 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents this is your FBI This is your FBI the official broadcast from the Files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Presented transcribed as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society is representative in your community It has often been said that life insurance appeals most strongly to intelligent people That is why the commercial messages on this Equitable Life Assurance Society program treats you like an intelligent human being They give you useful and helpful information and do it in a sensible straightforward way Tonight, for example, the Equitable Society is going to talk to fathers and mothers about establishing an equitable education fund for their children This is the painless way to pay for a college education If you want to make sure that your children will have the advantage of college training You'll be keenly interested in this Equitable Society message due in about 14 minutes Tonight's FBI file the Fluff House frame up Adversity has different effects on different people Some have the moral stamina to conquer their personal misfortunes and almost to turn them to their advantage Beethoven for example became deaf in the midst of his career as a composer Instead of losing heart he explained that now he would no longer be bothered by outside noises And his last works are considered by the experts to be his best In our own time we have seen a Helen Keller prove that being a blind deaf mute is not an automatic sentence to oblivion The list of these men and women the ones who have overcome their adversities and gone on to establish themselves as entities is endless There unfortunately also are among us those who have not conquered their problems Who have not had the will to strike back who have been content with their periods of enlistment as soldiers of misfortune If their lives were charted on a graph The line would be one continuous downward plunge and the line would end at a certain street The street in every city where the human derelicts gathered in many cities the very name of the street has been almost forgotten And it becomes known as skid row To the men and women there only one thing is sure They cannot sink any lower cannot skid any further a few They know will escape and return to the outside world But for the others the great majority There is no escape except death Tonight's file opens on the skid row of a large western city It is late morning and in one of the alleys that go to make up the row two shabbily dressed men lie covered with newspapers One of them stirs and slowly manages to sit Morning silk Looks like another nice day Yeah People be feeling good today Maybe we'll get enough for a couple of bags Oh be nice climbing in the sack again won't it? It's kind of drafty in this alley Okay, so okay, it was empty Both of them empty Guess we should have saved a couple of drops for this morning Yeah, I just won't get up Easy than I thought it'd be That's silk word must have got around but it's having a couple of bottles last night Yeah Can't just lay there sleep all day. You got a drink you'll feel better All right silk you got your eyes open. That's the toughest part. How about getting up now, huh? Come on. So come Which time you had to be beg to go look into a drink you coming Don't just lay there. Tell me Hey, sir Can't still be asleep got your eyes open man. Don't sleep with his eyes open Maybe you're dead you dead silk silk yes, he is Well, I better go for that drink alone a Short while later at the local FBI field office agent and charge Newton is talking to a visitor as the door open Yes, Taylor How do you do oh yes, I have a chair Taylor. Thank you You were assigned here two years ago when mr. Troy's book came it disappeared a Nosher in 48 hours in the Salt Lake City office My bookkeeper's name was Joe Scott the day he disappeared the police found his jacket on the bank of the river Along with a suicide note They dragged the river for two days without finding the body There's always been some question as to whether or not he really did commit suicide You see mr. Taylor he had a good reason for wanting people to believe he was dead. Oh shortly after he left I discovered the books had been falsified They showed a shortage of eleven thousand dollars had Scott been your bookkeeper very long three years What's our jurisdiction sir mr. Troy's office was on the other side of the river and there's evidence Scott may have come across the state line Before the apparent suicide after a man carrying a wallet containing Joe Scott's identification papers was found dead on skid roll However, it wasn't Scott's body Taylor I'd like to find out just where and how the dead man got that wallet All right, sir. I've already spoken to Lieutenant Clayton of the Metropolitan squad. Oh, I know Jean sir He's a good friend of mine. He's promised to cooperate check with him and report back as soon as you get anything I Jim Jean, how's family? Oh, fine. Thanks say I got some stuff together for you on that dead man No, who was he his right name was Charlie Howell along the row everybody called him silk. He had a record Usual thing pickpocketing vagrancy How long was he on skid row? That's a tough question Jim I doubt if even he could have answered that once they hit the row time doesn't mean much Well, Jean, you think you can help me learn where this silk got that wallet. I try but I'm afraid it's kind of hopeless Why those things keep moving? Bum falls asleep in an alley another one comes along and rolls him that night the second one gets drunk and somebody rolls him No telling how many of them had the wallet before it got to silk this silk have any particular hangouts Every place on the row is a hangout for every bum down there when he's got the price to get in how about friends? He worked with a man named doc butler, you know butler. Mm-hmm. You got a record. Yeah, yeah Well, how about talking to him any of those men know you're a cop Jim they tell you nothing But I got an idea for you. Huh? You got any old clothes around the house Sure, why don't you study butler's record dirty up a little don't pay him a visit Oh You deny you picked this man's pocket, I said yes, your honor they like that kind of talk shows respect You know, I said it was very cold that day and I had on gloves and my pockets were full And I just had to put my hands don't play he was so dumb proud of you only give me 30 days Like that one. Yeah, you're the hostess March you poor okay May you tell nothing but 50 set magazines all afternoon Tell me you're a duck butler And maybe you're right. I just brought in from up north big Harry's to the sale audience. Well, that's different I was big Harry fine. It's fine says he misses you miss him too. I miss him too. What's your name box guys? This is more I'm sorry Marge I can't go against the joke say You ain't one of them anonymous fellas. Are you? I just got a bad stomach and I have to keep stalking it That can you go tell you some groceries with me? Well, it's Marge. You'll cut loose with a book. Well, that's okay. I'm holding a little When he's tapped out, I'll see at the stand Detective Clayton speaking Jim Taylor, Jane he hit the row yet. I had any chance to talk to him What kind of a story did he give you? Oh something about this silk and him getting lucky last week and staying at a different Flop house each night. That's sound right to you. Yeah, it could be Well, he said he didn't remember which hotel they were in last Thursday night But that's when silk lifted the wallet with Joe Scott's identification papers He got it from the tramp who's in the next bed If they were in a hotel on the row last Thursday night and they used their right names We can find out which one it was they all keep a register. I'm at fifth and main Jane. How soon can you make it? Oh 10 minutes fine soon as you get here. We'll start checking those registers Here's the next place on the list Jim Okay Go ahead Jim. Thanks. Hi Fred meet agent Taylor of the FBI. Nice to know you. Thanks Best room clerk on the row. Sure. Sure. What are you looking for? Last Thursday's register Thanks need me for a minute not right now Fred call me if you do Jane what's these numbers by each name me just a plain number means a bed Well, the circle around it means they had the 75 cents to get a room. There's Doc Butler's name. Mm-hmm silk howling right under it Beds 3637 whoever had 38 was the one with Scott's wallet bed 38 was registered to somebody named Our Jefferson say Fred The name our Jefferson mean anything to you Fred not, you know Doc Butler and silk howl of course sure dots here now got a room down the hall I've got a picture somebody named Joe Scott Like you to take a look at Ever seen him before I don't know Wait put a beard on that face. You think you know him not sure The guy who looks an awful lot like this is in room 11. Thanks Oh boxers. Oh, hello doc. Hey, wait a minute What are you doing with him? Go away doc. You in trouble box, huh? No, I'm okay. Which way to room 11 Jane upstairs Hey, I hear you called him Jean. He's caught back. We're busy. Hey, you must be one too Means I've been friends with a cop box guys. He said your name was why you couldn't get into box car You're a pulmon bum 11 will be three doors down on this side Jim Hey, what's your matter? Here's number 11. Hey good enough for you to talk to now stay out doc. I can follow you if I want to It's still a free country Jane if Scott was here. He's gone We will return in just a minute to tonight's exciting case from the official files of the FBI Now a special message from the equitable life assurance society to fathers and mothers of young children to parents of boys and girls who will be members of college classes of 1965 or 1970 Imagine how proud you will feel 15 or 20 years from now when your young hopeful writes you and says dear mother and dad Here's good news Just learn today that I'll graduate with honors in chemistry when that time comes your boy will face the future with Confidence because he knows that a university education pays off in three ways first College men and women earn more money Yesterday our college newspaper printed some figures which show that college men earned $72,000 more during their working years the non college men second college men land the bigger jobs The article went on to say that out of every 16 men earning $10,000 a year and up 15 our college grads Third college men get more out of life. They're all around culture their understanding of art and good books Gives them poison prestige in their social life Think over those three points father and mother and decide now that nothing is going to stop your children from getting a college education Decide to make that education sure with an equitable education fund an equitable education fund What's that? It's the painless way to pay for your children's college education in this equitable society plan You start when your children are young then each year you pay a sum of money That doesn't hurt an amount that scarcely makes a dent in your budget when your youngsters ready for college the money's all ready for him Well, that's spreading the cost of education over 10 or 15 years instead of taking a beating in four right now Suppose the father dies or becomes totally disabled then no more payments are necessary The fund becomes fully established when the youngster is ready for college He gets the same education as if his dad had lived so don't delay a day longer Let your equitable society representative show you how little it costs to start an equitable education fund All right care of this station to the equitable society. That's eq ui TABLE the equitable life assurance society of the United States And now back to the FBI file the flop house frame up Before receiving his credentials as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Every applicant raises his right hand and takes the following over I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion That I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter so help me God Sometimes the discharge of those duties takes him far from his desk Often it is a short trip within the confines of the city in which he happens to be stationed But there have been times when agents have gone halfway around the world in quest of a suspect In the case chosen by your FBI for dramatization this evening Two years elapsed since the disappearance of the person charged with the crime But never in that period was there even a hint of the file being closed For it is part of the procedure of your FBI that a report be made on every open case every 45 days That kind of dogged perseverance is the reason one fugitive was apprehended 23 years after the commission of the crime Some 6,000 miles from the scene of that crime That kind of dogged perseverance too is a guarantee A guarantee to you the american people that the men you have chosen for this office are doing their job Tonight's file continues at the local FBI field office agent in charge newton is seated at his desk Newton speaking jim tell him mr. Newton any progress to report. Yes, sir. We're pretty sure that scott is alive and here in town Yes, sir. What do you base that on? Well, I've just come from a flop house. I showed the room clerk that old picture of scott He thought he recognized him as a guest. That's right, sir We went to his room, but he must have heard his coming and climbed out the window But we found some money under his pillow and a wrist watch initial j s. That's pretty conclusive evidence Oh, sir, there's one other thing. Now. What's that? I did some checking on scott's background earlier today and talked to several people who knew him Yeah, well, they brought out some rather damaging things about the man that I met in your office at mr. Troy What was it? They believed that Troy took advantage of scott's disappearance to falsely accuse him of juggling the books Did they have any proof of that? No, sir. Well, I'll explore that angle. You keep after scott. Yes, sir Any word in from the freight yard's jim not yet jim, but I have got something No, it's that some dope on this r jefferson or scott if it is him You mean he's got a record not in our files, but I showed that picture you gave me to andy reynolds He works the row with me. You recognize scott. No, but he had to go to the row on something else So he took the picture along. He just called me. He showed it around came up with a few scott's friends One is the owner of a bookstore on main street scott hangs around there He's also friendly with a woman who runs a newsstand on third street just off the row And the last one on the list is a blind beggar who works the corner of main and first I'm a special agent of the fbi near my credentials. What can I do for you? Well, here's a picture of a man. I'd like to talk to I understand you know him. Yeah, that's uh, that's pop jefferson. Have you seen him today? No, and he should have been here But now I give him a few dollars every week for dusting the books What do you want him for questioning sir? If he does show up, mr. Jones, will you please call this number? I Told you once mr. That's a picture of pop. What else do you want? Have you seen? No, you got any idea worried me Yeah at the jewelry store buying a pound of diamonds. Let you see him. You know, I ain't turning him in You want him? Go nail him yourself Pencils Pencils. Oh, thank you, sir Have a pencil or just a little information, please I understand you're a friend of pop jefferson. Yes, that's right. He comes and takes me home every night. Has he been around today? Oh about 10 minutes ago. He went to the mission house down in blot. Thanks very much Options of the mighty and it is from the bleak walls of this mission Each man in his life is confronted with problems beyond his power to come. Oh, hello, jane They are the obstacles of the all mighty I don't know but when you call The blind man is coming Take the journey The trip to Bethlehem one of your birds the voyage home. Yeah, they're always on Nobody who looks like the picture No, maybe the preacher can help us. I'll talk to him later. You know him. He'll do it again Oh, no, it's not a bit Thanks release Yeah, that's right You're looking for somebody pop jefferson You mean joe scott you know him I'm joe scott Sir, hello, mr. Troy. Oh, thank you Uh, did you ever find out how that man happened to have joe scott's wallet? Yes, we did. That's why we called you in Oh Come in Are you ready for me now, sir? Yes, would you come in please mr. Troy? You recognize this man. Uh, why uh, I'm joe scott scott He didn't jump in the river mr. Troy Well, that's fine. Now about those books the ones that mr. Scott here had falsified according to you Yes, we've learned that you made up that set Well, you can't be serious. I am Or Why should I do a thing like that so you could go through fraudulent bankruptcy? That's a lie. We have proof We have the real ledges and the ones that mr. Scott kept and we found that they're all in order now now look Are you going to take his word for all this? If he was so honest now, why did he want the police to believe he committed suicide? Hello, mr. Scott well, uh My wife died the week before all this happened and I felt I had nothing to live for so I went on to the river Last moment I I couldn't go through with it. So I I just decided to go away now. That's a very touching story But it's hardly one that any jury would believe we have something that a jury will believe I gave our experts a sample of joe scott's handwriting and one of yours They say the false entries were written by you. I refuse to discuss this any further I'm afraid you're going to have to mr. Troy with the united states attorney Because mark Troy failed to disclose to bankruptcy officials funds Which he concealed by means of a fictitious set of books He was convicted of violating the national bankruptcy act and sentenced to five years in federal prison In tonight's case from the files of the federal bureau of investigation Special agent taylor and police detective gene Clayton performed the highest function of a law enforcement officer They helped prove the innocence of a justly suspected man In any nation where almost two million major crimes are committed in the course of a year It is understandable that among the accused there will be some who are innocent Law enforcement personnel after all are human beings and prone to make the errors all flesh is there too However, it is in the record that the special agents of your fbi are trained to be scrupulously careful in collecting all evidence And after making their collection to be just as careful in constructing the mosaic of proof necessary For the united states attorney to secure a conviction against the guilty parties The record mentioned above is one of which the men of your fbi are proud For it shows that more than 97 of all people arrested by special agents in the past year Were judged guilty when tried in court Which is indisputable proof of the care with which they worked of the pains they took to protect not only the property of the American people But also a much more valuable possession their personal liberty Now one last word to fathers and mothers of all the things you can do for your children There's no greater proof of your love for them than an equitable education fund They'll be grateful for it as long as they live Your boy or girl may only say a few words like Thanks, mom Thank you, dad But you know from the look in his eye and the ring in his voice that he'll never forget your foresight in starting an equitable education fund Right now make that wise resolution to see your equitable representative soon Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the federal bureau of investigation A case from world war two that is as current as today's headlines its subject Swindling its title draft dodging incorporated The incidents used in tonight's equitable life insurance societies broadcast Are adapted from the files of the federal bureau of investigation However, all names used are fictitious and any similarity thereof to the names of persons living or dead is accidental Tonight the music was composed and conducted by fredrick steiner The author was jerry d lewis Your narrator was william woodson and special agent taylor was played by stacey harris Others in the cast were v. Benadera at herb butterfield bob griffin bill john stone henry morgan victor rodman and theodore von ellis This is your fbi is a jerry divine production This is larry keating speaking for the equitable life insurance society of the united states And the equitable societies representative in your community And inviting you to tune in again next week at the same time When the equitable life insurance society will bring you another thrilling transcribe story from the files of the federal bureau of investigations draft dodging incorporated on This is your fbi Stay tuned for the adventures of the thin man on an excitement for the whole family when the thin man comes your way