The DuPont Cavalcade of America starring Paul Muny. Good evening. This is Paul Muny. The DuPont Cavalcade is about a killer on the loose. He's not the kind of killer you read about in detective stories, but just the same, he terrorizes whole communities. The man who relentlessly tracks this killer down, he's different too, as you will soon find out. Now the alerting of Mr. Pomeranz on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Extra, extra, all about the mystery fever epidemic. Extra mystery fever epidemic. Paper, mister? Yeah, all right, boy. Here, here, I'll take one. Here you are, sir. Extra, all about the big mystery epidemic. Extra, extra, all about the big mystery epidemic. Summer, 1946. A breakfast table in New York City. A man and his wife. Charlie, put the paper down and eat your egg. Uh, just, just a minute, Vera. There's something here about the epidemic. What epidemic? Charlie Pomeranz, put the paper down and listen to me. Yes, Vera. We used to play the Mendelssohn concerto together, you on the fiddle, me on the piano. And in the morning the neighbors would tell me how nice it sounded. Now look at your fiddle. Neglected. You haven't touched it in over a month. Is it a month? Every night you come home and read books. What kind? Books on bugs? You're married to an exterminator, you know. You have to be an exterminator 24 hours a day, starting with the newspaper first thing in the morning. Sorry, Vera, but forgive me. You see, there's been a story in the paper the past week. I watched it, it's been growing. Now just listen. Just listen to this now. Mystery fever sweeps Long Island section. All right, so ten people on Long Island are running a temperature. Is that why you can't talk to me at the breakfast table? It's not ten people, Vera, it's a hundred. Whole families. They don't know what causes it. Now it says, just look at it. Where? The long glands splitting headaches and a rash of red spots closely resembling Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Say, wait a minute. Wait a minute, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, that may... Long Island isn't in the Rocky Mountains. Don't be silly. I know that, I know that. But you know what causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, don't you? Ticks. Now how'd you guess? All those books you're reading, the house is full of books on ticks. Correct, Vera, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused by the bite of a tick. Maybe this one is too. This is very serious, very serious. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going over there right away. I'm going to look around. Look around where? Long Island, where the epidemic is. Look, Vera, if the doctors are puzzled, why shouldn't I? A tick specialist look into it. Charlie, Charlie, they'll laugh at you. Who'll laugh at me? Why? An exterminator telling a doctor what's what about it is. But ticks is my specialty. Who says it's a tick? Nobody, I just got a hunch. Phone Dave and tell him I won't be at the office today. Look, there's Dave now. He's blowing the horn for you. Uh, uh, Dave, just a minute. Don't wait for me, darling. I'll be home late. But Charlie, I'm making your favorite dinner tonight, pot roast and pancakes. Charlie! Uh-huh. Now, this must be the place. All right, Dave, stop. Stop! The wild goose chase, I tell you, what can you do about a mystery disease? Investigate it. But you're not a doctor. Neither was Pasteur, the great French scientist. He discovered germs to begin with, didn't he? You see, he was interested in bugs too. Go on, go on, get out. Go on, go on, go on. It sounds silly to me. Dave, you're a good partner to me into the exterminating business. But the scientific part of my nature you don't understand. All right, all right, Mr. Pasteur. Now, let's find the superintendent of this building. I want to ask him some questions. You think he'll know? He'd be surprised what superintendents know. Who ever heard of a superintendent sweeping a sidewalk? Now, wait a minute. Now, there's, there's the man there. There he is. There, that man, he's the fellow. Uh, excuse me, sir. Uh, are you the superintendent of this building? Yeah, no house peddlers allowed. I'm not a peddler. I see where the paper is. There's an epidemic here in this block. Yeah, yeah, it's dangerous. Stay away. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I just want to ask you if, if you ever seen any ticks around here. Any what? Ticks, ticks. They look like bed bugs. There's no bed bugs in this building. No, no, excuse me. I don't mean they're bed bugs. I mean they look, that is, they just look like bed bugs. They're ticks. They're, they're on dogs. Well, how would I know? I don't have a dog. There's a woman with a dog coming out of the door. Ask her. Oh, yeah, uh-huh. Excuse me, madam, but I... What do you want? I, I, I would, I, shh, shh, keep quiet. I, I'd like to ask you a question about your dog. Who are you? Well, I'm... Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet. Uh, does he have ticks, lady? What's ticks? What's ticks? They're, they're, they're little brown bugs that gorge themselves with the dog's blood. And when they get as big as a kidney bean, they fall off. Of course my dog doesn't have ticks. The very idea. Come on, Suzie. See? I told you, a wild goose chase. Come on, let's get down to the office. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait a minute, Dave. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Uh, mister, uh, excuse me, I, I didn't get your name. I didn't give it to you. Yes, that's right, you didn't give it to me. Well, uh, never mind. Mr. Superintendent, are there any rats in this building? No. Mice, perhaps? Who ain't got mice? Well, I'm an exterminator. Here's my card, the Bell Exterminating Company. We got an exterminator. Now, go on, beat it. Get out of here. Yeah, yeah. Told you. I told you. Ticks, no. But mice, yes. Uh-huh. Look, look, Charlie, we've got to get down to the office now. We're not a couple of philosophers. We run a business, remember? Wait a minute. No, no, no, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I've got an idea. Sure, sure. Ticks, no. Mice, yes. And mice means? Maybe. Maybe. That's it. Huh? Sure, that's it. That's what? A hunch, Dave, a beautiful hunch. The doctor. We've got to see the doctor. What's the matter? You sick? No, no, no, it's the ticks. I'll walk around. It's just right around the block. But Mr. Pomerance, this isn't Rocky Mountain spotted fever. I know, doctor. I know. There are no ticks around here. I asked the lady who owns a dog, Susie. That was the dog's name. If there were ticks around here, Susie would know it. And well, then it must be something else that's carrying. Perhaps it's carried by a rodent. You mean a parasite? That's exactly what I mean. A mite, doctor. Hmm. Well, you may have something there. The mite's a known parasite of rodents. It is capable of attacking man. Now suppose the mites, the mites have the parasites. The parasites have the germ. The germ gets into the man. The man gets the disease. You see, I'm kind of an amateur scientist, Dr. Shankman. Exterminating isn't just an occupation with me. It's part of the whole wonderful field of human knowledge. I like to sort of investigate things. Who knows? Maybe, maybe I'll discover something. Something nobody else ever discovered before. Tell me, what makes you think this particular sickness, the mystery fever, as the papers call it, comes from a mite? Well, it's just a hunch of mine, Dr. Shankman. Maybe that's, in your estimation, not very scientific. Well, I don't know. Sometimes a hunch may be very scientific. You know, yours may be too. Look, Dr. Shankman, would you do a great favor for me? Would you call the superintendent and tell him that you're sending me over? What for? To look for mites. You see, I brought my flashlight, my magnifying glass, my brush, my specimen bottle. Well, I've already obtained blood specimens and tested them. I've notified the city health department. They've notified the U.S. public health service. And they're conducting an investigation now. Dr. Huebner's been up here from Washington. Now I've done all this because I think this disease is something entirely new. I see. Well, maybe that hunch of yours is worth tracking down after all. Yes, it's a good hunch. I'll call. Thank you, doctor. Thank you. Hello, Harry. I'm sending a man over to look around the basements. Yes, yes, about the mystery disease. Oh, he's been there already. I've been there. I've been there. No, no, no, no, he's all right. Tell him I'm a friend of yours. I don't think he likes me. Oh, oh, he's a friend of mine. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, come on. Help him all you can. Ah, cool down here. Ah, you can't expect steam heat in the basement in the summertime. Now, now, now, let me see. Where should we begin? All right, make it snappy. You can't stay here all day. There's a coal bin. No, no, that's not the place to look. Why not? Well, if you were a detective, Mr. Superintendent, then you were hunting for a crook. Would you hunt in the coal bin? No. Why not? Because I'd hunt where the crooks hide. Correct. So we'll hunt where the mites hide. Where's that? In the cracks in the walls. Bugs like to be cozy. You know, the old story, cozy like a bug. That's a joke. Well, anyhow, you know, they like to be sort of kind of sandwiched in. It's kind of instinct, you know? Yeah, some people got it too. Say, you make a good scientist, Harry. Never mind, I got enough to do already. Ah, that's too bad, too bad. The world needs good scientists. Let me see. Where's the incinerator? Oh, over here in the corner. The corner, huh? Can we open this door? Sure, it's cold. I ain't burned nothing since last night. Ah-ha. Mm-hmm. You got a crook? Not yet. Give me time, give me time, my friends. Sherlock Holmes didn't build Roman one day, you know. I say, what's that door down there? That's where you take the ashes out. Ah-ha, that's it. That's it. Do me a favor, will you? Hold a flashlight. What? No, no, close it, close it. Bend down, bend down. Here, here. Open it. That's it. Now, now, now, shine it in that door crack. Where? Right behind. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, wait. No, worry about it. You got a magnifying glass. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right, that's right. Hey, that's a good big magnifying glass, ain't it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and large as about 10 times. Ah-ha. Mm-hmm. Find a crook? Say, Harry, look, look, look. Where? What does that look like to you? Go ahead, here, look through the magnifying glass. Oh, yeah. Go ahead, look. You mean that little brown thing there? Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's a seed. A seed, huh? Now, wait a minute. I'll poke it with my brush. Now, what do you see? It's moving. Did you ever see a seed crawl? It's a crook. Wait a minute. Let's call it a mite for the time being. Maybe it isn't, but we'll hope it is. Come here, darling. Come here. Come here. Quick, quick, quick. Give me the bottle, Harry. What bottle? The specimen bottle. Here, on the ground. Okay, yeah. Don't move the flashlight. I'm sorry. Quick, quick. Over here. Now, come here, Charlie. Come here. Come to Charlie, baby. Come to Charlie. No, no. This way. This. In the bottle. That's it. Oh, golly, you can hardly see, huh? The world is full of things you can hardly see. Now, Harry, you shine the light over here. Yeah, okay. That's right. Uh-huh. Ah-ha! Another crook. My. What a beauty. This one's big and red. He's gorge with blood. Probably just got off the end of the line five minutes ago. Yeah, what line? The mouse line. You see, a mite is lucky. He gets his transportation and his dinner at the same time. And the mouse is both of them. In the bottle, baby. In the bottle. Hey, look out. He's getting away. No, you don't. Not from an old exterminator like Charlie. There. You got him? Magnificent. Isn't he magnificent? Wait till I show this to Vera. Will she be delighted? You are listening to The Alerting of Mr. Pomerance, starring Paul Muny as Mr. Pomerance on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living, through chemistry. When a mysterious epidemic sweeps a Long Island section, Charles Pomerance follows his hunch as an exterminator, searches a building basement, and craps a rare parasite in a bottle to rush his home to show it to his wife. Vera, I have something in this bottle that'll make medical history. I don't doubt it. Charlie, please look out. Your necktie's dipping in the pot. But darling, just look at it. Just look at it once. Just for my sake. Look at it. Bugs? Yeah, but you don't know what kind of bugs, do you? Ticks. Wrong? Guess again. Charlie, listen. I'm cooking supper. All right. Where's my coffee? All right, where's my copy of medical entomology? In the soup pot. Where else would it be? In the soup pot, huh? Oh no, it couldn't be. Oh, here, here it is. Uh-huh. Mites, mites, mites, mites. Thirty species. But how do I know what species this is? If it's one of the vegetarians... Then it don't eat meat. Correct, Vera. And if it don't eat meat... Think of all the money it saves. Don't eat meat, it couldn't be responsible for the mistresses. Ah, yeah, yeah. If only I had a college education. If only I was trained the way a scientist ought to be. Instruments, laboratories... And in my parlour, I suppose. Look, Vera, I'm going to Washington. Washington? When? Now. But what for? To see Dr. Huber. Who's Dr. Huber? He's a famous doctor down in Washington. I got to see him right away. How do you know there's a train to Washington right away? You foolish thing, there's always a train to Washington. All these politicians like the subway. But Charlie, Charlie, I made a pot roast and pancakes for you. Your favourite meal. I can't help it, darling. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. I've got to get to Washington right away. If some of those people die, I'll have it on my conscience. But now, Charlie, Charlie... I'll be back... Excuse me, a girl outside said if I went... If I came into this laboratory, I'd find Dr. Huber. I'm Dr. Huber. Are you Mr. Pomerance? I got your telegram. You said you had the medical discovery of the century in your pocket. Yes, yes, sir, right. Here's the pocket and here's the discovery. Now hold it up to the light. Mites, aren't they? One of them seems to be gorged with blood. Let's put them under the microscope. What's all the rush about? You tell me what species of mite that is, and I'll tell you what's the rush about. Okay. Well, that's a very rare kind of mite, Mr. Pomerance. Almost unknown in the United States. It's called Alloderminus sanguinus. How's that? Is it a rat mite? Yes, it lives on rats or mice. Could it bite a human? Maybe. Could it transmit a fever and a rash? Maybe. Listen, Dr. Huber, this is the missing link. What missing link? To the epidemic on Long Island. You mean that mystery disease we're working on? That's exactly what I mean. Well, let's get these mites back in the bottle. I'm worried with all these white mice around. White mice? As in the cages along the wall. They've been inoculated with blood from Long Island fever victims. Ah, I see. So then you solved the mystery already. Great, Scott. No, that will take two kinds of experimental approaches. First, what we're doing here. If and when one of these white mice contracts a disease, we'll make a culture and isolate the germ. But so far none of them is obliged. And the second approach? Ah, that's the missing link. What transmits the germ to man? Here. Here's the answer, Dr. Huber. Here, right here in this bottle. Ha ha ha ha. Well, what are you laughing at? Oh, well, I like your enthusiasm, Mr. Poverance, but we're scientists down here. We can't go by hunches alone. We have to prove everything, link by link, an unbroken chain of evidence. But I've got the evidence. The epidemic started in a single block. That means something moved from house to house, from apartment to apartment. What could it be? A mouse. Mouse had the parasite. Parasite had the germ. Germ bit bites the man. Man gets sick. Simple. It was too simple. But I tell you what we'll do. You leave your bugs here. After we've isolated the germ, we'll look into it. We can't stop now. We're up to our ears and... Wait a minute. Don't move. What's the matter? The mouse in the back. Doesn't he seem to be acting funny to you? Oh, yeah. Yeah, like he was tired. He's turning around. He's rolling over. I think he's... Yes. Yes, he's dying. My, my. Right before our eyes. He's dead. Oh, my. Ah. The first approach, Mr. Pomerance. We may have the first step of our proof. Yes, but... Excuse me a minute. But, Dr. Hugner, what about the second approach? Uh, the what? I mean the missing link, my parasite. Oh, oh, oh, yes. The means of transmitting the disease. Say, are you serious? Do you really want to help us? In heaven's name, Dr. Hugner, why do you think I'm here? It's going to take a lot of time, you know. What time? What about your business? What business? My partner will take care of my business. Well, tell me something. Why do you want to do this, Mr. Pomerance? There's no money in it for you. Oh, please, Dr. Hugner, don't insult me. There won't be even any publicity, I'm afraid. Listen, Dr. Hugner, before I became an exterminator, I wasn't ready to wear business. I was very unhappy. But this business gives me an incentive to study, to be a specialist. You see, Dr. Hugner, ever since I first came here as a boy from Poland, I wanted to do something for this country. And now is my chance. All right, Mr. Pomerance, you're our man. Go back to New York and work with us. We'll solve this mystery together. Charlie, you're not eating your pot roast? I'm not hungry, darling. All summer, you can't eat because you're working on the mystery fever. Now you can't eat because you're not working on it. Listen, darling, it's very good pot roast. Most wonderful pot roast. Sure, I know. I'm sure you'll like it. Here, take some of this. Oh, my, you must be very hungry. It's good. It's very good. It's very good. If you can't eat it, it's OK. What do you mean? Darling, it's very good pâtres. Most wonderful pâtres. Sure, I know. Nobody cooks better pâtres than you do. You haven't heard from him for weeks, have you? Of who? Dr. Hugner. Why should he write to me anymore? He's a busy man. Inoculations, germ cultures, blood serums. He hasn't got time to... to just write to an exterminator or something. But you gave up two months of business for me. Might at least write you a letter. I didn't give it up for him. I gave it up for science. You gave up your fiddle for science, too. Look at it. Neglected. And for what? A mite. All right, darling. Let's drop it. Let me help you with the dishes. No, you stay here. Go, pick up your fiddle for a change. I'll take the dishes to the kitchen. The fiddle, I've forgotten I had a fiddle. Hmm. Oh. My, are you out of tune? All right, Vera. I'll get it. Hello, Charlie. Dr. Hugner. Dr. Hugner, come in. Come in. Sit down. Thank you. We just finished dinner. Would you like a cup of coffee? I hadn't heard from you for weeks already. I waited till I knew for sure, Charlie. Knew what for sure? That we'd made it. Made what? Medical history. We've discovered a brand new disease and we've done it in record time. You want to know its name? Rickettsial pot. Beautiful. Beautiful name. Yes, sir. We've isolated the germ. We've named the transmitter. We've even found a way to control it. Control it? How? You ought to know. It's your parasite. And if it's carried by a mouse, well, you're an exterminator, aren't you? Huh? I'm, I'm, I'm, oh, excuse me. I'm afraid I wasn't listening. I kept hearing you say, we've discovered, we've isolated, we've named, we've found a way. Dr. Hugner, does that include me? You're our colleague, aren't you? Dr. Jellison and I are drawing up a public health report. And we want to use your name alongside ours on the cover. Charlie Pomerantz of the Bell Exterminating Company, colleague of Dr. Robert Hugner and Dr. William Jellison of the U.S. Public Health Service. My goodness. What will Vera say to that? You've spent more time on this than we figured, Charlie. What do we owe you? What do we owe you? Owe me? Why, Dr. Hugner, not all the money in the U.S. Treasury could pay me for all that time. This has been the greatest experience of my life. Do you know how I feel? I feel as if, as if I'd met the great Michelleman and I had my fiddle and he had his fiddle and we sat down with Vera and all together we played Mendelssohn's concerto and he'd find it. The Bell Exterminating Company of the U.S. Public Health Service The Bell Exterminating Company The Bell Exterminating Company The Bell Exterminating Company The Bell Exterminating Company Our star Paul Mooney will return in a few moments. Now, once again our star, Paul Mooney. Thank you. Actors usually portray imaginary people. Rarely do we play the part of a real person in real life. Tonight, I had that pleasure in enacting Mr. Pomeranz. In fact, he's standing right here beside me now and I'd like you to meet him. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Charlie Pomeranz. Thank you, Mr. Mooney. It was really a thrill to listen to this story tonight and it was very flattering to hear oneself played by Paul Mooney, too. But above all, if my experience proves that a man with an idea to help others gets a chance in this country to put it into practice, then I am more than grateful to Cavalcade for telling so many people about it. Thank you, Mr. Mooney, and good night. Next week, Cavalcade presents another celebrated stage and scream star, Paul Lucas, in This Way to Tomorrow. Another story of the American dream in action of Michael Pupine, who came to this country as a boy and who rose to high achievement as the Wizard of X-Ray. Be sure to join us. Tonight's original DuPont Cavalcade was written by Paul Peters and was based on the alerting of Mr. Pomeranz by Burton Rouchet, an article which originally appeared in the New Yorker magazine. In tonight's play with Paul Mooney were Mildred Clinton as Vera, Joseph Bell as Dr. Robert Hubner, and Robert Dryden as the superintendent. The music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Bryan. And this is Ted Pearson inviting you to listen next week to This Way to Tomorrow starring Paul Lucas. Cavalcade of America is presented each week from the stage of the Longacre Theatre on Broadway in New York and is brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Applause This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
