The Backstory: My Perfect Co-worker . . Is a Baboon

Got a co-worker who likes to monkey around at work? Don’t be so quick to give them the thumbs down. There are lots of actual animals that are amazing at jobs most humans can’t do. But this is a story of an official railroad worker who was a real baboon . . literally.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, ever, had a coworker who was like a
total baboon. No, I mean literally a baboon. Back in
the eighteen eighties, on a railroad in South Africa, a
baboon named Jack got a job as a signalman and
later a switchman. I'm Patty Steele. His impressive record and
the story behind what legged is being hired. Next on

(00:22):
the backstory, we're back with the backstory. Okay, if you're
an animal lover, this one's definitely for you. If you're
not an animal lover, maybe this one will help you
change your perspective. First of all, we've all had coworkers
who we felt spent too much time monkeying around, right,

(00:44):
But gotta tell you that would be an insult to
this particular hardworking guy. His name was Jack, and he
was a baboon, I mean a real baboon. First off,
let's acknowledge all the incredibly hardworking animals that do everything
from farm work to police and firework, even to espionage,
doing things like searching for mines and explosives. And of

(01:08):
course there are wonderful animals that help people who are
disabled or just need their companionship. All incredibly valuable and
pretty amazing when you realize the skills they have and
how they put them to work. But Jack was a
whole nother story. Let's go back to eighteen seventy seven.
James Wide is a South African railroad employee. He's a

(01:30):
hard worker and well liked, but he's a bit of
a character. He gets a laugh out of coworkers by
showing off his skill at jumping between moving trains. They
nickname him Jumper, so you get where this is headed. Finally,
James has a terrible accident on the job. He falls

(01:50):
under a moving train and loses both his legs. He's
still able to do his job working for the Cape
Town Port Elizabeth train station getting around on peg legs,
but by eighteen eighty one he's struggling to perform. James
realizes he needs some help. He visits a market in
town and sees a baboon pushing an ox cart. He

(02:12):
watches him do other odd jobs in the marketplace, and
he's blown away by him. In fact, he's so impressed
with him he buys the babboone, names him Jack and
brings him home as a pet and personal assistant. He
also figures Jack's the perfect guy to push him to
work every morning in a little personal trolley, since the

(02:33):
half mile trek was a bit rough on those peg legs.
Soon he deputizes Jack as an employee of the railroad
and puts him to work on other jobs. Jack sweeps
out the train station and empties the trash. He takes
care of the station's gardening, and he alerts coworkers when
trains are approaching. He does one heck of a job,

(02:55):
and then at the end of the day he and
James go home together with Jack pushing James in his
little trolley. But where Jack really comes into his own
is as a signalman. James trains him to push his
wheelchair to the signal polls and eventually to operate the
railway's signals, of course under supervision at first. After a

(03:16):
while it's clear he can do this on his own
and his adept at changing signals to show engineers when
conditions are safe or cautionary. Now the problem is a
high net worth individual sees Jack changing railroad signals and
kind of freaks out, calling in authorities, so of course
an official investigation gets underway. It makes sense they're worried

(03:41):
about the safety of the trains, so they decide to
give Jack a competency test. He passes with flying colors.
After observing Jack do an impeccable job and verifying his
skill set, they agree he deserves an official employee number,
a title, and a salary. Jack is hired as a

(04:01):
signalman and gets a uniform and a miniature signalman's hat.
Plus he's paid twenty cents a day and gets half
a bottle of beer every week. Now that's a contract, right.
Jack becomes a local celebrity when his story is featured
in newspapers and magazines. He's an inspiration to folks, and
crowds gather to watch him work. But that's not the

(04:23):
end of his career. Not long after, Jack is taught
how to operate the station's switching mechanisms. As trains approach
the rail switches at the station, they toot their whistle
a certain number of times to tell the signalman which
tracks to change. By watching James, Jack picks up the
pattern and starts tugging on the levers himself. Just by

(04:45):
watching James, Jack has learned how to throw switches and
change tracks. He even shows train engineers which track they
need to take, and he hangs onto the coal yard
keys and guides new drivers into the coal sheds, helping
them get their job done. His work is so meticulous
he never makes even one mistake or experiences a single

(05:06):
incident over the course of the nine years he works
for the railroad. Eventually Jack could do all of this
work without James's supervision, and passing conductors had no idea
that a baboon was operating the system until they saw
it with their own eyes. Sadly, Jack died of tuberculosis
in eighteen ninety and was still mistake free after those

(05:30):
nine years on the job, but he left James broken hearted.
Around that time, the railways superintendent said, Jack knows the
signal whistle as well as I do, also every one
of the leavers. During my visit with him, it was
very touching to see his fondness for James. As I
drew near. They were both sitting on the trolley, the

(05:51):
baboon's arm round James's neck, the other hand stroking James's face.
Hope you like the backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave
a review. I would love it if you'd subscribe or
follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically and
feel free to dm me if you have a story
you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele

(06:13):
and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The
Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Duran Group,
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and

(06:35):
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't
know you needed to know.