 dedicated to the strength of the nation. proudly we hail, hail, starring mcdonald carry in black dust, the united states army and united states air force presentation and now here is our producer the well-known hollywood showman c.p. mcgregor thank you thank you very much and greetings from hollywood ladies and gentlemen welcome to your theater of stars we're all the famous names and motion pictures join us in plays we know you'll enjoy our star is the very popular and capable actor mcdonald carry the title of our story black dust we'll have the curtain for act one in just a moment but first here is your announcer choose the career that offers all five the u.s. army offers you these five keys to a successful future one a career of service to country two the right job for you three continuous training for planned advancement four lifetime security five travel and recreation yes men choose the career that offers all five find out about the five keys to a successful future at your nearest u.s. army and u.s. air force recruiting station now once again our producer the curtain rises on act one of black dust starring mcdonald carry as dr. philip hender in a great city of the world a lofty edifice of hewn marble stood in ostentatious monument to the god jehovah it was there that dr. philip hender young and prematurely grey spoke the service of the wondrous miracle each week of the numerical cycle of fifty two upon this night the rain loosed across the darken brow of the world like a slanting curtain of black lace and dr. philip hender walked and thought within the cloistered confining space of the rectory and then his feet were drawn by some ethereal magnetic force through the wet glistening streets to the house of bishop esoph the white haired and venerable dean and all the newfound determination within dr. philip hender's soul crashed against the brass knocker plate of the door and waited good evening sir dr. hender well for gracious to goodness i apologize for the hour of bishop apologies be hanged what in the white world are you doing out on a pouring tabby night like this well i no bumbershoot, no rubbers, squishing like a sponge come in, come in, come in before you catch your death thank you sir is a bit wet never wetter since the flood miss abbey bishop esoph whatever it is can wait until we get you wrong out miss abbey oh please sir there's no reason for commotion cleanliness is next to godliness doctor but drowning oneself is overdoing it miss abbey put a log on the lounge fire bring some towels and my flannel wrapper oh yes and some strong hot tea did you hear me miss abbey i said did you hear me miss abbey's hearing is one of the most unpredictable phenomena of mortal function now let us go into the lounge and examine your reasons for this self inflicted subversion now dr. hender now that you've quite stopped steaming like a pot full of mussels suppose we begin at the beginning very well bishop i i want to transfer yes sir i want to be transferred away from my church you what doctor you have come several miles from the worst storm of my recollection you arrive at an unholy hour you drip water on my rugs and you give me as a reason for this this submarine pilgrimage do you want to transfer from your church yes bishop that was my only reason for coming here doctor are you feeling quite well you have every appearance of a healthy man i've never felt better in my life physically spiritually i've never felt worse that is an admission of very grave consequence my boy i would much prefer you would set the reverse can you can you tell me the why of this spiritual debility doctor yes i think i can bishop it's it's a starvation i believe what it may be difficult to understand what i really mean by that remark spiritual starvation well go on bishop for six years of sunday mornings i've clothed myself in ministerial cloth and i've looked into the faces of my people while i've spoken the words of the creation of God and His prophets of His warnings and His promises yes i've received many compliments on my eloquence i've heard it said that Dr. Hender is a credit to his church and to his pulpit that he presents an imposing and dignified sight with his straight back and rich timbre of voice well but in all those six years of sunday mornings bishop i've yet to hear one word of the wondrous things of God the absolute perfection of Christ of the infinite wisdom of His words my congregation has been far more concerned not with what i said but how i said it they've been concerned with who wears what to my church and who contributes how much to my plate Dr. Hender please bishop i've watched their faces as obvious as the tides of the sea and i know that i've failed Dr. Hender i would say that that is an overstatement no bishop if anything it's an understatement and i want a chance the opportunity to prove that i can succeed but how i want to take the word of God where the word of God has never been heard i want to teach it not for how it sounds but for what it means whether it be from a stump of a tree in a jungle or from the rail of a pasture but beyond all else i want it to be in a setting where God is needed and when no one else has the inclination to teach his works please bishop can you find me such a place i believe you are very sincere Dr. Hender i am and i also believe i know of just such a place where the little mining village of Klengaui where in the last 50 years the records stay for any minister of the gospel has been 48 hours in fact some of them are nearly killed you see doctor they do not want God in Klengaui where they don't want God there God will be do you still want the transfer doctor Hender more than anything else on earth thank you bishop i can be ready to leave in the morning Klengaui a staggering village of gutted hills of half below and half above the earth a village of rotting hobbles of weatherboard and scrap tin and people begrimed with a century of black dust both without and within coal is the only god here and the echoing caverns of the great pit his only church his prayers are cursing and foulness his altar incense the insidious black damp and his only offerings toil and sweat and death everyone and everything about Klengaui and even words have the cutting abrasive feel of the dust here no flowers no song of birds like a grayish pawl to this forsaken village where there is neither God nor want for God has come Dr. Phillip Hender to find lodgings in the tottering house of old Mrs. Wembley and to seek more than lodgings but rather a home in the hearts of his fellow men well you can think what you're a mind to Dr. Hender all I've got to say is you're a fool perhaps Mrs. Wembley perhaps but even a fool may have his faith like Dr. Hender if it ain't coal it don't belong here you know Mrs. Wembley faith and coal have two things in common they both burn and they both give light I'm hoping that because of this similarity perhaps there might be room in Klengaui for both that's the same as tying fancy ribbons round a parcel of garbage no I can use the money you're paying me a week right enough no more is the pity I'll see only one week of it I'll give you a full month in advance no no you don't take it from me you'll not be here near a month two days is more like it and I've still got me conscience even if it is precious little I was a church goer once myself I'll have you know once Mrs. Wembley I was as good a Christian as I'd want to find going to church every Sunday putting me pennies in the box but there ain't nothing in Klengaui to make us all want to stay Christian there is now Mrs. Wembley there's another Christian which means two of us and tomorrow we'll both go to church church in Klangaui yes I've rented the mule barn for tomorrow morning mule barn yes I don't believe the good Lord will be offended by a few mules in our congregation we'll sing hymns and I'll preach the best I know how preach into an old frump like me in a pack of mules well I said he was a fool right enough there might be more than just you and the mules Mrs. Wembley I nailed an invitation on the door of the mine shack a little while ago an invitation for all good people to come to church you did what? yes you know in this modern age it pays to advertise even for a church and who knows tomorrow morning we might surprise the mules when the congregation will rise to sing the church is one foundation read it again Morgan it's the best I've heard since Bully Wilson's comical stories it is it's a good thing that Morgan can read I hate to miss this he should have drawn pictures for the likes of us maybe all he can draw is flies all right all right in the King's English it says tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock all are kindly invited to attend divine services to be held in the Davies mule barn sign sign Dr. Phillip Hender that's what I call a great night's invitation something like the King's barn wait wait wait you bet I'd say let's make a day of it let's go to the mule barn be in a curious nature I've always wanted to see the difference between a mine mule and a jackass we pause briefly from our story Black Dust starring McDonnell Kerry to bring you an important message from our government planning for the future is mighty important to a young man with ability and ambition if you're one of these fellows look to the future as an officer in the United States Air Force a flying career as a pilot or navigator or a non-flying career in a wide variety of interesting fields can be yours to qualify and be selected for training you must meet certain age, educational and physical standards on completion of training you'll earn your reserve commission as a second lieutenant and have many opportunities to earn a regular commission while on active duty here's your opportunity for a future that's exciting and challenging get all the facts on the important assignments awaiting you and the many other reasons why being an officer in the U.S. Air Force can mean so much to your future you need information right away who rises on act two of black dust starring McDonnell Kerry is Dr. Phillip Hender 20 centuries ago the most sublime and perfect service of divinity began in the house of cattle in the lowliest of stables in another small village where godlessness obscured the sun and the hands and the hearts of men and now 2,000 years later on this morning an unaccustomed sound shattered through the torpor of Plengarwin the on-tuned dissonance of metal against brass a cowbell swung in astronomical circles by the enthusiastic arm of Dr. Phillip Hender my dear friends we have gathered here today before god to claim our right before him in the sanctuary of his benevolence and his boundless and infinite promise of forgiveness oh hallelujah perhaps the mathematical orbits of the stars perhaps the infinite will of god have led our way hither to this this regal stall of mule but I believe fully and sincerely that his word preached from a note box in such humble surroundings as these is less from the pulpit and more from the bible but now it's more than gratifying to see all of you here thank you I thank you on his behalf we have no hymn books but I believe it almost certain that many of you will remember from your childhood circle the hymn Rock of Ages Mrs. Wembley will you sound the pitch pipe now please within your hearts if you don't remember the words hum the song Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thy sight that's what the skunk said oh god in thy name we ask it now's your chance will thou bring peace and the serenity of thy son the Christ under this people who need thee pardon me god who threw that tomato I said who threw that tomato I did sky pilot and what would you like to make of it you mind telling me your name I joy Morgan preacher and now that you know it what of it Mr. Morgan I can find no arguments nor strength for arguments when you defile me but when you defile God yes well I'm a committee of one see I'm rightly telling you that you don't belong here you and your holier than thou talk your God's done nothing for us here and we ain't asking him to and we don't want none of your kind standing around on street corners and mule bags look my friend you had the chance to throw that tomato while I was talking to you you didn't do it you didn't have the courage or to make it bluntly the guts like the new preachers are always talking about perhaps you've never heard of the flogger in the temple perhaps I can emulate his performance oh look at him you want to play that way do you think you're a rough neck do you I'll drill your neck into the ground like a vain cutter you whimpering sob of a sky preacher watch this oh look at him he's up again not for long he ain't and if he keeps this time he's coming up again while I put that book to him I don't ride oh my lads what say we all go baptize ourselves in a pint of flaming brew huh we leave this cove to his miracles I hear the story once about a bloke named Lazarus getting raised from the dead say Dr. Henry you was a fool now lie back while I tide this steak round your bruised eye hang the steak on my bruised eye Mrs. Wemley broil it I say with a bit of sauce you're not thinking of going back to the mule barn for church next Sunday are you Dr. Hender I'd best be packing your things we'll hold church again next Sunday Mrs. Wemley you're a fool doctor that Morgan will kill you perhaps but men have been killed for less Mrs. Wemley I want you to know oh God in heaven what is it there's a blow a cave a fire whatever it is there's men down below now it's God striking that's what it is it's God striking God doesn't strike that way Mrs. Wemley now get hold of yourself Mrs. Wemley Mrs. Wemley listen fill all the pots you have in the house with water to boil rip up sheets and get me all the tallow and fat things Mrs. Wemley remember where there is God there's strength who's the skip boss me preachers me Morgan but there ain't nothing to be done who's down below only me son Davy where damp was slow come in the canaries died we knew it was coming Davy was trapped in number three level here's me kid preacher the only kid I've got what are the miners waiting for why don't they go down after it number three is cave in preacher and the black damp is creeping like a fog of 84 you're going to leave him down there oh what else can we do there's no man can live down there for 30 seconds give me a lamp and a line clear me to the skip boss I'm the skip boss as I've said what do you want drop me to number three level I'm going down after Davy oh no no you can't do it preacher no man could live down there that's a chance I'll take now drop me before I break your neck with this pick by you're going down alone preacher no no I'm going down with a friend a friend called God now drop away Morgan and give me the full cable slack drop away the serpentine driftings and stopes Philip Hender sought the elusive tap of a wedging hammer buried somewhere within the fault of suffocating tons of black weight and the seeping sulfurous death of the black damp the minutes merge into hours and the tears above fell like the seepage below and then the skip signal rang out with the jarring signal of victory and the oil cables hissed across the revolving drums in a race from the earthen bowels to the gate of the mineshaft Davy he's going to live doctor long enough to watch your bones crackle and die Mr. Morgan thank you thank you doctor Hender no not me Mr. Morgan let's both thank God you see I said I wasn't going down the shaft alone two of us went down Mr. Morgan three of us came back from the mule barn where the air was full of the smell of oats and hay a strange dissonance probed the sleeping village of Klangarwin it was Sunday morning you see and Dr. Philip Hender was setting his muscles with the swing of the brass cowbell which sang in a discordant tune come to church all good people and the mule barn was filled even to the stalls once I was afraid of Klangarwin because I felt I was alone but I have learned that no man wherever he may be or however he may be can be alone with faith this is the happiest moment of my life beneath the black dust of Klangarwin I have at last found God Paul's and the final act of black dust our star McDonald Kerry will return for a curtain call after this timely message from Wendell Niles valuable professional assignments in the Army Medical Department are now available to a limited number of young doctors in these positions doctors have a chance to work closely with top specialists in the various fields of medicine and keep abreast of the newest developments and the finest modern medical equipment in addition to regular pay and allowances they receive $100 per month professional pay for details right to the Surgeon General Department of the Army, Washington 25 D.C and now once again our star and our producer McDonald Kerry is no newcomer to our microphone being one of the busiest stars in Hollywood is visits are all too few well thanks CP but the important thing to me is that I get invitations to come back Mac you're one of our favorites here and I certainly agree with Earl Wilson that you're one of the top stars of 1949 and 50 now just to support my claims about you being busy how many have you got to be released well about six of them why not give our listeners a few of your recent picture titles all right the ones that are out this month are one for paramount called the song of surrender with Wanda Hendricks and Claude Reigns and one for Universal International called South Sea Center with Shelley Winters what was the name of that title South Sea Center good alliteration I can say it that's good annunciation practice incidentally I think our audience would be interested in that mystery story you were doing United Artists will release this one it's called the man with my face that should give you a rather large personal interest in it it does first of all he's got my face so I do both parts what's the story about this is about a man who comes home on the suburban train and finds out at the beginning that there's something wrong his wife doesn't meet him at the station so he calls her she thinks he's annoying her so she threatens to tell her husband but he's her husband yeah sure but he goes home and hanging in the closet as he comes in the hall he's wearing an identical top coat and hat with the one he has on and sitting in the living room are his best friends his business partner and wife then in comes a man wearing an identical suit of clothes and having the same face as he has there's a situation well what happens well that's CP he is the mystery you'll have to see it to find out oh I will see it well Mac thanks for that little preview you're welcome CP now suppose you give me your preview for next week next week Mac and ladies and gentlemen there will be starring William Lundigan titled Ellen and Prince Charming Belle really gets into trouble when his wife wins a radio jackpot I'll have to hear that sounds like a good one so long CP goodbye Mac we should have joined us next week ladies and gentlemen when William Lundigan will star in a radio jackpot story Ellen and Prince Charming until then thanks for listening and Cheerio from Hollywood Donald Kerry appeared through the courtesy of the Hollywood coordinated committee which arranges for the appearance of all stars on this program the script was by Kimball S. Sant with the music of Eddie Dunstetter this program was transcribed in Hollywood for release at this time Wendell Niles speaking