1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: All right, ever, had a coworker who was like a 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: total baboon. No, I mean literally a baboon. Back in 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, on a railroad in South Africa, a 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: baboon named Jack got a job as a signalman and 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: later a switchman. I'm Patty Steele. His impressive record and 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: the story behind what legged is being hired. Next on 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: the backstory, we're back with the backstory. Okay, if you're 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: an animal lover, this one's definitely for you. If you're 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: not an animal lover, maybe this one will help you 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: change your perspective. First of all, we've all had coworkers 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: who we felt spent too much time monkeying around, right, 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: But gotta tell you that would be an insult to 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: this particular hardworking guy. His name was Jack, and he 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: was a baboon, I mean a real baboon. First off, 15 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: let's acknowledge all the incredibly hardworking animals that do everything 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: from farm work to police and firework, even to espionage, 17 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: doing things like searching for mines and explosives. And of 18 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: course there are wonderful animals that help people who are 19 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: disabled or just need their companionship. All incredibly valuable and 20 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: pretty amazing when you realize the skills they have and 21 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: how they put them to work. But Jack was a 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: whole nother story. Let's go back to eighteen seventy seven. 23 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: James Wide is a South African railroad employee. He's a 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: hard worker and well liked, but he's a bit of 25 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: a character. He gets a laugh out of coworkers by 26 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,119 Speaker 1: showing off his skill at jumping between moving trains. They 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: nickname him Jumper, so you get where this is headed. Finally, 28 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: James has a terrible accident on the job. He falls 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: under a moving train and loses both his legs. He's 30 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: still able to do his job working for the Cape 31 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: Town Port Elizabeth train station getting around on peg legs, 32 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: but by eighteen eighty one he's struggling to perform. James 33 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: realizes he needs some help. He visits a market in 34 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: town and sees a baboon pushing an ox cart. He 35 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: watches him do other odd jobs in the marketplace, and 36 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: he's blown away by him. In fact, he's so impressed 37 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: with him he buys the babboone, names him Jack and 38 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: brings him home as a pet and personal assistant. He 39 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: also figures Jack's the perfect guy to push him to 40 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: work every morning in a little personal trolley, since the 41 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: half mile trek was a bit rough on those peg legs. 42 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: Soon he deputizes Jack as an employee of the railroad 43 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: and puts him to work on other jobs. Jack sweeps 44 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: out the train station and empties the trash. He takes 45 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: care of the station's gardening, and he alerts coworkers when 46 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: trains are approaching. He does one heck of a job, 47 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: and then at the end of the day he and 48 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: James go home together with Jack pushing James in his 49 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: little trolley. But where Jack really comes into his own 50 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: is as a signalman. James trains him to push his 51 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: wheelchair to the signal polls and eventually to operate the 52 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: railway's signals, of course under supervision at first. After a 53 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: while it's clear he can do this on his own 54 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: and his adept at changing signals to show engineers when 55 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: conditions are safe or cautionary. Now the problem is a 56 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: high net worth individual sees Jack changing railroad signals and 57 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: kind of freaks out, calling in authorities, so of course 58 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: an official investigation gets underway. It makes sense they're worried 59 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: about the safety of the trains, so they decide to 60 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: give Jack a competency test. He passes with flying colors. 61 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: After observing Jack do an impeccable job and verifying his 62 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: skill set, they agree he deserves an official employee number, 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: a title, and a salary. Jack is hired as a 64 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: signalman and gets a uniform and a miniature signalman's hat. 65 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: Plus he's paid twenty cents a day and gets half 66 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: a bottle of beer every week. Now that's a contract, right. 67 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: Jack becomes a local celebrity when his story is featured 68 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: in newspapers and magazines. He's an inspiration to folks, and 69 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: crowds gather to watch him work. But that's not the 70 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: end of his career. Not long after, Jack is taught 71 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: how to operate the station's switching mechanisms. As trains approach 72 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: the rail switches at the station, they toot their whistle 73 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: a certain number of times to tell the signalman which 74 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: tracks to change. By watching James, Jack picks up the 75 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: pattern and starts tugging on the levers himself. Just by 76 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: watching James, Jack has learned how to throw switches and 77 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: change tracks. He even shows train engineers which track they 78 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: need to take, and he hangs onto the coal yard 79 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: keys and guides new drivers into the coal sheds, helping 80 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: them get their job done. His work is so meticulous 81 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: he never makes even one mistake or experiences a single 82 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: incident over the course of the nine years he works 83 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: for the railroad. Eventually Jack could do all of this 84 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: work without James's supervision, and passing conductors had no idea 85 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: that a baboon was operating the system until they saw 86 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: it with their own eyes. Sadly, Jack died of tuberculosis 87 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety and was still mistake free after those 88 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: nine years on the job, but he left James broken hearted. 89 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 1: Around that time, the railways superintendent said, Jack knows the 90 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: signal whistle as well as I do, also every one 91 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: of the leavers. During my visit with him, it was 92 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: very touching to see his fondness for James. As I 93 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: drew near. They were both sitting on the trolley, the 94 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: baboon's arm round James's neck, the other hand stroking James's face. 95 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: Hope you like the backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave 96 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: a review. I would love it if you'd subscribe or 97 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically and 98 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:09,559 Speaker 1: feel free to dm me if you have a story 99 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele 100 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The 101 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Duran Group, 102 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 103 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 104 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 105 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 106 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 107 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't 108 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.