310413 – Mushy of Hell’s Gate Mine

Recording status:  Recorded, not located

 

As noted, this broadcast was among those that the Great Northern Railway paid to be recorded off the air back in 1931. Unfortunately, this recording has not been located, and probably never will be. I do have a copy of the continuity, but certain pages are missing. However, I also have a copy of the press release for this program, as well as a compilation of general comments received by the GN after it aired.

Here is the essential portion of the press release, prepared by the GN’s Harold M. Sims:

               “Mushy of Hell’s Gate Mine,” a melodrama with its locale in a California mining camp, will be presented by Empire Builders Monday night.

               The hero of the story is a motherless boy who clears his father’s name and whose longing for a mother is finally fulfilled. The story, replete with heart interest, was written by Ruby Wagner of Empire, California.

               The cast includes Harvey Hays as the Old Timer, who tells the story; Master Donald McLean in the title role; Don Ameche as the father; and Miss Lucille Husting as the daughter of the mine superintendent.

The one name that jumps out for me here is, of course, that of “Master Donald McLean.” I suspect his radio career was brief. Thus far, I’ve located very, very little about him. One source mentioned that he was, at the time of this broadcast, a freshman at Chicago’s Nicholas Senn High School. Beyond that, I am so far at a loss.

The specific pages missing from the copy of the continuity that I have include those containing the opening and closing credits. The script picks up after a musical bridge transitioning to a scene onboard a Great Northern train. The Old Timer was in a conversation with a man and woman who appeared to be travelling west for the first time, and before long the woman was beseeching the Old Timer for a tale of California, complete with elements of gold, and romance, and villains, and…. The Old Timer said he had just the story, and when pressed for a title, announced that it was the story of “Mushy of Hell’s Gate Mine.” To set the stage for the tale, the Old Timer explained the following:

OLD TIMER:        (Chuckle)  All right, now – here we go. Mush was about eight years old. Son o’ Lou Barclay, who was a driller at Hell’s Gate gold mine, down in the Mother Lode country in California and that boy was just the pest o’ the whole camp. Lou’s wife had died when Mushy was ‘bout five years old, an’ there was just the two of ‘em left – the two of ‘em, an’ Hero, Mushy’s dog. Hero was kind of part spaniel an’ part bloodhoun’ – with mebbe a dash o’ setter an’ terrier, but he was a good dog, an’ Mush an’ him loved each other. Now, just before this story starts, Lou had got fired at Hell’s Gate Mine, an’ he didn’t know what to do. Mr. Allison, the Superintendent, was kind of a hard-boiled feller, an’ there wasn’t a chance o’ Lou’s gittin’ took back. But then Bob Turner, boss driller got sick one night, an’ Mr. Allison had to have somebody to take his place for the night shift. So Lou got back on the job again – just to fill in.

(MUSIC UP AND FADE TO SUBDUED RATTLE OF DISHES BEING WASHED)

The next scene had Mushy and his father, Lou Barclay, washing dishes after supper. Mushy shared his disappointment that his daddy had to work the night shift. His father assured his son that he was grateful to even be back on the job for that temporary assignment. Mushy then revealed something about his father’s firing, by claiming his own guilt for getting his father fired.

MUSHY:               It was all on account o’ me an’ Hero too. ‘F we hadn’t chased a rabbit in front o’ Martin Kratz’s pack-mule, Mr. Allison wouldn’t ‘ve fired you.

BARCLAY:            Don’t you worry about that, sonny.

MUSH:                 An’ then the darned ol’ mule got scared an’ fell off the mountain side. How’d we know he was loaded with dynamite?

BARCLAY:            Sure. You didn’t know. Well, Martin Kratz is an old grouch. I don’t like livin’ next door to him, either.

MUSHY:               Yes, he gets mad when Hero an’ me sing.

BARCLAY:            When you sing?

MUSHY:               Yes. When we get lonesome at night when you’re gone, we just lay here an’ look out that window at the stars up there, an’ we sing. They’s one star up there that’s mamma’s. It winks at us, an’ we sing to it.

Aw shucks… poor little kid! Mushy spied his Mamma’s star in the sky and pointed it out to his father. Then the boy suddenly asked why “Miss Sally” didn’t come by to see them anymore. His father gently explained that, being the boss’s daughter, Miss Sally Allison was not able to visit a man who had just been fired.

Just before Barclay headed out for his night shift, little Mushy offered to come by in the morning and bring his daddy some coffee and “sinkers.” Barclay told his son that would be fine – he would be working in shaft No. 1. Then he said good-bye to his boy and headed out to work his shift.

Mushy and his dog, Hero, were soon baying at the moon together, and grumpy old Martin Kratz next door got riled up. Mushy tried to quiet Hero, who kept growling and snarling at the curmudgeonly neighbor. Kratz hurled a frying pan at Hero, who got even more worked up and snarled all the more energetically at old Kratz.

Fortunately, Miss Sally showed up just about then and helped diffuse the situation before there was bloodshed. But now for Mushy it was “Miss Allison” – to which a puzzled Miss Sally replied to Mushy “It used to be ‘Sally.’ What’s the matter?” Mushy explained that he thought she must be mad at him and his father, because she stopped coming by to see them. Sally tried to explain that she couldn’t, because her father forbade it. Then Mushy let on that he and his father were leaving soon, which seemed to take Sally by surprise. When she asked why, Mushy said it was because his father had been fired. He described the whole sordid mess about Hero chasing a rabbit, and sending a wagonload of dynamite over a cliff, and so on. Sally told Mushy she had to be going, but first she bent down and gave Mushy a little good-night kiss. Mushy asked her why she was crying, but Sally just said good-bye and left him.

Meanwhile, with a little musical break to transition us to the mine shaft, Mushy’s dad Lou Barclay was busy setting some dynamite with a co-worker named Joe. The fuse was lit, and the two men started to run to a safe location. Lou predicted this was going to be a particularly fruitful blast.

After the explosion died down, the two men went back into the mine shaft with ventilator equipment and began extracting the dust and smoke. As the air cleared, the two men were astonished by the impressive chunks of gold exposed by the blast. Barclay sent Joe up to fetch old man Allison, knowing he would be very pleased by this turn of events. Lou cautioned Joe not to arouse any attention from Kratz, who was working in a nearby area.

It was after sunrise now, and Mushy (accompanied by his faithful dog, Hero) dutifully appeared at the mine with coffee and donuts for his father. But the path to the mine took Mushy and Hero right past Kratz, who was still determined to do the dog in. Barclay was close enough to hear their voices, and came to his boy’s rescue.

BARCLAY:            Here, here, what’s this? What are you up to, Kratz?

MUSHY:               He’s gone, daddy! He was tryin’ to kick Hero, and Hero got mad, and when Old Kratz seen you comin’, he run. Here’s your breakfast, daddy.

BARCLAY:            Thank you, Mushy. Say, here comes Mr. Allison. If he sees you here, he’ll raise Cain. You better scoot, now. I’ll be home soon. Scoot!  (PAUSE)  Good morning, Mr. Allison.

Mr. Allison was duly dumbfounded by the rich display of gold that awaited him. Joe said he had been mining 30 years and had never seen anything to equal it. Then Mr. Allison asked to see the other chunk – Joe told him there were two large chunks of gold. Barclay turned to point to the second chunk of gold, but it was gone! The next few minutes in the mine were largely dominated by Barclay defending himself against various accusations of theft or other underhandedness. Just then, Kratz reappeared.

KRATZ:                 Hey, Mr. Allison!

ALLISON:             Well, Kratz?

KRATZ:                 I vas in de next room – me an’ Hazy Jones, my pardner. I see Choe go out, an’ den I hear dis Barclay talkin’ mit his kid here –

ALLISON:             Is this true, Barclay?

BARCLAY:            Yes – er – no – er –

ALLISON:             Make up your mind, Barclay.

You can probably see where this is going. Kratz gleefully taunted Barclay as he tried in vain to explain the strange turn of events. Allison decided he had no choice but to detain Barclay up at his office until things were straightened out. Kratz helpfully suggested Barclay thought a big chunk of gold would help offset the loss of his job.

While the boss escorted Barclay up to the office, Kratz and his mining partner, Hazy Jones, got back to their pursuits. Kratz grumped about wanting to wrap up their work so they could go fishing. As the two men dealt with a wheelbarrow full of shavings, and a pile of 2-by-4’s, they both heard a disconcerting noise. It was Mushy’s dog, Hero, growling off somewhere nearby, but the men couldn’t make out the origin of the unsuspected sound back in their mine. They both got scared and ran off. Then Mushy launched into a narrative that did much to move along the story line.

MUSHY:               (CHUCKLES)  We scared ‘em, Hero, didn’t we? Gosh, the floor o’ that old mine car’s hard. Come on, let’s see what they brought up here.  (DOG WHINES)  Hum! Shavins! An’ pieces o’ two-by-four. Wonder what they’re up to. Gee, I wish Daddy was here! Lay down, Hero! We gotta be detec-atives, Hero, you an’ me. Let’s look around here in this pile o’ shavin’s they left. Detect-atives always do that. Wonder why these pieces o’ two-by-four’s all muddy?  (SOUND OF WOOD AS HE KICKS IT AROUND.)  Hey, what you got there, Hero? Give it here? Oooooo! Look, Hero! You know what that is there? You know?  (DOG WHINES)  It’s gold! Now what – say I bet I know! Yes, sir, Hero! That’s what! Look where they been borin’ holes in pieces o’ two-by-four! An’ the holes is all plugged up with mud! Let’s git the mud out!  (SCRAPING)  Yes, sir, it is gold! They’ve bored holes in these two-by-fours an’ put the gold in little chunks an’ then plugged up the holes with mud! So they’re goin’ fishin’ this afternoon! We’ll follow ‘em, Hero. Follow ‘em – like real detec-atives, an’ I bet we’ll ketch ‘em, too! C’mon, let’s go home an’ git somethin’ to eat an’ then git back quick. Come on!

(RUNNING FOOTSTEPS. DOG BARKS, RECEDING. FADE TO MUSIC WHICH FADES OUT TO FOOTSTEPS OF BOY ON ROCK AND EAGER WHINING OF DOG.)

Mushy and Hero left the mine but soon stumbled upon Kratz and Jones as they talked about their plans. Mushy heard Kratz tell Jones that as soon as all their gold was melted, they’d take it to Sacramento. Jones let on that he was afraid of getting caught. Kratz laughed at him, and called Allison a dumb fool for believing that Lou Barclay took the gold.

Being that this was radio after all, Mushy had to tell his dog Hero – very quietly, of course – what he was witnessing. Only by having that dialog could the audience understand what was plain to the boy, but was not being said by the crooks. Mushy told Hero he heard the men talk about his Daddy having to go to jail, while they drove off to Sacramento. Then Mushy spied a fire, and suddenly realized the men were going to melt the gold they had skimmed. All of this excitement was apparently too much for Hero to contain. He began to bark. The crooks launched out after little Mushy and his dog. Things turned ugly. And violent. Remarkably violent, considering this was a network radio show. These crooks were MEAN.

KRATZ:                 Here, you liddle brat! You vould shpy on us, vould you! I kill you, by golly! Take dot!  (SOUND OF BLOW)  How how you like it, huh?

MUSHY:               (GROANS)

                              DOG ARRIVES SNARLING ETC.

KRATZ:                 Git away from here! I kill you, sure! Git avay!  (DOG SNARLS LOUDLY)  I bust your head!  (SOUND OF BLOW)  Hah. Dot fix you, pooch!

HAZY:                   Okay, Kratz?

KRATZ:                 Chass. I haf busted kid und dog too. Ve beat it now, qvick! You git de gold in de fliffer, now, und ve go – right avay, ‘fore somebody comes!

The sound effects boys worked up the motor of an old flivver starting up and driving off. This was accompanied by the moans of both Mushy and his faithful dog. Mushy told Hero, “Stay with me. Somebody’ll come – and – get – us.”

The scene shifted back to Allison’s office, where Sally was doing her darnedest to convince her father that Lou Barclay was too good, too honest, to have stolen the big chunk of gold. He allowed that he tended to believe her. Then he asked what had become of Barclay’s kid.

SALLY:                  That’s what I came up here to tell you. Mrs. White saw him going up Hell’s Gate canyon this afternoon early with his dog, and he hasn’t come back. Here it is after eight, and I’m worried.

ALLISON:             Darn the whole Barclay family, anyway! Here Lou gets in a mess about stolen gold, and then his kid runs away! Well, I suppose there’s nothing else to do. I’ll get some of the men out after him.

SALLY:                  I wish you would, father. I’m so worried about him!

ALLISON:             All right! Hey, Charlie, Joe! Jim! Come here!

SALLY:                  And, listen, father, you’ll let Lou go along, won’t you?

Allison’s first reaction was to flat out refuse to allow Barclay to go anywhere. Under the withering pressure of his persistent daughter, however, Allison relented.

ALLISON:             Oh, all right, darn it. I wonder who’s superintendent of this mine anyway. Hey, you men, get together (FADING) and let’s get started out after Lou Barclay’s boy. He’s lost and –

SALLY:                  (CALLS)  I’ll go get Lou, Father.

ALLISON:             (OFF)  All right, hurry though.

                              MUSIC UP AND FADE

The hunt was on. Sally joined Lou in searching for little Mushy. As Barclay repeatedly called out his boy’s name, Allison appeared on the scene. He was surprised – and a bit peeved –  to find Sally there. He barked at her to return to the mine. “All alone in the dark, father?” she asked. Seems she had her father wrapped pretty well around her little finger. He relented to her wishes. Again.

One of the men came up to Allison and reported to him that they were not making any progress – they’d looked everywhere, and there simply was no sign of Mushy or his dog. Allison urged Barclay to call out Mushy’s name again. This time, the men heard the far off sound of Hero barking. The rescue party all ran to the source of the barking, calling out Mushy’s name again. The little boy responded weakly, and they found him huddled up on the ground by a big rock.

BARCLAY:            THANK God! Are you all right, Mushy? Here, somebody bring a lantern.

MUSHY:               I’m all right, daddy, ‘cept my head hurts where old Kratz hit me. An’ Hero’s foot’s hurt, too, but he stayed with me. Didn’t you, Hero?  (DOG BARKS)

Oh my. I’m thinking old Kratz has just ginned up one whale of a ticked off enemy. Allison came up to the father and son, and asked how the boy was. Barclay said Mushy was hurt – Kratz hit him. This enraged Mr. Allison, too. He wanted to know what the boy had been doing.

MUSHY:               We found the gold, Mr. Allison.

ALLISON:             What! You found the gold?

MUSHY:               Yes, sir. Old Kratz and Hazy Jones have got it. They put it in two-by-fours and they brought it up here in a flivver and they were melting it over there; and then Hero barked and they found us, and Kratz hit me –

Well, well, well – NOW we’re getting somewhere. They asked Mushy if he had any idea where Kratz and Jones had lit off to, and the boy told them: “I heard ‘em say something about Sac-a-ra-mentio, Mr. Allison.” Allison declared that a wire to the authorities in Sacramento would ensure the two crooks were captured and jailed. He then got all magnanimous an announced that Mushy had just earned himself a $500 reward for his astute detective work. Mushy politely thanked Mr. Allison, but then he boldly asked for something else.

MUSHY:               Will you hire my daddy back again?

BARCLAY:            Mushy.

ALLISON:             Will I? Well, you just bet! He’s going to be day foreman from now on!

With its primary goal accomplished, the rescue party broke up and everyone headed back to their separate destinations. Sally joined Lou as the relieved father carried his sleepy little boy back toward home. When they were nearly there, Mushy awoke, and asked to be set down. He wanted to go look at the lights with Hero (the lights of the town, I suppose – it doesn’t much matter, but the script didn’t specify). What this served to do was to give Sally and Lou a moment to talk. Lou thanked Sally for being so helpful in the search for Mushy and Hero. Sally shrugged off this attention by explaining “well, you know, I love Mushy, Lou.” Barclay played this up, and before long he dragged it out of Sally that she loved him too. Moments later (the thirty minutes of the show almost being used up, and all),the two were engaged to be married. Mushy had his fill of looking at lights and came back to the couple.

 MUSHY:              (APPROACHING)  Daddy, aren’t you and Miss Sally about ready – Daddy! Miss Sally! Aw, look, Hero, Daddy’s kissin’ her!  (PAUSE)  Well, come on, Hero, let’s go home!

MUSIC UP AND FADE FOR CREDIT.

As I mentioned at the outset, my copy of the continuity is missing a couple of pages. The closing credits are part of what’s missing – that’s the end of it. The feedback received about this broadcast seemed to be predominately positive, but rather generalized. Still, here are a few examples:

The radio program of April 13^th was very well received in this territory, much better than it has been for some weeks back. Everybody who heard it seemed to enjoy it very much and we have heard some very favorable comments.

E.A. Dye, GN Agent, Vancouver, B.C.

 

The story of “Mushy” and his dog as related by Empire Builders last Monday night was one that was rich in human interest and appeal. The parts were all excellently played and the story proved of unusual interest here in Northern California. From the many comments we hear I do not believe there is any question but that our radio broadcasts are serving us very well in keeping our line and service before the public.

A.L. Scott, GN Agent, San Francisco, Calif.

I listened in on your program Monday night and enjoyed it very much, especially the part of “Mushy.” Let us have some more of “Mushy.”

Rita Latz, Buffalo, N.Y.

 

So there you have it. We weren’t there. We couldn’t listen to the show. The broadcast was recorded, but no one knows what became of the recording. It’s probably lost for good. But at least we have a pretty solid idea of the story, and at least a few people who did hear the show thought it was good enough to take the time to write to the railroad and let them know it.

 

Until next time, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!