Magic Island 36xxxx 005 Tex Bradford Prepares His Straightoscope

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Magic Island 36xxxx 005 – Tex Bradford Prepares His Straightoscope

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harolds Old Time Radio
Episode: Magic Island 36xxxx 005
Date: October 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

This atmospheric episode of Magic Island plunges listeners into high intrigue on the South Seas, as Mrs. Patricia Gregory, Captain Tex Bradford, and Jerry Hall draw closer to the legendary "Magic Island"—the supposed hiding place of Mrs. Gregory’s lost daughter. At the episode’s center: an inexplicable fog bank and Captain Bradford unveiling his mysterious new invention, the “stratoscope,” which he hopes will reveal the secrets beyond the unnatural mist.

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Key Discussion Points and Plot Developments

1. The Mysterious Fog Bank ([00:00]–[03:03])

• Recap of the Journey: Listeners are reminded that Mrs. Gregory’s search for her daughter has led them to these strange waters. Jerry retells the legend of the Magic Island and links the uncanny fog to its legend.
• Unnatural Phenomena: The crew discusses peculiarities around the fog bank:
  • The water near it is unnaturally smooth while surrounding sea remains rough.
  • Bradford’s fog-dispersal machine, effective against natural fog, fails to penetrate this barrier.
• Navigation Oddities: They discover that the yacht’s instruments consistently point to a central location, confirming the fog bank is a "perfectly round" construct, about half a mile across.

"That fog, or whatever it is out there, is just where the old man said we’d find the island, isn’t it?"
—Jerry ([01:00])

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2. Anxiety and Theories Mount ([03:04]–[06:51])

• Cap’n Bradford's Confession: After initial reluctance, Bradford reveals that every attempt to sail around the fog points back to the same central reading—hinting at sophisticated manipulation or technology.
• Debate: The group speculates wildly, with Jerry pushing the theory that the fog is both artificial and magnetized:
  • Perhaps the Magic Island is camouflaged, shielded by magnetic fog, possible only through deliberate design.

"That fog has been magnetized by somebody or something."
—Jerry ([06:24])

"That fog bank is not ordinary fog. It's magnetized as surely as we're standing on this yacht looking at it."
—Tex Bradford ([06:38])

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3. Plans and Impatience ([06:52]–[08:51])

• What Next? Jerry suggests bold actions:
  • Sailing through the fog: Already attempted, didn’t work.
  • Flying their small plane over it: Bradford notes it would take too long to assemble, and darkness is falling.
  • Bravado: Jerry offers to “swim ashore” (swim through the fog), and then, when advised against it, even briefly suggests shooting into the fog—which Mrs. Gregory quickly vetoes due to the risk to her daughter.
• Waiting for Morning: Given the circumstances, all agree to wait for daylight.

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4. The Stratoscope Unveiled ([08:52]–[11:56])

• Tex’s Mysterious Device: Bradford calls for a violin case from the instrument locker—his secret invention.
• Preparation: He describes the need to conserve the yacht's power for the device, and orders the crew to anchor for the night.
• Emotional Crescendo: Briefly, a personal moment occurs between Tex and Mrs. Gregory, hinting at a close (possibly romantic) bond, interrupted by Jerry’s return.
• Stratoscope Described:
  • It’s a new invention—a “stratoscope”—to see over obstacles (like the fog bank) and back down to earth, not unlike radar or a high-tech periscope.
  • Bradford claims he's tested it successfully before, projecting an image onto a ground-glass screen through wave refraction.

"I've done nothing else for over a year and it's perfect... I think I'll call it my stratoscope."
—Tex Bradford ([10:35])

"You can look away up in the air, then away over someplace, then down again. Like seeing over the horizon, isn't that it?"
—Jerry ([11:01])

"That’s it exactly, Jerry. And I know it works."
—Tex Bradford ([11:10])

• Excited Anticipation: Tex powers up the device and gasps as he claims he can already see "it" (hinting at the Magic Island or something inside the fog). The episode closes on a cliffhanger.

"Pat. Pat. Jerry, I’ve got it. I can see it. Is it the island?"
—Tex Bradford ([11:51])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jerry’s youthful energy: "Nothing is out of the question with Tex and I to figure things out." ([05:36])
• Bradford’s scientific poise: "It can mean we’re up against the greatest piece of electrical or chemical wizardry this generation has seen." ([07:13])
• A tender, human break in the action:
  • Patricia: "Can I help, Tex, I'm so nervous, but for once I seem to be helpless."
  • Tex: "No, I, I, I understand, darling... I know you didn't, but I'm glad you said it." ([09:30]–[09:43])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:30: Crew debates strange nature of the fog bank.
• 03:28: Captain Bradford reveals the yacht has sailed a perfect circle around the fog, instruments unchanged.
• 06:24 – 06:51: Jerry and Tex articulate their 'magnetized man-made fog' theory.
• 08:52 – 10:42: Tex calls for his invention, sets up for unveiling the stratoscope.
• 10:43 – 11:56: Detailed explanation of the stratoscope and the cliffhanger as Tex sees something with it.

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Podcast Tone and Style

The dialogue blends old-fashioned adventure serial urgency and period-appropriate scientific wonder, with Jerry’s excitable optimism, Mrs. Gregory’s anxious hope, and Tex’s steady, modest genius. The tone is adventurous and slightly melodramatic, a hallmark of golden-age radio storytelling.

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully escalates the suspense, deeply immersing the listener in the mystery of the Magic Island. The reveal of the stratoscope as their tool against the impossible fog leaves the audience—like the crew—waiting breathlessly to see what lies beyond, eager for the next adventure.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

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[D]

After her baby daughter was lost In a shipwreck 14 years ago, Mrs. Patricia Gregory started searching the world over in the hope that her little girl might still be alive. Now Mrs. Gregory is again in the South Seas. And with her on her private yacht are Captain Tex Bradford and Jerry Hall. Jerry was a young radio operator in Los Angeles who received the first mysterious message about an old sailor having seen the magic island and a little white girl on it. The yacht is lying now completely becalmed near a strange bank of fog.

[B]

I tell you, you've got to believe me. You've got to believe me.

[E]

Don't get so excited, Jerry. We can hear you without your shouting. Like that.

[C]

Yes, Take it easy, kid.

[B]

Oh, I'm sorry, but this is something to get excited about. You know that fog bank over there is not fog, don't you, Captain Bradford?

[C]

Well, it doesn't act like any fog I ever saw, Jerry. But what else could it be?

[B]

But, Mrs. Gregory, you still think it's fog, don't you?

[E]

What else can I think?

[B]

Well, you can think about the story of the old sailor told and the magic island. That fog, well, or whatever it is out there is just where the old man said we'd find the island, isn't it?

[C]

Right to the inch, boy.

[B]

And this yacht was up against it in it. But we didn't get wet or cold from it. Fog is wet, isn't it?

[E]

Yes, yes, of course.

[B]

And Captain Bradford's fog machine has always made a hole through every other fog he tried it on, hasn't it, Tex?

[C]

I've never found another fog that machine wouldn't penetrate to a point of fair visibility.

[B]

Then that stuff over there is not fog, it isn't wet, and your machine didn't even start to go through it. It looks just like a wall made of gray stone or cement ticks.

[E]

You're not really convinced about this, are you?

[C]

I've lived a long time without seeing anything that looked like magic, as Jerry likes to call it, but I've never seen anything like this.

[B]

Well, I don't know whether it's magic or not, but it's sure funny. And there's another Mighty funny thing about this whole business.

[C]

What else?

[B]

This ocean is too smooth. Right around the edge of that fog. Look. Farther away on the sides. And behind us the water is rough enough. But here, right here, near that fog bank, the water is as smooth as glass. The boat isn't even rolling.

[C]

I noticed that. Jerry and I don't like it.

[E]

Then there is something mysterious about this place. And if the island. Oh, if the island could only be here and my little Joan alive and well on it.

[B]

Well, I don't know about the island, but I do know we ought to find out more about that fog stuff. Why not try sailing around it? Maybe we can see something from the. Well, from the other side.

[C]

Well, we did. I mean. Well. Oh, what's the use? You couldn't see anything.

[B]

Tex.

[E]

You've seen something you're keeping from Jerry and me. You do know something about that fog.

[B]

Bank, do you, Captain Bradford, do you?

[C]

Well, I didn't want to tell you. It doesn't help matters a bit. There's no use of all of us worrying about the impossible. But I do know a little more about that fog bank than you two.

[E]

Don't treat me as if I were a child. What is it, Tex?

[B]

Oh, we're stuck so bad now that a little more won't scare me any worse. What did you find out, Captain?

[C]

Well, you and Mrs. Gregory remember that you spent a long time working over that chart while I was on deck. Yes, I mean before I called you to come and look at the fog.

[B]

Why, we were talking about Joan and the magic island and all. I guess we did talk a long time.

[E]

What were you doing, Texas?

[C]

Well, I was on the bridge and the skipper will tell you this is the truth.

[B]

Yes, go on, go on.

[C]

Well, we have sailed around that fog bank.

[E]

We've sailed around it.

[B]

Gee. Well, what was on the other side?

[C]

A fog bank.

[E]

Oh, then it is just fog.

[B]

Wait, Mrs. Gregory. Go on, Captain. There's more, isn't there?

[C]

There's a whole lot more. From the circumference of the circle we described in rounding this. This thing, it must be about half a mile around it, possibly a little more, and it's perfectly round.

[B]

That doesn't tell us much.

[E]

I want to hear it all takes.

[C]

No, I don't want to get you all worked up over it. May not mean a thing, but our instruments read exactly the same on all four sides of that fog.

[B]

What, you mean they didn't change at all as you went around?

[C]

That's it. And from our solar readings and my radio beam Check that reading is correct. Correct to a fraction of a second, but.

[B]

But what? Hurry. Hurry and tell us her or I'm gonna pass out.

[C]

The readings we took all around this thing belong in the center of it. Everything reads to a perfect center when you're sailing around the edge of that fog.

[B]

Then a regular vessel, I mean, one that just. Just sailing through here on a regular run would skirt around that fog without knowing they'd run off their course.

[C]

I guess they would. We found nothing to indicate our course had been changed. And if we weren't looking for trouble, we would have figured the same as any other navigator that we were just passing a small fog bank and not being compelled to follow a distorted curve around it.

[E]

Then that means just one thing. There is something behind or in that fog. Something. And that something is.

[B]

I'll bet. I'll bet it's the magic island. Oh, golly whiskers, we're here. We found it. Gee, Mrs. Gregory, now we'll get your little girl back.

[C]

Not so fast, son. Even if there is an island there, what can we do about it? The yacht won't go through the fog. We tried that.

[B]

Then let's figure why it won't go through it.

[E]

That's out of the question, isn't it?

[B]

Nothing is out of the question with Tex and I to figure things out.

[C]

Well, just leave me out of that, Jerry. You figure this yourself.

[B]

Well. Well, if we can't sail through it, there's something funny about it. And something funny about a fog means it's being done on purpose.

[E]

Jerry. You mean it isn't just a natural phenomenon that the fog is man made? Controlled?

[B]

How about those instruments, Captain? And the fog holding the boat just like a magnet? That's it. Magnet. Oh, eagle and goldfish. Why didn't I think of that before? That fog is magnetized.

[C]

That's my idea. Boy, but I hated to make such a wild statement.

[E]

That sounds possible. There are a great many magnetic deposits and formations in many parts of the world.

[B]

But don't you see, Mrs. Gregory? We don't mean a magnetic field that just happened there. That fog has been magnetized by somebody or something.

[E]

Do you think that's possible? You're not just excited and running away with yourself, Jerry?

[C]

Well, if he is, I'm running way ahead of him. Patricia, that fog bank is not ordinary fog. It's magnetized as surely as we're standing on this yacht looking at it. And there's probably an island hidden in it.

[E]

Well, but take.

[C]

And that's not guesswork. It's a scientific probability.

[B]

What else would have held our boat against that fog but a powerful magnetic force of some kind? And what else but a magnet? And a magnet with somebody running it would have turned the bolt loose when it got ready.

[E]

Why, this. Why, it's thrilling. But it's terrible, too. What can it mean?

[C]

It can mean we're up against the greatest piece of electrical or chemical wizardry this generation has seen. And we're going to see all of it.

[B]

Where do we start, Tex?

[C]

Start guessing. And as if you've done pretty well so far. Jerry, suppose you take the first guess.

[B]

Well, isn't it better to do something you're sure of than it is to guess?

[E]

What can anyone be sure of in these weird circumstances?

[C]

Got something definite in mind, son?

[B]

Well, we can see what's inside that fog ring if the little plane lashed to the deck. We'll fly over it, of course.

[E]

Why didn't you think of that, Tex?

[C]

I did, but it'll take an hour to assemble the wingspread, lower to the water and get ready for a takeoff. By that time, it'll be pretty dark. I don't like to try getting the plane back on board at night except in an emergency.

[B]

Golly, Whiskers, here you've got a magnetized bank of artificial fog right under your nose. And a mag. Magic island and a. Well, how much do you need to make it an emergency?

[C]

Well, I meant a matter of life and death. That island, if it is inside the fog, has been there a lot of years, and it won't run away tonight.

[E]

Then we can't do anything until morning?

[B]

Oh, I guess not. Say, I've got it. I'll swim ashore. That's it.

[C]

You'll do everything else.

[E]

Boy, you can't do that, Jerry.

[B]

I'll bet I can. And I bet I'll get through that fog, too. I won't wear anything that a magnet will hang onto.

[C]

And after you get through the fog, what then?

[B]

What do you mean, what then?

[C]

Mrs. Gregory and I are outside with a yacht, and if anything should happen to you, we couldn't get in there.

[B]

Why not try shooting through the fog?

[E]

No, no, you. You might hit. Of course. I mean, if this really is the island we're looking for, Joan might be. Might be hurt.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Well, I guess we'll have to wait till morning.

[C]

I've got one small idea. Let's see. Skipper. Skipper.

[B]

All right.

[C]

Will you step up forward here, please? All right. Now, Jerry, I want you to go into our cabin. Get that long Black case, the one that looks like a violin case out of the instrument locker. Bring it here and handle it as if it were eggs.

[B]

Right away, sir. I'll get it, sir.

[C]

Skipper, the swell is rolling heavier now. We can't use the motors to hold our position as I need all the power in this cable here. Will you try for a good anchorage so I can cut all the juice away from the engine room?

[D]

Sounded well, three.

[C]

Three fathoms.

[D]

Aye.

[E]

Can I help? Tex, I'm so nervous, but for once I seem to be helpless. I'm sorry. I've always been able to think with you before, but.

[C]

No, I, I, I understand, darling. Tex, I. I didn't say anything.

[E]

I know you didn't, but I'm glad you said it.

[C]

Oh, I suppose I shouldn't have.

[E]

You shouldn't, And I've been waiting years to hear it.

[C]

Patricia, I.

[B]

Here's the case, Captain Bratt. Oh, golly, whiskers. I guess you forgot the case, didn't you? I'll go back and bring it in again if you want me to.

[E]

No, Jerry, you. You just rescued me in time.

[B]

You don't yell for help very loud, do you?

[C]

Now, Jerry. Come on, let's hook up the machine. Break that cable. Bring the shielded lead plug over here while I open the case.

[B]

Are we going to anchor here for the night? The skipper's paying out the stern chain.

[E]

Yes. Tex thinks we'd better not move till morning. And the skipper reports soundings okay for a good anchorage.

[B]

Can I help with the machine?

[C]

Not yet, Jerry. I'm a little afraid to have anyone but myself handle it until it's set up.

[B]

It's sure a funny looking thing, Ma Bob. What is it?

[E]

I never saw this before either, Tex. Is that what you've been working on so secretly in the laboratory?

[C]

I've done nothing else for over a year and it's poor. Perfect.

[B]

What is it?

[C]

Well, I haven't named it officially yet, but I think I'll call it my stratoscope.

[B]

Stratoscope?

[E]

What does that mean?

[C]

Well, it's a combination of strata and scope as from stratosphere and periscope. In other words, it will do through the air and at tremendous altitudes and distances what the periscope will do within a very limited range.

[E]

I think it sounds lovely, Tex, but what will it do?

[C]

Left you behind that time, eh, Pat? How about you, son?

[B]

I think I know what you mean. You can look away up in the air, then away over someplace, then down again. Like seeing over the horizon. Isn't that it.

[C]

That's it exactly, Jerry. And I know it works. I've tried it over a 300 foot building. When I was on the ground on one side, the objective was on the ground on the other side and I saw it.

[B]

And now you're going to look over that fog and down onto the island.

[E]

Oh, can we really?

[C]

I'm getting excited now. You see, it's a case of plotting the trajectory of the wave curve I'm sending out. Figuring the density of the exact strata in the atmosphere. I must refract the wave from. To bring it down to earth on the desired spot.

[B]

But how do you see anything with a wave?

[C]

These waves will return to me with almost as great an intensity as they leave the instrument with. Then I merely catch them in a tuned wave trap. And with a light valve and converter, I project the image on this little ground glass screen here. And Pat.

[E]

Pat.

[B]

Jerry, I've got it. I can see it. Is it the idle?

[E]

Is it? Tex, what do you see?