1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: back to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Let's hear it for our 4 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,959 Speaker 1: one and only super producer, Mr Max Williams. You know him, 5 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: you love him. He's live and direct. I'm Ben and Noel. 6 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: I gotta tell you man this by way of tangent. 7 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: One of the first things I thought about when we 8 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: were diving into today's story is how you and I 9 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: and our colleague Matt has spent so many years trying 10 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: to get work to pay for us to ride amtrack. Yeah, 11 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: we were trying to do it for a tour we 12 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: did for stuff they don't want you to know, and 13 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: ended up being more expensive than just like renting a car. 14 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: It is a great way to travel, though, like I 15 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: not terribly many years ago, took a train from Boston 16 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: to New York, and while the train ride is pretty long, 17 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 1: you kind of forget the fact that you end up 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: right in the middle of everything, as opposed to at 19 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: like JFK or LaGuardia, which is like easily an hour 20 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: car ride into the city, which is also expensive. When 21 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: you take the train, you end up kind of right 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: in the heart of the city, So it's definitely a 23 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: trade off. Yeah, and there's something I think romantic about 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: it or I just have this airbrush damage. I I 25 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: have not taken a long Amtrak trip, but I have 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: traveled extensively on the Japanese train system, which was pretty awesome, 27 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: even the super fast ones, the Shinkansen. It's like it's 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: like a weird Uh. It's like a weird robot snake 29 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: from the future that just flies as very visual. It's 30 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: super is what's the sensation? Like, do you get a 31 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: sense that you're moving much much faster than a traditional trains? 32 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: I always feel like traditional trains feel slow, right, Yeah, 33 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: it's weird because once you're in motion at speed, you'll 34 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: look out the window and things are It's hard to 35 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: gauge just how quickly you're traveling unless you see something 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: up close. You know, like when you go into a tunnel, 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: it hits you and you go, oh oh wow, okay, there, 38 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: open the door. It's like going into it's like going 39 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: into warp speed or something and Star Wars, yes, engage uh. 40 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: And the staff, at least in Japan, they're all super professional, 41 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: pretty fancy people. Uh. Max are you a train guy, 42 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: if you traveled by training? I don't think Nolan, I've 43 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: ever asked you this. Well, first and foremost I want 44 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: to say, uh, you guys said warp speed, and then 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: Noll said Star Wars. That is incorrect. That is Star Trek. 46 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: Come on, excuse me? That that that's that that's the 47 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: trigger right here for you. What do you call in 48 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: Star Wars? Though? What's the thing they what do they 49 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: do in Star Wars? And they kick in the hyper draft? 50 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: They talk about parsecs in a way that is technically incorrect, 51 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: but are a real measurement? Yes, yeah, but the welcome 52 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: to pedantic sci fi corner on ridiculous history. Yeah, Max, 53 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: you're the wrong show. This is ridiculous history. Not just kidding, 54 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: but but yes, make it so you've corrected us. Star Trek. Yes, 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: I like that. I like that, but yes, uh, I 56 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: actually am. My dad is a miniature train collector. He's 57 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: a big time fans train. He's got like the whole 58 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: the situation with like the townspeople and all of the 59 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: conductor's hat. Yes, I've spent many a day as a 60 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: child at ministure train expos. Alex has come along as well, 61 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: but he, being the older brother, has found it easier 62 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: to slip his way out. I'm the youngest child, so 63 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: I I just you know, it would be like seventeen 64 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: and my Dad's like, all right, get up at like 65 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: six in the morning on a sa today we're gonna 66 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: go to this expo and I don't know Shamble or somewhere. 67 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: You know who else is into miniature trains to surprising figures. 68 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: One is Neil Young, Um the singer, songwriter, musician renaissance man, 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: and the other is Sebastian Bach. Not Johann Sebastian Bach, 70 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: mind you, Sebastian Bach, the frontman for the seminal hair 71 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: metal band skid Row. He actually has his own arc 72 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: in a season of Trailer Park Boys, revolving around a 73 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: model train heist that Bubbles initiates. And so, uh you 74 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: know what's funny about that is, first Max, you're referring 75 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: to Alex Williams, who composed our soundtrack, and it's also 76 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: your brother. But what's funny is that I bet old 77 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: man Williams about your pattern. Familius knows that Neil Young 78 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: and Sebastian Baker into trains. Uh so wait, so miniature trades. Yes, 79 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: but back to the question, have you traveled on a train? No, 80 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: I have not. What you think, okay, well you are 81 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: in for an adventure, my friends. Uh so, the thing is, 82 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: there's a null. I know you like traveling by train 83 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: or by rail because it's less stressful than going to 84 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: the airport. That's something people can agree with. And that imagine, folks, 85 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: fellow ridiculous historians, if you are traveling on a train, 86 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: imagine you're pulling into the station and you see the 87 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: usual bells and whistles sometimes literally you know, bells and whistles, 88 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: and uh you see if you if you're traveling, you know, 89 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: back in the olden days, you might see what's called 90 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: a signal man. A signal man is the person who 91 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: they're also called a signaler, who operates a signal box 92 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: to control the movement of trains because you know, trains 93 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: are trains are good, but they're not super nimble, that's right, 94 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: and the signal and in particular and does not. There's 95 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: such thing as a signal woman as well. If you 96 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: go to the Wikipedia entry for it US, that's the 97 00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: first thing they show you as a picture of a 98 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: signal woman in great central cabin at ANALCUH Nottinghamshire, UH 99 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: in the UK. But this is an individual who operates 100 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: these switches that actually switches the tracks. There's these parts 101 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: of the tracks, these junctions that have variable you know, paths, 102 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: and according to the number of toots that the train 103 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,280 Speaker 1: conductor um gives off exactly, the signalman listens to that 104 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: and switches the tracks accordingly. So pretty rudimentary system. Probably 105 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: not operated exactly the same way anymore. I have a 106 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: feeling it's more automated these days. But back in the 107 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds is what we're talking about today. This was 108 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: a very manual and analog task. Some say it was 109 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: a simple job. Some may have even said it was 110 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: so simple a monkey could do it. Yeah. Yeah, that 111 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: is our segue. Today we are traveling to South Africa, 112 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: and well done with that seguel, because we're traveling to 113 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: South Africa to explore the story of a unique signal 114 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: operator signal person uh signal sentience named signal man Jack Signal. Yes, yes, yes, 115 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: that's true. You see what made Jack most unique in 116 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: his job in the eighteen hundreds in Cape Town area 117 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,559 Speaker 1: around the Port Elizabeth Railroad was that signal man. Jack 118 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: was not a man signal man. Jack was a male baboon. 119 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: And uh, it's yeah baboon. You guys, you guys know 120 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: what everybody knows what a baboon is. Uh. That said 121 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:43,119 Speaker 1: that they're about as intelligent as a three year old child. 122 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: But I think that this this will. I feel like 123 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: you have to be smarter than a three year old 124 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: to do what Jack's doing here a million percent. And 125 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: Jack does prove to be quite a special boy. Baboons 126 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: are the ones with the red butts, right, yeah, I 127 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: believe so. Baboons are the ones with a really scary 128 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: snouts and they can be very aggressive. Um, they are 129 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: very very strong, uh, and they have quite large, very 130 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: scary teeth uh and opposable thumbs which plays a very 131 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: important role in being able to grip and uh and 132 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: switch those levers that we're talking about. But let's talk 133 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: first about the human center of our story. We're going 134 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: back to Cape Town, like you said, in the eighteen 135 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: hundreds and a man by the name of James Edwin 136 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: Wide who had the nickname Jumper. He was an employee 137 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: of the Cape Government Railways for ten years. Um, he 138 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: got the nickname jumper because he was a bit of 139 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: a daredevil Um. He would hop on and off of 140 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: moving trains and swing from rail car or rail car 141 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: to to do his job. Eventually, this you know, kind 142 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: of reckless behavior caught up with them and he jumped, 143 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: and he misstepped and fell underneath the moving train, where 144 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: his shins and feet were absolutely obliterated by an eight 145 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: ton car. Um. The damage was so bad that he 146 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: had to have his leg amputated at the knee, which 147 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: left him handicap. But he didn't want to lose his job, 148 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: and he was a very tenacious dude. UM, So he 149 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 1: carved himself a pair of wooden peg legs and he 150 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: asked his superiors to give him another chance and and 151 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: give him a job as a signalman. And they agree, yeah, 152 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,199 Speaker 1: they agreed. Well, he was also this is before the 153 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: time of like disability insurance and things like that, if 154 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: he was out of a job, he could starve become 155 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: a beggar. Any family members he had might end up 156 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: going down with him. So his motivation here was apparent 157 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: from the beginning, and the company put him in that 158 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: position of signalman that allowed him to communicate with conductors 159 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: via the different signals placed along the track. His jumping 160 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: days were over, and the job itself didn't have a 161 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,599 Speaker 1: ton of super strenuous activity because he had he was 162 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: sitting in a chair, of course, and he had a 163 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 1: series of levers that he would pull. There was one 164 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,959 Speaker 1: catch though, He still had trouble getting to and from work, 165 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,839 Speaker 1: to from his job to to his house, and so 166 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: he ended up carving the way, carved his his legs, 167 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: his prosthetics. He made a trolley that he could sit on. 168 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: And it's still it's still sucked for let's be honest, 169 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: because it's not an electric trolley, right, it's it's there's 170 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: no internal combustion. He's pushing himself every day, right, And 171 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: there were no Americans, or rather South Africans with disability 172 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: acts that you know, made conditions more acceptable in that situation, So, 173 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: I mean absolutely would have been a total slog and 174 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 1: in a real strenuous task is getting to and from work. 175 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: So he found the answer to his prayers at a 176 00:10:51,240 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: market in eight one was at his local um open 177 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: air market where he saw something miraculous. It was a 178 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: baboon who was leading an oxen cart and wide was 179 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: absolutely fascinated he talked to the animal's owner, and he 180 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: learned that the baboon UH named Jack, was trained to 181 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 1: obey some specific commands and that he could push and 182 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: pull these different loads uh and that he was pretty 183 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: good at what he did. And wide Um was able 184 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: to talk Jack's owner into selling him the baboon and 185 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: they became fast friends, and he was able to train 186 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 1: him to be his helper monkey essentially, which is a 187 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: thing I think still to this day, I've always been 188 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: fascinated by the term helper monkey. It would be it's 189 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: the same as having, you know, a guy dog that 190 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: could help somebody who is visually impaired. A helper monkey 191 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: is able to jump around and grab things again because 192 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,199 Speaker 1: of those handy dandy opposable thumbs. And he was even 193 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: able to train Jack to do things like sweeping up 194 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: and cleaning the dishes and uh taking out the trash, 195 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: So some pretty specific um duties that Jack was doing 196 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: for for Why. Yeah, yeah, it's it's kind of like 197 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: a service animal. But given his given Jack's intelligence, it 198 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: was pretty obvious to Why pretty quickly that he had 199 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: indeed stumbled upon something something special in his pal the 200 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: signal man. So there is one funny part of this 201 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: story that it's strategy nuts. You wouldn't do this normally 202 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: with a service animal, but Jack's original owner told him, Hey, 203 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: you want to keep the you want to keep the 204 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: boy happy, give him a good shot of Kate Brandy 205 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: each night before bedtime if you want him to do 206 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: good work the next day. And if you don't, Jack 207 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: is going to pout at you and he might even 208 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: become rebellious. Our pal Gabe Bluesier notes that this is 209 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: similar to the story of a circus elephant named Jumbo, 210 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: who would get super super angry if his train or 211 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: didn't give him his daily bottle of beer before he 212 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: went to sleep. Was a Jumbo also the nickname that uh, 213 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: who's that creepy president who was always Johnson Lennon Johnson 214 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: and he needed his pants uh uh taken out to 215 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: make room in the bunghole area. But yeah, he nicknamed 216 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: his his his tender bits Jumbo. Yeah. Yeah, in a 217 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: burst of humility, so so so, like you said, at first, 218 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: whid gave Jack some pretty simple chores and the main 219 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: thing was to help him with his commute. But then 220 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: all of a sudden he realized, Wow, this this baboon 221 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,439 Speaker 1: is much more intelligent than I thought. He can do 222 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: other stuff. Uh. And one example of this is the 223 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: key that Why kept in his signal box, as pointed 224 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: out in Baboom Matters dot Org. Yeah, the baboom that 225 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: worked for the railroad. Uh. This key unlocked the differ 226 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: print points that allowed locomotive drivers to hit the coal 227 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: sheds to re up their coal supply. And whenever a 228 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: driver wanted to get to one of those coal sheds, 229 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: he would blow the whistle four times. Max helped me out, yep, 230 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: like that, and four tutes and Wide would go out 231 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: and he had to he still had to walk on crutches, 232 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: even with those prosthetics. He would go out and he 233 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: would hold up the key. And after Jack was watching 234 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: this for just a few days, Jack clocked it and 235 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: as soon as he heard those four tutes, he would 236 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: run out with the key. And then you know why 237 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: I liked it. And he thought, okay, all right, pal, 238 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: that's extra shot of brandy for you tonight, and this 239 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: is your job now. And Jack loved he was like 240 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: a dog with a ball. As they said, that was 241 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: some baboon is what with the cent she uh anthrow 242 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: morphic spider with a celebrity voice would would write in 243 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: her web in this situation, and it escalated from their 244 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: why It started to be like this guy might be 245 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: a little smarter than I gave him credit for. I 246 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: think he might be able to take this partnership to 247 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: the next level. And so he started to teach um 248 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: Jack how to actually run the signal levers himself, and 249 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: and then you know, interpret the number of toots and 250 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: act accordingly. And by the way, the train station in 251 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: question here, uh is it's a really interesting word. The 252 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: spelling is U I T E n h A g 253 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: E and I looked it up and it's pronounced eden 254 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: hague us, the name of the train station in South Africa. 255 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: So Jack was now in charge of the levers and 256 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: why it could just kind of chill, uh, The train 257 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: drivers would toot their whistles or their horns, Um and 258 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: Jack would act accordingly, and the rest of history. I mean, 259 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: he was essentially, for all intents and purposes, taking over 260 00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: the job for his master, who was just kind of supervising. 261 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: Right right, there was a there was a human quote 262 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: unquote at the wheel, but this was quickly becoming Jack's responsibility. 263 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: And to be fair, the system itself wasn't super complicated. 264 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily rocket science, nor was a brain surgery, 265 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: but it was very important and we have to remember 266 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: that if things went wrong, lives could be lost. So 267 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: the system, now, if if you looked at it, you 268 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: would see there were a couple of levers that control 269 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: different pieces of track and you pull them in a 270 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: certain order based on what you hear the conductor of 271 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: the train toot on their whistle, so you'll hear people 272 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: say this, this is something could train a dog to do. 273 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: Canines are quite intelligent. But you know, like you said, thumbs, 274 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: that's that's the big decider. Uh, And pretty soon according 275 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: to the railway signal, why didn't even have to watch 276 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: Jack that much? He sat around and he would stuff 277 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: birds he got into like taxidermist. That's right. He was 278 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: an amateur taxidermist. UM, and he did keep Jack chained up, 279 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: you know, but probably wasn't even necessary. I mean, Jack 280 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: was a very loyal companion who by all accounts um 281 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: loved his master, and it was very, very very loyal. 282 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: But there was kind of a wrinkle in this story 283 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: that took place when a very high class woman Um 284 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: traveling to Port Elizabeth spotted Jack working the levers and 285 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: kind of freaked out. Um, and she reported this situation 286 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: to the railway authorities, who then promptly came and visited. 287 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: They didn't believe her at first thought this was like 288 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: a wild tale from like a proto Karen type figure, 289 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: and they didn't pay much more mind. But then they 290 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: decided to come inspect the scene themselves, and they did 291 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: so then saw, out of their surprise, this uh, this 292 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: baboon running the signals, and they promptly fired. Why Jack 293 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: wasn't officially in a boy so he just kind of 294 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: went along. Um, but yeah, it was not a happy 295 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: day for Mr. Why. Yeah. And Jack had to know 296 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: something was up because he had learned these patterns, right, 297 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: He kind of just trained himself through observation in a 298 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: very real way and he was into it. And Why again, 299 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: just like with his earlier train accident, he he tried 300 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: to get the company to reconsider and he said, look, 301 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: they're nothing went wrong. Before Jack knows what he's doing, 302 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,880 Speaker 1: you guys never would have heard about this. It would 303 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: have all been fine. And then several more workers had 304 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: Jack's back. He was like a mascot to them or 305 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 1: a colleague. They came forward and they told the company themselves. 306 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 1: They said, look, honestly, this baboon is doing a pretty 307 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: pretty good job. And so as surreal as it may sound, 308 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: as much as this may sound like a Pixar movie 309 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 1: or something you would see on Disney, the big wigs 310 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 1: at the rail company said, okay, all right, we'll give 311 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: up a shot. We'll give him a shot, and they struck. 312 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: They made this test that was pretty tough, and the 313 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: test was comprised of a bunch of rapidly changing whistles 314 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: that Jack would hear, and he would be placed in 315 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: front of a set of dummy levers. So they were 316 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: it was like a flight simulator, but for a signal operator, 317 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: the same exact layout as the ones that he was 318 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: actually working in in I R O exactly. And so 319 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: we had this um. So they had somebody observing while 320 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: these engineers were blowing these train whistles, and Jack was 321 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: supposed to make the correct changes, pull the correct levers 322 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: in the correct order. How to go No, quite well, Ben, 323 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: He passed UM with honors. He did a fantastic job, 324 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: and the railway system manager was incredibly impressed, he gave 325 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: Wide his job back and get this hired Jack on 326 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 1: uh just to become the only baboon in the history 327 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: of the South African railway system to be given official 328 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: work and pay. Um. His pay was twenty cents a day. 329 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: It's about five bucks a day in today's dollars and um. 330 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: He was given food and half a bottle of beer 331 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: on Saturdays, and presumably Wide was still giving him his 332 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,479 Speaker 1: little his little schnops before bet or what was it, Brandy. 333 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: So pretty insane. And he goes on to continue working 334 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: for the company for several more years and it created 335 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 1: a kind of a boom for the the area, the 336 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: region because it was like now they had this tourist attraction. 337 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,919 Speaker 1: People would come from miles around to see the famous 338 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: signalman Baboon Jack the baboo. Yeah. People would buy a ticket, 339 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: not to really go anywhere, but to just get a 340 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,639 Speaker 1: chance to see our boy Jack. And it's interesting to 341 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: me too that they landed on half a bottle of beer. 342 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: It feels like there was a negotiation give him the 343 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: full bottle. You know, maybe they were just concerned, you know, 344 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: they want him drinking on the job. This is only 345 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: on Saturdays though I assume that was his day off. 346 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: But he also acted as a guard and would chase 347 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: away any trespassers or you know, like trained kids that 348 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: would come along with their dogs wearing bandanas. Um and uh. 349 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: He even was able to repeat some of the tasks 350 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: that Why taught him at home and clean rail cars 351 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 1: and move railway sleepers. That's right, pull pull weeds and all. 352 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: That was his giant baboon arms. And he was officially 353 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: put in charge of that key. We were talking about 354 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: the key to the coal yard that was originally um 355 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:44,159 Speaker 1: wide responsibility. So I imagine Wide still kind of just 356 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: got to stay on and supervise and do his taxidermy. Yeah, 357 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: Like who is the in the Curious George books? Who 358 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: is the man in the yellow hat? Is that just 359 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: his name? He's just the man on the yellow hat? Yeah, yeah, okay, 360 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: his George's owner. And know what he actually does. I 361 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: think we've got a max with the facts coming in here. Hot, 362 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,120 Speaker 1: Yes it is Ted Shackleford, Are you kidding? And why 363 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: he has a name. In a deleted scene in the 364 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: two six Here Is George movie, the man with the 365 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: yellow at full name was revealed as Ted shackle Ford 366 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: canon from that quick Google search, but it is from 367 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: a senn Arkle But no, that is not Canada. All right, Well, 368 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: well he was in a curious George situation, is what 369 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: I'm saying, and he got he got glowing reviews. A 370 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: railway superintendent, uh circa ninety a guy named George B. 371 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: Howe visited and he said, Jack knows the signal whistle 372 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: as well as I do almost every one of the levers. 373 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: It was very touching to see his fondness for his master. 374 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: As I drew near. They were both sitting on the trolley, 375 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: the baboon's arms round his master's neck, the others stroking 376 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: Wide's face. Total, MAT's I love it? Yeah, well don't 377 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: you mean? Yeah a little bit. The whole thing. The 378 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: whole thing is weird love, which is touching. He like touching. 379 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: But there this is weird too, and something that I 380 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,679 Speaker 1: was completely not aware of. Jack unfortunately passed away. Um 381 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: he contracted tuberculosis, in which I had no idea was 382 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: something that affected the monkeys, but only what's referred to 383 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: in this Today I found out article as Old World monkeys, 384 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: which is what Jack was, unlike New World monkeys. I'm 385 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,119 Speaker 1: not quite sure that the distinction is there, but probably 386 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: worth a little further investigation. Um. But Jack worked the 387 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: rails for a total of nine years and he never 388 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: made a single documented mistake yep, which not every trade 389 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: employee can see by the way he u His story 390 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: got covered in a science journal Nature in eighteen ninety, 391 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: and then it was kind of like an obscure thing. 392 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: It was a story of regional interest for a lot 393 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: of people, but not internationally until a century later. The 394 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: Telegraph newspaper covered it and a lot of people thought 395 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: it was a hoax because it sounds crazy, but the 396 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: truth is often stranger than fiction. This is unlike the 397 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,640 Speaker 1: story of Otto. The first we can historically established there 398 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: was a baboon. There wasn't Mr Wide. The baboon was 399 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: called Jack and did work at the railway. UM. Because 400 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: we know we saw correspondence as well from scientists who 401 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: ran into Jack. You can even if you visit the 402 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: Albany Museum in Grahamstown, South Africa, see what the curator's 403 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: claim is Jack's skull, which is a little mormid, but 404 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: it's proof consistent. Yeah, and that's at the Albany Museum 405 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 1: in Grahamstown, South Africa that also has a little bit 406 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: of a photo exhibits about the old eden Hague station. 407 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: M and I, you know, I felt like this episode 408 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 1: was an excellent opportunity for us to talk a little 409 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,640 Speaker 1: bit more about interesting things that baboons do. So we're 410 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: talking about Jack, who's kind of like a super heroic 411 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: service animal. You could say, but did you guys know 412 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: That's why I think baboons are more intelligent than they 413 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: get credit for it. Did you guys know that baboons 414 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: keep pets. They abduct. Yeah, they abduct like puppies, wild dogs, 415 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: and they they feed them, They raised them, and they 416 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: groom them. They play with the dogs, and the dogs 417 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: are treated like family pets for the baboon community, the 418 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 1: baboonity and community. Sorry, and so the uh no, we're 419 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: keeping it. We're keeping it, Maxi'm sorry. Uh. The the 420 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,920 Speaker 1: dogs have a role to play because they defend their 421 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,959 Speaker 1: family from other dogs who haven't been turned by the baboons, 422 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 1: and they watch over them when they sleep at night. 423 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: That's kind of wild, right, they really is. And in 424 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: true curious George fashion, uh, Jack and Jim are the 425 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: subject of a best selling children's book called Railway Jack, 426 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: The True Story of an Amazing Baboon, which you can 427 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: get on Amazon UM if you're interested by Kat Johnson. 428 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: Really really cool story. I can't believe this hasn't been 429 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: made into UH at the very least like one of 430 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: those UM Pixar shorts. You know they feature that'd be good. UM. 431 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: I can see them adding a little detail and then 432 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: creating a feature out of it. UM. But let's see too. 433 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 1: To close out, we've got a couple of interesting UM 434 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: examples of other types of animals working at railway stations, 435 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: in the form of Japan's station master cats. Yes, that's correct. 436 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: So there's a Japanese hound called Keno Kawa and for 437 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: around eight years, the station master of Kenya Kawa's Kishi 438 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: station was a Calico cat named Toma and Toma or 439 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,240 Speaker 1: Tama she was astray. She lived near the station. Some 440 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: people worked there were feeding herse so she was hanging 441 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: out and the station was automated in two thousand seven 442 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: to save some money on the bottom line. So this 443 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,919 Speaker 1: cat was hired, or as we say on our other show, hired, 444 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: and she was paid in food and people loved seen 445 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: her just like folks would ride the train to see 446 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: signalman Jack. People would travel to the station just to 447 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: see the cat boss of Kishi Station, and they gave 448 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: her a tiny hat, a tiny station master hat while 449 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: she worked in her office. That's adorable. Um. And unfortunately, 450 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: I sorry, we're killing off all these animals, not us. 451 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: It's just time in history. Uh. Tama passed away in 452 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: heart failure. But she lived on the right bold cattage 453 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 1: of sixteen which is up there. And she was actually 454 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: credited with saving the train line from financial collapse because 455 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 1: of all of the tourists that she drew with an 456 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: estimated at one point one billion yen of additional revenue 457 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: UM since her tenure began. Yeah, yeah, and Uh. If 458 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: you would like to learn more about this very strange 459 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 1: but fascinating and adorable are often adorable corner of history, 460 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: then do check out ten animals with better jobs than 461 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: you at how Stuff Works dot com by Melanie rad 462 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: Zicki McManus. Uh. This is where you'll find some some excellent, 463 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: more lighthearted examples of animals being employed in jobs that 464 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: you know are commonly thought to be the domain of people. Uh. 465 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: This doesn't count a ton of military animals, but Also, 466 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: you know what this reminds me of, you guys, there 467 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: is who's that dog? There's a dog in the US, 468 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: maybe more than one that is like the mayor of 469 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: a town. I am not aware of a dog mayor 470 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: Ben Ah. Yes, I'm thinking of Max the gold Retriever, 471 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: not Max Williams superducer. Max Williams, no Goldener Treever, who 472 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,959 Speaker 1: was also mayor of idle Wild, California in two thousand 473 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: and twelve. I wonder if they gave him a dogs 474 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: like one of those mayor sashes like we talked about 475 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: on the last apsode, like with Mayor mccheese. Yeah, and 476 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: two uh dog named Duke the Dog became mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota. 477 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: This is weird. There are actually a lot of uh. 478 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 1: There's an insider dot com article that points out there 479 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: have been no less than nine dogs who have been 480 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: elected mayor of small towns. I fell asleep trying to 481 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: put on a pair of pants once. And these dogs 482 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: are out here changing the world a man, They really 483 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: are an doing God's work. And hey, if you're interested 484 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: in more crazy stories about animals or unusual animals and 485 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: unusual locations, um, why not check out an episode that 486 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: we did several years back about weird presidential pets. Worth 487 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: a listen, and we would also love to hear from you. 488 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed today's episode. It's a little bit 489 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: short and sweet story UM where luckily nothing terrible happened 490 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: to signal man Jack and Uh, a man who was 491 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: grievously injured was able to get in a very real way, 492 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: a new lease on life with a new best friend. 493 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 1: So tell us your stories of other animals that have 494 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: had amazing jobs. Uh, we'd love to hear from you. 495 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: You can find us at Ridiculous at i heeart media 496 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: dot com. You can find our Facebook group Ridiculous Historians 497 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: some of the some of our favorite animals on the 498 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:55,719 Speaker 1: internet us included and uh and as always, folks, UM, 499 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: thank you for thank you for tuning in. UH, maybe 500 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: we could a ridiculous history rail tour. Ridiculous rails? What 501 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: do they call that? A whistle stop tour? Like the 502 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: presidents used to do? You know, he's like you, we 503 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: hang out on the back and just wave very very 504 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: minimal movement to our wrists. We'll do that. We'll stop 505 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: and hang we'll stop and chat. But I'm down for 506 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,920 Speaker 1: that idea. I like old timey stuff like that. You 507 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: can also find Ben and I as individual human people 508 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,959 Speaker 1: on the Internet. I am exclusively on Instagram at how 509 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: Now Noel Brown. How about you, buddy. Yeah, you can 510 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: find me at Ben Boland bow L I n On 511 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: Instagram you can get a preview of my various misadventures, 512 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: what I'm reading, the research I'm doing. Uh. And you 513 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: can also find me on Twitter, where I am at 514 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: Ben Bowland hs W and in a never before revealed 515 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: look into the life of super producer Max Williams. Uh, Max, 516 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: you're on the undernet too, I hear, Yes, I am, 517 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: and I am on Twitter and only Twitter. I am 518 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,120 Speaker 1: at a t L underscore Max Williams. Okay, alright, got 519 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: a lot of hot takes on sports ball games uh 520 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: Lional trains, uh not a ball games and Lionel trains, 521 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: the Max Williams story, and a lot of Star Trek, 522 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 1: A lot of Star Trek and a lot of Star Trek. Okay, man, well, uh, 523 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: this this is gonna do it for us today. Thanks 524 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: of course to Max Williams. Thinks to Alex Williams who 525 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: can post our track. Thanks to Gabe bluesier who keeps 526 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,280 Speaker 1: this show on track. And and thanks of course to 527 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland ak the Twister. Yeah, he's a good monkey. 528 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: That's nicer. That's nicer than what we've we said and 529 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 1: cut off air. We'll keep this parted. We could talk 530 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: about the backstage. Do you think we can teach them 531 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: how to pull levers? I bet you we could. He 532 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: pushes my buttons. That's that's he's already got ahead to start. 533 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: We'll see you next time, folks. For more podcasts from 534 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, 535 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,