What happens
Water Commissioner Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve becomes convinced that a fire at the arms plant and a failed water pump are the work of saboteurs, and he presses town officials to act on his suspicions. Judge Hooker and the police chief are skeptical, but Gildersleeve appoints himself a volunteer guard at the reservoir for the night, taking his grandfather's shotgun along with his neighbor P.V. Galvestree. The Great Gildersleeve is a radio comedy from NBC, first aired on January 24, 1943, and starring Harold Peary, Willard Waterman, Lillian Randolph and Lurene Tuttle.
A small town during wartime, including the Gildersleeve household, the water works and reservoir, the arms plant, and the judge's office.
Characters: Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Judge Hooker, Leroy, Birdie, Marjorie, Mrs. Ransom, Uncle Charlie Anderson, Chief of Police
Listen for: Gildersleeve's growing certainty that sabotage is behind the fire and the water failure, and the ensuing nighttime guard duty at the reservoir.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.