It's the story of James and Jack. James Edwin Wide lived in South Africa and worked for the Cape Government Railway. They had trains running from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth near the end of the 1800's. Along the way, a town named Uitenhage had a station for passengers, refueling and such. The station had two main rail lines and side rails for water, coal and cargo. Mr. Wide was responsible for directing train traffic and keeping the peace at the station.
James had fun at his job and loved to jump from train car to train car checking things out. He could even jump between moving cars. The locals all called him "Jumper" Wide.
One sad day, "Jumper" slipped off a car while jumping and ended up underneath a moving train. He lost both lower legs.
Well, James was an ingenious sort and crafted for himself two 'peg legs' and crutches and bought a wheel chair. He was determined to continue working. Of course, he still needed help so he bought himself a baboon.
James named the baboon "Jack" and taught him to push his wheel chair and do some things around the station. They lived together not far from the station. Amazingly, Jack the baboon became proficient at several chores. James let the baboon handle the signaling duties. Before long, Jack the baboon was signaling all the trains in and out of the station. It was a matter of decoding the train whistles and moving the appropriate lever.
One day as you might have expected, a train passenger noticed that a baboon was moving the train signals and complained to the railway management. They were shocked and went to see for themselves. James convinced them to test Jack to see if he was capable. They did and he passed the test with flying colors. They paid Jack 20 cents per day and one half bottle of beer per week.
Jack the Signalman worked for the railway for nine years. He died of TB in 1890. I suppose he was smoking cigarettes while drinking his beer.
This monkey business is all true to the best of my knowledge.
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