Starring Gene Arthur in The Petticoat Jury on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by
the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry.
But first, here is Ted Pearson with some good news for gardeners who want to raise healthy,
productive crops this year.
DuPont's new Garden Dust, a combination insecticide and fungicide, kills bugs and controls plant
diseases with the same application.
It saves you the trouble of buying several different insecticides.
Garden Dust contains four important ingredients all in one package, 5% DDT and rotenone to
kill bugs and the famous DuPont firmate and zirlate fungicides to control plant diseases.
It's easy to use as a dust or a spray on vegetables, flowers or other ornamentals.
It comes in a handy shaker type container for dusting and mixes readily with water for
spraying.
This new all purpose garden dust is another of the DuPont Company's better things for
better living through chemistry.
The DuPont Company presents the Petticoat Jury, starring Gene Arthur as Euphemia Prescott
on the cavalcade of America.
Here comes the train.
Yeah.
And here comes the sheriff.
I wonder who...
Hello, Luke.
How are you, Jeff?
Howdy, Sheriff.
And Luke, you wouldn't know anything about a new piece of rope, would you?
The kind you sell in your hardware store?
Well, what rope you talking about, Royce?
The one around the neck of that fella hanging up there in that big cottonwood tree about
a mile out of town.
Know him, Jeff?
Never seen him before.
I wonder why he hung himself.
No, just got lonesome and put himself out of his misery.
I see you got your horse back, Luke.
Where'd you find him?
Didn't.
He must have throwed the ombre who stole him and come home by himself.
Found him eating grass out in the field.
Hmm, that's a pretty smart horse, wouldn't you, Luke?
Now I was just wondering...
Oh, excuse me, Sheriff, the train's in.
Maybe you're looking for someone in particular.
Sort of changing the subject, ain't you, Jeff?
All right, boys, there's a new school mom coming in from Boston.
I'm gonna drive her out to Higgins Place.
Hope she stays longer than the last one.
Way in thunder can't they get a man?
What's her name, Royce?
I got it on this slip of paper.
Yeah, see what you make of it.
E-up-hemiah.
E-u-p-h-e-m-i-a.
Prescott.
Never heard a front name like that before.
E-up-hemiah.
Gentlemen, the name is Euphemia Prescott.
Miss, the P-H is pronounced with a sound of F.
Will one of you gentlemen kindly tell me where to find the sheriff?
I'm the sheriff, ma'am, Royce Emory.
These boys with a sense of humor are Luke Wilkins and Jeff Burton.
Glad to know you, Miss Prescott.
Howdy, ma'am.
How do you do, gentlemen?
Mr. Emory, it's been a very trying journey, and if you'll pardon me, I would like to get
some rest.
My baggage is on the platform, and if I...
Front, old man.
Jeff, show Miss Prescott to the bug board while I get her grips.
Sure.
Right this way, ma'am.
Watch out for them horses.
They never saw a do-funny like that before.
Do-funny?
What do you mean, Mr. Burton?
Well, that one that you're holding over your head.
That Mr. Burton is a parasol.
Oh, yeah.
I see one in the book once.
Mr. Burton, one does not say seed.
The past tense of the verb to see is saw.
You once saw one in a book.
Miss Prescott, you're about the smallest woman I ever seen, but you sure know a lot of words.
Mr. Emory, I'm amazed at the way men talk out here.
Well, how do you mean, Miss Prescott?
So ungrammatical, as if they'd never been inside of a school.
Well, most of us never were, or left very young.
Oh dear, it's going to be very hard to teach the children when the parents can hardly
hold their horses.
Oh, oh, oh, there.
Stop that yelling, you scared the horses.
Oh, oh, steady, steady now.
It's a man.
He's hanging there.
Well, don't look.
Look the other way.
We'll be passing a minute.
Anna, take it easy.
I'm sorry I had to see that.
Oh, how horrible.
Who was that man?
Why is he hanging there?
I don't know.
I was out of town.
I figure the boys strung him up for stealing Luke Wilkins' horse.
But I can't prove it.
They hanged a man for stealing a horse.
That's about the size of it.
What kind of a country is it where a man is put to death for a minor theft if the judge
gave him a jail sentence or a fine, but to hang him.
Oh, he never came before a judge.
You mean he wasn't given a trial in court?
No.
But that's murder.
Of course those men will be arrested and punished.
Can't be done.
Murderers can't be brought to justice.
Ma'am, even if I could prove who actually pulled a rope, it still wouldn't help any.
No jury out here can convict a man for killing a horse thief.
I just can't believe it.
A man has less value than a horse.
Mr. Emery, I realize I've made a dreadful mistake in coming out here.
I want you to take me back to town.
But there's no place to stay in town.
I'm not staying.
I'm taking the next train back.
Sure, but there's no train till tomorrow morning.
You better go on to Mrs. Higgins for tonight.
I'll come and get you first thing in the morning.
Well, there seems to be no choice.
But believe me, Mr. Emery, I'm not staying.
Have another cup of coffee, Miss Prescott, hmm?
No, thank you, Mrs. Higgins.
Royce Emery tells me you're not staying.
I leave in the morning.
I won't ask you why.
I guess I know.
Well, how can anyone expect a woman to live in a country where men are shooting and
hanging each other and even the sheriff does nothing about it?
Oh, Royce does what he can, but it's too much for one man.
Sometimes I think it's too much for all of them put together.
Maybe giving us women the right to vote was man's way of saying they'd made a mess of
things and wanted us to pitch in and give them a hand.
Yep, being sheriff is a pretty thankless job.
Then why does he want to be sheriff?
Royce could be the best rancher in these parts, and he'd like to be, but...
But what, Mrs. Higgins?
His father was killed trying to separate two men in the shooting scrape.
Oh.
Royce hunted them for days, swearing that he'd shoot them on sight.
What a senseless waste of life.
Did he find them?
Yeah, hiding out on my farm.
On my knees I pleaded with him not to kill them, but to give them a fair trial.
Did he listen to you?
Uh-huh.
What happened?
Nothing.
The grand jury wouldn't indict him.
You're crying, Mrs. Higgins.
What's the matter?
Oh, I'm all right.
Just that my husband was the one who shot Royce's father in that brawl.
And Mr. Emery didn't try to keep his vow?
No, he'd given his word he would abide with the decision of the court.
After that he became sheriff and has been trying ever since to enforce what few laws
they have out here.
Mrs. Higgins, I'm afraid I may have misjudged Mr. Emery.
Good-bye, Mrs. Higgins.
Thank you for everything.
Good-bye and be sure and right to me.
Is the train on time, Mr. Wilkins?
No, never on time.
I thought Mr. Emery was coming to get me.
He couldn't.
Oh, why couldn't Mr. Emery come?
His arm's bad.
What's the matter with his arm?
He's got a bullet in it.
A bullet?
You mean he was shot?
Yes, ma'am, with a gun.
Oh, is it serious?
Will he die?
Is he in a hospital?
He'll live.
Where is he?
In the jail.
In jail?
What's he there for?
Tendon's arm.
Oh, I'm so sorry he's hurt.
I'm sorry for poor Mrs. Emery.
She must feel terribly worried.
She don't.
How can you say such a thing?
He ain't married.
He ain't?
Isn't?
No.
Never knowed a sheriff who was married.
Well, can't a sheriff marry?
Or is that another of your quaint customs?
No point to a woman marrying a sheriff.
And why not?
Never lives long enough.
No, sir, a sheriff is a mighty poor proposition,
unless the woman likes being a widow.
Get up there, get up.
Steady now, Sheriff.
I'm about finished.
What are you probing with, a crowbar?
Hurry up.
It's easier to put a bullet into a man than just to get it out.
Brace yourself now.
I...
I've got it.
There you are.
It's not very big.
Lucky if you, it wasn't a 45, it would have torn your arm off.
May I come in, Doctor?
Oh, come ahead, Mrs. Prescott.
Didn't Luke put you on a train?
I told him...
Mr. Wilkins was very punctual, thank you.
And what happened?
I'm not going.
Doctor, may I help you address the wound?
Sheriff, I'm acting as Slade's attorney.
What charge are you holding him on?
Daly, you know well enough.
I'm holding him for the killing of Paul Harvey
during the raucous over at the commercial house the other night.
How long are you aiming to hold him?
That depends on the grand jury.
When will it be called?
Tomorrow or the day after.
Well, in that case, I won't bother to get a writ.
Slade won't mind a few days in jail.
No one's going to indict a man for shooting in self-defense.
Royce Emery, this man Slade shot Paul Harvey for no reason whatsoever.
And if you don't hear everyone talk, it's a foregone conclusion, he'll be released.
When in the name of heaven will men stop killing one another?
Oh, now Effie...
I'm sick and tired of hearing that nothing can be done.
Something can be done and I'm going to do it.
Effie, what can you...
You know when the time comes, but right now I'm going to see Judge Hewitt.
I agree with you, Miss Prescott.
But until we can summon juries that'll indict and then convict
all the laws on earth will remain but scribblings in the books.
Judge Hewitt, the law is only half trying.
It hasn't summoned its full power and yet that power is here waiting to be called.
Now, just what do you mean by that, Miss Prescott?
Summon the women as well as the men to serve on the jury.
Women on the jury?
I wonder if it's legal.
How legal is it to kill a man?
Well now, Miss Prescott, that all depends.
Judge Hewitt, I'll always remember what Mrs. Higgins said to me the night I arrived.
She said that the problem was too much for all the men put together
and letting the women vote was just another way of saying they wanted the women to pitch
in and help.
Yes, Miss Prescott, but...
Judge Hewitt, the women are citizens of this territory and if we're granted the rights
of citizens, why shouldn't we have the duties as well?
I think you've got an idea there.
Yeah, why not?
The men may make a first, but Miss Prescott, the next grand jury will have women on the
panel.
Hey, fellas, stop the piano, Joe.
Hey, the judge is summoning women to serve on the jury.
Yeah, Slade's gonna be tried by a bunch of jurors in Petticoat.
That's what we get for giving women the vote.
Yeah, they'll be running for office, Nick.
They ought to be home mending the kids.
Here's a little tune for you.
Baby, baby, don't get in the fury.
Your mom is gone to sit on the jury.
Baby, baby, don't get in the fury.
You are listening to the Petticoat Jury, starring Gene Arthur as you feel me, a Prescott on
the cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for
better living through chemistry.
As our second act opens, the courtroom is crowded with amused and curious spectators
come to watch the novel proceedings.
Euphemia and five other women proudly take their places beside the men in the jury box.
Order.
The court is now in session.
Do you wish to address the court, Mr. Houghton?
Your Honor, I move for a mistrial.
Mr. Houghton, are you aware that you are prosecuting this case, not defending it?
Yes, Your Honor, but the jury has been improperly drawn.
I do not find any record or law which entitles women to serve on the jury.
Do you ever hear of a law, Guinness, son?
No.
Motion denied.
Order.
Order in the court.
Now, this is a solemn moment.
To everyone, I declare that it will be a sorry day for any man who shall so far forget the
courtesies due and paid by every American gentleman to every American lady.
Proceed with the trial.
Will you please continue in your own words, Midsled?
Well, as I was saying, everyone was shouting and drinking, just raising cane in general.
This man, Harvey, looked at me and yelled, stranger, I ought to plug you.
We ain't had a banger funeral for a whole week.
That's how it was.
You are sure Harvey had a loaded gun in his hand?
I am.
A single action.45.
And he was holding it in his left hand.
And the gun was loaded?
Every chamber had a bullet, and they looked mighty big to me.
You say that you thought your life was in danger and you drew your gun in self-defense?
Mr. Houghton, that gun was pointed in my direction.
Luckily, I shot him before he could shoot me.
I see.
That will be all.
Your Honor.
Does the foreman wish to address the court?
Is the jury allowed to question the accused?
The court will permit it if it has a baron on the case.
Will you come over here, Miss Prescott?
Mr. Slade, when Mr. Harvey made his remarks, was his attitude threatening or was he smiling
at you?
Lady, I didn't stop to look.
Well, would you walk up to a perfect stranger, draw a gun and shoot him?
Of course not.
I'm a peaceful man.
But when a stranger shouted some obviously joking remarks, you didn't notice the expression
on his face or the tone of his voice, but just because he had a gun in his hand, you
decided that you had the right to shoot him.
Only a woman would ask these darn fool questions.
That'll be enough of that.
But you did, however, take the time to notice the caliber of the gun, its single action,
the number of bullets, and that Mr. Harvey was holding it in his left hand.
You can tell the jury all this, but you can't give a single detail about the man who was
holding that gun, the man you killed.
Only a woman might be interested in the color of a man's eyes and how he passes hair.
Order!
Sorry, Your Honor, I apologize.
Mr. Slade, I believe you referred to yourself as a peaceful man.
I did and I am.
Then of course you're not very accomplished in the use of firearms.
Well, no, not very.
Could you explain to the jury how you had the time to draw your gun, take aim, and pull
the trigger when, as you say, that man already had his gun out of the holster and pointed
in your direction?
Well, I guess I act faster than I think when my life's in danger.
Either that or the man now dead never had the slightest intention of shooting you and
was utterly unprepared for any action on your part.
That's a matter of opinion.
Mr. Slade, witnesses have testified that Mr. Harvey was laughing when he made his remarks
to you.
Well, lady, the joke seems to be on him.
Your Honor, my questions may seem silly to Mr. Slade, but a man wouldn't shoot a barking
dog until first he determined whether the bark was vicious or friendly.
The jury is trying to determine whether Mr. Slade killed a man who was threatening his
life or one who had had a little too much to drink and was playing a practical joke.
Your Honor, may the jury inspect the defendant's gun.
Hand the gun over for inspection, Sheriff.
Yes, Your Honor.
Here you are, Miss Praskett.
Thank you.
Is this the gun you always carry, Mr. Slade?
Yes.
Suppose I pointed this gun at you like this, put my finger on the trigger, and said without
laughing, I'm going to shoot you for lying to this court.
Look out!
Don't fool with that gun!
It's got a hair trigger!
Put the gun down!
Oh, take it somebody, quick!
Here, give it to me.
What did the defendant mean when he said his gun had a hair trigger?
A hair trigger is one that has been honed down so it'll pull at the slightest touch.
Your Honor, I haven't been in the West very long.
Perhaps you can tell me.
Do all peace-loving men have that kind of a trigger on their guns?
It was murder.
Not guilty.
Ma'am, have order.
Please, ladies and gentlemen, we've been in this jury room four hours.
We'll never get any place by shouting.
We must discuss this case calmly.
I'm going to sleep.
When the rest of you decide to vote not guilty, wake me up.
Who so shedeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed?
By the eternal, if she says that once more there'll be another murder.
Oh, so you admit it was murder?
Oh, I do.
Please, please.
We've been here for 23 hours.
Mrs. Peterson, only you and Mr. Wilkins are holding out.
Mrs. Peterson, you're voting for murder in the first degree, and Mr. Wilkins, you're
holding out for not guilty.
Everyone else has compromised on a manslaughter charge.
I'm prepared to stay a week, if necessary.
And I'm prepared to stay a year, if necessary.
If only to show you women don't belong on a jury.
Oh, yes.
Mrs. Peterson, may I speak to you alone for a moment?
Come over here.
Mrs. Peterson, can't you see what's happening?
They're trying to make us look ridiculous.
We'll deserve all these taunts and jibes if we can't sit with men and work out a simple
problem.
Well, it's not my fault.
Look at Wilkins.
I know.
But the blame for a deadlock will be put on us.
You see, we women are on trial, too.
Remember, we insisted on getting jury duty because we wanted to see that justice was
done.
If we can't reach an agreement, there'll be another trial, and there won't be any women
on that jury.
You know what that means.
Slayed sure to go free.
Well, you might be right, Miss Prescott.
I didn't realize.
But you'll never persuade that Wilkins.
Just leave things to me.
I think we can make him out smart himself.
Come on.
Mr. Wilkins.
Yes?
Mr. Wilkins, Mrs. Peterson is being very stubborn.
But you're a reasonable man.
Won't you reconsider?
After all, the other men agreed it was manslaughter.
Well, no.
But look here.
It's the only way, Wilkins.
Well, well, all right, all right.
It won't cost you anything.
It's going to be a hung jury anyway.
Might as well be on account of a stubborn woman.
All right, Miss Prescott, I vote manslaughter.
That makes it 11 votes for manslaughter.
Mrs. Peterson, now it all depends on you.
So it does.
And never will I let it be said that Luke Wilkins showed more spirit of cooperation than
I did.
I vote manslaughter.
What?
I...
I've been double crossed.
I never thought she'd change her mind.
Effie, I can't understand it.
I thought the people liked me.
I'm sure they do.
You're the most popular man in town.
You saw the election returns.
I didn't get enough votes to wad a shotgun.
Don't let it upset you.
People still like you.
Oh, I don't really mind.
It's only that you were out getting the women to vote, and, gosh, I thought they'd do just
about anything you asked them to.
Oh, they're very loyal.
Well, then how come I got so few votes?
I told them to vote for the other man.
What?
Effie, why?
Why didn't you want me to get in?
Well, I thought you'd done about enough for the territory and should be the rancher you
could be and have a chance to find some fine woman who would...
Oh, Effie.
And they told me that sheriffs could never marry.
Effie, darling.
Oh, Roy, you're crushing me, but it's wonderful.
Gene Arthur will return to our cavalcade microphone in a moment.
Now here is Ted Pearson.
During the war, the Navy had to paint thousands of new craft of all kinds, from motor launches
to battleships, with millions of gallons of paint.
They had to get the job done in a hurry and there weren't enough paintbrushes because
the supply of hog bristles from the Orient was cut off.
Well, for some time, the DuPont company had been experimenting with nylon for bristles,
nylon drawn out in a single filament like a thin wire.
The Navy asked DuPont to supply paintbrush manufacturers with nylon bristles.
Well, it wasn't an easy assignment, but we did get the bristles into quantity production,
enough to let the Navy have quite a few paintbrushes, two million in fact.
And as production went up, it was possible to bring the price down.
It may be an old story, but there's a reason for telling it to you.
Now millions of Navy men are home.
They use nylon brushes in the service or saw them used.
Master painters and other people have heard about them and the demand for paintbrushes
with nylon bristles is way ahead of the amount of bristles we can furnish to paintbrush manufacturers
until more plant capacity can be installed.
Everything possible is being done toward this end because interest in the new paintbrushes
is so keen we'd like to take this opportunity to answer a few of your questions about them.
Bristles of nylon are exceedingly tough.
Tests have shown them to have many other outstanding characteristics such as outlasting natural
bristles from three to five times.
And being manmade, they are more uniform than the natural ones.
They aren't affected by solvents used in varnishes, paints, stains, lacquers, or calcimine.
They are easier to clean.
They aren't attacked by moths or mice or any other vermin.
The natural bristles we manufacture today pick up more paint than natural bristles.
And the performance of a nylon bristle brush improves with age.
The demand for nylon paintbrushes right now is so great that you may not be able to find
a brush at your neighborhood store.
But when you do get one, we're sure you'll be as pleased as we are with this new addition
to the list of DuPont better things for better living through chemistry.
And now if she'll hand that sick shooter back to the sound man, here is our star, Gene Arthur.
You know, you worried me, Gene, playing with that gun.
I was just trying to get the feel of the old west.
Well, Gene, if you'll listen to Cavalcade next week, you'll see that life out west can
still be pretty exciting even today.
With cowboys and Indians?
With Indians.
It's the story of a young couple who found happiness running an Indian trading post.
Sounds wonderful.
What's it called?
Spin a Silver Dollar with Helen Hayes.
Oh, I'll be listening.
Good night, Dwight.
Thank you, Gene, and thanks for being with us.
President Truman has proclaimed Wednesday, May 22nd as National Maritime Day in honor
of the American merchant marine.
Now the men and ships of this great fleet that performed so heroically during the war
are beginning to return to the normal business of transportation.
And we take this opportunity to pay tribute to their past achievements as well as those
to come.
The music for tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted
by Donald Voorhees.
Our Cavalcade play was written by Joseph Cochran.
Robert Hay played the part of Royce Emory.
Actors in the cast included Cameron Prud'homme, Jim Bowles, Bess McCammon, Ted Jewett, Sid
Sloan, Ed Jerome, Ted Osborne, Milton Herman, and Wilda Hinkle.
This is Dwight Weist inviting you to listen next week to Spin a Silver Dollar, starring
Helen Hayes on the Cavalcade of America brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington,
Delaware.
This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.