1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. She wasn't supposed to be Annie, but autocorrect 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: has been causing problems for writers longer than any of 8 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: us realize. It was in eighteen sixty one and the 9 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: patriarch of the Riley family, Reuben, left home to join 10 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: the Union Army. He became the captain of the first 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Company of Indiana Volunteers from Hancock County. Reuben was injured 12 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: during the Battle of Rich Mountain in Virginia and was 13 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: sent home to his family once he recovered. Heard. Not 14 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: long after Reuben's returned to Greenfield, Indiana, their household grew 15 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: by one. An orphan named Mary Alice Smith came to 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: live with them in the winter of eighteen sixty one. 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: She was about eleven years old, but her early life 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 1: is a mystery. We don't know the circumstances that brought 19 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,320 Speaker 1: her to the Riley family, but we do know that 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: she was born in Liberty, Indiana and was about the 21 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: same age as one of the Riley boys, James. We 22 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: also know that she wasn't an orphan, at least not 23 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: in the way that we would think. Her parents death 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: hadn't been the beginning of her troubles. They had separated 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: when she was four years old, and she was sent 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: to live with her grandmother. It would be another four 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: years before her parents actually died. Mary Alice, who everyone 28 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: just called Ali, was forced to bounce from one extended 29 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: family member to the next until she ran out and 30 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: had to rely on the kindness of strangers. At that time, 31 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: there weren't many institutions that took in abandoned kids, especially 32 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: not on the frontier. Adoption wasn't common, and the foster 33 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: care system didn't exist yet, so many children like Ali 34 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,559 Speaker 1: were sent to live with families looking for an extra 35 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: pair of hands to help around the house. Ruben Riley, 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: well known to be a kind and generous man, was 37 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: thinking about returning to the battlefield, and he knew that 38 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: his wife would need help while he was gone. The 39 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: bargain was always pretty simple. A child would be taken 40 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: in and exchange for bed and board. They would do chores, 41 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: look after children, and generally earn their keep. Ali had 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: boarded with other families before the Riley's, so she likely 43 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: knew what to expect. Reuben Riley's son James, remembered Ali's 44 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: arrival well, later describing her as a slender wisp of 45 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: a girl with spindle ankles, barely dressed for winter weather 46 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: in a calico skirt in a summer hat. She had slim, 47 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: blue veined wrists that she tossed among those loose and 48 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: ragged tresses of her yellow hair. But what really stood 49 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: out to James was the hollow, pale blue eyes, which 50 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 1: followed every motion with an alertness that sugged rust did 51 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: a somewhat suspicious mind. Maybe she didn't trust the new family, 52 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: or maybe she didn't trust anyone. Happily, Alie warmed up 53 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: to the Riley's and soon became the children's favorite playmate. 54 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: They complained whenever chores took her away from them, and 55 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: delighted in her infectious sense of humor and optimism. She 56 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,239 Speaker 1: was even known to say, I'm mighty glad I'm come 57 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: to live in this here house. Ali's joy in little 58 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: things deeply impacted James, who recalled how she turned her 59 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: chores into little games, talked to herself, and how she 60 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: found their grand curving staircase majestic. James carried her memory 61 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: with him even after she left the family. Many years later, 62 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: in a now grown up and respected author, James Whitcomb 63 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: Riley published a poem called elf Child. The poem described 64 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: the day a little wisp of a child came to 65 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: live with his family, the chores she did, and the 66 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: wild scary stories she told. Riley public the poem in 67 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: the Indianapolis Journal, but changed the title to Little Orphan 68 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: Alley to better remember his old friend. But then something 69 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: bizarre happened when the poem went to the printers, although 70 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: no one knows how. Maybe the type setter wasn't pain 71 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: enough attention. Maybe James, like some of us, had handwriting 72 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: that sent teachers into fits of despair. In any case, 73 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: the l's were replaced with ends, and little Orphan Annie 74 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: was born. From there, Annie seemed to take on a 75 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: life of her own. In n eighteen, she became a 76 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: silent film character, the subject of a song arrangement, and, 77 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: of course, most famously, the nineteen four comic strip. The 78 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: New York Daily News published the first strip that year 79 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: about Little Orphan Annie, her dog Sandy, and Daddy Warbucks. 80 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: Annie had grown far and beyond what James Riley had 81 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: likely expected when he had written a poem about a 82 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: childhood friend. I wonder if either James or Ali expected 83 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: to see Annie one day make her debut on Broadway 84 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: or grace the silver screen. Not once, not twice, but 85 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: four times. Riley published other poems about Ali over the years. 86 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: Where is Mary Alice Smith? Being one of the most 87 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: well known, he wouldn't have had to look too hard 88 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: to find her, though she worked in a tavern briefly 89 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: after leaving the Riley family, but eventually married and settled 90 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: down with her husband, John Wesley Gray in Hancock County, Indiana. 91 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: But there's wasn't the viral world that we live in today. 92 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: She didn't know the poem was about her until nineteen fifteen. 93 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: Ali outlived James by several years, surrounded by children and 94 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: grandchildren who might as well have delighted in the Indiana 95 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: tradition of reading Little Orphan Annie around Halloween. Despite or 96 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,239 Speaker 1: perhaps because of the best efforts of ye old auto 97 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: correct Orphan Annie has gone on to inspire plenty of 98 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: people with her cheerfulness and optimism, even another Indiana author, 99 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: John Gruel and his popular character Raggedy Ann. But that's 100 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: a story for another your day. Every so often doctors 101 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: come out with studies declaring certain foods as either being 102 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: healthy or unhealthy. Two cups of coffee a day can 103 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: prevent heart disease, but the caffeine can spike your anxiety. 104 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 1: Eggs are high in vitamins like B twelve and ribel 105 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: flavor that can also negatively affect your cholesterol. It's never 106 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: fun finding out the foods and beverages we love the 107 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: most may actually be hurting us. But nowadays we can 108 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: quickly learn the truth and adjust our diets accordingly. That 109 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: wasn't the case, however. In nineteenth century Tokyo, also known 110 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: as Edo, a disease was running rampant through the country, 111 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: especially among the emperor's family and other nobles. Back then, 112 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: they called it kaka, but today it's known by the 113 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: name barry Berry. Unlike other illnesses which would often target 114 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: the poor, barry Berry was killing Japanese nobility instead, and 115 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: that led to its other nicknames, The Edo sickness, or 116 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: the affliction of eddo Someone with berry Berry would often 117 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: get symptoms such as swollen legs, sluggish speech, paralysis, and 118 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: eventually death, but nobody knew the disease is caused at 119 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: the time. It struck the Emperor's aunt, Princess Kazu in 120 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: the late eighteen hundreds and kicked off a massive investigation 121 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: into its origin. Her husband had also died from a 122 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: similar medical mystery ten years prior, possibly the same disease. 123 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: Some doctors first believed barry Berry was caused by spending 124 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: too much time on damp ground, while others prescribed fasting 125 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: and various homeopathic remedies to cure the condition. A samurai 126 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: afflicted with the disease agreed to try the herbal remedy 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: one doctor prescribed to him, and he died months later. 128 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: Mug Warts, an aromatic flowering plant, was also sometimes applied 129 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: to the backs of patients and then burnt off the skin, 130 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: but it didn't work. As time passed, more of japan 131 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: Ends upper echelon continued to perish from barry Berry until 132 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: a doctor named Kinda Heiro Takaki took up the cause. Takaki, 133 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: who had enlisted in the Navy in eighteen seventy two, 134 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: witnessed the same illness strike the Japanese sailors that he 135 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: had served with back then. His superiors hadn't thought anything 136 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: of it, but Takaki knew something was going on. He 137 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: eventually left the Navy and enrolled in medical school in England. 138 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: Once he was finally in a position to address the issue, 139 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: he took action. As the director of the Tokyo Naval 140 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: Hospital and later the vice director of the Naval Medical Bureau, 141 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: Takaki started talking with Japanese sailors afflicted by barry Berry, 142 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: and he made some important observations. First, prisoners suffered from 143 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: the disease more than anyone else on the ship. Sailors 144 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: and low level officers were affected slightly less, and higher 145 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: ups almost never. He also noticed that the officers aid 146 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: a diet that was higher in protein than that of 147 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: the prisoners, and attributed that to the cause of barry 148 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: Berry's proliferation among the lower ranks, who almost never eight protein. 149 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,719 Speaker 1: The disease was also strangely limited to Japan. European and 150 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: American sailors were not affected by berry Berry, but their 151 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: bread heavy diets couldn't be adopted by the Japanese sailors. 152 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: They found it off putting. Still, Takaki wanted to get 153 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: to the bottom of the issue. Then around eighteen eighty two, 154 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,959 Speaker 1: he got his chance. A training ship called the Usual 155 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: had been loaded with Japanese cadets and navigated all around 156 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: the Pacific Rim. It landed in places such as South America, 157 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: New Zealand, and Hawaii before coming home. Upon its return, 158 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: the re Usual had lost twenty five members of its 159 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: three hundred and seventy six person crew to berry berry. 160 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: Almost half the people on board had developed some form 161 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: of it as well, so Takaki's new protein rich diet 162 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: was greenlit aboard another training ship, the Sukuba, which set 163 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: sail in February of eighteen eighty four with three hundred 164 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: and thirty three sailors on board. There was a lot 165 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: writing on this journey, as Takaki had assured the Emperor 166 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: that his plan would succeed. Word came back from the 167 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: ship seven months later in a telegram it read, not 168 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: one patient, set your mind at ease. When the Tacuba 169 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: finally returned, the results spoke for themselves. Fourteen crew members 170 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: had developed barry Berry and nobody had died. The only 171 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: reason those fourteen had even contracted it was because they 172 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: hadn't been following Takaki's diet regiment. After his successful trial, 173 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: the good Doctor had carte blanche to alter the diets 174 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 1: of the entire naval fleet, and in doing so he 175 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: managed to reduce reports of berry berry by percent, and 176 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: nobody else died from it again. Sadly, Takaki's methods were 177 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: shunned by others in the medical community, and the army 178 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: was still dealing with berry berry outbreaks regularly. He had 179 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: tried mixing barley with their daily rice to up their 180 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: protein intake, but many saw barley as a holdover from 181 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: ancient traditional methods rather than something a cutting edge Western 182 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: doctor might prescribe. What nobody, including Takaki, realised, however, was 183 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: that one specific food was slowly killing everyone. It was 184 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,559 Speaker 1: a staple of their cuisine and relatively inexpensive, so it 185 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: was served everywhere. The culprit white rice. White rice was 186 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: made through a painstaking process of husking and polishing, resulting 187 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: in a bright white grain. Unfortunately, that process also stripped 188 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: the rice of its natural thiamine. Since white rice was 189 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: a symbol of higher status within Japanese society. For a 190 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: long time, berry berry mostly affected the nobility. It was 191 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: also served on board navy vessels in the eighteen eighties 192 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: as a primary source of energy and sustenance, causing a 193 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: B one shortage in many Japanese sailors. And that's what 194 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: barry berry really is, a vitamin B one or thiamine deficiency. 195 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: Takaki had figured out that more protein was the way 196 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: to combat the disease, even if he never understood why 197 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: the rice was the problem, but his work did help 198 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: future researchers dis cover the root cause of barry Barry. 199 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: It also earned him a place among Japanese nobility in 200 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: nineteen o five, as well as a new nickname, the 201 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: Barley Baron, and following his death in nineteen twenty and 202 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: Antarctic Peninsula was named Kakaki Promontory after him. He is 203 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: the only Japanese person to have such an honor. That's 204 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: what you get when you stick to a problem like 205 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: white on rice. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 206 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 207 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 208 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me, Aaron Manky 209 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 210 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 211 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: and television show and you can learn all about it 212 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 213 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.