Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:50 — 6.8MB)
At the breakfast table, Leroy hogs the morning paper, but judge Hooker arrives to bring bad news. A report of eels in the reservoir means trouble for the water commissioner. In the office, the dippy Bessie calls Charlie, the engineer to give the hard truth. The water level is at a danger point. The mayor lays on the pressure, but assures Gildy it’s his duty, and not out of any personal revenge for running against each other for mayor.
A man claiming to be a rain maker appeals to the desperate Gildy. Will his machine really work? In Peavey’s drugstore, Gildy talks about the unending dry spell. Recruiting Leroy to join him, Gildy heads to the reservoir to check on the early morning status.
Charlie is ever critical, but the rain maker has his machine ready. Will science prevail, and a new technology bring on the much needed rain? How can the rain start if the machine can’t get up and running? Will Gildy be losing his job? Feeling betrayed in his thankless job, the great man is given a reprieve when a thunderstorm rolls in.
Note: Does anyone detect a new voice in the cast? Louise Erikson, child star, and teenage radio queen of the 1940’s has stepped into the role. In 1947 she would be replaced by Mary Lee Robb.
