 From Hollywood, it's time now for Johnny dollar George Reed here Johnny. Oh, oh what fantastic character is Floyd's of England insured this time No, what is that supposed to mean more singing mice wayward cats and how about the counterfeit money problem Johnny? No, no, let me guess John if you'll just listen I got it You're in trouble because you've done a switch you've ensured somebody against living instead of the other way around that it Of course not. No, I must admit. We do have one policy of that sort in effect there I knew it. However, that is not the one I called you about. Okay, George. What is we've issued a policy? Well, I guess it is a little unusual at that. I fear the worst but go on well It's on a small brewery over near worry. You mean a beer factory. That's right It's over near the town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. Oh, yeah, I know that country pretty well good We've ensured the Dortmund brewery against possible damage from a nearby construction project Well, you said unusual what's so unusual about that? Perhaps you'd better come over here and let me tell you yeah When you say it that way, I guess I'd better in the exciting adventures of a man with the action-fact expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollar and now act one of yours truly Johnny dollar Expense accounts submitted by a special investigator Johnny dollar to Floyd's of England North American office Hartford, Connecticut Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the J.P.D. matter Expense account item one a dollar ten taxi from my apartment at George Reed's office Where he promptly dragged me over to a large map tacked at one of the wall Here it is Johnny between the towns of Tamaqua and Frackville, Pennsylvania a little river that's called the Pink Satani Creek Old Indian name I believe Dortmund brewery is just about here. Yeah Well, okay, I'll run a car in New York and drive over there No way by making a couple of train changes you can get most of the way over there by rail anything to save the company of bucks Why not when that freewheeling expense account of yours gets into operation? Okay? Okay? What's the face value of the policy coverage for the whole plant 820,000 dollars? Wow we So I'll run a car in New York. All right. All right Now as I told you we've ensured the Dortmund brewery against possible damage from the building of a plant right next to it What kind of a plant competition another brewery? Oh, I see possible malicious damage. Is that what they're thinking of? That's what JP seems to be worried about JP JP Dortmund owner manager President brewmeister and anything else you can think of has anything happened yet No, but I want you to go there and be sure that nothing does is this JP my contact. Yes, okay, George. I'm on my way Expense account item 2 935 fair and incidentals Hartford to New York Item 350 dollars deposit on a drive your own car Item 450 cents toll through the Holland Tunnel. I Cut straight across the top of Jersey across the Delaware at Phillipsburg and finally pulled into the little town of Tamato shortly after 6 p.m Items 5 6 and 7 12 20 a dinner a place to rest my weary head and breakfast the next morning The Dortmund brewery sat on the western bank of Pink Satani Creek about five miles out of town and looked as though It had been sitting there for a thousand years It was a small affair and the old frame buildings were badly in need of a coat of paint Just north of it rose a towering cliff and on top of that cliff stood an array of cranes and machines and bulldozers That are used on modern large-scale construction jobs. I Parked my car at the entrance of the office building and was greeted at the door by a large raw bone woman of about 50 With straggly yellow hair and wearing a faded blue cotton dress that looked as though it hadn't been ironed in years How about I can do for you? Oh, why I'm looking for mr. JP Dortham. Mr. Left is it why because I'm JP What that's right anything wrong with it? Well, I wait a minute You another of those lawyers and that job upon the cliff comes a fancy talk me about not having a worry in the world about what they're doing No, no, I'd better mind my own business What do you mean? No, my name is dollar journey dollar. I'm here on behalf of Floyd's of England the insurance company Well now that's different You'll come on into my private office Johnny Her private office was furnished with a battered walnut desks some ancient filing cabinets and a couple of straight wooden chairs nothing else Hardly the kind of an office you'd expect for the president of a company worth $820,000 there's nothing fancy about it Johnny because there's nothing fancy about any part of my brewery But that isn't what counts We've been here ever since my great-great-grandfather built it up and all we've cared about is making the finest beer in the country Gretchen and we do make it to Gretchen. Can't you hear me out? Gretchen I want you to bring Mr. Dollar a pitcher full of my glass Well, look, I'm afraid I'm not much of a beer man. You will be when you've tasted this It's a creek that does it you know pinks a Tony creek find this water for beer in the whole United States That's what makes good beer. You know yes, so I've heard that's why that dirty Clarkson Kemper bunch of building up on the cliff to get That water I understand they'll be your competitors All their fancy modern equipment and methods can't produce the brew the way I can The long slow easy way with all the good old-fashioned apparatus the old country methods Yes, I see why Johnny we make our own barley malt and we grind it by hand And we come up with a wart that's second to none in the world the old type Sparger to and the hop jacks and I'll find a strain of yeast there is yes I'm sure the three full months we age before we rack a drop Sure, we take more time and more trouble, but we come up with a better brew better than any modern plant can ever make Well, and what's your problem? They're getting ready to blast up on that cliff black a whole big chunk of it away And when they do that whole thing will come crashing down here thousands of tons of rocks Well surely there's some state authority or something to prevent that how they bamboozle the authorities and your insurance company too They'll say it was an accident a miscalculation and when that rock comes crashing down here It'll wreck this whole plant of mine. Well, you do have insurance remember it'll wreck all my fine old equipment That can never again be replaced because there are no such things anymore Well, when's all this blasting supposed to take place who knows tonight tomorrow next week who knows that soon Yeah, so Johnny if there's anything you can do you'd better do it now What's insurance money if I have to lose this for it? Oh No Maybe she was right suspecting her rivals might try a stunt like that to put her out of business But it all seemed a little too far-fetched And yet when I think of some of the unscrupulous things that have been done to put down competition Maybe she was justified in suspecting this Carlson Kemper crowd of Yeah Maybe she was Act two of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment our flag now numbers 50 stars And behind each star there stands yet another flag representing one of the 50 states Massachusetts state flag bearing a green pine tree is the descendant of the famous Liberty Tree flag that came out of Boston to serve all The original 13 colonies It was under the Liberty Tree flag that the Sons of Liberty met and planned the Boston Tea Party That are affloating batteries on the Delaware River defended Philadelphia and on the Charles River defied house cannons Beneath the trees and scribe the state motto and suit that it placidum sub labor tatay create them by the sword We seek peace but peace only under Liberty These words were originally written by the famous English Patriot Algernon Sidney about 1659 This was a message intended for King George III Unhappily it went unheeded Massachusetts state flag the flag of the 6th state to enter the union was adopted on March 18 1904 and now act two of yours truly Johnny dollar and the J.P.D. matters If JP Dortmund was right if there was the least possibility She was right in her suspicion that Carlson Kemper would blast thousands of tons of rock down on a little plant in order to put her out of business Well, it was only one thing to do. I got back into my car and drove by around about way up to the top of the cliff overlooking the Dortmund Bury They're in the middle of the vast array of heavy construction equipment giant cranes trucks huge cement mixes and so on I found the main construction shack and by a stroke of luck one of the partners in the proposed new brewery. Mr. James Carlson That crazy old lady's being absurd Mr. Dollar You really want the truth? Well, I think she'd welcome our smashing that antiquated brewery of hers out of existence Is that what you plan to do, Mr. Carlson? Can you be serious by blasting a few tons of rock off the face of the cliff into the river or a few thousand tons or a few Thousand tons won't do that place of hers a bit of harm. You're sure. Of course. I'm sure only thing I'm not sure of is why she stays in business. What do you mean by that? Of course, you can't be making any money Methods she uses were out of date in this country 50 years ago Products good sure, but today you've got snowballs. Did you know darling that out of the goodness of my heart? I offered to take that crummy plant of hers off her hands. Well because her location is better down next to the water supply. Oh Parkly sure I offered her nearly half a million for her spot to 400,000 big jacks, but no dice just kept bothering us trying to get out a lot of injunctions against our building there I assume you have the necessary permits for this blasting operation. Hold draw And look at them yourself at the same time appreciate the volume of red tape necessary to do anything these days But suppose that something should go wrong that quite by accident the top of that cliff should drop down on JP's Burry mr. Dollar It's to obviate any such possibility that I call it one of the foremost blasters in the country who Purely incidentally is top man, but one of the biggest makers of explosives in the world You talk to him, mr. Dollar. Maybe I will believe me I can understand why you might not take my word for the safety of the operation We're about to undertake, but certainly you can't question his word you say about you want to take when I believe He's planned the big blow off of the night tonight. Yeah, come on. I'll take you to it We found this expert a mr. Sydney Crutchfield in a small tidy shack set out near the edge of the cliff Working over a series of complicated diagrams with a busy slide rule in his hand And I must confess he turned out to be one of the most interesting men I've ever met tall slim and gray haired he had a quiet easy yet Confident manner that completely belied his hazardous occupation This was the man who had done the dynamiting for some of the biggest jobs in this country and move mountains and rivers in the construction of huge dams At blast of the way for some of our vast highway networks As you can see by the dates on these sheets I finished planning this blast over two weeks ago But I find that constant checking and rechecking never does any harm mr. Carlson tells me you plan to set off this blast tonight. Yes Actually, I shall push the plunger at exactly two o'clock tomorrow morning If mr. Carlson is ready, don't you worry about it, mr. Crutchfield We're moving the equipment and the shacks away right now excellent And at the time of the blast no one is to be here, but me that's what your contract says and that's the way it must be For safety mr. Crutchfield. Well, call it a fetish of mine Uh-huh, and there'll be no damage to the brewery plant down below. I'll stake my reputation on it Come mr. Dollar If you like, I'll show you how I've made the sets for this blast We spent the rest of the day inspecting every tunnel shaft and drill hole into which the explosives have been packed and fused and The artistry of this man was evident from the word gold By 6 p.m. All the machines and shacks and equipment had been moved back from the edge of the cliff that was to be blown off The place was deserted except for mr. Crutchfield and me And no you must get into your car and leave mr. Dollar But if there's no danger, please I prefer it this way surely you're not still concerned about the blast To be honest about it. No not one bit And I wasn't at the moment Yeah, this amazing man simply couldn't do anything wrong. I would have stake my life on it But by the time I driven the long curving road to the Dortmund brewery below It found the place not only deserted but completely shut down a Funny little hunch began to grow in the back of my head Even the office building was dark as far as I could see But a help of a business card I slipped the lock on the front door And then I saw the thin speak of light under the door of JP's private office. I thought I heard something in there The office was a shambles a count books and papers scattered all over the place a couple of cartons The drawers of the crusty old files were open and for the most part empty Somebody had been hastily packing and removing all the important papers But why? I'm sorry Johnny. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh And you seem like such a nice boy Only Johnny dollar in a moment anyone who has survived the rigors of basic training is familiar with a great variety of milk That is dished out periodically in the armed forces Unless frozen milk concentrated milk frozen concentrate and good old powdered milk But sometimes supplying wholesome fresh real milk has been a problem when servicemen have been stationed in out-of-the-way places The United States Air Force came across that problem some time ago in the island of Tessera in the Azores Those Portuguese islands that dot an eastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean The air base there was considered powdered milk country for a long time Although cattle have played an important role in the economy of the island of Tessera The herd was badly inbred and milk production was very low Modern milk processing was not a part of the picture and with the help of Portuguese Veterinarians the man in the United States Air Force unit worked out a free breeding service By using a small herd of milk cows acquired in England and the cattle there at Tessera improved then a complete Pasteurizing homogenizing sterilizing bottling refrigeration plant was flown in from the United States as Soon as this activity got underway milk production began to climb steadily and thirsty Air Force men and civilians Were soon buying and drinking the new fresh milk When economy of the island began to rise rapidly the people were happy and grateful You might say But a little milk of human kindness increased Understanding on an island of freedom the right of all men everywhere and Now act three of yours truly Johnny dollar and the JPD matters When I came to in the office of the Dortmund brewery my headfellows own had been split wide open The sash weight had been used on a lay beside me But why had JP struck me down from behind the door where she'd been waiting for me and Why before that had she been hastily packing a lot of business papers bills and so on to take away a Couple of them still lay under me where I'd fallen It was several minutes before I found strength enough to roll over and try to push myself to my feet As I did so two things I saw two things One was a bill. She'd overlooked in her haste to get away a Bill from Frank Lyne powder company addressed to her personally a bill for 21 cases of dynamite and some other explosives The other was my watch. I've been out for hours too many hours For according to my watch it was 152 a.m. Exactly eight minutes before the tremendous dynamite blast in the cliff above was to be set off and Suddenly I knew where somehow by her plan those thousands of tons of rock would land and not harmlessly in the river below And I knew why JP had left me here So I'd be crushed by them. Oh, please please come on Hello. Hello. Oh, please. Hello. Hello Operator operator. This is emergency. Yes, sir. Hey, look now. I'm calling from Dortmund brewery It's between yes, I know where it is, sir. There's a big construction Carlson Kemper. That's the name Cliff above this story But those lines were disconnected late this afternoon what? Look surely there's some way to Operator, I'm sorry, sir, but there's no way to ring them. Oh No, I've got to get it Oh Please I got it right to interfere. You know stand back or what I put down that gun You'll touch that plunger and so help me out happen to you, man Oh, I guess it was just luck that I was still hanging on to that bill for the dynamite that I found I Guess it was luck that made Crutchfield grab it when he tried to keep me from falling Made him look at it carefully by the light of his flashlight But it was his good sense that kept him from going ahead and setting off that charge One day like came he found the spot on the face of the cliff where JP had another charge planted It was set to go off like a cushion from the blast the Crutchfield had set It would have diverted the rock from Crutchfield's blast a smack dab on top of her little beer factory Nobody would ever have known who'd really done it and JP would have collected 820,000 insurance for it Incidentally when the police caught up with her which wasn't hard. They also found the book she'd taken from her office JP Dortmund was broke stony Expense account total including a handful of doctor bills for my aching head and all the incidentals. I could think of 204 dollars and 80 cents yours truly Johnny dollar Star will return in just a moment Our flag now numbers 50 stars and behind each star there stands yet another flag Representing one of the 50 states the origin of Hawaii state flag has been the subject of much debate It is now believed that it was the work of foreign advisers to King Kamehameha Legend also has it that it was designed at the request of King Kamehameha by George Beckley an English sea captain The flag consists of eight horizontal and alternating stripes of white red and blue Representing the eight major islands in the chain Also represented is the British Union Jack a reminder of Captain Vancouver who on his voyage around the world in 1794 gave King Kamehameha a British flag and the promise of British protection The Union Jack is also a reminder of Captain James Cook who discovered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 Hawaii state flag the flag of the 50th state to enter the Union was adopted in 1845 now here is our star to tell you about next week story next week the ideal vacation matter But believe me it turns out to be neither ideal nor a vacation Join us. Won't you yours truly Johnny dollar truly Johnny dollars starring Bob Bailey originates in Hollywood It is produced and directed by Jack Johnstone who also wrote tonight's story heard in our cast were Eleanor Audley Jean Bates G Stanley Jones Alan Reed and Austin Green Be sure to join us next week same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar This is Dan Cumberley speaking the United States Armed Forces radio and television service