be a speaker at the Midwest Conference on Alcoholics Anonymous. He put his hand on my shoulder like the priest did in Wakeman, Ohio, and patted it and said, say, you boys are doing a wonderful, wonderful job. Wait till I see Frank Leahy, and I'll see what I can do. I'll be back in 10 minutes. 10 minutes later, he come back, put his hand back on my shoulder. Mr. Andy, I talked to Frank Leahy and told him the situation. He said it was all right to ride in the private coaches with the Notre Dame football players. I thought it was luck. I thought that was luck, but that wasn't luck. That's the way the power greater than ourselves arrays it. He put me on a train, introduced me to Frank Leahy and some of the football players, and the train is going out of Chicago through the state of Illinois at 125 miles an hour when a 245-pound football player come up and introduced himself and said, are you going on business? Why would a question? Why would a question like that come up if it wasn't for God to go ahead and make that possible? No, I'm not going on business. I'm going to be a speaker at the Midwest Conference on Alcoholics Anonymous. Oh, say, maybe you can help me. I looked at him. I says, hell, he didn't have a drink in all his life. And I says, what could I do for you? He says, my uncle is putting me through college, and I'm afraid he's going to die from drinking before I finish college. You'd think you could get him an AA. I'll do all I can. I got my address book. What's your uncle? What's his name? Give me the name. What's the address? The address of what city? Dayton, Ohio. There comes Dayton. I says, I just spent two weeks in Dayton. I met a lot of nice people down there. And I says, I'll call them up when I get to my hotel in Des Moines, Iowa, and tell them what you said. And we'll do all we can to get your uncle an AA. So I called them. They says, give me your hotel name and your telephone number. We'll call you back in a couple of days, two days later. They called me, and they said they went over to the football player's uncle's house, and they rang the doorbell, and nobody come out. They rang it the second time, and they smelled. They smelled gas by the door. They smelled gas, and finally nobody come out the door. So they went to the bay window after smelling the gas and seen a man laying on the floor. They broke the window, closed the gas jets, opened up the doors, called the ambulance, rushed them to the hospital. Two days later, they went over there to go ahead and see him and told him how they happened to be there because the nephew from Notre Dame asked him to come over to get him an AA. He was afraid that he was going to die from drinking. That man joined AA not over four months ago. He led a meeting in Columbus, Ohio. He's old now, but he joined AA from that day on. That's what you call a miracle, a miracle. Many of you tried to go ahead and sponsor somebody at some time, and you know what they said. I'm not an alcoholic. I don't need it. It's only for somebody else. I'm not an alcoholic. Well, that's the way it was with a man that I tried to sponsor. Addie Harrison's name is. A wonderful man, but an alcoholic if there ever was one. He was an alcoholic, but he was well liked by everybody. No matter how drunk he would get, he'd never insult anybody. He'd always say good things about everybody. He'd say good things. And I tried for four years to go ahead and sponsor him, and I failed. And I'm glad that I failed because if I succeeded, I wouldn't be able to tell you this interesting story about Addie Harrison. Finally, Addie Harrison was one of these politicians. He had a sort of a comical stutter on him. Anybody running for a judge, prosecutor, county commissioner or anything, see Addie Harrison. He's got a lot of friends. He'll help you get elected. They offered him high positions in the city of Cleveland. He didn't want a job. He's an alcoholic, but he's got to have money for booze. He's got to have money for booze. And they would give it to him because he was a good man, even though he was an alcoholic. But you've heard of that old saying that all good things come to an end sooner or later. And that's when this comes to one of the county commissioners and says, we're here. Addie Harrison is such a good guy. Let's all pitch in. We'll buy him a camping outfit, cooking utensils and groceries and get a county truck and take him about 20 miles out to the county line. He won't be down here to bother us every day for money. And that's what they've done. They set up this tent. Two days after he was there, there was a rain. After the rain, they went over to the creek and watched the water flow. And they seen a dog floating down the creek. He ran up ahead and saved the dog. It was a police dog. Took him into his tent and dried him and fed him. And he had a lot of time training that dog all summer long. The fall of the year. Come along. And he named the dog Rex. Don't forget the dog Rex. The fall of the year. Come along. The county commissioners and the politicians said, well, we can't leave that man out there. It's getting cold. We better send the county truck and take him down to his mother at Fulton Road and Walton Avenue. And that's what they've done. In the spring of the year, back out to the county line. And that fall of the year is when they opened up wine stores with different barrels of wine, different varieties, and a spigot in a drip pan under the spigot. There's four inches of snow on the ground. And Addie Harrison went over with his dog Rex to get a gallon of wine. And business is slow. Just a new wine store. People didn't know about it. And he was talking politics with the proprietor of the wine store. Talking for about an hour. When he was getting ready to go, he hollered out to his dog laying down, Rex. And the dog just barely moved his leg. Rex. And the dog just barely moved his leg. He hurt his master, but he couldn't get up. Addie Harrison ran over to go ahead and pick the dog up on his feet. And the dog fell. Back down again. And the proprietor says, you know, come to think of it, while we was talking politics, I seen the dog go over to two of the drip pans and he was licking that wine. He got drunk. Addie Harrison carrying a 45-pound dog and a gallon of wine through four inches of snow from West 25th Street to Fulton Road. He laid the dog down, put a blanket over him, and got up in the morning. And the dog was running around. Addie Harrison was happy about it. That night, Addie Harrison was going to the wine store with his dog Rex to get another gallon of wine. And just as he turned into that wine store, that dog grabbed him by the leg. And that dog pulled him and pulled him and pulled him all the way to the curb of West 25th Street. And he held him there. He wouldn't let go. Addie Harrison holding a gallon to a gallon of wine. He looked up in the sky and he says, And God, we're supposed to be humans? That dog has got more brains than what we got. He was in that wine store last night. He got sick and drunk and he doesn't want to go back in there. And he doesn't want his master to go back in there. So Addie said, Well, let's go over and see Addie and we'll go ahead and join AA. He dropped the empty gallon in the container of West 25th and Walton Avenue. They come over to the house about 7.30 at night. I says, Come on in there with his dog Rex. What can I do for you? I want to join AA. It's about time. I tried to get you for four years. So I filled out the card. I said, Well, it's too late to take you to a meeting today. And I got a flight of Pittsburgh to leave the meeting tomorrow. So I'll go ahead and give you this card. You take it to 179. The link is in the description. And Lorraine Avenue to the Banniter Hall and give it to the chairman and tell him I sent you down there. I says, Who's going to be your sponsor? He says, My dog Rex is my sponsor. He's an alcoholic too. So the next day they went down to the Banniter Hall. They went down to the Banniter Hall and as I said from the beginning, you had a sort of a comical stutter. And in them days we had door tenders at each meeting place if a person smelled from booze or he was drunk, they wouldn't put him in a min. And a door tender says to Addie. Addie Harrison. He says, I'm sorry. This is only for alcoholics. And I said, Addie Harrison, I had a sort of a comical stutter. And he says, I understand you say this is for alcoholics only. And the door says, Yes, sir. And Addie Harrison says, Well, let me tell you something. I'm an alcoholic and my dog is an alcoholic and he's my sponsor. Rex, come on. Let's go in. They went in. And word got around all the groups down there. They went in. They went in. They went in. They went in. And they heard that Addie Harrison and his dog are in an alcoholic's allowance and the dog Rex is his sponsor. And they never had no trouble getting in the eight meeting places after that. Now, Bill Wilson, when I mentioned about going to Des Moines, Iowa at the Midwest conference, Bill Wilson came over to my hotel and he asked me to make a promise to him. He says, Andrew, you lead a lot of meetings all around through the United States. Will you promise me this? That wherever you lead a meeting. Will you please tell the people that if you can't say something good about somebody, don't say nothing at all. And that's very true. If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all. I was working 15, 16, 17 hours a day. I promised God, I'll work hard in AA if you keep me sober. My friends, I got a lot of nice friends. They said, he's going to kill himself working 7 days a week, 15, 16 hours a day on my own time. We better send him out and get him a rest. So they made arrangements on the outskirts of a ranch on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, to put me out there for a couple of weeks rest. Tom Tobin, Vern Bender, Clarence Snyder, knows all of them. They took me out there. We got out of that ranch. Five minutes later, the phone rang. Andy, it's for you. Who the hell knew I'm way down here on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan on a ranch? It was Mrs. Steve Bond from Toledo, Ohio, called. Mr. Andy, her husband, she says, is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on a drunk for five weeks. And he doesn't want nothing to do with nobody, only you. You're the only one he trusts. Will you please, Mr. Andy, fly to Pittsburgh and bring him in to Vern Bender's at 8023 Detroit? Don't worry, Mrs. Bond, I'll do that. So I told Vern Bender, Tom Tobin, and them, I said, Well, take me down to the Willow Run Airport. And I said, I've got to stop and take my luggage back to Cleveland. I'll take my small briefcase, and I know how Steve Bond is drinking for five weeks. I'd better get a fifth to go ahead and take along with me. I got on a plane and landed in Pittsburgh at 445 in the morning. Went over to the room. Mrs. Bond told me that Steve Bond was. And he had three of his now. He wasn't just over there. He was a millionaire. He had oil fields in Oklahoma and Texas, and he owned practically all the filling stations. And in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he had three of his employees working down there, but they didn't understand alcoholism. So when I got there, Steve Bond was asking for a drink, and the employee got him a cup of water. It was a cup of water. I said, What the hell do you want to do? Kill that man when he wants a drink? He doesn't want water. He wants whiskey. I spilled the water out and filled about three-quarters of a cup of whiskey and put his head against the wall and poured it down and told him, And I said, Get his clothes ready. Get them cleaned up and shaved. I've got to get that 705 plane going back to Cleveland. They got them ready. On the way to the airport, planes wasn't flying as often as they do now. Airports wasn't as modern then as they are now. So we got down to the airport. There was some long seats down there. Steve Bond says, Andy, please, please give me another drink. I said, Steve, that man walking back and forth is sizing us up down here. He must be a detective. Wait till I go over and talk to him. I took my briefcase with the bottle and went over to see the man. I said, That man's sitting in a seat down there. I just flew in from the Willow Run Airport in Detroit to go ahead and take him to Cleveland to an AA hospital. And I says, He's an alcoholic and he's asking me for a drink and I figured that you look like a detective. I better go ahead and talk to you first. He showed me his badge. He was a detective. But you go ahead. I know what you boys have to go through. You give him a drink. It's all right. I give Steve Bond the drink. And they announced that the plane, 705 plane, is ready to load. I put Steve Bond on the window side. The plane went over to steward this. Of course, alcohol wasn't allowed on the planes then like it is now. They even serve liquor on the planes. Put him on the window side, went over to the steward this. And I says, That man's sitting in a seat over there. I says, I'm taking him into alcoholic hospital and I got to give him a drink every now and then. He told Jerry, Well, that's all right as long as you're not drinking. I says, I'm not drinking. So I got back to the seat and Steve Bond says, Andy, please give me another drink. I give him a drink. He put his head back and he went to sleep. He was relaxed. Now, he's relaxed. Ten minutes later, the steward just come up to me and whispered in my ear. And she said, Mr. Andy, we have to make an emergency landing in Youngstown, Ohio. Well, I wasn't too inquisitive. Asked what the landing. I just prayed to God that we make it. We landed in Youngstown and the doors opened up. They didn't have modern things like they have today. The doors opened up to the plane and 24 Indians got in the plane. Steve Bond is in a five-week drunk. And he's got his head back and he's sleeping. And 24 Indians got in the plane from India with these turbans and big beards, you know. And finally the plane got back in the eye of a nice silver sky that morning. We fly in about another 20 minutes and Steve Bond woke up. And he looked around and he says, Andy, where the hell are you taking me? I says, I'm taking you into Cleveland to Vern Benders. Andy, they don't have people around here like that. I says, Steve, I'm taking you. We just picked them up. You couldn't convince an alcoholic. I said, I'm taking you to Cleveland to Vern Benders. I've been drinking for five weeks. That's the way I'm taking them. I says, here, have another drink. I don't want any more. Well, from Pittsburgh, I called Vern Bender and Tom Tobin to meet me at the airport. They met me at the airport and I said, here's the bottle, Steve, go ahead. Now, this is a story just like Mr. Kurtz I told you. You people have got clear minds. You've got clear minds. You use good judgment. Remember the story about Mr. Kurtz, how he died. He only took a drink in the morning, drink at noon, drink at night. But he was an alcoholic. Steve Bond, we put him in Vern Bender's. Four days later, the doctor from the hospital called me. He says, Ed, will you come over? We'll have a talk with Steve Bond. He's been hospitalized so many times. See if we can get that man straightened out. So we put him in a special room, private room. And the doctor said, Steve, you've been hospitalized so many times. Did you ever think of taking the spiritual part of the program? And Steve Bond, I'll never forget, had that maroon bathrobe on. And he pulled out a hundred dollar bill out of the bathrobe 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. This is my spiritual part of the program. This is what I pray for. I said, Steve, you're praying for the wrong thing. You should pray to God first. Pray to God first. Then the money will come. He was discharged. Six months later, he died like Mr. Kurtz. There's your answer. There's your answer. If a person continues drinking. Thirty-nine and a half years ago, how many people, every one of you, have seen Lawrence Welk on TV? Thirty-nine years and a half ago, I sponsored Lawrence Welk in Hollywood. Look at him on the stage today. He's 82 years old. Look at the way he looks, how young he looks. That's what AA does. AA does that. Now, Jack Bailey, the master ceremony queen for a day. Thirty-eight years ago. Thirty-eight years ago, I sponsored him in Hollywood when I went over there, leading meetings. Thirty-eight years ago, he'd done wonders in AA. Bing Crosby at the Wilshire Boulevard Club in Hollywood, I sponsored Bill Crosby. He was in AA five and a half years. Oh, I got it licked now. I can drink sociably. There it is. You can drink sociably. You're an alcoholic. You've got to keep away from that first drink. And that teached him a lesson. But then he was sober for seven and a half. Well, I think I got it licked now. I ought to be. I was able to drink sociably seven and a half years. I should drink sociably. He started again. What happened? He died. That's the way it is with us. We have to keep away from that first drink. You take what I mentioned about Mark Hannaby and the vice president of the Manufacturers, Traders, and Trust Company in Buffalo, New York. I was just talking to a man down here a couple hours ago about a problem that he had. I says, it's a hump that you have to go over. Mark Hannaby would call me from the bank down there, and he says, Ed, he says, I just got an urge to go ahead and take a drink. Let's talk. We'd talk for a half hour sometimes, 45 minutes sometimes, maybe an hour. He'd call me at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. We'd talk. Then he'd finally say, well, I guess the urge is going. I don't feel like taking a drink. So any of you at any time feel like taking a drink, call one of your friends in AA and tell him that I feel like taking a drink. Will you come over and talk to me? Or talk on the phone. And it's a little hump that you have to go over, that little hump. When you go over that hump, you're going to go ahead and be all right. That's the way it is in AA. Clarence Snyder, I've heard so much down there in Cleveland. We miss Clarence Snyder, what he's done in Cleveland down there. He's done so much for thousands and thousands of people. And you people here in Florida should be very happy to have a man like Clarence Snyder down here. Because we miss him up there. He's done so much for all of us. For all of us down there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Clarence Snyder, we're with AAB today. He's the man that fought to go ahead and get him. Called by the chief of police, Chief Monovich in Cleveland, the chief of the police department. This is the beginning of AA, just like Clarence Snyder went through hell to go ahead and fight the Romans to make the rights. The chief of police called me and he says, Ed, I'm sending the police car over to pick you up. I want to see you down here in the police station, in my office. The cruiser came over and picked me up. He says, what the hell's the matter with the chief? He's burned up about something. I don't know. So I went over. I said, what's wrong, chief? Ed, you read that mail. I'm tired of reading it. You read the damn mail. He says, I'm going out of here. You go ahead and read the mail. I read the mail. That was the beginning of AA, just like the tortures and the criticism that Clarence Snyder had to go through. I read that mail. Here's a letter I opened up. A wife writing to the chief of police that her husband used to go ahead and spend his money drinking. He'd spend his paydays drinking. Now he joined AA, and he's spending his paydays gambling. He's not drinking, but he's spending his paydays gambling in AA clubs. All those letters read where their husbands are spending their paydays gambling. So after a couple hours, the chief of police come. What do you think about it? I says, chief. I'll tell you what. You're the chief of the city of Cleveland down here. How many hundreds and hundreds of policemen that's rookies that you got on the police department that's just new in the police department, they don't have the experience like somebody that's in there five or ten or fifteen or more years. These new rookies got to learn. They got to learn something as a policeman. And who do you think we are in AA? This is new to us. We got to learn too. We have to learn. And I says, I only ask you, chief, don't spoil the reputation of AA. I'll stop this gambling. I'll guarantee you. There's no gambling going on in Cleveland now in them AA meetings. There is no gambling. When I was in Des Moines, Iowa, leading the meeting with Bill Wilson. Now don't get this confused. Ray Harrison and Addie Harrison, there's two different parties. Ray Harrison is the prosecutor of Des Moines, Iowa. When the curtain went up, Dr. Bill Wilson. Mr. Harrison and I are sitting on a stage and Ray Harrison looked at the three balconies. This gives you an idea of what AA is. And he says, I never would have believed there's that many people in AA. This would be a good time to go ahead and ask if there's anybody got anything against the prosecutor of Des Moines, Iowa. Raise your hand. On the second balcony, a hand went up and now she ran over there with a microphone. And the man says, Mr. Harrison, I don't have anything against you, but I'd like to go ahead and have an understanding. I've been in AA five years. And every time I go ahead and walk down the street, somebody will go ahead and say, look at that man there. He's the best dressed man in the city of Cleveland. He was the biggest drunk in Des Moines, Iowa. He was the biggest drunk in Des Moines, Iowa. And look at him today. Look how nice, look at the nice appearance that he's got. He's the best dressed man in Des Moines, Iowa. And he says, and he was arrested 73 times for drinking. And look at him today, five years in AA. Look at the appearance he's got today. And that's all I heard, Ray. It was 73 times. 73 times I was arrested for drinking. So for curiosity's sakes, I thought I'd go ahead and find out how many times I really was arrested. And it's not 73, it's 79. So Ray Harrison asked if there's anybody else got anything to say. And the hand went up on the third balcony and the usher ran over there with a microphone. And the man says, Mr. Harrison, I don't have anything against you, but I'd like to have you know that I'm the proudest man in the state of Iowa because I slept in the same jail cell as you did. So the prosecutor explained himself. He was a prosecutor, and every time he'd get drunk, the police knew he was a prosecutor. They'd take him home. Forty-eight times they took him home. But these two police officers decided that they're going to take him to jail instead of home. So he got up in the morning, he's behind bars, his courtroom is upstairs, he's got to be there at 9.30. So he called a turnkey and he says, get me a piece of chalk. And he wrote on that gray wall, Ray Harrison, a prosecutor of Des Moines, Iowa, slept in this cell. Do not erase. What happened? That writing was on that wall. A year later, Ray Harrison, the prosecutor, ran for a judge, and he was elected as a judge even with that writing on that jail cell. Finally, Ray Harrison asked Bill Wilson and I, he says, that he had a dear friend of his, a well-educated man, and we can't get no place with him to join AA. Will you two go over? Bill Wilson says, Ed, this is your case. So Ray Harrison took me over to this man's house. I talked to that man for three hours, for three hours, with tears coming down my eyes. If you do what I tell you to do, I'll guarantee that you'll be the happiest man in the world. You'll be on top of the world in no time. Well, I talked to a lot of judges and I talked to priests and ministers, but I never heard anybody talk like you. I'll join AA. You do what Ray Harrison tells you to do because Ray Harrison joined AA. Do what he tells you to do and I'll guarantee that you'll be on top of the world in no time. A year later, Ray Harrison called me. He says, Mr. Andy, I don't know what the hell kind of a magic you got, but that man you talked to, his wife dropped the divorce, he's not going to lose his home, he's got his job back, and he's got his friends back. What do you think? We run him for a governor of Iowa, run him for a governor. I picked up Jim Cassidy, Clarence Snyder, that was Jim Cassidy. Jim Cassidy was one of the top prosecutors in Cleveland, Ohio, in Cahoga County, and he was an alcoholic. He was an alcoholic. He lost his law practice. He was on, I says, Jim Cassidy was on Skid Row, panhandling from the printers down there, when the chief asked me to go ahead and put him in AA. I got Jim Cassidy and AA had Harold Shaw co-sponsor him because Harold Shaw was the secretary to the chief of police. And I says, I went down to Columbus and got him his law practice back. A year later, I went over to his office and I says, Jim, tomorrow when you come, come dressed up in the best you got. I says, he says, now what the hell is on your mind? I'm going to run you for a judge. He says, Andy, I thought you was a smart man. You're nuts. He says, you're nuts. If the newspapers find out that I was on Skid Row, lost my law practice, I won't even have this office. I says, Jim, I agree with you, but I don't operate that way. I went to the press and plain dealer and told them what I was going to do, and I asked them what they was going to do, and they says nothing of what he'd done before. It's what he's doing from now on, and here it is. It's in writing. They put it all in writing. I ran Jim Cassidy for a judge, and he won six terms as a judge until he retired. So they ran, this man, Ray Harrison, ran him for governor. He won two terms. You people read about him. Two terms as a governor of Iowa, and then he ran for United States senator, and he won as a United States senator. Senator Hughes, governor of Hughes of Iowa. That's Alcoholics Anonymous. That's AA. People respect, like Clarence Snyder says. People respect the person in AA. We've got minds. We can go ahead and do more with our minds than somebody else without AA, because AA has teached us something. We believe in God. God is helping us. God gave us this here. He gave us all of this. This is what we should do, is to go ahead and hold on to it. Hold on to it with all our mights, and pray to God to go ahead and help us with this AA program. There are millions and millions, and millions of people, social drinkers today, that will become alcoholics in the future. And it's just like Clarence Snyder. The Borden group, the pioneer group, the pioneers, and we are the pioneers for those millions and millions of social drinkers today that will become alcoholics. And we are the pioneers to help them like we was helped. And I want to remember for the rest of my living life that I would rather have the spirit, the spirit of God here than the spirits of alcohol here. And I want to thank you all for listening.