 Starring Dean Jagger on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by Dupont, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight Cavalcade brings you a story of the men of the merchant marine. Those men who, without benefit of glamour or acclaim, go quietly about the business of sailing cargo ships across the seas. Our play, Torpedo Lane, was written by Stuart Hawkins. It is late afternoon. In a building near the New York waterfront, a dozen men are waiting in the large room which seamen call the shipping hall. They wear no uniform, old felt hats, cloth caps, a raincoat here, a sweater there, and one little man resplendently uncomfortable in a derby hat, stiff collar, and an obviously new suit and overcoat. He is the center of interest right now. He's gonna go have his picture took, so he can send it out for a comic Valentine next February. No, he's gonna run for Congress. He bought that outfit to kiss babies in, didn't ya, Blinky? Yeah, sure, but y'all only kissed girls, babies, who's old enough to vote. Pipe down, pipe down, pipe down, you guys. Pipe down, fellas. Medic line freighter needs three ABs, an oil and a water tender. That's for maids. That's a water tender. Oh, man! Blue better line of Collier, one oiler, two firemen, four ABs, and a cook. Put Tex and me down. We're both firemen. Okay. Check your papers and get your passes at Eddie's desk. Okay. Hey, Blinky. You're a cook, aren't ya? What you waiting for? Oh, just one more day, sure. I ain't wore these clothes hardly anywhere's yet. You can't see without a cook, Blinky. You wanted to miss a convoi so you can swank around one more day? No, but... Oh, all right. I wish some fellow'd invented sailor that didn't have to eat. Hey, why'd he own a one-concentrated set? Well, young fella, what can I do for you? Well, I'm looking for Mr. Stevens. I'm Stevens. You're a new card, aren't ya? What's your name? It's Dugan, Slim Dugan. Glad to know you, Slim. What you written? Ordinary Seaman. I finished the 90-day course at the Merchant Marine School in St. Petersburg last month and signed on to a Chesapeake Bay lumber boat. I came ashore in Baltimore yesterday. All right now, Slim. All the ships on today's list have got their quota of ordinaries. You come back tomorrow morning early when the new lists are up and I'll be screaming for ordinaries then. Okay, and what kind of a ship do you think that I ought to try for, Mr. Stevens? If there's any choice, I mean... Wait a sec. Hello. Stevens talking. Yeah? How many of them? Swell. Of course I'll wear it. Yeah, I'm starting right now. Bye. Hey, Eddie, watch the calls before I get back. Okay. Gotta run, Slim. There's a Coast Guard boat coming up the bay with seven more survivors off a tanker. I saw Peter last week. I'm going to meet him. Hand me my coat off that chair, will you? Well, sure. Here you are. Say, look, Mr. Stevens, can I go along with you? You know, I'd like to see him tour. I mean, guys who've really been through it like that. Okay. I guess I can get you onto the pier. We've got to hurry. They said she's almost in already. Gosh. There's she's on boat. I've seen one this close before. Here come the stretches. One, two. I don't see any more on deck, do you? No. Don't tell him who's under those bandages in the first one. Say, he must have been burdened pretty bad, huh? Yeah. Gee, it's Pop Hillary in this one. Hi, Pop. See you at the hospital later. You know, he heard you. He grinned at you. Thank God there's only two of them. Two out of seven ain't so bad. Here come the other guys, Mike Sherman and Swede. Hey, Mike. Mike Sherman. Come over here, Mike. Hi, Stevie. How you doing, boy? Hey, is Lazaro sure yet? Lazaro, yeah. They brought him in last Thursday. Hot dog. I bet him two bucks we'd come out of this, okay? I'm afraid he wouldn't be here to pay up. You big liar. Oh, Mike. Oh, come on. Hey, Helen. Oh, I thought I'd never get here. How are you? Fine. Are you hurt? No. You're not hurt, are you? Hey, take it easy, kid. I'm okay. Not even a scratch. Oh, meet Mr. Stevens. My name's Helen Brock. Hello. How do? My name's Slim Duggan. New hand just out of school, St. Pete. Glad to know you. How do you do? Shake, kid. Right. Now that I know you're okay, I'll go check up on the others. Sure, Stevie. Uncle Mike, are you sure you're all right? Of course I am. Oh, you dames. Always worrying even when things is all over. How long were you drifting, Mr. Sherman, before they picked you up? Six days. And lay off that Mr. business. My name's Mike. Okay. Six days. That must have been something to go through. Oh, that wasn't so bad. The only cover was nobody thought to bring any cigarettes. Say, Helen, where's your mom? Didn't she come down with you? She wasn't home when they phoned. And I left a note saying I'd call her as soon as I knew how you were. Well, let's go tell her to start getting dinner ready. Boy, I've been dreaming about one of her pies for the past three days. Now I guess Mr. Stevens has gone right along with the ambulance. Huh? Uh, Mike. Yeah. So what's a good hotel in town? I don't cost too much. I just got in from Baltimore this morning. Any of those places near the hall are okay, I suppose. Yeah, but Helen, is your mom got anyone in the back room right now? No. Harry wrench chipped out yesterday morning. Well, then come on home with us, kid. My sister will give you a room and swell grub for a buck and be glad of the money. Look, Mike's ready for more coffee, mom. I'll pass you a cup then, Mike. I thought there was a coffee shortage. Oh, not tonight. Go on with your story now. There's nothing to tell. We burned out a bear and had to drop out of the convoy. Next morning we got it. Well, before I could even get topside another one. Two torpedoes this time, huh? The other time they only hit you with one. You mean you've been torpedoed before, Mike? Yeah, didn't I tell you? Three months ago on the Face Town Bay. That time we got the fire under control and brought her in okay. How's about another piece of pie, Mike? Oh, gosh, no, sis. I'm full enough to bust right now. Are you slim? Just this little sliver? No, thanks, Mrs. Brophy. Go on, Mike. Well, by the time I got on deck, two tanks was ablaze, one forward, one amid ships. We thought we could save her, but then another tank blew up and that did. Oh, gosh. What'd you do then? Well, I got into one of the light boats and six days later they picked us up. Oh, boy. Looks to me like you're ready for bed, Mike. I sure am. That blamed little patrol boat bounced around so I didn't get no sleep on the way in. I don't know how those gobs stand on them things. Well, I wouldn't have minded being on one if I could have gotten into the Navy. You're welcome to them. I like a steady ship unto me. You take a tank, I carry in 100,000 barrels of aeroplane gas. Why, shields slide along as steady as a billiard table in most any kind of weather. Why wouldn't they take you in the Navy, Slim? Oh, my left knee's got a gimp in it. I ran a pitchfork into it when I was a kid. Oh, I didn't notice it. Oh, it only bothers me when I'm real tired, but they wouldn't take me into the Army or the Navy or anywhere. Well, I've got a toilet book. Well, I'll go open your bed and see you've got enough blankets. It's going to be a coldish night for now. Yeah, I'll get out of the hallway with you in the morning, Slim. Now you're not going to ship out again right away, are you? Why not? If there's a tanker on the list tomorrow, Steve will probably call me anyhow. Might as well save him the trouble. Night, kid. Night, Helen. Night. Good night, Uncle Mike. Gosh, I can't figure him out. What do you mean? Well, I just can't imagine anybody wanting to be on a tanker instead of on a patrol boat. Why not? Uncle Mike sailed on tankers for the last eight years, and he's used to them, and he likes them. Yeah, but on a patrol boat, he'd be chasing subs instead of getting sunk by them. He'd really be counting for something. You mean you don't think what he's doing counts for something? Well, it's not like one of the fighting services. Oh, that's the craziest idea I ever heard of. What good are your fighting services without gas to fly the planes and run the tanks and stuff? Oh, sure. Sure, I told myself all that when I signed up at the training school. But there's a difference. You bet there's a difference. There's no uniform and no medals and no glory about the merchant marine. There's only work and going into danger knowing you can't fight back when it strikes. You ask me, that takes real courage. The realest kind of courage there is. Gee, I didn't mean to upset you, Helen. I just felt it. Well, I'm in it. I'll give it a whirl. But I guess I'll always feel it with second choice. Maybe that's because you don't know much about it yet. Good morning, Stevie. Oh, Mike. Hi there, Slim. Just in time, Slim. Got a freighter that needs three ordinaries in a hurry. Blue banner. Holy, Stevie. Slim ain't interested in no freighters. What's posted for us tanker men this morning? We want to ship together. Say, you haven't gone and talked to a kid into becoming a tanker stiff like yourself, have you? Listen, Stevens. The last guy who called me a tanker stiff didn't wake up the next day. Come on now, what's on the list? Well, there's one up with your old line, Mike. What's an A-B and two ordinaries? Check up one A-B and one ordinary, Stevie. Okay, kid. Sure. Where is she? And how soon do we go aboard? You are listening to Torpedo Lane on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by Dupont. As our play continues, Slim, played by Dean Jagger, is talking with his friend, Mike. It has been 14 days since they left home port. You did okay on the wheel tonight, Slim? I saw the old man nodding to himself every time you made a zig. You know, I made him better than that dinky little panel boat up ahead. He was all over the ocean, did you notice? Uh-huh. There's always one like that in every convoy. Gee, we've been off watch half hour already. It's a swell night, ain't it? Yeah. I guess that's what they mean by a tropic moon, huh? Yeah. Sure is big. Yeah, I wish it wasn't so big or so blame-bright. Oh, I like it. Mike, this does things to you, do you know it? Yeah. It makes you sort of sad, so pretty. I know what you mean, kid. I've seen a million nights like this, but still hit you the same way. You always think you've never seen the ocean so pretty. Sort of talks to you, don't it? Uh-huh. Mike, before you was Torpedo the first time, did you... What were you worried about getting hit? Listen, kid, the only time we worry about getting hit is after it's happened. Yeah, sure. It don't seem like four days since we started North again, does it? Time always goes fast when you're in a convoy. You'll be surprised as soon as we see a little old New York again. Say, you know what we ought to do when we get back? We ought to take Helen and her mother to the movies. Ah, Ruth don't like movies. Oh, don't she? Helen does, though. Yeah? Would you think that she'd go with me? Why not? You made quite an impression on her, kid. Don't you mean that? She told me you was the nicest guy she'd ever seen. Outside of... Outside of who? Outside of a nut house, and didn't I think they ought to put you back? If you wasn't her uncle, you know, I'd toss you over the shell and make you a swimmer. Hey, what was that? Stand by for trouble, kid. Oh, what's happened? One of the other ships has been hit. Come on, over the board side while we can see. Yeah, the banana boat. Look at it. Partita? Of course, you're dope. There's a sub out there somewhere. He's had a still-wetted against that moon. Holy smackers, there he comes! Capito coming on the board beam! Turn! Head left, brother! Why don't they turn her? It's too late, Mike. It's too late, it's gonna get us. That lousy moon. The sub had us lined up against it like ducks in a shooting gallery. Kiss the deck, kid! My foot! This heat, those flames. Number five tank, that's it. We gotta keep spreading. Come on, grab a hose line. Sure, right with you, Mike. What's that? The destroyer. Left bomb. He's trying to get this up. Fire, hot flame, blow it. Plantar and China. Give me that hose. Don't get too close, kid. Them flames are swirling this way. Come back, kid. Back to the stage. I'm okay. Come, kid. Back out. This heat. Boy, if it's like this here. Trying to get the light most of here. Over to this side, Mike. There's no burning oil to win it here. Okay, kiddo. See that light wrap floating out there right in the moon track? Jump and swim for it. Jump first, Mike. I'll follow you. This ain't no time to be polite, you mug. Go on, jump. Okay, Mike. See you later. Watch yourself. Here comes Bob. Must be about midnight for now. Yeah. Little wrap like this travels to something to win. I wish we could have, we could have helped whoever it was that was yelling that time. Yeah. Maybe found another raft or something. You can't tell. I ain't heard any more tanks go up since that second one. She was a sweet ship. There she is burning like a torch out of hell. I sure hope they got that sneaking sub. You said it. See, Mike. Yeah? Mike, I just realized. I wasn't scared at all. I'm not scared now. Well, what's funny about that? Well, I sort of expected to be. I mean, I was afraid that I might be. But I wasn't. I never thought you would be good. Let's do us to see who stays awake while the other guy gets in sleep, huh? Sunshine feels good. It's really getting some warmth in it now. Yeah. Be plenty hot before long. There's not so much smoke back there now, Mike. Say, there ain't at that. You know, I bet them two tanks is darn near burned out. My gosh, I'd give my eye teeth to know if there's a chance of bringing her into port after all. How do you think there might be? There's no telling. Even if one of her engines run, I'd like to take a shot at it. There's a whole lot of good gas in them other seven tanks, boy. Mike. Mike, Mike, look there. Where? No, this way, Mike. Look, it's one of the patrol boats that's coming back. Glory be the head and put the tanker, though. Wave something. Wave your arms while I get my shirt off. Atta boy. This way, you guys. Watch your step now. The swell is pretty tricky. Hey, thanks. Hey, Slim. I'm OK. OK. All clear, sir. Lieutenant, can I borrow them glasses of yours, please? Sure. Thanks. I'm right, Slim. The light boats are flustered around the stern. They're going back aboard. For Pete's sake, hurry, Lieutenant. They'll need our help putting that player out. Haven't you guys seen enough fire for a while? Not if there's a chance of saving her. That's our ship. Pull ahead, all engines. We're on our jet. We can put that place out. There's the old man by the rail after ventilator there. Come on, Lieutenant. Put us alongside that sea ladder. There's a nasty sea running. You have to jump, Frank. Hey, Captain. We're coming aboard. OK? All right. We need every hand if we're going to get her in. Oh, you jump first, Slim. And get up that ladder pass. Don't be in my way. Right. All right. Go ahead. Jump. I made it. Come on, Mike. Come on, kid. Hey, hey. There he is. Get him. I got him. Mike's hurt. He's hurt the man. I'm coming. Mr. Stevens. Yeah. But ain't Slim Duggan. Hi, kid. Where'd you come from? Mr. Stevens, you heard anything about Mike? Mike Sherman? No. Why was he hurt? Well, he got hurt. The patrol boat transferred him to a sea plane and then they flew him ashore four days ago. I thought that you'd know. I hadn't heard a word. OK, thanks. Where are you going? I want to talk to you. To his sisters. They must have hurt something there. Helen, you had any word about Mike? He died last night, Slim. The mother was there at the hospital when he... he went... kept asking if we heard from you. He was worrying about getting the ship in. Yeah. He would. He was a... a great guy, Helen. Yes. Did you bring him in all right? Yeah. With three and a half million gallons of aviation gas still left. He'd have been with the land. I wish he could have known it was OK before I went. Why yet? Just a minute. It's for you, Slim. It's for me? Hello? Oh, yeah? Why? Well, yeah, sure. How soon? OK, sure. Bye. Who was it? It was Stephen's. It was a tanker that short-handed. She's got it clear tonight. So soon? Yeah, so soon. I told him I'd be right over. I'm glad you're going, Slim. It's what Mike would do if he was here. You know, I'll never be as good a tanker stiff as he was, but I can try anyhow. You don't know where you'll be going, I suppose. Well, Stephen said to bring my heavy clothes. I guess that means that I won't be going down south again. You know, I guess this time that we'll be taking high octane gas right to the boys who use it. Right to where it'll be doing fighting service. Wasn't that what you said? Yeah, I guess it was. I must have sounded sort of silly that night. That seems a long while ago now. Yeah. Well, I better be going. Goodbye, Helen. Well, we'll be expecting you to drop around here when you get back, Slim. Yeah, I will. Helen, I... Yeah, I sure will. Good luck, Slim. I'll be seeing you. So long. Thank you, Dean Jagger. Ladies and gentlemen, in a few moments, Mr. Jagger will return to the microphone to present Miss Madeline Carroll and third mate John Grossman of the U.S. Merchant Marine. Miss Carroll is with us tonight, not as an actress, but in her official role as director of recreation for the United Seaman Service. Before we hear from her, we have a story of how chemistry solved an important problem. This is a story of an emergency, a minor emergency that easily might have become a major catastrophe for the Navy if chemistry hadn't stepped in as a troubleshooter. Paints, lacquers, varnishes, practically everything that flies or floats must be given a protective coating of one kind or another. That often means paint. Well, where you need paint, you need paintbrushes. And that's where the trouble began. Paintbrushes must have bristles. And for the past quarter-century, American brush manufacturers have imported their bristles from the Orient. Something like 80% of the ones America used for brushes came from the scraggly hogs of China and Manchuria. The rest came from Russia. And that was all right before Pearl Harbor. But since then, with the nation accelerating war production, with new Navy craft launched one after another, more brushes have been needed than ever before. And the bristles are no longer coming in from the Orient. For some purposes, it was possible to find a substitute. But for paintbrushes, especially large brushes with long bristles, only hog bristles were satisfactory. Nothing else had the right taper, the resiliency, and the resistance to wear. That was the situation a year ago, and that was where chemistry stepped in. Nylon bristles for toothbrushes introduced by Dupont in 1938 were the first really satisfactory synthetic bristles ever made. When the Navy asked Dupont to help in making a long paintbrush bristle equal to or better than natural hog bristles, Dupont was ready with an already developed process for tapering nylon filaments to serve the purpose, samples of which were approved by the Navy in short order. The Navy then preempted Dupont's entire semi-commercial production, necessitating the building of enlarged facilities that will soon be ready to meet the additional wartime needs of our armed forces. As with most other essential materials, these nylon bristles for paintbrushes will not be available for civilian needs until after the war. In short, Dupont chemists solved the problem. And as happened so often when science tackles a job, the man-made product is superior in many respects to the natural material. Nylon bristles don't have to be sterilized or sorted or blended. Moths don't eat them. They don't dry out or rot. And they wear at least three times as long as natural bristles. Chemistry, alert to the necessity of guarding against emergencies, has not only solved the problem but has produced a better material. A new addition to the lengthening list of Dupont's Better Things for Better Living through Chemistry. Ladies and gentlemen, the star of tonight's cavalcade, Dean Jacker. Thank you. On this broadcast, honouring the men of our Merchant Marine, it's my pleasure to present Miss Madeleine Kale, as Director of Recreation for the United Seaman Surks. Thank you, Mr. Jacker. Appearing with me tonight is John Grossman, who is third mate in the Merchant Marine. I've asked him to come here because he is typical of the thousands of young men who have entered this very important arm of our war effort. Tell me, Mr. Grossman, are you on furlough now? No, I'm not, Miss Kale. I'm standing by for assignment to a ship. You see, I've just finished four months' training at New London that prepared me to sit for my mate's license. There were more than a thousand of us all together at the school. That training school is something new, isn't it, Mr. Grossman? Well, yes it is. In the old days, most men could go to sea a thousand years and never get out of the poxel. But that's all changed now. Today, we are paid $126 a month while we study. And when we finish the course and made the grade, we receive a license that's good for any ocean any time. We're learning from our previous mistakes. After this war, we're going to keep our merchant marine and not give it back to the Indians. Amen to that, Mr. Grossman. And until the war is over, ladies and gentlemen, it is up to us to see that the men of the merchant marine are provided with recreation, medical help if they need it, personal service, and companionship when they are ashore. We do it and rightfully so for our soldiers, sailors, and marines. The merchant marine deserves support too, in whatever way you can afford. No matter how little it is, it will be appreciated. Won't you help? Address me, Madeleine Carroll, care of United Seaman Service, 39 Broadway, New York City. Thank you. Next week, ladies and gentlemen, Cavalcade brings you a narrative story of a subject vital to every one of us today. Alaska Under Arms. Our star will be the popular radio actress, Arlene Francis. Be with us again next week when Cavalcade presents Alaska Under Arms starring Arlene Francis. The orchestra and musical score tonight were under the direction of Don Buries. The part of Mike was played by Ed Jerome, the role of Helen by Anne Thomas. Cavalcade is happy to announce that Dean Jagger will soon be seen in the Broadway production, Yankee Point. This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Dupont. This program came to you from New York. This is the National Broadcasting Company.