 The Cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living, through chemistry, presents Warren William in the major and the mules. Before we tell you about this evening's play, here is a bit of news of how chemistry is helping to stretch our wartime food supply. Three billion loaves of bread will be protected against losses resulting from mold this year by adding a special DuPont mold inhibitor, microband propionate salts to the dough before baking. Due to the wartime necessity of conserving food, more of this mold retardant will be used than ever before. This evening with Warren William as our star, Cavalcade brings you the major and the mules, a true story told tonight for the first time of the turning point in the battle for the Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea. Carl F. Polifka was the major's name and he came from the USA. The mules? Well, the army still doesn't know for sure where the mules came from, but they were a decisive factor in one of our important victories in the South Pacific. DuPont presents the major and the mules, an original comedy by Robert Talman starring Warren William as major Carl Polifka on the Cavalcade of America. Port Moresby, the hot steaming little sea coast town on the southern shores of New Guinea that is the allied base of operations against the Japs. At Army headquarters, a meeting is in session of the combined Australian and American general staff. So much for the basic strategy of tomorrow morning's attack, gentlemen. At this very moment, our Obama command is attacking the Japs' supply lines and ammunition dumps. By tonight, our little friends over there won't have enough ammunition left to stop a Boy Scout troop. Got most of their depots bothered, eh? Every last one of them. We've double checked the positions on low altitude photographs. General, there's no chance of there bringing up more stuff, I suppose. Not over those mountain trails, Colonel. Not unless they have a continuous transport system of some kind, and they haven't, not since the native bearers deserted them. Yes, I've flown over their supply lines myself. There's not a sign of line. Good. Now, at dawn the artillery will open up on their forward positions. At zero plus forty-five, our first wave will go over. What was that? I don't know what was that. Say, that's our artillery. Uh, answer that, oddly. Yes, sir. Now, as I was saying, gentlemen... That's reported. I think... They're after you, General. Oh, excuse me, gentlemen. Hello? Yes? They are what? Thank you. Well, gentlemen, the Japs' artillery has opened up on us. Seems like they're beating us to the punch. Yes. Got us pretty well spotted, too. I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to step down into the shell. Well, I suppose you're right. This way, please, gentlemen. Right down these stairs. Thank you. Thank you. Here's the door. Listen to that, will you? Yes, pretty heavy. No lack of ammunition there if they can afford to throw stuff around like that. I'm afraid you're right. Uh, how will this affect our plans for the attack tomorrow, General? Effect them? It'll cancel them. If they still got that much ammunition, we'd better hold up for a while. Agreed, gentlemen? I dare say you're right, but where can they be getting it from? Well, they're not supermen. There must be some explanation. If we don't find it pretty soon, it's going to be just too bad. We're holding them on the southern slopes, but that's about all. We've got our backs to the sea, and if they take Port Moresby, you can kiss all of northern Australia goodbye within a month. In other words, unless we lick this mystery of the Japs' supply system, gentlemen, we're lick. Well, frankly, I'm stumped. Trucks are out of the question over those jungle trails. They haven't had a plane in the sky for weeks. Yes. Now, we know horses are no good for this terrain, and there aren't enough Jap troops and the whole South Pacific to carry this stuff on their backs. Well, gentlemen, we've got to find the answer and find it quick. You sure aerial reconnaissance hasn't missed something? Well, I was sure this morning, but they must have. Uh, Colonel. Yes, sir? Have reconnaissance go over the terrain again. Haven't go over every inch of it until they find... Gentlemen, something just occurred to me about this. What is it, General? I'm almost ashamed to mention it, but if I didn't know there just ain't no such animal out here, I'd say they must have a flock of good old Missoula mules. Mules, I say, right? Where would they get them, General? No, gentlemen, no. It's just a crazy no-account hunt. We've got to find hard solid facts. What are you saying, Doc? I check. Harry? Buy me. Sorry, boy. One buck. Oh, now, Pa, wait a minute. Let's go them again. Why don't we just give them the money? Didn't I have it if I get the card? Well, frankly, Major Polifka, I don't mind you getting most of the cards. I just mind you getting all of them. Oh, well, don't you call me. Maybe I'm kidding. Yeah, I tried that. Hey, Sergeant. Hey, Ted. Yes, sir. Close that door, will you? Yes, sir. How do you expect a bunch of poor pilots to get any relaxation with all that noise going on? I'm sorry, sir. Holy kidding, Ted. I wouldn't rag a guy of the old home state. Well, what are you guys saying? All yours. Take it. Not me. Thanks, fellas. And your deal, friend. Yeah. What do you say we make it the last hand? What? And you 40 bucks a head? My papa, mercenary. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. It's not that. I'm tired. No kidding. You're tired. You're breaking in the dough? Okay, I'll give you a back-up dough. I just want to sleep, that's all. For two bits, I'd take him up on it. I could retire on what he's taken away from me in the last six weeks. What's the matter, Pop? Not sleeping? Not the last three, four nights. Nerves? I suppose so. Keep hearing things. What sort of things? Well... Probably hears the call of far-off Cuba Libres. No, no, no. Seriously, Pop. Well, that's a funny thing. I've heard it the last four nights. What? Mews. Mews? Mews? Oh, I will take my job. What do you take a guy from Texas for that one? I know. I'm not kidding. I do. I hear them all the time. Go ahead, Doc. Tell them what Freud says it means when you dream about mules. I don't dream about them. I hear them. Sure, you hear mules and I hear Carol Landis. That'll give you a rough idea of the difference between a guy from Texas and a guy from Brooklyn. All right, all right, wise guys. If you don't want to take a fellow officer's word... A fellow officer? Maybe I better give him a couple of sleep until, Pop. No, thanks. Well, it's funny. I know mules. I was brought up with mules. I believe that. No, listen. Big pardon. Big pardon, sir. Yes, sir. I couldn't help but overhear the conversation, sir. So? I hear them, too, sir. Why? Just because you guys are on the same side. Come on, sir. No, no, no. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You say you hear mules, too, son? Yes, sir. What did I tell you? There are mules. Uh-huh. The sergeants are smart cookie. Even if he is a radio operator, hey, Texas? Oh, cut it out, Pop. Yeah, how much of a cut has he given you, Sergeant? Oh, it's true, sir. I've heard him for the last three or four nights. Sure you have. You can't fool an old Texas farm boy about mules. I hear when I hear mules, I hear mules. And when I hear one, I can tell whether he's from Texas or Missouri. How much he weighs, how old he is. Sure, my grandmother had the same trouble. You want to bet there's no mules? But, Pop, how could there be? We don't have any. The Japs couldn't have any, because there are no mules in the Far East. Let them bet. Well, even if the Japs did have any, you couldn't hear them this far away. Listen, those guys are pushed so near our lines where this time I can hear them breathe at night. In any way, a mule's voice can carry for miles. And so can a prolificus. Uh, but don't you have with sea? This may be the answer to how the Japs are getting their supplies through the mountains. Look, the Japs don't have mules. They never have had, and they never will have. We may have sold them a little scrap iron, but we didn't sell them any mules. That doesn't sound plausible, Pop, even from a scientific point of view. I don't think mules could even live in this climate. Why not? I do, don't I? He's got something there, Dr. Comparison. It's terrific. All right, all right. If you birds are so cocky, how about backing yourselves up with a little hard money? I'll take you on. Yeah. But you have all my dough. I'm practically clean. I'm back on relief. No, stop, stop. You're breaking my heart. How much do you penny-pinch as a figure you drop? Well, if you're asking me 80 bucks, you duck. 94 and some change. Call it 95. Fred, 60. My poor old mother with payments to meet on the washing machine. 83, 85, and 60. Okay, if I lose, I'll pay over 238 bucks, and you can split it up. And if I win, it looks as though you work for me and Uncle Sam for the duration. Oh, boy, Mama's washing machine is safe. Isn't it a deal? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. How are we going to prove anything? Well, look, look, I'm flying reconnaissance in the morning. And, brother, if there are mules, I'll find them. You wouldn't cheat on an old buddy, would you, Fred? You worry, Chum. If you're right with your rate, it's sure it'd be worth it to find mules. I was a sucker bed. Pop, why don't you give up? You vultures are at least going to wait until Freddie gets back, aren't you? Uh, three more beers, please. Yes, ma'am. Now, I suppose I must be wrong, but it's, uh, funny. I heard them just as plain. Did you hear them last night, Pop? No. No, I didn't. There, I told you it was a case for Freud. Won't you talk and get it off your conscience no more mules, eh? There's Freddie. Here comes the boy. Right over here. Right over here. Well, uh, mind if I join you, gentlemen? Don't be so cozy. What about the mule? Well, Pop, I covered the whole territory. What do you think I saw? Mule. No, nothing. Ah! Ah! But, Polyph, the ride's again. This time to the cleaner. Good, are you sure? Oh, Pop, I couldn't have missed him if they'd been there. No, no kidding. Nothing that looked like corral, the shins, or... No, not a thing. Come on, Pop. Come on. Pay off. Yeah, it looks like he's right, Pop. What do you follow, sir? Well, I say yes. Give it out. Give it out. Okay, okay. Here it is. Well, well, well. Thank you very much. Oh, no, that's all right, kid. We'll take your word on anything but mules. Maybe you better give me a couple of those sleeping pills, or that, though. Yes, you better. Drop around to see me tonight before you turn around. Hey, wait a minute. No, I won't. Listen to what? Hey, Pop, choke that music box, will you? No, no, no. Now, listen to what? Quiet. Listen. You hear that? What did I tell you? That's a mule. What do you mean a mule? I tell you, it is. That did sound like a... Oh, it could have been a hyena or something. Sure, it could have been anything. Sure. It could have been a parrot. Sure. It could have been the old man snoring. Hey, kid. Oh, man. As you are, gentlemen. As you are. Yeah. Well, gentlemen, what's the discussion? Oh, we were just talking about noises, sir, like snoring. I know it's more than that, sir. I think it's important. And I think the general ought to know about it. Know about what? The noises, sir. I mean the mules. I mean the... Mules? Noises? What the devil are you talking about? But we heard them, sir. We all heard them just now. Heard what? Mules? Yes, sir. Major Polifka? I hope this isn't a joke. It's not, sir. I have heard them. An ascitance heard them. And just now we all heard them. Is this true, gentlemen? Well, it could have been anything, sir. It certainly sounded like a mule, sir. But... But what? General, I'm positive it's mules. Because besides mules or some pack animals, the only way the Jap could possibly be getting his stuff over the Owen Stanley... But how would they get any mules? Why hasn't reconnaissance seen them? A mule is a big animal. It needs shelter, corral. I don't know the answers to all that, sir. A camouflage would account for some of it. The Jap's awful cute at that kind of stuff, but... But I'll bet you this whole roll of bills... What more? Well, I mean, if you'll just let me fly over and take a look for myself, sir... Well, what makes you think you are particularly suited for a mule-finding mission, Major? Well, sir, I just know mules, that's all. Well, we've tried everything else. All right, go to it. Yes, sir. But if this is some kind of nonsense, Philippka... Yes, sir. That is... No, sir. Report your finding to me tomorrow. Good night, gentlemen. Good night. Good night, sir. If this is some kind of nonsense, Philippka... And boy, he met it, too. Well, what are you going to do now, Pop? Head hop? Look around, take pictures. Oh, look, Chum, look. Take it easy. You head hop through one of those canyons, your head-hopping days are over. You're not worried about me, are you? No, no, no. I mean it, Pop. The air currents in those narrow canyons are dynamite. Those little Japs aren't exactly asleep either. I flew at 5,000 feet and I came back looking like a civ. Just keep your shirts on, pals, and I'll bring you back some nice, pretty pictures. Oh, that reminds me. Hey, give me back that doll. Take it easy. Take it easy. You will get it if I don't get the picture. So long, guys. See ya, man. Well, how do you like that? Well, here comes a wonder boy now. Hey, how do you suppose he made out? I don't know. Well, he got back anyway, which was almost more than I expected. Well, it looks like he got shot up a little long. I told him. Maybe we better go over and have a look. Yeah, come on. Hey, Pop. Hey, Pop. Why don't you make out? I didn't know you cared. About you? Don't be silly. I just want to be sure you didn't have any holes through that water dough that we're going to collect. That dough's plenty safe, pal. Don't worry. Yeah, for whole. Any luck, Pop? Now, just keep your pants on, Chance. I'm making my report in the CG. You are listening to Warren William as Major Polifka in the Major and the Mules on the Cavalcade of America presented by DuPont. Major Polifka from Texas, USA, is convinced that the ammunition with which the Japanese threatened the American position on New Guinea is carried across the mountains by Mules. No one believes him, but he has bet his bankroll that he's right and has just returned from a reconnaissance flight with pictures which he hopes will prove it. Aren't those pictures ready yet? Right after. Okay. Hey, Tech, huh? Did those guys try to pump you about any of the stuff I saw up there? They asked me some questions, sir. You didn't tell them anything, did you? Major, I was as gabby as a locked-jawed barber with nobody to shave. Good boy. Here are your pictures, sir. Oh, thanks. Hmm. Nothing on this one. Well, this one. Ah, here's something. Hmm? Yup. Yup, it might be. See that text? Yes, sir. It might be. It must be. And I sure hope the old man agrees. Well, I'll take these right in and show them. Come in. Major Polifka reporting, sir. Come in, Polifka, come in. Well, did you find your mules? I think so, sir. Look here. Look on this picture. See that? See what? I don't see anything that looks like a mule to me. No, but those dark patches, sir, they're shelters of some kind. Camouflage corrals, they could be. Could be. They could be anything. Well, but they must be, sir. Now, a few 820s might dig them out into the light. Major, you know we haven't got bombs to waste on hypothetical targets. But, general... No, Polifka, no. Do you have any idea how much time and money enough it takes to get a bomb out of this hellhole of an island? Absolutely no. But, general, my ship's just a reconnaissance plane. Well, flying flusy doesn't even carry guns. All I'd like to do is take her and dive down on one of these things and kind of scare things up a little. And what will that prove? I don't know, sir. That's a hunch. Major Polifka, I don't like to lose planes and I don't like to lose pilots. But I can't watch everything you do and so if you want to hedge up some types of jungle swamp, I suppose I can stop it. Thank you, sir. But if you crack up one of my ships and ever get back here to tell me about it, heaven help you. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. We're in Tex Wherry and you get it? I think I do, sir. You know mules, Tex? Yes, sir. Very sensitive animal, the mule. Right? Yes, sir. So those are corals and there are mules in them and I can get down close enough to them and jazz the motors on flying flusy. They'll bust out of there and run like... Right! Joe Goat calling three goats. Joe Goat calling three goats. Over, over. Three goats to Joe Goat. Three goats to Joe Goat. What's on your mind, Tex? Getting there, Major. Any second now. How's the look up there? Well, baby, rough going, sir. Pad shot, I showed you. Move the canyon now. Biggie, do I have any trouble going down? Just get now that worries me. You there, Joe Goat? Yes, sir. Any of my bells hanging around your shack? Uh-oh, well, not yet, but I'm expecting them any minute. All right, keep me guessing, boy. Keep me guessing. Your camera's all set. I'm fixing to go. Good luck, sir. Thanks, Joe Goat. Give it to you, play-by-play. Okay, three goats. Joe Goat standing by. Just at the end of the dive, I'm going to cut them more over a couple of seconds so I'm on the first pass. I'll assure enough, hear them. Roger, Roger. Are you all right? Three goats. Are you all right? Three goats. Three goats. Three goats. Yes, sir, but I also got something that sounded like ack-ack. Cuties, aren't they, sir? Makes me feel right homesick. Reception committee? What do you got, Pop? What do you got, Pop? High-five, fellas. Hiya. More, uh, jungle pictures, Pop? Well, maybe he's trying to start a real estate development for after the war. Yeah. Well, if he invites you to live in swampy gardens, I'm used to her. Now, why don't you guys lay off me? I'm just trying to do my part in a war effort. All right, Pop. No kidding, Pop. Did you get anything? Well, come on, come on. Give us a look. Honest, I can't. I told the old man I'd show him to him right away. I was just going in to see him now. Well, uh, you mind if we come along? Oh, look, fellas. Why don't you wait? And, uh, miss this? Now, you had your fun, Pop. Be a sport, Pop. Okay. Okay. Oh, and that reminds me. What about that dough? I guess you don't need to worry about that dough anymore. Come on. Ah, that boy. Let me just do it. Come in. Major Polipka, report, and, sir, with a guard of honor. Oh, I see. Come in, gentlemen. Come in. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. I'd heard a rumor that certain parties had an interest in your exploits, other than of a purely military nature. Well, Major Polipka, at any rate, let me congratulate you on your return. Thank you, sir. And let me add that in thinking the matter over, I decided I can't possibly afford to risk personnel and equipment on any more such adventures in the future. Uh, that's an all-imager. Yes, sir. I guess you won't have to anyway, sir. Well, I'm glad you see it that way. Oh, more pictures, eh? Yes, sir. Anything of interest? Oh, I think you might be interested in them, sir, just for the record. Here they are, sir. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Great. Scott Polipka. And what goes? Mules. Mules. There must be a hundred of them, scampering all over the landscape. That is a pretty big corral, sir. How did you ever catch them in the open like this? There hasn't been a slightest sign in all our weeks of reconnaissance. Flying flusy must have given them a bad dose of jitters. And they just went to town. I figure that Japs only used them at night and kept them in these camouflage corrals during the day. They're mules, all right. Heaven only knows where they got them. Do you realize, gentlemen, that this is the answer to all our troubles? Yes. It looks their way to me, sir. Once we've scattered these mules, we'll have the Japs right where we want them. That was a nice bit of a con work, Major. Thank you, sir. Well, God of honor. Pop. All I can say is I got to hand it to you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Nice con, Pop. Well done. Well now, we'll want a bombing expedition against those corrals immediately. You'll follow up a fiction, Major. All right, sir. You know the terrain pretty well by now. Are there any special arrangements you might have, sir? Well, yes, sir. There's one thing. All right, let's hear it. I'd like to nominate the pilots for this mule skin and expedition. If that's okay, sir. All right, sir. Who are your men? Well, Doc, yes, flight's certain, so he's out, but Fred and Harry, they're definitely in. Just try to keep us out. Hey, but wait a minute. You're a bit too anxious. Yeah. What's the gag? Gag? What, gentlemen, would I stoop to such a thing? I just figure if you don't go, you'll be cheated, because you sure paid in advance for this ride. Our thanks to Warren William, who will return to the microphone a little later with a message which will be of interest to everyone who has a friend or relative overseas. And to pop now Lieutenant Colonel Polifka happy landings and good pictures wherever you may be. Before we tell you about next week's play, we'd like to tell you about the finely detailed maps and charts which made it possible for the fighting men of the Army Air Corps to wipe out the corral of Jap mules. In a windowless building near Washington, 1700 technicians under the direction of the United States Army engineers are making for the armed forces an average of 6 million maps a month. Days before the United Nations invaded Sicily, maps revealing Sicilian roads and towns, hills and brooks were prepared ready and waiting. 10 million maps went to North Africa, yet not a word of a coming military action has ever leaked out. To this mysterious map factory comes vital information from many sources. Refugees dig into their trunks and memories for valuable details of Axis gun emplacements and factory locations. Engineers who worked in Europe and Asia in peacetime contribute their knowledge of bridges, highways and dams. Daring pilots swooping low over enemy country add miles of sharp clear photographs which are pieced together one by one in telltale mosaics. Targets for tomorrow night. All of the information coming in is recorded on maps. There are waterproof maps made of light cloth that can be tucked into a flyer's pocket handkerchief light. Maps that can be read as glowing lines under ultraviolet light. Maps of every kind. Seven days a week they pour from a battery of high speed offset lithographic presses that can print 4,000 impressions an hour. Lithography is one of the oldest known methods of reproducing words and pictures. In photolithography an image is photographed on a sheet of film. This image on the film is transferred to a sensitized metal or plastic plate. Then the plate is set up in a press, but a press different from the accepted idea of a printing press. In photolithography the plate that carries the picture or map or whatever is being printed does not touch the paper. Instead the ink from the plate is transferred or offset as lithographers say to a rubber roller or blanket. It is the rubber roller that finally prints the image on the paper. Offset lithography is used in printing maps by the million because it is more economical. Offset lithography is still more important in wartime because changes can be made directly on the plate at any moment. For example, if an advancing American unit finds a new enemy fortification in an unexpected position, the information can be flashed at once to a mobile lithographic plant in the field where the new enemy location can be sketched in directly on the map plate and new maps applied within a few hours. We are happy to say that many of the sharp clear maps destined for use by America's armed forces are produced with the aid of DuPont in a graphic film, one of the DuPont Better Things for Better Living Through Chemistry. And here is the star of this evening's cavalcade, Warren Williams. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a message for everyone who writes to a soldier or a sailor overseas. Letters from home are the number one morale builder. The men are eager for mail. The Army and Navy want them to have mail and we here at home are just as anxious that they should. V-mail is any mail under wartime censorship. It's fast and it's sure to be delivered. Remember all V-mail is air mail, but regular air mail is not V-mail. Write often and send it by V-mail. The weapon that saves lives. That is the play which cavalcade will present next week with Edmund Low as its star. One of the great success stories in the history of man's search through the centuries of healing agents. Our play tells the dramatic story of the sulfur drugs which are saving countless American lives on the field of battle. Cavalcade invites you to join us again next Monday evening when we bring you Edmund Low in the weapon that saves lives on the cavalcade of America. The orchestra and musical score tonight were under the direction of Donald Burrys. This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from cavalcade sponsor, the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This program came to you from New York. This is the National Broadcasting Company.