During the 1880s there was a railway signalman with two wooden legs, named James Edwin Wide. He lost his legs in a work accident, which made his job extremely more difficult.
A few years after the accident he happened to see a baboon driving an oxcart on a South African market. Impressed by the skills of the animal, Wade bought him and started training him as his helper. He named him Jack. The first job Jack had was to push Wide to work in his trolley, but later started sweeping floors and taking out the trash.
After some time, Jack started to learn a bit more about the signalman’s work. By watching his owner, the baboon memorized the whistle signal and started tugging on the levers himself. Soon, Wide was able to relax and do some other things, while Jack worked on switching the rails.
One day, one of the train passengers complained to the railway authorities that a baboon was working on the mechanics instead of a human. The story says that the managers decided to test Jack’s abilities and that they were impressed.
“Jack knows the signal whistle as well as I do, also every one of the levers,” wrote railway superintendent George B. Howe, who visited the place where Jack and Wade use to work, sometime around 1890. “It was very touching to see his fondness for his master. As I drew near they were both sitting on the trolley. The baboon’s arms round his master’s neck, the other stroking Wide’s face.”
Jack was reportedly given an official employment number and was paid 20 cents a day and half a bottle of beer weekly. The baboon passed away in 1890, after developing tuberculosis. He worked the rails for nine years without ever making a mistake.
