too
often on tails from the bottle do we
focus on war
death and destruction the fact that
those topics seem to pull a lot more
views probably says something about
human nature
and the fact that i exploit this by
making more videos on those topics
probably says something about me but
please consider i have to spend a full
week researching writing drawing
recording and editing every single one
of these topics that's a long time to be
steeped in war death and destruction
especially when i'm making a new video
every week i do like to take a break
from human misery every now and then
god knows my own is enough so here's a
story about a baboon working on a
railway
in the late 1800s james white or jumper
wide to his friends was a double leg
amputee working on the railway line
between port elizabeth and cape town in
south africa
seems a bit cruel to nickname a double
leg amputee jumper but he had actually
earned his name
years before while he was working as a
guard for the railway he was known to
jump and swing from car to car while
working the line hence the nickname
jumper
until one day he fell between two moving
cars and lost his legs at the knees
and as the song goes he ain't gonna jump
no more
having no legs was a bit of an obstacle
on his career path as a guard and wide
went unemployed for a while
low though he was in physical form he
kept his spirits high making a pair of
peg legs and rejoining the railway
this time as a signal man at a small
station in the town
of eidenhagga although he was still able
to walk with the aid of a crutch
wide's mobility was greatly reduced
while he was able to perform his tasks
as signalman
he lived half a mile away from the
signal box so the journey to and from
work was a bit troublesome
thus he was inspired to build a small
trolley with which he could wheel
himself around on james white worked
like this for several years until one
day he came across
a life-changing scene at the eidonoga
marketplace
an ox-cart that was being driven by a
monkey
a baboon to be exact wide was astonished
and approached the owner
the owner explained the monkey was
unusually intelligent so he had trained
him to do some basic tasks for him
this gave james an idea with his
restricted mobility such a helper would
make his life much easier
he persuaded the owner to sell him the
monkey sounds like a pretty hard sell
giving away your trained monkey but
honestly
the amount of people who probably
stopped this guy to ask about the
working monkey
probably negated any of the time saved
by the monkey doing the work
it's probably less hassle for him to
just do everything himself and so james
named the monkey jack
and took him to work with him every day
jack soon became invaluable to james
learning to push
and pull his trolley around as well as
providing companionship
alleviating the boredom and loneliness
of working the signal box all day
and soon jack picked up other tasks when
an approaching train required more coal
it would send the whistle four times to
alert james who would then fetch the
keys to the coal shed
and have them ready for the driver
observing this jack eventually learned
that four whistles was the signal to
fetch the keys and started doing it
himself
wide even managed to teach jack how to
operate the railway signals
holding up a number of fingers to
indicate which lever needed to be pulled
and suddenly james wide's jump had
become very easy
his work day probably being less
intensive on him than an able-bodied
signalman
from this point on jack was promoted
from jack the baboon
to jack the signalman isn't evolution
amazing
he became a local celebrity and
passengers would sometimes toss him
treats from the windows
james developed a unique bond with jack
and the two became quite close
they came to enjoy their commute on the
trolley with jack hopping on board for
the ride when he pushed the trolley to
the top of a hill
james paid jack his wages and alcohol
without which the monkey would
supposedly sulk
and refuse to perform his duties ah yes
monkey railway signals alcohol a recipe
for success well apparently it was
because jack the signalman was
reportedly
very good at his job and never made a
mistake
after nine years of service jack
developed tuberculosis
and died in 1890 leaving james wide
broken-hearted
and alone ah there's the human misery
well i suppose i could only get away
from it for so long today
jack's skull is on display in the albany
museum in graham's town south
africa so if you ever find yourself in
the area
make sure to pay tribute to the best
goddamn signalman
to ever live
and while you're here make sure to pay
tribute to the best goddamn youtuber to
ever live
me just like jack i will accept alcohol
as my weekly wages but i will also
accept subscribing
following me on twitter checking out my
second channel cucer2
donating to me on patreon and buying my
lovely
lovely t-shirts right so cheers
is that another bottle beat the jesus
it's my lucky day
two balls
well now i have none hello