The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's stars, Lee Bowman and Ralph Bellamy. Tonight's DuPont cavalcade, starring Ralph Bellamy as Dr. William Burton and Lee Bowman as Dr. Robert Humphreys, is called Wizards of Whiting, a true story of two men of courage and conviction. It begins in 1909 in Whiting, Indiana, the home of Dr. Robert Humphreys, chief chemist of the Standard Oil Company. All right now, Claude. Say ah. Ah. Again. Ah. That's fine. Doc, tomorrow can I go fishing? Dad said we were going. It's the first time in such a long while. I'm afraid not, young man. You're going to be in bed tomorrow and for quite a few tomorrows after that. Ah, gee. Well, it'll be some other time, Claude. It's just my rotten luck. You'll have plenty of time for fishing. First job, though, is to get well. Yes, sir. I'll see you tomorrow. I'd rather see a fish. Claude. I'm sorry. Oh, Bob. Oh, I'm glad you're home early. Hello, dear. Dr. Winslow. Is someone sick around here? Oh, it's Claude. He came home from school with a fever. Just the beginning of a cold. Nothing to worry about. Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon, doctor. Goodbye, doctor. Thank you so much for coming. Oh, not at all, not at all. Oh, don't bother. I'll find my way out. Well, that's tough luck, Claude. Don't worry about it, though. We'll go fishing next week. Yes, it is bad luck, honey. Yeah, whiting luck. Whiting luck? Well, a lot of all that's happened to us ever since we came to Whiting, one bad break after another. I knew what was wrong the day we first landed here. Oh, Whiting's all right. All right? Why, it's nothing but an oil refinery stuck out on the sand dunes. I'm sick of it. I want to get back to Virginia to breathe clean air again. And why shouldn't we go? What's to be gained by staying here? You've done very well here, Bob. You've been promoted to chief chemist, head of the department. Head of the department? The department that does what? Have we done one solid, clean job of petroleum research? In nine years, what have we done? Analyze greases, worked on a wax paper drinking cup, a metal match of absolutely no practical use. How does that sound for nine years of petroleum research? And do you think it'll be any better nine years from now because it won't? Oh, Bob, what is it you want to do? I want to get out, get away. Oh, darling. My mind's made up, Adelaide. We're going home to Virginia. I'll see Dr. Burton tomorrow. I'm going to resign. So, your resignation. That's right, Dr. Burton, my resignation. Well? It's a nice document, neatly typed. I'm dead serious about this. I'm sure you are, Bob. I've never known you to be anything but serious, too serious sometimes. You got to learn to relax, take things a little easier. Yeah, that's exactly what I intend to do in Virginia. I can't stop you, Bob. Wouldn't if I could. But it's a shame. Why? Any chemist could do what I've been doing in the laboratory. You don't need a man with a PhD to run routine analysis jobs. That's right, I don't. I didn't need a PhD nine years ago when I called you here to Whiting. But I wanted a top chemist. I wanted him in the plant. I wanted to prove that a PhD could do a job in industry. Ten years ago, when I came here to Whiting, I walked in, I remember as if it were yesterday. And I walked in the first day, the plant superintendent looked me up and down and said, who are you? I'm your new chemist, says I. Chemist, he says. Well, if you're a chemist, where's your toolkit? What's the point? Just this. Ten years ago, a man with a college degree in chemistry was a freak in this business. Even today, we chemists aren't quite accepted in the plant. Well, I believe that sooner or later, the petroleum industry will stand or fall on a basis of how much we chemists had learned about this grimy, slimy, evil-smelling stuff called petroleum. Oh, that's just my point. I accepted your offer with Standard Oil because I believed it would give me an opportunity to do some real, basic, solid petroleum research. And I haven't had it. Bob, in your rush down here to hand in your resignation, you didn't by any chance stop to buy yourself a morning paper, did you? No, I didn't. There's a news item from Detroit. Ever hear of Henry Ford? He makes motor cars. That's right. He's just announced that he's standardized his Model T. He's going into mass production. Here's what he says. I will make a motor car for the multitude. How many do you figure Henry Ford can sell? The story is that he'll produce about 20,000 this year alone. Bob, by the end of next year, there's going to be over half a million motor cars in the roads. And that figure will double and double again in five years. There's only one thing that'll hold back the automobile. Fuel. That's right, fuel. Fueling. It's going to be pretty hard fueling 20,000 automobiles with the amount of gasoline available. Hard? Let's say it's impossible. Bob, someone, somewhere, has to find out how to get more gasoline out of crude petroleum. Our best techniques today give us a gasoline yield of only 18%. It's not near enough. The only way to get more is to try to convert some of the heavier oil fractions into gasoline. That's right. How? Bob, you've been begging for this. Now here's your chance. What? That's right. Oh, no, wait a minute. I want to make sure that I have this exactly right. Are you assigning me the job of developing a method of increasing the gasoline yield from crude petroleum? That's right. A full-scale research project? By all means. Bob, I'm writing you a blank check. I have some ideas myself. You might start by trying heat and pressure and selected charging stocks. Get whatever you need. Do whatever you believe needs doing. I'll have to clear the project with buck-roars at the plant, but you can count on me. I'll work with you and for you. How does that sound? Great music. Sweet and beautiful music. What about your resignation? Forget it. Tear it up. Carry me back to old Virginie. That's where... Mom? Yes, Todd? Mom, what do I do with my ice skates? With your ice skates? Yeah. I guess I can give them over to the company. Why should you? What do I need with ice skates in Virginia? That's the South. Well, darling, it's not that far, Todd. Oh, here's Dad now. Hello. Where's everybody? In here. Hello, Claude. How are you feeling? Much better, Dad. Oh, that's swell. What's going on, Adelaide? Did a hurricane hit the living room? Almost. I'm packing. Unpacking. Oh. Yeah. We're sticking. What happened, Bob? It's just wonderful, darling. A new project. Really new. Exciting. What is it? Research. We're going to try to find some way to increase the gasoline yield from crude petroleum. Oh, well, just what does that mean, Bob? It means that at last I'll have the chance to do what I want to do. Work in basic research. Pure research. But... but I don't understand, Bob. Isn't there just so much gasoline in petroleum? Just a certain percentage? If that's all there is, how can you get any more? Well, look, Adelaide, it's easy to understand. Crude petroleum is made up of a number of different oils. Fractions, we call them. Gasoline is one of the lightest fractions. Now our idea is to take some of the heavier oils and try to make gasoline out of them. How? By heat and pressure. Break up the heavy molecules into lighter ones. Oh, Bob. Won't that be dangerous? Can't the oil explode? Don't worry, honey. There's no danger at all. I can't tell you what a lift this has given me. I feel like a new individual. Someone going someplace. Well, I feel just the opposite. Like someone going no place. Oh. Well, I guess I don't have to worry about my ice skates after all. Oh, Claude. Schultz, more heat under those pipes. We need a hotter fire. The pipes will burst. Hey, Rogers. Yes, sir? Did you check the results of the last run? Yes, yes, I've got the figure. Well? No luck. Gasoline percentage was about 18% and a pretty poor quality. Turn it off, Schultz. It's no use. Good. Well, it's pretty obvious we're not getting anywhere by tassling oil through these heated tubes and it just doesn't work out. Nothing seems to work out. I can't understand it. Theoretically, we're sound. The application of extreme heat should crack the high boiling point fractions of petroleum into low boiling point fractions. Gasoline is made up of low boiling fractions. We should be able to crack it out. The trouble is the oil distills off before cracking takes place. Yeah, that's right. If we could only hold it in a still until it reaches the cracking point, hold it in, seal it in. How? Well, there's only one way, by pressure. You can't put oil under high heat and pressure. Why not? Well, it's obvious. Distillation of oil needs temperatures ranging as high as 600 to 780 degrees Fahrenheit. What would happen to the still when you get your oil that hot and subject it to pressure? The rivets will give way. Your coke will form on the bottom. The still will blow on us. How do you know? Well, it's obvious. Oh, nothing is obvious unless it's tried. Schultz. Yes? Schultz, you're a top still man. The best, naturally. I want you to have the boiler shop build me a hundred gallon still. It'll be gas fired and strong enough to take terrific pressure. Can you do it? Build it? Yeah, that I can do. But run it? Well, that's something else again. We'll worry about that later. Right now. Let's get it built. What's our pressure, Rogers? 15 pounds. Schultz, temperature reading. 500 degrees plus. More heat. Dr. Humphreys, please. More heat. All right. Shut it down. What's the matter here? Dr. Humphreys, as plant superintendent, I'm all out of gas. Dr. Humphreys, as plant superintendent, I'm ordering you to shut down that still and in a hurry. Dr. Burton. I'm sorry, Bob. You'll have to do what Ross says. But I don't understand. Shut off that boiler shop. I should say so, Mr. Ross. Bob, I'm sorry. Ross here is in charge of the plant. He says we'll have to call it quits. Call it quits? Why? Why, we've just started. At five pounds pressure, we got some cracking. Not much, but a little. At 10 pounds, we did better. Now we're at 15 pounds and we're really getting results. Yeah, you're getting results all right. This whole plant's on the verge of shutting down. But why? Because the men know what you're doing even if you don't. You're aiming to blast this plant into Lake Michigan, that's what. Nothing has happened? Oh no, not yet, maybe. But plenty will happen if you keep on going. You can't heat oil under high temperature and pressure. Can't be done. The newest apprentice in the plant knows it can't be done. The men are quitting. I don't blame them. Dr. Burton. I'm sorry, Bob. Really sorry. But I'm in no position to overrule Ross. We'll have to suspend the project. The DuPont Cavalcade continues, starring Ralph Bellamy as Dr. William Burton and Lee Bowman as Dr. Robert Humphries. It is the year 1912. Over a million automobiles are already on the road. But the whole future of this new and thriving industry is suddenly threatened by an ever increasing gasoline shortage. In the refinery of the Standard Oil Company, Dr. Robert E. Humphries, trying to solve the problem, has been forced to suspend his experiments because of the fear of explosion. I haven't walked together in the evening like this in a long time, Bob. Why am I so restless, Adelaide? Why do I always feel that I'm drifting? Well, you didn't feel that way when you were working on your oil cracking experiment. No, that was something solid. Good. I had the feeling I was going somewhere. Bob, I want you to leave. What? Just temporarily. I think maybe you need a rest, a change. There's that chemistry meeting at Wabash, Indiana. Why don't you go? Are you trying to get rid of me? I certainly am. Why? Well, because I think it would do you a world of good. You always enjoy talking shock with other chemists, swapping ideas. Maybe you'll come back with some new information, something that'll give you another start. Come with me. Oh, I should say no. I get enough about chemistry from one man in my life. Oh, imagine having to listen to dozens. Dr. Kentland? That's right. I'm not disturbing you, I hope. Not at all. Sit down. Go on with your lunch, please. I'm Humphreys of Standard Oil. Oh, yes, I've heard of you. It's a pleasure to meet you. Have some coffee? No, thank you. Dr. Kentland, I was in the audience at the panel you conducted this morning. As I understood what you said, you claimed to have distilled petroleum fractions in your laboratory, distilled them under pressure. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You distilled them under pressure with steam up to 50 pounds. That's right. And no explosion. I'm still here. How big a still do you use, doctor? Naturally, only a small one. Very small. Just a laboratory still. Would it work on a larger scale? And do you think we might get even higher pressures without danger of explosion? Well, that I can't say. But I have a suggestion. Yes? Build a bigger still. Run higher pressures. Find out. What the devil are you doing back at work, Bob? You're supposed to be on a vacation. Yeah, I just got back. Dr. Burton, you've heard of Dr. Kentland. Yes. I met him in Wabash. He swears on a stack of Bibles that he's been able to distil petroleum fractions in his lab under steam to 50 pounds pressure. Bob, listen. 50 pounds pressure and no explosion. That's interesting. It's a fact. So it all gets back to where we started, heat and pressure. It's the only way. We've got to give it another try. We only have Kentland's word that he was able to work pressure up to 50 pounds and then only with steam in a laboratory still. He's a sound chemist. Sure he is. But the fact remains that working with a large still without steam is a lot different from using his small laboratory still. For one thing, a small still can be made out of a solid sheet of steel, no seams. Any large still we use will have to have sheets riveted together. Will those seams stand up under high pressure? I think they will. Can you get men to work with you? I'll get the men. What about Ross? Well, you'll have to take care of that. It's a risk, Bob. An awful risk. But I don't know of anything worthwhile that's ever come along without someone taking a risk. The situation now is so critical, the gasoline shortage will soon be so bad that I don't think it's a matter of choice anymore. It must be done. It must be tried. Then I've got your consent to go ahead with a large still? Yes. Try it again. I'll back you up with Ross. May I have your attention, please? We're going to fire up that still now, but before we do, let's get some things straight. First, let's be honest. There is a certain element of risk involved. You're right. And if any of you men want to quit, now's the time. No hard feelings, believe me. But I don't want anyone to walk off in the middle. Well, Schulz? I'm a stubborn Dutchman. I'll stick. Good. Atkinson? Me too. Kwa-le-kee? Yep. What about you, Rogers? I'm ready. All right. We're starting with 50 pounds pressure. 50 pounds? And from that point, we keep going up. Going up? How high up? Until the rivets begin to bulge out of the seams. Hmm. That's nice. I thought you'd like it. Now, Atkinson, you watch the pressure gauge. Kwa-le-kee? Yeah? Keep your eyes glued to the thermometer. If pressure's getting too high, Atkinson, it'll be your job to open the valve a fraction and equalize the pressure. Right. Kwa-le-kee, keep calling your temperatures to Schulz. He'll tell you to adjust the heat up and down as needed. Right. Now, are we set? All right, Schulz, let's have some heat and let's get going. Pressure, 30 pounds. Heat, 590 degrees. Pressure, 45 pounds. Heat, 720 degrees. Pressure, 60 pounds. Heat, 720 degrees. Dr. Humphries, this thing has gone far enough. Too far. Now, call it off. I'm not calling anything off, Mr. Ross. Dr. Burton has agreed to let me go ahead. Well, I phoned Burton in Chicago. He's on his way to the plant. We'll get this settled right now. That's fine. The men in the plant are getting panicky. Well, there's no reason to get panicky. We're working along carefully, step by step. You can't do it. I am doing it and getting results. Doc, you must be gone completely out of your mind. Gentlemen. Dr. Burton. What was so urgent here, Ross? You know what's happening here? Dr. Humphries intends to bring that still up to 75 pounds pressure today. Is that a fact, Bob? It's a fact. Think you'll get results? I know I will. We're set to go. Fine. You're not going to let him go ahead any further, are you, Dr. Burton? Let him do it? I'm not going to let him do it, but I'm going to stick right here and help him. Okay. Go ahead, then. Blow up the plant. But you'll have to take the responsibility. All right, I'll take the responsibility. Come on, Bob. Let's get to work. 70 pounds. 71, 72. Temperature? 740 degrees. More heat, Schultz. I want 750. Yeah, 750. Radgers, get ready to handle the valve for the runoff. All ready. 74 pounds pressure. Building. Heat. More heat. 75 pounds. Cracking point. Open the runoff valve. Bob, look at the seams. They're on fire. The rivets will give way any minute. Keep the pressure steady. Keep the heat going. Schultz, we've got to cork the seams to stop those leaks. Oh, the seams? Climb up on top of the steel? Not me. Where are the corking hammers? Here. I'll do it. Bob, don't. It's all right. I can do it. Just keep the steel running. Look at the way the flames are shooting from the seams. The rivets will hold. They've got to hold. Don't. Climb on top, Dr. Humphreys. Don't do it. Don't worry about me. Just keep that fire going. Pressure. 76 pounds. Watch your pressure, Rogers. Open pressure valve. Down one pound. Are you all right up there, Bob? Watch out for that flame. I'm okay. Okay. He'll never stop those same leaks. Let's get out of here. She's going to blow. There we are. She's not going to blow. She's holding. He's stopping the leaks. Are your hands awfully burnt, Dad? No, they're not so bad, Claude. Do you think you'll be able to hold your fishing pole? Sure. Well, I packed some sandwiches. Chicken, Swiss cheese, there's cake, pickles, enough to get you both good and sick. Bob! Bob! Here comes Dr. Burton. Oh, gee whiz. Every time we get started, something turns up. Claude, listen to me. No matter what happens, remember, we're going fishing. Oh, sure. Sure. Morning, Dr. Burton. Bob, I had to come out and give you the news. We've just checked the runoff. What do you think the gasoline ran? With a good break, 25%. You're way off. Oh. Less? We ran a full 35%. 35%? We doubled the old yield, doubled the yield. Twice as much gasoline from every barrel of crude. Bob, that's just how overnight we made two oil wells spout with just one we're standing before. Oh, that's fine. Fine. Oh, that's wonderful, Bob. Thank you, dear. Now, when we go back to the plant, we've got to get started. We want new stills made. We'll have to call in engineers, range of production schedule. What's that you got there, Claude? Fish and coal. Oh. Fish biting? Yeah. Real good. You don't say. Caught a mess by myself yesterday. Claude? Yes, Dr. Burton? Got another pole? Yes, sir. Good. Mrs. Humphreys, will you be good enough to call my office? Tell them I won't be back. If they ask why, just say that Dr. Burton and Dr. Humphreys are in conference. Can't be disturbed. ue Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. William Burton, who is here in the theater with us tonight, and Dr. Robert Humphries, who is listening to our broadcast, have seen great changes come to the oil industry in the 40 years since those tense, dramatic days when they perfected the first successful oil cracking process at the plant of Standard Oil at Whiting, Indiana, and assured a constant flow of gasoline to power the wheels of America. Their achievement is typical of the many scientists and engineers in America's great petroleum industry who have made tremendous strides in the improvement and development of many new processes which have been patented. This is Oil Progress Week. The oil industry has come a long way since its early days, from stagecoaches toiling their dusty way across the country in a month to oil-powered trains that make the trip in 65 hours. From horsepower agriculture to modern farms with tractors, from the Surrey with a fringe on top to jet planes flying faster than the speed of sound. Today, nearly 4 million American homes are centrally heated by oil burners, while 5 million more use oil space heaters. There are more service stations than there are post offices or drugstores. And behind the servicemen, behind the dealers who serve you with more than 1,000 petroleum products are 400 refineries, 150,000 miles of pipeline, 500 tankers, 2,400 barges, 100,000 railroad tank cars, and 140,000 tank trucks. The oil companies now supply 5 and a half million barrels of oil every day. Yet, known reserves of petroleum, thanks to vigilant exploration, are higher today than ever before. The oil business is big business because it has a big job to do for a big country. At the same time, it is one of the most competitive businesses known. You buy the brand of gasoline that works best in your car. You buy your fuel oil from the dealer who gives you the best service. Each dealer competes for every purchase you make. This free competition brings you greater value than ever in today's petroleum products. This is Cy Harris reminding you to join us next week when the star of the DuPont cavalcade will be Margaret O'Brien. Our story, Juliet in Pig Tales, tells of a little girl and her big dream and how it all came true, and thereby America has a new dramatic star. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont play, Wizards of Whiting, starring Lee Bowman as Dr. Humphreys and Ralph Bellamy as Dr. Burton, was written by Irv Tunick. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Vorreys. The program was directed by John Zoller. Don't forget next week, Margaret O'Brien on the DuPont cavalcade of America, which comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry.
