1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: January fifteenth of two thousand and nine seemed like a 7 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: normal day to everyone flying out of New York's LaGuardia Airport, 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: except that their flights were actually leaving on time, and 9 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: one of those flights was US Airways Flight fifteen forty nine. 10 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: It was headed towards Seattle, Washington, with a stopover in Charlotte, 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: North Carolina. Its captain was a former Air Force pilot 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: with almost twenty thousand flight hours under his belt. This 13 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: was going to be a cakewalk, and then, only minutes 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: after it had taken off, the plane struck a flock 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: of geese, which took out its engines. The pilot radioed 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,479 Speaker 1: the control tower with details of the incident and said 17 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: he was going back to La Guardia, but realized that 18 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: he would never make it in time. With no other choice, 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: he landed the massive airbus in the middle of the 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: Hudson River. Chesley Sully. Sullenberger and his co pilot, Jeffrey 21 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: Skiles had saved everyone on board in what came to 22 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: be known as the Miracle on the Hudson. But this 23 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: was not the only dangerous episode to take place on 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: the Hudson River. In fact, in eighteen fifty two, the 25 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: Hudson was the venue of one of the deadliest maritime 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: disasters ever reported. But it wasn't a war or a 27 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: bombing or anything like that. It was a race between steamboats. 28 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: The advent of the steam engine revolutionized travel and shipping. 29 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: Before we had steam power, which could push a boat 30 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: against a river's current without breaking a sweat, sailors would 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: use disposable flatboats to train support people in goods downriver. 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: They would send them along the current to their destination, 33 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: where they'd be torn apart so that the wood could 34 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: be used for something else. Steamboats could also be bigger 35 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: and carry more cargo than non powered vessels. That meant 36 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: more passengers and more goods crammed onto each ship. But 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: these boats and ships all had the same basic flaw. 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: They're boilers. The boilers which created the steam used to 39 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: power the boats were notorious for blowing up, and since 40 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: much of the non human cargo packed on these vessels 41 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: was flammable, such as cotton and gunpowder, explosions caused a 42 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: lot of damage. The early to mid eighteen hundred saw 43 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: thousands of deaths and injuries caused by boiler explosions, so 44 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: it was only a matter of time until people came 45 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: up with ways to push these volatile engines to their 46 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: limits for the public's entertainment, because what could possibly go 47 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: wrong with that? The first official race kicked off on 48 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: New York's Hudson River in July of eighteen eleven. It 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: ended in a draw when both boats crashed into each 50 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: other at the breakneck speed of five miles an hour. 51 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: Nobody was hurts and the accident did nothing to curtails 52 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: people's interest in the sport. It soon spread out to 53 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: places like Mississippi, Kentucky, and even the Great Lakes. Despite 54 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: the snail like speeds achieved by these steamboats, their captains 55 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: didn't seem to care about the war and tear the 56 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: races would put on them. The wooden decks would buckle, 57 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: and the boilers would overheat to the point of failure 58 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: loud explosive failure, which leads us to what is perhaps 59 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: the worst steamboat race in recorded history. It was between 60 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: the Henry Clay, captain by James Isaac Smith, and the Armenia, 61 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: captain by John Tollman. Both vessels had been constructed by 62 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: famed steamship builder Thomas Collier. The fact that they had 63 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: come from the same shop meant that the loser couldn't 64 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: blame the quality of the ship on their luss. They 65 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: were both of equal prestige and provedance. On the morning 66 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: of July twenty eighth of eighteen fifty two, the Henry 67 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: Clay and the Armenia took off down the Hudson. As 68 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: they raised, the Henry Clay built up a healthy lead 69 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: of several miles, which it maintained for a number of hours. 70 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: There was no way the Armenia could catch it in time, 71 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: especially as each ship bounded toward the finish line in 72 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: New York City. But just as the Henry Clay's crew 73 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: thought that they had victory in the bag, someone noticed something. 74 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: The engine was on fire, and no matter how hard 75 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: they tried, the crew couldn't contain the blaze, which soon 76 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: took over the entire ship. The captain steered her toward 77 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: the shoreline, hoping to get close enough for people to 78 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: abandon ship and swim to safety, and the crew and 79 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: passengers who had been close to the bow at the 80 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: time of the fire did just that. But there were 81 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: also wealthy first class passengers toward the stern who were 82 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: blocked from the front of the ship by towering flames 83 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: before them. Many jumped into the churning waters below, while 84 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: others were consumed by the fire. Architect Andrew Jackson Downing, 85 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: for example, was burned alive. Others drowned as the ship's 86 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: spinning paddle blades pushed them away from the shore. Those 87 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: who were too close to the vessel and hadn't drowned 88 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: wound up dying from an enormous steam blast that erupted 89 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: after the boilers finally gave out. In total, roughly eighty 90 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: of the Henry Clay's passengers died that day, a tragedy 91 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: that led to widespread change in the steamship industry. Laws 92 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: were passed in New York to prevent these races from 93 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: ever occurring again, and steamships once again became safe for 94 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: travel and transport. For the next several decades, of course, 95 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: that is, until another famed vessel was pushed a bit 96 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: too hard by one Captain Smith in nineteen twelve. Many 97 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: of its first class passengers died as well. But you 98 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: don't need me to tell you about the Titanic. Walk 99 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: through the streets of any major city and you're likely 100 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: to hear a cacophony of sounds. Horns, honking engines, sputtering, 101 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: people shouting at each other. No wonder so many of 102 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: us put in earphones before we step outside each day. 103 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: But things weren't much quieter one hundred and fifty years 104 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: ago either. We may not have had automobiles or jackhammers, 105 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: but we certainly had the clumping of horse hoofs on 106 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,239 Speaker 1: cobblestone streets. Shop Owners yelled from their storefronts as crowds 107 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: of people hustled and bustled while carrying on conversations. Noise 108 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: has been a part of a city's DNA since the 109 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: beginning of time, but one particular noise seemed to plague 110 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: an Englishman named Thomas James Rawlins so much that he 111 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: practically spent his whole life trying to sue it out 112 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: of existence. Rawlins was born in Lambeth, England, in eighteen 113 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: oh two. Before settling north in Bloomsbury, he did a 114 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,799 Speaker 1: bit of traveling on behalf of his employer, the East 115 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: India Company, working as an artist in Calcutta. Eventually he 116 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: returned to England, where he became a professor of drawing 117 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: at a few local universities, as well as an illustrator. 118 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: But despite his passion for art, he didn't exactly love 119 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: of all arts, specifically music. Well, that's not entirely true. 120 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: He hated one particular kind of music, street organs. A 121 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: street organ is a box or barrel filled with pneumatic 122 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: pipes that's when cranked plays music. The operator is called 123 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: an organ grinder, and oftentimes the music is accompanied by 124 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: a dancing animal, like a small monkey. Rollins didn't much 125 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: care for street organ music. In fact, he downright loathed it, 126 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: going so far as to take one street musician to 127 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: courts in eighteen fifty seven. His name was Felice Onzie, 128 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: and Rawins had told him to take his organ elsewhere, 129 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: but a neighbor welcomed the performer inside to entertain them, 130 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: and they left the door ajar too. Rollins still able 131 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: to hear the pipes playing, had Onzie arrested. The neighbors 132 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: then testified in court on the musician's behalf, claiming that 133 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: Rollins was known around town for shoeing organ grinders away 134 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: and depriving everyone else of their pleasant tunes. Onzie was 135 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: released and threatened with a fine of forty shillings or 136 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: prison if he was ever arrested again for playing music. 137 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: Two years later, another organ grinder named Giovanni Fastinelli was 138 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: harassed by Rollins's maid, who had been ordered by her 139 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: employer to make him leave somebody's sick. She told him. Fastinelli, 140 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: undeterred by her pleas told her to go away as well, 141 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: which angered Rollins enough to come to her aid. Fascinelli 142 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: didn't hesitate. He charged the ornery homeowner and called him 143 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: a series of names before he was also arrested. According 144 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: to Rollins, the music disacerbated a brain condition that he 145 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: had received while abroad in India. It was also unpleasant 146 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: enough to render one of his housemates both speechless and 147 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: senseless as well. For his troubles, Fastinelli was ordered to 148 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: pay twenty shillings. Then, in December of eighteen sixty, Rollins 149 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: went after another organ grinder. This man's name was Giuseppe 150 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: Marciani and he had come from Italy. He'd been visiting 151 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: London when he suddenly found himself in the custody of 152 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: the local police. Rollins let him know that he was 153 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: the thirteenth street musician to face his wrath, and that 154 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: all he wanted was to be left in peace. Instead, 155 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: up to twenty organ grinders a day were dispatched to 156 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: Rollin's home to annoy him until he would finally pay 157 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: them a tip to leave him alone, and surprisingly enough, 158 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: almost all of his neighbors agreed with his complaints. These 159 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: street musicians had become a nuisance and a bother, and 160 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: it continued like that for the next few years, with 161 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: one grinder after another being dragged to court by a 162 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: man who simply wanted to live a peaceful life away 163 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: from the noise. An act was even passed in eighteen 164 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: sixty four meant to restrict street performers to some degree, 165 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: but it didn't do much to alleviate rollins headache. Then, 166 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty five, after having dozens of street musicians 167 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: taken to court for a noise complaints, he met his match, 168 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: except it wasn't an organ grinder. It was a horse 169 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: one that had been pulling a cab or carriage through tone. 170 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: The accident left Rawlins with a number of injuries, including 171 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: leaking abscesses and a ruptured bladder. He was forced to 172 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: live out the rest of his life bedridden, and fate 173 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: soon arrived at his door to rub salt in all 174 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: of his wounds. Guilloum du Boy and his son had 175 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: come to Rollins Street to perform. The pair were musicians, 176 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: with the father grinding a barrel organ while his twelve 177 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: year old boy banged a drum. Their show was a 178 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: hit with the crowd. Everyone in town seemed to enjoy 179 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: the music, well, everyone except Thomas Rollins. He died in 180 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy three, finally getting the peace in quiet that 181 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: he'd always wanted. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 182 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 183 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 184 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 185 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award 186 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: winning show called which is a podcast, book series, and 187 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: television show, and you can learn all about it over 188 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: at theworldoflore dot com, and until next time, stay curious.