 The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the Cavalcade of America. Tonight's play, How High the Flames. Tonight's star, MacDonald Kerry, as Dr. Edward Robinson Squibb. It was late fall, the year 1857. I remember the day very well because it was that very morning with my wife Carolyn gave me a rather unexpected bit of news. We were at the breakfast table. I just finished my coffee. Edward? Yes, Carolyn? Would you like a little more coffee? No, no thanks. Edward? Mm-hmm. Do you think the Navy may send you off on a cruise next June? Send me off on a cruise? Next June? Well, I hardly think so. Oh, that's fine. What are you being so cryptic about? I'm not being cryptic, I only ask. I know what you ask, but I can't make head or tail out. Why are you suddenly worried about the Navy sending me off on a cruise in June? Well, it's just that I want to be sure that you're here. Here, June? Mm-hmm. And just what makes my presence here more important in June than at any other time? Well, I don't expect the baby at any other time. Baby? What baby? Our baby. Our baby? Our baby? Carolyn, that's... Carolyn, am I going to be a father again? Well, yes, Edward, but don't think it sounded that this was something habitual. After all, it'll only be our second child. Now, at this time, the fall of 1857, I was assistant director of the Naval Medical Supply Depot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I might mention that I've been in the Navy for 10 years and have achieved the rating of past assistant surgeon with a weekly embodiment of precisely $22.11. That was very much in my mind when I relayed the news to the head of the Brooklyn Naval Hospital, Dr. Benjamin Franklin Batesch. Well, that's splendid news, Dr. Swib. My heartiest congratulations. Thank you, Dr. Batesch, but it does bring up another matter. Oh? Some time ago, I submitted a request for a raise in rating, a promotion I believe I am fully entitled to on the basis of my duties in the hospital and as director of the laboratory. And I certainly agree. I sent you a request on to the Secretary of the Navy with my whole hearted endorsement. That was almost half a year ago, Dr. Batesch. Yes, I know, but these matters can't be rushed. On the other hand, the fact that my family is on the verge of an increase can't be delayed. It doesn't hold up very well. Well, what do you suggest I do, sir? I suggest patience, Dr. Swib. A lot of poor precision, but the best I can offer. You're making a splendid record here. Under your direction, the laboratory is turning out first-class drugs and medicine for the Navy. Keep at it. You're doing a tremendous job. Oh, Dr. Swib, sir. Your's Thompson, this gentleman's been waiting to see you. Well, can I help you, sir? You're Swib. I'm Dr. Swib, yes. I'm Theodore Connors, Connors Drug Supply. Who do you think you are, Swib, the Admiral of the Yard? I'll make sure you have the authority to reject the shipment of drugs authorized in delivery by the Chief Medical Purveyor of the Navy. The requisition I have on record called for... 800 pounds of quinoa. 800 pounds of sticks, stones, earth, goat skin, bits of iron and lead with here and there a few dried-up bits of quinine box. What a lie, is it? I have a sampling from each bail in my office. Back to see for yourself, Mr. Connors. I've been delivering drugs here for 10 years, Swib, for a long time before you came here. And I'll be delivering drugs here long after you're gone. That may be. But during the interval, while I'm director of this laboratory, short as it may be, you will deliver unadulterated drugs or none at all. This laboratory has been set up to supply medical stores for some 10,000 men. A good many lies that depend upon the quality of the drugs we prepare. I am personally aware of that responsibility, Mr. Connors. Ah, now, come off of it. Swib, there's no need to put on your Sunday Goddard Church attitude for me. Thompson. Aye, aye, sir. Mr. Connors is leaving. I'll see Dr. Batesch about this. Friended. Hot anchor, Mr. I'll take this up at Washington. Do that by all means. Come on now, the tide is falling. You're on your way. Will there be anything else, sir? Yes. Open the window. Let's clear this place out. Are you comfortable, dear? Yes, Edward, I'm quite comfortable. Can I get you something? How about a nice glass of lemonade? Oh, pity's sake, Edward, will you stop fluttering around me like a worried pigeon? It's nothing the matter with you. No, darling, no. I feel fine. Is that so? Some warm milk? Yes, please. It calms the nerves. Well, then, by all means, get some, darling, for yourself. Oh, I'd rather think I will. I am a little on edge. Can you say where you are, Carolyn? I'll see who it is. Squid. Dr. Tully, come in. I've got to see you, Squid. Yes, yes, come in. You know my wife, Dr. Tully? Yes, of course. My apologies for coming at this late hour, Mrs. Squid. Well, that's quite all right, Dr. Tully. Please sit down. Is anything wrong? Yes, I'm afraid so. Dr. Squid, can you do me a great favor, please? Anything, of course. I know your laboratory at the Navy Otters' house now, but could you open it up? Yes, I could. I'm afraid I've made a ghastly, terrible error. Doctor, I brought a sample of some medicine I prepared for some of my patients. Can you analyze it for me tonight? You have it? Yes, right here in my bag. I've made up this preparation a thousand times here, Dr. I've never noticed any toxic reactions, but it smells of wintergrain. Yes, soil of wintergrain, the flavoring. The mixture itself is quite harmless, I'm sure, of cough medicine. But all day I've had call after call for my patients. Some are desperately ill. They all show signs of acute poisoning. Poisoning? Let me taste it. Better be careful. Let's drop it. Arsenic. Arsenic? I'm fairly sure of it. But we'll have to analyze it. How could it happen? It's impossible. Helen, I'm going with Dr. Tully to the laboratory. If anything happens. Don't worry about me, Edward. Please, just help Dr. Tully if you can. No doubt of it, Dr. Tully. This stuff is loaded with arsenic. There's almost a full grain in this two ounce bottle. I can't believe it. Where could the arsenic have come from? My guess is the oil of wintergrain. Where did you get it? Full-sing drug supplier I've used for years. Why would they put arsenic in the oil of wintergrain? As a preservative. They probably had an old batch lying around the warehouse and used the arsenic to keep it smelling and looking fresh. It's an old trick. Scream. What am I going to do? Do you have a list of every patient you've given this medicine to in the past two weeks? Yes, of course. Then let's get to them. Quickly. Let's not talk about it. It's almost gone now. Yes. How many more names on the list? Just this last one. Young Billy Simpson. The house is just down the street here. Number 514. I think all the others will be all right. Some will be pretty sick for a while, but they'll get through them. I hope so. I hope so. Isn't that a carriage in front of the house? Well, yes. There it is. It's Dr. Milton's carriage. I thought it was. Oh, no. Oh, boy. I do hope that thing's all right here, too. Mrs. Simpson... We've been trying to find you all night. I'm sorry. I've been... You killed him. Dr. Tully. There isn't anything you can do. The boy is dead. I'll see you with another son. Congratulations. Thank you, Dr. Beach. You must be a happy man. Well, I'm not. Oh, some other squid. Just about the time Caravan was giving me a son, another baby passed away. Oh, a patient of Dr. Tully's. Oh, I'm sorry. But these things happen. You know that. You shouldn't let a thing like that spoil so happy an occasion. That boy died because of an accident, Dr. Beach. An avoidable accident. That's the pity of it. The child should be alive today, as alive as my baby. What happened? Dr. Tully dispensed a cough medicine that was loaded with arsenic. Arsenic? Why, I can't believe Dr. Tully could make such a mistake. It wasn't Tully's fault that the oil of winter green he used was so full of arsenic. For that matter, how can any of us, any doctor, be sure of the drugs he uses? Every time we fill a prescription, we're gambling. That's true. And that's exactly why they may be set up our laboratory. Because it couldn't trust the quality of the drugs it received from the outside. Well, the public is entitled to as much protection against adulterated drugs as the men in the Navy. Yes, they are. And another point. Why should the government have to go into the business of making drugs? Uncle Sam is the corner chemist. This is the job of private industry. There's no reason why a private drug concern can't maintain absolute standards of purity in its products. No reason. Well, what are you going to find such a public, spirited, ethical concern? I don't know. I'll need it or why. Uh, now there's another matter. Yes, Dr. Bitt. This is rather a poor time to tell you this, but I know you've been waiting to hear what the department has decided in regard to your appeal for a raise in rigging. Yes. I'm afraid they've turned you down. They said no. The secretary claims that it can't be done without a special act of prongress. I see. I'm sorry about this. Well, I'm not sorry, Dr. Bates. Not a bit. Well, I think you would be. But I'm not. I've been ten years in the Navy, sir, almost two years at this station. It's not easy to give up a commission that I worked hard to get and am proud to own, but this makes up my mind. Now, squib, don't... I want to battle men like Connors on their own ground. I want to prevent the tragedies of little Billy Simpson's that happen every day. Well, that was an accident. All right. I want to stop these accidents. I want to make a product that doctors can use without fear with the sure knowledge that the drug is precisely what it's supposed to be and nothing else. Dr. Bates, my resignation will be on your desk within the hour. Cavalcade play, How High the Flame, starring MacDonald Carey as Dr. Edward Robinson Squib. September of 1858, Dr. Squib and Carolyn stood before the door of a rickety old building near the Brooklyn waterfront. Well, how do you like to sign, Carolyn? E.R. Squib and Company. Reliable Pharmaceuticals. At the moment, the AND Company is slightly optimistic. Here's to E.C. and you open the door. All right. I can see the first order of business is to oil the hinges. I hope the good people of Brooklyn aren't too shocked, but I'm going to kiss my husband right here in the middle of Furman Street. Good luck, darling. Thanks, darling. And now I am going to carry my bride over the threshold. Into a factory? Well, there's no law against it, not even in Brooklyn. Doctor, can I see you for a moment? Yes, Joe, coming right over. Yes, what is it, Joe? Doctor, I've just run an analysis on the batch of fluid extractives in Kona we turned out yesterday. Somehow or other, it shows an alcohol content about 10% higher than our standards. Oh? Well, what do you want done with it? Dump it. Dump it? The whole batch? Every drop of it. There's no need to do that, Dr. Squim. We can prepare another batch with 10% less alcohol than standard and we can mix the two batches and have... And get a patched up, botched up mixture? No. That's not the way we do things here, Joe. Dump it. The whole lot. Yes, sir. Who's that, uh, new boy at the waxing bench? Uh, Fred Phillips. I put him on waxing the stoppers on the ether bottle. He's got those cans too near the burners. Much too near. Have him move them back and make sure to tell him that he's handling highly inflammable material. Yes, sir. Dr. Tully's waiting in my office. If you need me for anything, I'll be there. Yes, sir. And remember, dump that extract down the sewer. All of it. To the last drop. You're waiting. Oh, that's... That's all right, Dr. Squirt. Perfectly all right. I've been looking over the plant while waiting. It's tremendous. We're coming along. I, um... I just dropped in to tell you that the... Medical board has cleared me of malpractice in a matter of young Billy Simpson's death. As they should have, Dr. Tully. It was a tragic accident, but in no sense was it your fault. Well, thank you for pleading my case before the board. I can't tell you how grateful I am. Nonsense. Let's forget the whole matter. I'd like to. Perhaps in time I can. Well, you're doing a splendid job here, Squirt. Every doctor in the city is talking about you. You realize what this means to them? To be able to mix a drug, a prescription, and know precisely what they're dealing with. Absolute purity. It means a new era in medical practice. It means... Dr. Squirt, you better come. What's the matter? The fire. That boy dropped a bottle of pizza. Come on. Out of the fire. Hurry! Bring your body. Squirt, come back. Let's go to get to the records. Let's go to save the records. Squirt! I think you'll be all right. Everton? Don't talk now. Now, now, now, now. We can talk about this later. Oh, no. What happened? The plant is ruined, Everton. But it doesn't matter. That's as long as you're going to be all right. Tully? Yes. Am I badly hurt? You were trapped behind the workbench. Your face is badly scorched. And both your hands have second-degree burns. The plant... gone. It doesn't matter, Everton. The plant... No, that doesn't matter. But to see everything we've been fighting for go up in flames, that's the thing that matters. That matters very much. Be careful, Karen. I'm sorry, Edward. I'm trying to be as gentle as I can. Of course you are, darling. You've got to keep massaging your hand. They help the skin heal without rubbing. I know, dear. I'm just a wretched patient. I know you are. All doctors are wretched patients. They can't seem to take their own medicine. Oh, Dr. Bates dropped in while you were napping. Huh? He said he'd been in touch with Washington. He's sure they're willing to give you back your commission. Yes. I know. The growing tension between north and south is going to mean a quick buildup of the Navy. Karen, it's not that I mind going back into the Navy. But if there's going to be trouble, real trouble, the government will never be able to produce enough medical supplies for a wartime Navy. I see. And who's going to supply the Army? Are they going into the pharmaceutical business, too? I hate to think what'll happen if war ever does come. Well, let's not think about it. Right now, let's just think about you. That's something to think about. One husband, medium rare. He knows we're coming, Mrs. Cribb? Yes, Dr. Kelly. And he insisted upon coming downstairs, too. It's the first time since the accident. But you didn't tell him the purpose of our visit. Oh, no, no. Good. All right, gentlemen. Dr. Cribb's waiting for us. Yes. Come with me, gentlemen. He's waiting in the living room. Thank you. Well, well, come in. And I'm so glad to see all of you. Thank you, Dr. Cribb. Well, I'm glad to see you, Dr. Cribb. I think you know everybody. Dr. Minor. Dr. Crane. Dr. Dudley. How do you do? Dr. Dudley. Dr. McClellan. Dr. Dellafield. And Mr. George Sampson, President of the Brooklyn Saving Plan. Sampson, you do. Sit down. Sit down, gentlemen. Thank you. Dr. Cribb, we're here with a two-fold purpose. First, of course, as old friends, to tell you how happy we are to see you up and around again. Well, you can't burn down an old stump if you've got a blast. Well, now, the second reason for this visit. Dr. Cribb, we think that your fight to produce pure drugs deserves our support. And not merely word support, but action. I don't quite get what you mean, Dr. Tully, huh? Put it very simply. We represent a large group of the doctors of New York City. We're all behind you, and we want to subscribe to a fund to rebuild your factory. Rebuild the factory? And quickly. Gentlemen, naturally, I'm deeply moved. I'll be frank with you. If this were merely the matter of rebuilding a factory, a gesture of kindness on your part, as deeply as I appreciate it, I'd refuse your offer. But I'll tell you honestly that the need for standard ethical practice in the manufacture of drugs is a thing beyond the simple matter of a man's pride. I agree with you that the factory must be rebuilt. I thank you. And I'm quick to accept your offer. But I will make one proviso. What's that, Spirit? I'll not take this money as a gift. I just can't do that. I'll take the money as a loan to be repaid in time with interest and flow. Well, we don't want that, Dr. Cribb. But I do. That's the way it must be, gentlemen. That's the way it will be. And not a moment can soon. The war clouds were massing, and in 1861 the storm broke. All during the four years that followed were worked day and night, supplying the Navy with high-quality drugs. And then in February, in February of 1865, I had a visit from a high-army officer. The situation is critical, Dr. Cribb, critical. The Army Medical Laboratories have not been able to fill their production quotas. And this is a matter of grave concern to General Grant. I think the government made a mistake in setting up these laboratories. The private industry could have been depended upon to supply their entire medical demand. Yes, yes. Well, let's water over the dam now. Here are the facts as bluntly as I can state them. General Grant is preparing a final assault upon Lee's armies. He won't move until his Surgeon General tells him that the medical department can handle Andy and every casualty that falls doing this action. The Surgeon General is in no position to give him any such assurance. What happens now? When will the campaign begin? I can only give you a general idea. It's spring. That gives us a few months. Yes, it will take months to get the supplies to the front and allocate it to the field stations. How soon can you start moving the supplies? How soon? How soon will it take you to start producing the drugs we need? Come with me, General. Certainly. Right this way. The entrance to the warehouse is right here. Where are your supplies, General? My supplies? I've been stockpiling these drugs for three years now just for such an emergency. I felt that your laboratories couldn't do the whole job alone. I airmarked a certain percentage of our production for reserve. Just held it back. Here it is. All yours. Squib? I can't tell you what this means. I only hope it'll mean much less suffering and many more lives saved. What a day it was. All that shouting, the braids, everyone so excited. It was wonderful, but it's such a relief just to sit out here on the porch and watch the stars. So peaceful. Peace? It's a comforting feeling, Carolyn. The nation brought together again. The war ended. Will it be a lasting peace, Edward? Do you think it will? Yes. If we bind the wound carefully. Why shouldn't it last? If we apply to government the same standards we apply to drugs, no compromise with quality, only the finest, the best, I shouldn't the patient get well. It takes a great deal of faith to believe that. I believe it. I think the greatest power this country possesses is the ability to cure its own ills. That's the belief I live by. That's my faith. Now high the flame, and now Bill Hamilton speaking for the DuPont Company. Under the blazing African sun, under the bite of the lash, Egyptian slaves long ago lifted rock upon rock to build the pyramids. Each of these famous tombs of the pharaohs took some 100,000 men 20 years to build. But in the end, they were nothing more than graves of a dead past. Often considered marvels of engineering, these tombs represent something far different from the engineering that has made our modern world a better place. For the basis of modern engineering is the application of scientific principles to the problems of daily living. On this basis, the engineering profession has grown to its present size and importance. A hundred years ago, as American industry began to grow, an organization was set up to help engineers share their knowledge. It was called the American Society of Civil Engineers to distinguish their work from those in the military service. At first it included all types of engineering, but as specialization became necessary, some groups branched off. This week, some 30,000 representatives of 64 engineering societies are meeting in Chicago in the greatest gathering of engineers ever assembled. From universities and from industry, from all parts of the United States and foreign countries, these men and women have come to share ideas and experiences. The DuPont Company provides a good example of the importance of the engineer in modern industry. For DuPont, a chemical company, employs more engineers than chemists. It relies on them to shorten the time between laboratory research and full-scale production. In DuPont and in all industry, the opportunities for young engineers have never been greater. The need for them has never been more critical. Tomorrow's engineers will play a vital part in building a greater America, just as those of today play an important part in producing DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was written by Irv Tunick and was based on Dr. Edward Robinson Squibb, pioneer American pharmaceutical manufacturer and original biography by Harry S. Hammond Jr. Original music was composed by Arnold Cornwell conducted by Donald Boris. The program was directed by John Zoller. With our star, MacDonald Kerry, you've heard Ginger Jones as Carolyn, Charles Bingle as Dr. Beach and Court Benson as Dr. Tully. The DuPont Cavalcade of America came to use tonight from the Velasco Theater in New York City and is sponsored by the Department of Bloomington, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through chemistry.