Jack (chacma baboon)

Jack (died 1890) was a chacma baboon, who attained a measure of fame for acting as an assistant to a disabled railroad signalman in South Africa.[1]

History

James Wide with Jack

Jack was the pet and assistant of paraplegic signalman James Wide, who worked for the Cape Town-Port Elizabeth Railway service. James "Jumper" Wide had been known for jumping between railcars prior to an accident where he fell and lost both of his legs.[2] To assist in performing his duties, Wide purchased the baboon named "Jack" and trained him to push his wheelchair and to operate the railways signals under supervision.

An official investigation was initiated after a concerned member of the public reported that a baboon was observed changing railway signals at Uitenhage near Port Elizabeth.[3]

After initial skepticism, the railway decided to officially employ Jack once his job competency was verified. The baboon was paid twenty cents a day, and a half-bottle of beer each week. It is widely reported that in his nine years of employment with the railroad, Jack never made a mistake.

After nine years of duty, Jack died of tuberculosis in 1890.[3] His skull is in the collection of the Albany Museum in Grahamstown.

Notes and references

  1. Morris 2003, p. 242.
  2. Williams, Michael (2 August 2012). "Stranger Than Fiction: Jack the Signalman". Knoxville Daily Sun. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
  3. 1 2 Cheney & Seyfarth 2008, p. 31.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.