 The Cavalty of America, presented by DuPont. Of the many distinguished immigrants who have come to America, none contributed so much that was vital and necessary in our expanding era, than a man who fought lawlessness and injustice long before the days of scientifically specialized criminal detection. With his great and ingenious brain and his fervent zeal, he was one of the original contributors to the permanent enforcement of law and order among our people. His name was Alan Pinkerton. And now as our overture tonight, Don Voorhees and the DuPont Cavalty Orchestra play the melodic Never Again from the new Noel Coward Review set to music. John of Garble, and later founder of the First Dynasty of Private Detectives in America, supplementing the official forces of law and order with an uncanny system of criminal detection. And in whose story occurs the little-known incident that resulted in the saving of the life of Abraham Lincoln? Very early in life, Alan Pinkerton received his first impression of the dark terror of lawlessness. He was only nine years old. The Pinkerton family was then living in Glasgow, where Alan's father was a sergeant of police. And one night in the murky streets of the old city... Hi. Have your manual on our way to the square. Aye, I will. We'll hear our rights, let Noel stop us. Not even the police come. Harry, there's not much time. Aye. Stop. All of you, back to your home. Out of the way, sergeant. Out of the way, we'll hear our rights. Your rights do not lie in this direction. Disperse to your home. Pass them over. Harry, you may go over with me, but you're not to pass me. There'll be no... Pinkerton, stand aside, Noel. Get out of the way, don't be always fooled. Fool, policeman. And you would kill him. Well, then I mean to kill. Then stand one side and let me take my father's hold. That's the beginning of our story. Its criminal thread doesn't resume again for some time. But Alan Pinkerton was never to forget that night when the Scottish mob overpowered his father and crippled him for life. And from that moment a passionate conviction was born in him, but law and order must be maintained. Until he was 23, Pinkerton led a useful but uneventful life. He was an apprentice trooper and learned his trade thoroughly. But soon after his marriage, like other young men in the British Isles, Pinkerton sailed to the land across the sea, and with his young bride turned his face to our western frontier. You might have found work in Detroit, Alan. Hey, but there'll be more work further west. The wagon always make that noise. It sounds like some wild thing. Hey, don't put it will. They call these Conestoga wagons wooden axels and owls. They have the reputation of being very noisy. Alan, what's the door? Alan, must we go all the way to Chicago? Ah, cut last. Disney more than 300 miles. The further we find Pinkerton penetrating westward, the closer he came to the conditions of disorder and lawlessness of the frontier America over the 1840s. This was an era of bad money in the west. Counterfeiters and coiners drew on every bush. And there were no agencies other than the local police forces to cope with them. At the same time, the tradesmen and farmers alike. This wave of counterfeiting began to arouse Pinkerton's boyhood hatred of injustice and lawlessness. He'd gone from Chicago to Dundee, Illinois, and there set up as the town's first cooper with no thought of becoming a detective. But one day, while he was at the local blacksmith's shop, a stranger drove up. A stranger? You fellas know where Mr. Crane resides? Crane? I can point out the way to this gentleman. I'll show you what you want to know. Well, now, I certainly would appreciate that. See, isn't Crane the man that was mixed up in that horse stealing of our back? Well, that's what they say. Fine. That's all I want to know. Now, mister, just point out the way to Crane's. You're sure somebody else wouldn't do just as well? What you mean? You dealing with stuff? I do when I can get first-rate stuff. I work it off in my hands when I pay off Saturday night. That's the way. I got first-rate stuff if you're a square man. You've been dealing with Crane, haven't you? Yes, but Crane's got sort of poorly. Don't seem to take no interest. I could use a no-man. That's me. What's your charge? Well, I'll let you have $1,000 for 250. Oh, that's high. No, not for this, it ain't. It's all based on the real thing. I'll tell you what, meet me at the new church over at Elgin about five miles from here. It's not finished yet, and I'll see you there at four tomorrow afternoon. And home back in Vermont, I'm a mighty, steady church scorer. I'll have to remember to tell the deacon I helped dedicate a church back here in Illinois. It's a deal, then? Well, looks like it's going to be. The deal was put through the defrauded merchants putting up the necessary money. Pinkerton's object was to trap Craig while he was carrying a large sum of counterfeit money in his pocket. Vermont was too smooth for him. When the arrest was made, Craig's pockets were empty. It was not an entirely successful conclusion to his first case, that Pinkerton was not through yet. This work brought him in touch with influential friends. The first result was Pinkerton's appointment as deputy sheriff. The second called him to Chicago to act as that growing city's first and at that time only detective. Finally, to the setting up of his own agency. Certain of the original rules of that agency, first set down in 1850, still stand as a criterion of what such a rule should be. You want a job with me, do you? I'd like it, Mr. Pinkerton. What are the rules? Well, the first one is no gratuity of any kind. Oh, I... I don't take bribes. I'm not talking about bribes. If I thought you'd take one, you'd be out of this office now. You mean any tip from a client for extra service? And more than that, I mean any reward. You work for your pay, and that's all. Well, I guess I can stand that. There's no guessing about it. You'll have to. And furthermore, I don't want any operative of mine to ask for it to have any personal publicity. It just gives their names and pictures to the crooks thereafter. I see. Well, is that all, Mr. Pinkerton? Well, it's all I can think of offhand. Now, do you still want to work as one of my operatives? I wouldn't be here if I didn't. That's the spirit. Plain talk does it. You're hired. Unlike a good detective story, the story of a good detective lacks a well-rounded plot. Pinkerton's life was one of thrills, pursuits, strange, exciting episodes, each a story in itself. It was a famous case in which the ingenious mind of Alan Pinkerton was called upon to solve a mysterious murder. It begins in Columbia, Tennessee, where Pinkerton is talking with a local town banker. Well, you see, Mr. Pinkerton always happened over a year ago. The cashier murdered and the vault opened and rifled. Mr. Taylor, did your cashier sleep in the bank building? Yes, Mr. Pinkerton. He was too faithful. I noticed the bank hadn't been open that morning because Carter, there's the cashier, usually opened it early. When I went in, very late. And no one has ever been suspected? Well, I've suspected one man, yes. There's been no gossip. This man, Slocum, is his name. He was Carter's best friend. I went to him, but he wouldn't come. He wouldn't even look at the body. Is there anything else? Yes. I noticed that some papers had been burned in the fireplace of the bank. But I could make out Slocum's name. What kind of paper? It seemed to be a note for a big sum. Has Slocum ever been in the bank since the murder? Never. How does he occupy himself? What does he do? He's turned hermit. Never comes out of his house. Meets no one. And is there plenty of time to destroy any evidence? If there is any. I see. Well, there's one thing he can't destroy and that's his conscience. The time will come when you'll need to talk to someone. And that's the time we'll get him. He could have sent for his operative green and hired a man and woman to act as man-servant and maid in Slocum's house. They watched him carefully as the days passed. And finally one night, after being alone for hours, Slocum started up to bed. I'm going to bed. You can lock up now, Martha. All right. Good night, sir. Good night. Anyone call me? What is it? What is it? Who is it? Carter. Carter. Carter. Carter. No. The next morning, Pinkerton was awakened by Slocum's man-servant Finney, who told him that the suspected murderer was rushing to escape on an early train. Pinkerton dispatched an operative aboard of the train and shortly after got aboard himself. Excuse me, sir. Is this seat next to your taken? Oh, no. No, it isn't. I'll just sit down if you don't mind. It's all right. Ah, nice smell the country has in the early morning, isn't it? Smell? I don't smell anything. Dick. God, what is that smell? Why, uh, I was just... No, I don't mean the country. Don't you smell perfume? Perfume? No. I don't smell anything like that. I guess you're just imagining things. There it is again. The perfume that he used. He's still here. He's with me. Always with me. Always. Who is it that's with you all the time? The man. Then I kill. Slocum, I arrest you... Don't! Don't follow me anymore! Wake! Wake! In that case, Pinkerton definitely established his method of using psychology in solving criminal cases. It illustrates his uncanny intuition, his lightning-like play of imagination that is daring. These are qualities that go to make the born detective. But the real reason we are honoring Alan Pinkerton tonight is because of the part he played in saving the life of Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday the nation celebrates today. For Lincoln might not have been inaugurated in 1861 if it hadn't been for Alan Pinkerton. It's the most famous story of his career and begins in a smoky basement room in Baltimore shortly after Lincoln's election. A group of about 20 men are seated around the table in the dim glow of a single flickering gas jet. In a moment, the room will be filled. There's a box already prepared containing a ballot for every man present. Whoever draws the red ballot will be the one chosen to perform the secret duty. That choice will not be known, Captain Fernandino? No one. Not even among ourselves will know his identity. Are you sure that one man is enough for the task? We can't afford to fail. There are eight ballots. The red one. There are 20 of us. They're sworn to individual and collective secrecy. We leave this room a woman from now. There will be eight men unknown to us and to each other. We'll be pledged to rescue this out. Gentlemen, I'm about to put out the light. Are you all ready? Yes, I'm all ready. I'll now pass to each one of you the ballot box containing a marked wooden ball. Number one. Number two. Number three. Number four. Number five. Number six. Number seven. Number 17. Number 18. Number 19. Number four. What happened, Davis? I drew one of the red ballots myself. Good. Our job now is to find out who drew the other seven. That was the question. Who were the other seven? To arrest all of the 20 would have provoked an outbreak that it was best to avoid, but Abraham Lincoln's life must be saved. Mr. Lincoln was on his way to Washington to be inaugurated. The danger to him would come when he passed through Baltimore. Pinkerton called on the president to elect in his suite at the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia and told him of the plot. Do I understand, Mr. Pinkerton? That my life is chiefly threatened by this half craze for him. But indeed, he only talks like a maniac, Mr. President. The man is dangerous, and there are others. But why? Why do they want to kill me? It's impossible almost to explain to you, Mr. Lincoln. The fanatical hatred of you that we've found. You must change trains when you go through Baltimore, sir. You will not be given an opportunity to defend yourself. And my friends, those who are with me. They'll be buried with you, sir. I need hardly a point out to you, Mr. Lincoln. A disastrous effect on the nation such a calamity would have. I do not put it on personal ground. Sir, you must be inaugurated. I'm not Abraham Lincoln any longer. I'm president of the United States. Gentlemen, I'm in your hands. What do you propose, Mr. Pinkerton? To take you on to Washington this very night, Mr. President, before they are prepared. I'm afraid that won't do. Tomorrow morning, I have promised to raise the flag over Independence Hall. After that, to visit the legislature at Harrisburg. Whatever the cost, those two promises, I must fulfill. And we'll see that you fulfill them, Mr. Lincoln. I am happy to be able to stand here today in this city of brotherly love at a time like this, and with my own hands, raise our flag over Independence Hall. When you visit the legislature here, Mr. President, we'll leave Harrisburg tonight instead of tomorrow. When we get back to Philadelphia again, we'll board the train for Washington. Very well, Mr. Pinkerton. Bigger than it looks in the daytime. Everything go well in Harrisburg, Mr. President? Yes. The legislature gave me quite a reception. Well, there's the station. But where's my special train? I got rid of it. That'd be a giveaway. We can't take any chances going through Baltimore. That's where the conspirators are. I've reserved the last three sections of that sleeping car over there for an invalid. An invalid? Nobody must know. It's for you, Mr. President. Will there be much delay in Baltimore for that western train that connects with us before we go on to Washington? We just had a report. That train's two hours later. Is that the way to Baltimore? More than two hours. Pinkerton, Mr. President, you'd better get back to your work. It's dangerous, you're coming out on a platform like this. You never can tell who might see you. I got a mic worried. We've been in this Baltimore station a long time. We're waiting for that train from the west to join up with us. I wish it had hurry up. I think we're safe. The conspirators are looking for a big special train. We're a day or so ahead of your schedule anyway. Some of the passengers back there. You're not worried, are you, Mr. Lincoln? No. I think I'm in good hands, Mr. Pinkerton. No doubt there will be a great time in Dixie, by and by. That's the train from the west. We'll be pulling up for Washington any minute, Mr. President. Now you can get some sleep yourself, Mr. President. Mr. President, I won't sleep until this train gets you to Washington. Leaving me here? No, Mr. President. I'll be on the platform when you make your inaugural speech tomorrow. In contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the union of these states is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not expressed in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the expressed provisions of our national government, and the union will endure forever. Alan Pinkerton and various of his operatives served with honor in the military intelligence during the Civil War. But when the Federal Secret Service was finally formed, he decided not to enter it. Instead, he remained with his own organization, whose symbol was, and is, an open eye, and whose motto still is, We Never Sleep. The detective agency founded by the Glasgow Barrowmaker, Alan Pinkerton, and now Basil Riesdale with a story from the Wonderworld of Chemistry. My story of chemistry tonight is a question that may be in your mind. Who will create the Better Things for Better Living 10, 25 years from now? This January, as in years past, the DuPont Company announced a continuation of special aid in the form of fellowships to promising postgraduate students of chemistry. Cash awards that enable these young graduates to pursue problems in research. 24 fellowships have been awarded for the academic year 1939-1940 and 18 colleges and universities to promote the advancement of science, to help train the chemists of tomorrow. The DuPont Fellowship Plan, which began 20 years ago, is marked by the fact that the colleges not only select the men who get the fellowships, but also select the research subject without any restriction. I was curious to hear something about a typical example of such research, and the young man who holds the DuPont Fellowship in the Chemistry Department of Columbia University came here tonight to tell us his name is Donald C. Pease, and he's right on the other side of my microphone. Mr. Pease, would you mind telling us where your home is and how old you are? Not at all, Mr. Rysdale. I'm 25 years old, and my home is in Honey Oi Falls, New York. And you graduated from? From the University of Rochester. I'm working on my doctor's degree doing postgraduate work at Columbia. What kind of research are you doing? I'm working on the isolation and chemical study of the toxic principles of certain species of local weeds. I'm afraid that sounds a bit technical. By toxic, of course, I mean poisonous. These local weeds are poisonous. The ones we're working on grow in the southwest, in western Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Many of them are species of wild asters. They creep into the pasture land, and when other forages are hard to find, they're eaten by livestock. By cattle? Yes, cattle and horses and sheep, too. What does it do to them? Well, they lose a great deal of weight to get a kind of paralysis and nervous disorders, and finally they die. The early loss has been said to run into millions of dollars. And your job? Our job is to find out exactly what kind of poison it is that these local weeds contain. That may show what to do. What kind of treatment to give the cattle that are sick from eating the weeds. How long do you think it'll take to get the answer? I wish we knew, Mr. Rysdale. It's like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Only worse, because in that case you'd at least know you were hunting for a needle. We're hunting for something that's absolutely unknown to us. And the only way we can find it is by eliminating hundreds of other substances. It's slow work, and we can't be impatient. However, I feel optimistic, because now I think we're on the right track. Well, that sounds encouraging, and I wish you all the luck in the world. I'm sure the DuPont Company is proud to know the work that promises so much. The service to the farmer, and the protection for America's food supply. What you're doing is another fine example of the way chemists in scientific institutions, as well as in industry, look constantly towards the gold described in the DuPont pledge. Better things for better living, through chemistry. Next week, the Cavalcade of America will present the story of America's great frontier scout, Kit Carson. So until next week then, at the same time, this is Thomas Chalmers saying good night and best wishes from DuPont. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.