 Tonight the DuPont company brings you Woman Alone starring Virginia Bruce on the Cavalcade of America. First here is Gain Whitman. Good evening. True but sad is the fact that the American home is not a safe place. Many accidents from slipping and skidding occur in our homes. Accidents that can be tragic. Make your home a safer place by using DuPont slip retardant wax on your floors. This slip retardant feature gives this wax an important safety factor in that it reduces the hazards of slipping and sliding. DuPont slip retardant wax is easy to apply and dries to a rich luster that adds to the beauty of your home. Try DuPont slip retardant wax. One of many DuPont better things for better living through chemistry. A woman alone starring Virginia Bruce as Alice Evans on the Cavalcade of America. You'll be off to Washington in fine old country well style hours with the choir singing farewell. Everybody's been so kind mother. We'll be waiting to hear the great things you'll be doing. Oh father I just hope I'll make good. I'm a little afraid. And every girl has had your schooling degree in bacteriology so don't let anybody talk you down. Take care of yourself dear. I was a wonderful farewell. That day back in 1910 when I started out from our farm in Pennsylvania. The old Welsh song to say goodbye. Father and mother standing there waving. And then I was alone on my way to a new job at a strange city. The job I'd spent years training for. The Pennsylvania landscape slipped by the train. It was silly but I felt I had to reach out and hold it. Part of my life was over. And a new part was about to begin. If I set the side young lady. Oh no not at all. I heard you tell the conduct he was going to Washington. Did you folks there. No I have a new job there. Bacteriologist. Dairy division Department of Agriculture. Don't say young lady like you a doctor. No no bacteriologist you know germs. I'm going to do laboratory research on milk. Well all by yourself in a big city like Washington you modern young lady. Well after all this is nineteen ten maybe so but it's a man's world all the same. Can't sweeten sour milk. I don't know about that you never know where research will take. Sitting there on the train that day I wondered where research would take me. I didn't know and I couldn't see into the future. Tomorrow was a question mark. I went to work in Washington in the years marched by double quick before I knew it. The calendar said nineteen seventeen. Here's another couple million bottles of milk for you Miss Evans big boxes full of little bottle milk from Maine milk from Wisconsin. Forty eight states remember. Always looking at milk in that microscope you ever see anything interesting. First year or two I thought I did but no didn't you ever realize a woman might not get a chance to make a reputation in science not unless she worked on tuberculosis germs or or something big like that my milk is big business for lots of farmers and big business for most dairy making but I promise you nobody ever got a big name on milk research here take a look in this microscope. Right see those germs yeah sure hundreds of those bugs come from cows milk from a bread cow as a matter of fact well what does that that car looked healthy but she was really sick she lost her calf before it was due. Yes I know that the back home on the farm where I come from they call it bang and bang with the Danish doctor who discovered that you're looking at in the microscope there you are doctor bangs already discovered it and it's called bank disease so wife for yourself Miss Evans you're in a dead end field. Miss Evans come in come in what's new upstairs in the milk lab these days not much doctor my assistant says milk research is a dead end but I have an idea do you remember the other day we were talking about bangs cattle disease surely I remember is this a bright idea Miss Evans inspiration well at least an idea like any research idea might be wonderful. Yeah I'm a pathologist remember not a milk bacteriologist that's just it doctor you know animal diseases tell me are there any animals other than cows which look healthy yet excrete a disease German milk why yes goats you know where doctor Bruce discovered the germ on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean they found the germ in the milk of healthy looking goats people who drank the infected milk got sick with malta fever banged cow dren makes cows sick and Bruce's goat dren makes goats and people sick if you're wondering about any other four-legged animals no doctor right now I'm wondering about the human two-legged car something in back of my mind began asking questions about cows milk questions about banged cow germs and Bruce's goat germ and how people got sick there's a package for you Miss Evans just came in what no nice big boxes and millions of milk samples from Nebraska and South Dakota this package says handled with care sample goats milk what are you doing with goats milk I sent but I thought you were working on cows I am turn the lights on when you leave will you I'll be working late tonight I examined the germ Bruce had found in goat's milk that made people sick from Malta fever then I got some cows milk samples and I examined banged germ the germ that sometimes killed unborn calves I looked at the germs under the microscope and I twin that couldn't be right how could banged cow germ and Bruce's goat germ how could two different germ be so much alike I went back downstairs to talk to the doctor in the pathology laboratory oh you're strange and haven't seen you in weeks I've been busy working with goat milk and cows is this that bright idea you thought you had I don't know yet doctor I'm puzzled remember that talk about banged cow germ and Bruce's goat germ yes I've been examining them I'm beginning to wonder if maybe they're more than just two different separate animal disease germs maybe they're twin brothers but bangs is a cow disease and Bruce's I know the books say they're different diseases but look look here in this microscope I'll turn on the light that slide you're looking at is a sample of banged cow bug little thin sticks some of them are short enough to look like round B yes yes now look at the second slide practically the same thing then stick some of them the others look like round B and that second slide is Bruce's goat bug you must have a slide mix no no I've checked well maybe they look alike but those germs certainly don't act alike after all Bruce's goat bug affects people as well as goats bangs affects only cows there's no excitement in science like watching a locked door slowly open if I was right if bangs cow germ hit people I was on the track of something new a disease without a name I spent weeks preparing test tubes and sterile plate glass plates to grow germ colonies on a Watson day and night Miss Evans it's late now and I got to lock up the building and you still here yes still here well must be pretty much important you were a farmer back in Denmark do you ever see a keffa loser calf before her time oh was a cow disease they say you ever see a human being catch the same disease you mean like did I see a farmer lady lose her child before time just like a half a lose yes yes no the sickness is catching for cows only miss Evans how could a cow disease hurt people Mr. Olson you see this test tube looks like fuller colored water full of the germs of a goat disease mortar fever now we know mortar fever travels in milk from goats to people look look at this other test tube over here in the incubator that one looks like fuller colored water too yes but the second tube is full of the germs of bangs disease the one they say makes cows lose their calves but doesn't bother people funny they look just exactly the same to me maybe sometimes the cow germ gets in the milk people drink used like the goat germ does yes that's just what I've been thinking Mr. Olson maybe the cow bug isn't just a cow disease maybe it hits people too here sample 209 miss Evans thanks I I take back what I said a few months ago she looks like you got something big here so I don't know it bothers me it's almost too simple why hasn't anybody noticed the comparison between the goat bug and the cow bug before I think I know why maybe it's a matter why are you looking like that miss Evans I've been checking the research laboratory practically everybody who's worked with these germs has caught the bling disease after all if you're in a laboratory you can't avoid handling yes you can easy drop the whole idea drop it just when the dead end you warn me about turns into an open highway but what if you get sick that's a different kind of dead end no I'm going to report this research to the Society of American Bacteriologists in December I've got to keep working you are listening to woman alone starring Virginia Bruce as Alice Evans on the cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont company maker of better things for better living through chemistry Alice Evans working as a bacteriologist in the dairy division of the Department of Agriculture in Washington becomes convinced of the similarity between what were thought to entirely different diseases malta fever which struck at human beings and bang's disease which affected cattle it is her belief that the cattle disease can be transmitted to humans through cow's milk as malta fever is transmitted through goat's milk the second part of our story opens at a meeting the next paper on the agenda will be read by miss Alice Evans miss Evans was the annual meeting of the Society of American Bacteriologists through December 1917 I'll never forget standing there reading my paper that night I told them about Bruce's goat's journey and bang's cow's journey I said both these organisms were not completely separate as was believed I said I thought they were related like twin brothers that report was well you might say it was one woman's Christmas gift to the world that December 30 years ago and I never expected what happened now if I understand miss Evans paper correctly and I think I do she would have us believe that just because infected goats transmit the organism of malta fever to humans through milk it automatically follows that cows can do likewise with bang's bacillus it's an overly simple parallel I think I cannot help but be quite frankly skeptical of miss Evans work if there were a close relationship between bangs and Bruce's organisms why would not other more highly experienced bacteriologists have noticed this sooner if we accept your findings miss Evans we would have to accept the concept that bang's organism might travel through cow's milk to humans thereby infecting a person with some disease but it is a possibility I want to be fair miss Evans but I believe you're too hasty if the journey is carried in milk people should know it and we scientists should wipe it out and you expect us to accept this miss Evans on the basis of comparing the two organisms in the laboratory it in the incubator and in your test tube I have all know miss Evans your conclusions would have to be confirmed in practice before we could accept them confirmed with cows and goats yes and confirmed with clinical observation of human beings so in 1922 soon after I'd gone to work for the United States Public Health Service Tide began to turn something very serious health department reports epidemic outbreak of malta fever from infected goats milk three dozen ill two patients whose cases were complicated by some other illnesses have died blood samples from all patients have been sent to washington for examination there's another carton of blood samples from phoenix miss Evans thank you you do look tired miss Evans why don't you take it a little easier well this is important put this sample into the centrifuge will you please full speed half speed will do pardon me miss Evans may I see your moment surely aren't you yes I thought you'd remember me I was very cautious about your work when you first published it yes doctor I remember you now at the meeting still skeptical frankly I have to be your claim that bangs disease can be carried through milk to infect the people who drink it that sort of talk and start trouble miss Evans so I doubt especially since you haven't 100% proof for what do you want me to do well all I asked pardon me but could you shut that thing off will you turn off the centrifuge if you've experimented miss Evans in your test tubes in this laboratory but you haven't really proved a thing with living farm animals well doctor suppose just suppose I took one of these samples of human blood from those sick people in Arizona it's swarming with millions of bruises goat chins suppose I inoculated a cow with it one about to have a calf then according to your theories the goat disease would act like it's twin the cow disease exactly in our experimental cow fixed with the goat bug would lose her unborn calf that's hard to believe well to you perhaps but I believe she'd lose her calf as surely as if she had bangs cow disease from the very stalk miss back Evans I respect your ability but to be frank I doubt this experimental car will even show a mild reaction this is just like you asked ma'am she's a fine heifer millindy is and you can see she sure expecting her calf comes spring thank you will you hold this tray of instruments please and surely ma'am like to own a fine heifer like millinda myself not if she had bangs disease doctor and passed the disease on to people if that's what she'd do now as I understand it you're going to inject some of bruce's goat bugs the truth is this hypodermic syringe has germs that came from the blood of those sick people in Phoenix Arizona I remember that much very well indeed well you hold my linda very well I did not kill you sevens what's the matter you look pale nothing it's nothing tired that for overwork maybe you'd rather call off this whole experiment no sir hold my linda still steady now here we are sorry my linda there are lots of youngsters who need good safe milk and now that my linda is inoculated with goat germs she'll lose her calf frankly I'll believe it when I see it I was sure I was right I was sure my linda would lose her calf I was so sure she would good afternoon miss Evans oh good afternoon doctor any word about my linda I asked them to call me as soon as anything happened to her if something happens I'm quite certain and I'm quite willing to be convinced fine suppose I come back in a week or two make it three or four let's give my linda time all right but if your experiment fails it won't if it fails I'll expect you to be fair I'll expect you to withdraw those statements you made what statement about the possibility of bangs disease traveling in milk from cows to human beings yes of course if I'm wrong I'll withdraw every word the day is crept by slowly and for some reason my strength seemed to creep away with them I had to push myself to keep working miss Evans why don't you go home early today holiday for you yes you you'll need it you you'll pale no a little sun will fix that you worried about my linda no I'm not I'll keep an eye on her for you when the last time you saw me yesterday she looked fine fine just as though we'd never infected her with a couple of million bugs feeling better today well how do you say we drive out to the country today to look at melinda in her calf if melinda has a cow let's drive out and see I'm I'm sorry I'm rather well I'm a little run down today yes it must be quite a blow to see years of hard work wasted no I can't believe that nothing as frank as plain facts you told me not so long ago we don't know the facts in this case yet but we will soon people have started talking about this German milk you know farmers dairymen it will be up to you to tell them this disease you say people get from cows undulent yes undulent fever it will be up to you to reassure all those people hello miss Evan speaking what's that yes I see I see will you send some of her milk down here to be tested please thank you melinda yes what happened forgive me but could you come back in a few days our results won't really be complete until then for the fact the fact is doctor that melinda lost her calf what and furthermore to be absolutely certain I tested a sample of melinda's milk and found the same kind of germs which she was inoculated if anyone had drunk that milk he might have been infected miss Evans I well I hardly know what I mean if there's anything I can do I can tell you what to do doctor start wiping out bang disease in our dairy herds in other farm animals and we'll be starting to wipe out undulent fever in human beings do you realize how big a job that is we're not afraid of big jobs let's ask the country's professional journals to tell our doctors and veterinarians about this tricky disease that that tires you so that sometimes you have a fever and sometimes you don't so that it's hard to diagnose just what's wrong miss Evans I'll sit down let me get you a glass of water thank you oh please don't bother obby I was not all right some time later I had an operation and I got a report from the laboratory they had found Bruce's germ in my blood I had caught undulent fever myself undulent fever they called the disease in the form in which it hit human beings but as I could tell them from firsthand experience you didn't always have a clinical fever so we chose a new scientific name brucellosis but new name old the germ was stubborn so there I was five years later lying in a hospital in north of Virginia but that didn't matter because Miss Evans it is our great honor to have elected you president of the American Society of Bacteriologists miss Evans by unanimous consent we confer upon you this honorary MD and doctorate insights those things made me very happy yes but what I liked best was to know that we'd started the job of making milk safe for millions of American families our farmers in dairy industry joined in the fight enthusiastically wholeheartedly it seemed I could hear again the chapel choir singing the same tune they'd sung when I left home so long before and the song companion in arms made me think of the men and women who work unseen sometimes unheard of in the laboratories of america working to make life better and safer for all speaking for dupont as everybody knows color can make all of the difference between a cheery room and one that is gloomy and dull scientifically used it helps us feel better see better work better to an increasing extent nowadays industry is making use of the color psychology which every woman has discovered for herself in redecorating her home in collaboration with illumination engineers paint experts of the dupont company have worked out a scientific plan for the use of color along with proper lighting in plant and office buildings it is known as dupont color conditioning color conditioning helps to increase production and reduce accidents it has a tremendous psychological effect on the morale of men and women at work it contributes materially to cleanliness and safety for instance the Gillette safety razor company recently color conditioned important areas in its large plant in boston in a razor inspection room the upper part of the walls was painted light green and the lower part the dado a darker green a room in which shaving cream is packaged was painted in two tones of blue with the ceiling white to reflect the largest possible amount of light improvement was noticeable immediately to quote a girl who works for the Gillette company i see better work better and feel better at the end of the day the company's chief engineer reports dupont color conditioning has improved the appearance of our entire plant this practical interior painting plan increases efficiency and safety and boosts morale among our employees unquote dupont color conditioning helps Gillette employees look sharp feel sharp be sharp so important and advance in color science do we believe color conditioning to be that we invite business men and those interested in industrial painting to write on their business letterheads to the radio section dupont company wilmington delaware color conditioning the scientific use of paint and light is a development of dupont maker of better things for better living through chemistry music for the dupont cavalcade is composed and conducted by robert armbruster tonight's cavalcade was written by bernard victor drier in the cast with miss bruce were sydney miller louis van ruten herb butterfield howard swift ellen spring red howard lunette along and eddie marne gain wetman with a few important words thank you john heason ladies and gentlemen this evening's broadcast will be the last dupont cavalcade until monday august 18 this doesn't mean that those of us who work to bring you a new show each week will spend the time lying on the sand at the seashore or loafing under the old apple tree much of the preparation for a cavalcade goes on weeks in advance all of us the directors the writers the musicians and technicians hope you have enjoyed our shows and the little stories of chemistry of course we hope you'll be with us again when we return to the air on monday august 18 if you care to write us suggesting the type of cavalcade you enjoy most we would appreciate hearing from you and now goodbye until monday evening august 18 this is gain wetman wishing you a happy summer for the dupont company maker of better things for better living through chemistry this is mbc the national broadcast in government