1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: to the cabinet of curiosities. Some people have a calling. 5 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,279 Speaker 1: A famous musician might be drawn to the guitar at 6 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: a young age, sparking a long and prolific career. A 7 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: best selling author's pension for telling stories might one day 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: land her books on a million bookshelves all over the world. 9 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: For fisherman Frank Samuelson and George Harbow, they're calling was 10 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: the Open Sea, well, the open Sea and ten thou dollars. 11 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: You see, both men were born in Norway in the 12 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: latter half of the nineteenth century and joined the Merchant 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: Marines in their youth. They sail all over the world 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: together as they served their country, but took particular liking 15 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,639 Speaker 1: to the East coast of the United States, specifically Jersey City, 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: New Jersey. So after they had completed their tours, both 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: men made their homes in New Jersey, where they built 18 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: quiet lives for themselves, trawling for clams up and down 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: the coast. Surprisingly, digging for clams did not prove to 20 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: be as glamorous as it sounded, and soon Frank and 21 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: George found themselves wanting more. They missed the wind in 22 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: their faces and the salt in their hair, the opportunity 23 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: for action around every corner. It was just before the 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: turn of the century when George stumbled upon something that 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: would catapult them back into what they loved. He'd been 26 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: reading a popular men's lifestyle magazine called The National Police 27 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: Gazette when he came across an open letter from the 28 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: magazine's publisher, a man named Richard Fox. In it, Fox 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: offered anyone brave enough to row across the Atlantic Ocean 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: a prize of ten thousand dollars that's over quarter of 31 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: a million dollars in today's currency. This was it just 32 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: the thing to get them out of their rut and 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: find their true purpose again. The men quickly set to 34 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: work building their majestic skiff, which they dubbed the Fox 35 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: after their intended beneficiary. They drained their savings accounts constructing 36 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: the eighteen foot rowboat out of oak and South Jersey pine, 37 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: fitting it with two benches, several watertight compartments for supplies, 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: and a rail along the bottom in case it tipped over. 39 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: They didn't take a lot with them other than the 40 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: food they brought with them. The men carried only what 41 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: they needed to navigate and steer, including a compass, a sextant, ores, 42 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: and special suits made of oil skins. If you've ever 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: seen the image of a fisherman on a box of 44 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: frozen fish sticks, you'll know what oil skins are. George 45 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: and Frank left New York bright and early on the 46 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: morning of June six. From there they rode for fifty 47 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: five days over thirty two hundred nautical miles Great Britain, 48 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: covering on average about fifty miles per day, and boy 49 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: were their arms tired. National Police Gazette publisher Richard Fox 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: met the duo in Paris at the dinner held in 51 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: their honor, where he presented each of them with a 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: gold medal to mark their journey. Conspicuously absent though we're 53 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: the ten thousand dollars he'd promised them, but for some 54 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: reason that didn't bother George and Frank. They used their 55 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes of fame to go on a lecture tour 56 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: around the world, talking about how they had built their 57 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: boat and accomplished their feet. It was the ted talks 58 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: of their time. However, it was on their return trip 59 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: home when trouble arose like a rogue wave. Now, one 60 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: might have thought that a journey of almost thirty two 61 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: hundred miles in a rickety old roboat would have helped 62 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: them to overcome any problem thrown their way, and sure 63 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: they had their fair share nothing that couldn't be overcome 64 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: with a little elbow grease and some ingenuity. They battled 65 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: forty ft waves, heavy rains, avoided collision with an ie sburg, 66 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: and countless other perils on their voyage. So it's no 67 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: surprise that when it came time for the men to 68 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: return to the United States, they decided to let someone 69 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: else do the sailing. George and Frank, as well as 70 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: their famous rowboats, boarded a steamship home. The idea was 71 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: to give their exhausted arms arrest after such a long 72 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: and arduous journey. Unfortunately, fate had other ideas. Just as 73 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: the steamer reached Cape Cod, it ran out of coal. 74 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: George and Frank were stuck with no idea as to 75 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: when they'd be able to get moving again. But they 76 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,559 Speaker 1: weren't too bothered by it because they had a plan. 77 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: They did what no one else on the ship was 78 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: prepared for. They located their trusty rowboat, lowered it into 79 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: the water, and then settled in for the most enjoyable 80 00:04:48,000 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: activity possible. They rode themselves home. Some talents have a 81 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: universal appeal. A good musical performance, a beautiful painting, a 82 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: functional and inspiring architectural design. These are things that almost 83 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: everyone can appreciate. Other talents, though, are a bit less mainstream. 84 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: They sit at the edges, and while a few people 85 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: might find them interesting, the vast majority of the world 86 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: is either disinterested, unprepared, or both. In the case of 87 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: one man, it might be easier to say that his 88 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: skill was simply not their cup of tea or slice 89 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: of cake. Well, you'll get the idea in a moment. 90 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: The world had never seen someone quite like Tarre, and 91 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: they certainly weren't ready for him. He was born in 92 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: France in the seventeen hundreds, and from the very beginning 93 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: everyone could tell he was different. It wasn't in his 94 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: looks or the way he spoke. It was how his 95 00:05:55,839 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: stomach was kind of a bottomless pit. By the time 96 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: he was a teenager, he could easily eat his weight 97 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,280 Speaker 1: in beef, each day and somehow never gain a pound. 98 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: His mouth could stretch wider than average, and people who 99 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: knew him at the time described his figure as of 100 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: all things skinny. However, his appetite was so grand his 101 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 1: family couldn't afford to feed him. That meant that they 102 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: couldn't afford to keep him either, and just like that, 103 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: Tarar was on his own. He didn't starve, though. To 104 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: be honest, it wasn't a challenge for someone with a 105 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: talent for stuff in his face to find work as 106 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: a sideshow act. He fell in with a group of 107 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: street performers who kept him fed and quickly exploited his 108 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: outrageous metabolism. Audiences didn't just want to see him eat 109 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: hundreds of pounds of steak and chicken, though, the man 110 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: with the iron stomach began varying his diet with less 111 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: edible additions, including rocks, corks, and live animals. If he 112 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: could fit it in his mouth, he ate it and 113 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: got paid pretty well to do it too. Unfortunately, he 114 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: also paid for it. You see, Tarar was a notoriously 115 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: foul smelling individual who ran into serious intestinal troubles because 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: of his sideshow work. After a particularly long hospital stay, 117 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: he realized he needed to do better for himself and 118 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: his stomach, so he joined the French military. But although 119 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: his newfound sense of purpose should have been enough to 120 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: sustain him, he became just as sick, not eating as 121 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: he did when he was It was while he was 122 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: wandering around the bases medical ward when military scientists decided 123 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: to perform some tests on Tarar's incredible appetite. They realized 124 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: that when his enormous stomach was empty, it became a 125 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: perfect way of transporting messages to imprison soldiers across enemy lines. 126 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: If only they'd train him a little better before sending 127 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: him out into the field. You see, it didn't take 128 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: long for Tarar to be spotted and captured. Soon after 129 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: he was being questioned about his reasons for being there, Tarar, 130 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: naive and afraid, told them all about the box in 131 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: his stomach that contained a note. So they chained him 132 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: to a toilet and waited patiently for his um deposit. 133 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: If only it had been worth the weight, the message 134 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: said nothing, well, nothing that meant anything of a great 135 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: deal to the enemy nor the imprisoned soldier. The entire 136 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: ordeal had been nothing more than a test to see 137 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: whether his gut would be a viable way of smuggling 138 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: information in the long term. Tarar was eventually released to France, 139 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: where he resumed his civilian life, searching for food wherever 140 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: he could find it. And he was sick of it. 141 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: He had been studied and exploited and all it had 142 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: gotten him was the torture of an upset stomach. Soon after, 143 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: he checked himself into a local hospital in hopes of 144 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: a cure. He couldn't live with this affliction any longer. Unfortunately, 145 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: medicine at the time just wasn't very advanced, and treatments 146 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: consisted of filling his insides with illicit drugs to see 147 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: how they performed, but nothing helped. Tar spent his nights 148 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: wandering the halls looking for something to eat. He branched 149 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: out from his usual fare of everyday objects and started 150 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: eating off menu. He drank patients blood and ate limbs 151 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: in the morgue. Sometimes he escaped and feasted on the 152 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: entrails discarded behind butcher shots or stray dogs and cats 153 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. One day of fourteen month old child 154 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: went missing, and although Tarar was never accused of anything outright, 155 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: it was enough to have him evicted from the hospital. 156 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: Years later, Tarar would find himself back there one last 157 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: time as a corpse. Doctors tried performing an autopsy on him, 158 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: but they didn't get too far. The odor coming off 159 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: of his body simply made a full examination all but impossible. Now, 160 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: any number of things could have killed the man who 161 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: literally ate everything in his path. After all, his gigantic 162 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: stomach was riddled with countless infections caused by his strange 163 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: dining habits. But no, Tarar wasn't undone by rocks or 164 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: corks or even human limbs. It wasn't cats or dogs 165 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: or all those rotten butcher cast offs. No, the man 166 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: who seemed to be able to eat anything without consequence 167 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: died of something entirely unrelated, taking his reputation for an 168 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: iron stomach with him to the grave completely intact. So 169 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: what did kill the man who seemingly could consume anything 170 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: he wanted? Tuberculosis, a sickness known through popular culture by 171 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: a very different name, consumption. I hope you've enjoyed today's 172 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 173 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 174 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,959 Speaker 1: visiting curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 175 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 176 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 177 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: book series, and television show and you can learn all 178 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 179 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.