The Cavalcade of America, starring Pat O'Brien and Oliver Wendell Holmes McClanahan, presented by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Good evening, this is Pat O'Brien. Tonight's Cavalcade is set in 19th century Boston. But it could be set at any time, any place, because it's a simple story. It's about Dennis McClanahan, that's me, and my wife Kate, and my baby, my baby that's coming. Now, Oliver Wendell Holmes McClanahan, starring Pat O'Brien as Dennis McClanahan on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. My name is Oliver Wendell Holmes McClanahan, and I'm going to tell you how I got such a name, and at the same time, I'll tell you how my namesake, Dr. Holmes, and my own father, Dennis McClanahan, saved the lives of the women of Boston. Now, the story as I tell it is not quite word for word as it is in the school books, but it's gospel true nonetheless. I give you my oath as a McClanahan, who've been all truth-telling men since the first McClanahan was witnessed as St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland. It was in the year 1842 that this great saving of Boston's ladies happened, and it all begins in our kitchen with Pa smoking his pipe and Ma sewing on baby clothes for me, and me waiting, just waiting to be born. Kate. Yes, Dennis? How do you feel? Fine. Do you now for sure? It's only a baby I'm having, Dennis, not a boil or a head cold. Are you saying I complain too much with my cold? I'm thinking more of the time you sat in your boyhood. Well, if the pains of childbirth are a patch in what I had done, may the saints have mercy on you, woman. You big straw man. Hey, here now, what are you getting out of your chair for? I'm going to put a little more coal in the stove. It's nippy out. I guess I'm big straw man enough to carry a coal stove. But, Dennis. I told you I don't want to do any heavy work with it. Sit down now, sit down. You should not worry so about me, Dennis. It's not you I worry about, girl, it's myself. I'm finding out that father holds a difficult state and I'll be glad when it's over. Here you are now. There's your fire pit. Thank you, Dennis. Now, after handling that dirty coal, you'd better wash your hands. I didn't get a speck of coal dust on them. It won't wear your hands out to wash them, Dennis. My mother and father are coming soon. I want you to look nice for them. I look pretty nice enough for the old ladies. Be a good boy now and clean yourself. All right, all right. I had a brain in my head that I just married an orphan. What was that? There, there. Am I pretty enough for your wonderful parents? Now, put your shoes on, Dennis. Shoes? There's a nice boy. When I get through him and them, you want me to wash my hands again. Could that be my uncle? Who else has such a pompous knock as your father? I'll open the door. You don't have to break it down. Good day to you, McClernahan. Good day to yourself, Mr. O'Leary. Sure you're keeping this house too warm, Dennis, for a girl who's about to become a mother. The girl who's about to become a mother wants it warm. It was chilly in here, ma. Well, it's too warm now. Open that window, Dennis. How do you feel now, Kate? Still cold? No, I guess not. I'm certainly not going to open any window if you are. Dennis, will you stop buttoning on things that don't concern you? If my own wife and my own baby don't concern me, who in the name of St. Joseph does? Sure men don't know nothing at a time like this. Open the window, I said. Open it, Dennis. Mine knows what's best. All right, all right. There. Are you keeping busy at your bricklaying, McClernahan? I am, about the same. Well, you ought to try to do better. You'll have another mouse to feed soon, you know, and you needn't look to me for help. The only thing I ever asked you for was your daughter, Mr. O'Leary. I'll take care of me own. You know, there's one thing you're doing all wrong, Dennis. Oh, now what? Well, you've not made arrangements yet with the midwife. I passed Mother Moore on the street today. She said she'd not heard from you at all. That she hasn't. Now, I'm not one to butt into other people's business, but you mustn't put it off any longer. Now, you go and see Mother Moore tomorrow. I don't think I will. Well, what have you got against Mother Moore? Sure she's the best midwife in Boston. Ask Tom Riley about that. Him that lost his wife, you mean? I do indeed. Ask Ed Jenks, ask the carpenter across the street, ask any man or a grieving man I could name for you. Those things are not Mother Moore's fault. Those are the ways of providence. Well, from my taste, Mother Moore is too providential. Well, how can Mother Moore help it now there's an epidemic of childbed fever? Mothers are dying all over the place. Oh, do you have to talk about it in front of Kate? Well, who brought it up in the first place? It's all right, Dennis. I'm not worried about anything happening to me. Ah, she's going to be all right now, if only she has the right care. If you don't want Mother Moore, what midwife do you want then? I've been thinking of having a doctor for Kate. A doctor? Just for a baby. Expensive idea she has for a bleakly. Oh, it's not only the money, it's the shame of it. Do you want your own wife having a strange man with her in a time like that? I don't care. I don't care as long as it's good for her. This idea of having doctors for babies is a lot of modern nonsense. And I won't have my daughter mixed up in such risky foolishness. It's women's work, I tell you. That's your opinion, Mrs. O'Leary? How can you go on arguing with me, Dennis? I've had twelve children, I have, and never a man had nothing to do with it. Come on, Pa, do you know more about these things than we do, Dennis? Well, maybe if I had twelve, I wouldn't be worrying either. This is our first and I want things just so for you. Come on, Pa, do too. Oh, I know, I know, but... No, no, no, no, no. Stop breaking yourself, Dennis. Tomorrow I'll make all the arrangements myself for you with Mother Moore. And you won't need to give Kate or the baby another thought. I think Ma knows best, Dennis. All right, then, but I still don't like it. Ah, stop worrying, I said, Dennis. Sure, it'll all be taken care of as it always has, by God and the women. If he can get a word in it, why? During these trying days while I'm waiting to be born, my father is attending Harvard College, working very hard too, laying bricks for a new building the professors want. Hey, Clancy. Clancy, hurry with that hard, will you? I have no bricks. Ah, don't rush me, McClanahan. I'm in no mood to hurry. Oh, I was at a noble wake last night. A noble wake. Whose? Reagan's sister. Ah, you never saw such weeping. Ah, well, there's your bricks, me boy. It was the one who died, Reagan's sister, with the new baby. And what other sister could it be? It only one. What'd she die of? That child-bed fever that's killing all the mothers lately. Had she trouble when the baby was born? None. And one week later, the poor girl's in paradise, leaving all of us with headaches after a wake. Tell me, who was the midwife? Oh, Mother Moore, of course. Oh, her again, was it? That was no fault of Mother Moore's. They had a doctor when the girl was taken bad. He said Mother Moore had done all he could have done himself, almost. Why did the doctor say she died? No one can do nothing about child-bed fever, not even doctors, he said. Those were his very work. Oh, me head. Oh, I hope none of my friends die for at least a week. Well, if Pa was worried before, you can imagine how he'd feel now, why he can't even complete the eating of his dinner pail, which is not like a McGlanahan. So he walks himself around the grounds of Harvard College, rooting. And then he sees a brisk little gentleman walking in his direction, laughing to himself. Pa gets his courage up and speaks to him. I beg your pardon, sir. Yes? I beg your pardon, sir, what are you, one of the professors? No, no, but I teach. Well, then you're a gentleman of education, and I'm going to presume on your good nature to ask you a question. Who is the best doctor in Boston? Dr. Holmes. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, unquestionably. They say good things of him, do they? Oh, my dear sir, they say many things of Dr. Holmes. They say his legs are so short he can walk under tables with a high hat on. They say his tongue is so long he can out-talk his own mother-in-law. And Dr. Holmes says that Dr. Holmes is the best doctor in Boston. And you say so too, do you, sir? Indeed I do. You're a gentleman of scholar and you are an oaser. Where can I find this Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes? At the Tremont Medical School. It's that building over there. But will the doctor see plain people like myself? Well, just tell him I sent you. Oh, thank you, sir, thank you. No trouble at all, sir, good day. But sir, who shall I tell the little doctor it was who sent me? Tell the little doctor that you were sent by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Sir, that's my trouble, Dr. Holmes. Oh, I'm half-hearted in mine with fear that my wife Kate will be attacked by this... What do you call this fever? Medical term is two-uproaral fever. Uh-huh. Well, I'll just stick to calling it a child-bed fever if you don't mind. Quite all right. It fits better on a working man's tongue. The important thing is, can you keep it away from my poor Kate? I wish I didn't know what to do. Well, then you agree with the Reagan's black-footed with old Mother Moore that this pessimist is beyond the works of men and nobody can do nothing about it. No, no, I don't say that at all, Mr. McClanahan. I find that when men talk that way, it's usually an excuse for their own ignorance. Somewhere, somehow, I'm sure there's a way to prevent this fever. But how? I don't know any more than this... this Mother Moore does. Oh, you must know more than her. She's been losing mother after mother. You might say she was death's best friend. Well, you might also say that of certain physicians I know. There's one obstetrician of excellent reputation who's lost over a dozen mothers in the past few months. Why should some have such worse luck than others? I wish I knew. A few English doctors used to think the disease was contagious, but that theory's never been accepted. Well, I know nothing about doctors, but I don't see how it could be contagious. Lion and mother seldom come in contact with one with the other. Yes, that's true, but someone does go from mother to mother like a bee from flower to flower. Nobody that I know, only a doctor or a midwife. Exactly. And suppose they were the carriers of the infection. Suppose this Mother Moore, without knowing it, is death's friend and goes around introducing him to a patient. Oh, you mean like I get dirty at my work and if I'm not careful when I'm home, I get brick dust over everything, and my wife screams at me to wash my hands. Oh, I... Oh, she's a great one for washing my hands. Wife, is all she's always after me... Wait. Wait a minute, Mr. McClanahan. Yes, doctor? Maybe your wife has the right idea. Maybe... maybe the whole medical profession ought to wash its hands more. What do you mean, doctor? We know that a proper use of disinfectants cuts down the spread of certain contagious infections. Suppose puerperal fever is contagious. Why shouldn't disinfectants help control it? I'm afraid I don't follow, doctor. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm talking more to myself than to you, but I think... I think it's just possible I can help your wife. Can you now, doctor? It's worth trying anyway. Anything to put an end to these deaths. McClanahan! Someone's calling me. Where are you, McClanahan? Sounds like Clancy. Well, call out the window to him. You don't mind, doctor, I will. I'll send him about his business. Hey, McClanahan! Go off with your Clancy. I'm busy. But there's a fellow looking for you over to the job, McClanahan. I'm busy, I tell you, Clancy. I'm busy with Dr. Holmes about my baby that's coming. Well, if you stay busy much longer, you won't have to worry about no baby that's coming. You'll have to worry about her baby that's here. Your wife's labor's begun. Well, it's too soon. Tell that to the babies. Did you hear what Clancy said, Dr. Holmes? Yes. All Boston heard, Clancy. Would you come with me, doctor, and do as needed for Katie? Just let me get my bag. Oh, right. Clancy, Clancy, tell the boss I won't be back. I'm going on now to Katie with Dr. Holmes. You won't need no doctor. They've sent for Mother Moore. Over my dead body, they'll have Mother Moore. Come away from that window, Mr. McClanahan. Oh, but they're getting Mother Moore for Kate. I see why I suggested we get there first for Kate. Come along. All right. Oh, but wait a minute. Maybe to be safe, you'd better wash your hands first. You were listening to Oliver Wendell Holmes McClanahan, starring Pat O'Brien on the Cavalcade of America, presented by the DuPont Company, maker of Better Things for Better Living through Chemistry. This is Oliver Wendell Holmes McClanahan telling you how I came by that fine name. It's Boston. October 19, 1842. And in a few hours, I will be born. In the meantime, I'm causing no end of commotion in the McClanahan House. Why don't Dennis come, Ma? Oh, no. He's got a long way to come, darling. But I want him, Ma. No, no, no, no, no. He'll be here, darling. And guess who else? Who? Mother Moore. But Dennis don't want her, Ma. Why should he? It ain't him that needs her. Now, can't you get that horse here to go any faster, man? Nope. But I got a new baby coming. That's your fault. Don't you understand? The doctor and I have got to be there. It really is urgent, driver. Ain't sweating my horse up to nobody. What's the difference with your horse, man? You saw me, the baby can earn a day's pay like my horse can, and I'll hurry. One way or another, there's going to be work for you today, Dr. Holmes. If you're too late to help Katie and the baby, this driver will be needing it. Why don't it come, Ma? He'll be coming, Katie. There, there, Ma. Maybe that's him now. Call him Ma. Is that you, Dennis? No, it's me and Mother Moore. It's your father, darling, with the midwife. I want Dennis. Now, now, now that Mother Moore's here, you've got nothing to worry about. Here's Mother Moore to see you, Kate. Good day to you, dearie. Having a baby just to make work for Mother Moore, aren't you? Everybody's having babies, so poor Mother Moore can't get no rest. Just to spite you, we'll get this over quick, we will. How do you feel, Katie girl? Pretty good, Pa. Only I want Dennis, I do. He's been sinful. And he'll come running as soon as he hears the news. Husbands are always like that, the first time. Oh, Larry, why don't you look up the street and see if you can't see him coming, and hurry him up here. I'll do just that. And now, Mrs. O'Lady, would you get Mother Moore the things she needs from the kitchen? You've been through it enough to know what's wanted. Oh, indeed, and I have. I'll be right back, Katie darling. And now, dearie, you and I are just going to wait. You'll try to rest. And Mother Moore will smoke her pipe. So, you finally got here, did you, Dennis? We came flying and carried. There was no call for such extravaganza, McClanahan. Nothing's happened yet. These are my wife's parents, Dr. Holmes. How do you do? So you went and got a doctor after all, did you, McClanahan? I'm afraid you brought the doctor here for nothing, Dennis. Mother Moore is in with Katie now. Mother Moore? With Kate now? Well, who else would the midwife be with? Well, get her out. I don't know such thing. I've been a patient man with you and your husband, Mrs. O'Larry. I've let you order Kate and me around like we're dogs instead of people, and I never open my mouth. But Kate's my wife, and there's once I'm going to have my way. I never heard of such a thing, Dennis McClanahan. You can't talk that way. Quiet! I've got the doctor in the house. Now here's money to pay Mother Moore. I don't want her to lose nothing. I just want her out. But Dennis, Mother Moore! And if you don't stop arguing with me, I'll throw her out. I'm a fraudulent fatherhood, I am, and I'm not to be trifled with. Kate's having Dr. Holmes, the best doctor in Boston. Hey, I've read in the newspaper he said fine after Dennis Baker. That he may be, but he's not going to be a doctor to my daughter. And I say he is, Mrs. O'Larry. And I say he's not! May I say a few words? You can try. Only one thing matters here, Mrs. O'Larry. The life of your daughter. Yes, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of other young mothers like her. If we can prevent this pestilence from reaching Kate, it's my hope that we can someday keep it away from all mothers. And I believe I can do this. Oh, you can, can you? With God's help, I can. Well, then if you can do so much, get started. Don't stand there after dinner speaking. Oh, Dennis, I'm so glad you've come. Oh, if I had my own way, I'd never be one minute away from you, Kate. Oh, you and your blarney. I brought your doctor home to take care of you now. As long as you're here, I don't worry about anything. Dr. Holmes is the best doctor in Boston, aren't you, Doctor? Oh, by all means. Now, give me a kiss, Dennis. Is it all right without washing my hands, Dr. Holmes? Yes. Oh, don't worry about me, Dennis. Now, I think you'd better go. Go? Yes. Your wife's right, Mr. McLannahan. There's no place for you now. Ask Mrs. O'Leary to come in, please. This is doctors and women's work. You too, Dr. Holmes? Now comes the time of waiting. For Pa, for the O'Learies, for Dr. Holmes, for Ma, and for all of us. Waiting, waiting. They'd walk up and down too, if they were you, McLannahan. I guess all expectant fathers are nervous. Not like you, they're not. What do you mean? It was a rash thing bringing in a doctor. None of us knew nothing about her, even wanted. Heaven knows how it'll come out. Things will be all right. You'll see. What do you pay in this fancy doctor? I don't know. I ain't asked him yet. How do you know he ain't gonna give you a bill the size of the State House? I don't care what he charges, as long as Kate's all right. I'll pay somehow. Just don't come asking me for nothing. Oh, I was going to ask for something right now. Ask me for what, McLannahan? For the time of the day, Mr. O'Leary. If you wouldn't throw money around, you could own a watch of your own. It is now 7 p.m. How much longer do you think it'll be? Who can tell? Some cases take no time at all. Some cases take days. Oh, I'll go out of my mind if something doesn't happen soon. What's that? It's me. Oh, hello, Clancy. Hello, Clancy. Has the baby come yet? No, not yet. I thought I'd stop by to see if there was anything I could do. A man needs his friends about him at a solemn time like this. Ah, yes. Last night was the wake, Clancy. Don't remind me. I'm never going to touch another drop. Unless, of course, when the baby comes, you intend a bit of a celebration. Under those circumstances, I wouldn't insult you by turning wandering down. I'm sure you wouldn't, Clancy. Why don't something happen? Don't you love these new fathers, Mr. O'Leary? Wait until he's had twelve, like I have. Twelve? And all lived? Every one. Well, well, now that is remarkable. Usually out of a batch that big, there'd be three or four babies. Would you shut up, Clancy? Now, what have I said? Nothing. Mr. O'Leary, could you spare me the time again? It's three minutes past seven. Ah, don't worry about the time, McClanahan. I'm prepared to stay with you all night, if need be. Ah, thanks. Say, did you hear about Chipper McGee's baby? Who's Chipper McGee? Ah, the little fellow over to the wood yard. You know, the tin one. Chipper ain't wide enough to bless himself. Clancy, what about his baby? Well, he had a lovely baby. Lovely. Only, when it was born... O'Leary, O'Leary. Yes, mother? You go on, Dennis. Bring some more hot water right away. Hurry, quick. There's no time to waste. And now, while Dr. Holmes scrubs his hands and pours his disinfectant and boils his doctor's tools, Pa stays kneeling in the hall outside the door, praying and praying. And it ain't that I don't trust the little doctor, God. Only to be on the safe side would you keep an eye on me. See that he gets his hands clean enough so no sickness is brought to Kate. I wouldn't be no good without her, dear Lord. And you'd only have another sinner to worry about. And soon, I begin to be mighty hurtful, the poor Ma. The sleep and the peace end, and I'm delivered out of the hands of God into the small, immaculate hands of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes of Boston on October 19th, 1842. That's me. And the mere fact that I'm named for Dr. Holmes ought to tell you the story turned out right. Ma didn't get the fever, nor did any of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes's mother's from that time on. And so the doctor wrote a paper about it, telling how he and certain other long-named doctors had found out how to prevent pure childbed fever, which makes me proud of the name my parents gave me, which is much more fitting than the name they'd planned for me. Listen to them, talking about me the day before I was born. Dennis, what shall we call the baby that's coming? I have the perfect name, Catherine Elizabeth McLanahan. Tonight's DuPont cavalcade was written by Frank Gabrielson, directed by Jack Zoller. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Bryant. The music was composed by Dr. Wendell Holmes, and the music was composed by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. The music was composed by Dr. Wendell Holmes, and the music was composed by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Bryant. The part of Kate McLanahan was played by Grace Keddie. Pat O'Brien will soon be seen in the RKO production, The Boy with Green Hair. Next week at cavalcade time, we'll present the distinguished star of the theater, Cornelia Otis Skinner. Our play, a radio dramatization of her bestseller, Family Circle. Co-starring with Miss Skinner will be another popular Hollywood star, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. This is Ted Pearson speaking. Cavalcade of America comes to you each week from the stage of the Longacre Theater on Broadway in New York, and is presented by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Ladies and gentlemen, America needs adequate schools and well-trained teachers. You can help achieve them by taking an active interest in educational conditions in your community. Don't delay. The sooner we solve this problem, the better it will be for the future of our country. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
