In a story that seems more like folklore than fact, a chacma baboon once helped operate a railway signal box in South Africa and reportedly did so quite competently.
Jack’s story starts with James “Jumper” Wide, a railway worker along the Cape Town to Port Elizabeth line. Wide was notorious for his daredevil antics of jumping between train carriages in motion. One miscalculated jump cost him both his lower legs.
Unable to continue working, Wide bought Jack from a local market. He soon realized this baboon was not only strong but also intelligent. With time, Wide trained Jack to do more in addition to pushing his custom trolley; he taught him how to operate railway levers.
According to contemporary reports, Jack could recognize train whistles and pull the correct levers to change tracks. He did work under supervision but often acted almost independently, guiding the train traffic as would a human signalman.
The railway officials were at first skeptical, a baboon controlling signals seemed preposterous-but after testing, Jack reportedly passed with flying colors. He was officially employed by the railway and was paid 20 cents a day plus half a bottle of beer every week.
Jack worked for nine years without a single recorded error. The work of this man earned him a very special place in railway history and local lore.
He died in 1890 from tuberculosis. His skull is now preserved at the Albany Museum in Grahamstown, a curious reminder of one of the more unusual chapters in railway history.
Besides its novelty, Jack's story raises intriguing questions about animal intelligence and the amazing relationship between human beings and wild life. A disabled man and a baboon found a way to work together, performing a job that required trust, timing, and precision.
Their collaboration may seem absolutely unbelievable; however, it is well-documented and reminds us that history's oddest epics happen not between humans, but just alongside them.
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