Animals have a field day in New Jersey.
Kisses pay off a $5,000 debt.
A song was written about a champ's remark.
Can you imagine that?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is Lindsay McCarrie, back again with another assorted
collection of odd facts and news items with which to amuse and entertain you for a while.
Until my cohorts and I return in just a minute and a half, we hope you'll wait, won't you?
You've all heard the old song about the animal fair.
It seems that all the birds and the beasts were there.
Well, in the first part of the month of August, 1926, the state of New Jersey had an animal
fair all its own.
It was on August 5th that the phone rang in police headquarters in Middleton, New Jersey.
Police, there's Sergeant speaking.
This is Oliver W. Holton, owner of the Twinbrook Zoo.
Yeah.
It looked as a leopard loose from my zoo.
A leopard?
Yes, it's vicious.
It escaped from a crate.
You better warn everybody to look out for it because it's dangerous.
Shoot to kill if you can't capture it.
I'll offer a hundred dollars reward.
Get it alive.
Yes, sir.
Higgins, Mallory, Kessedy.
There's a leopard loose someplace.
We've got to get it.
But Saturday, August 7th rolled around and the spotted killer was still on the loose
roaming the Red Bank countryside.
The reward went up to $500 and rifles were loaned by the National Guard to nearly 100
men.
The hunt was on.
Meanwhile, still in New Jersey on August 9th in Prompton Lake.
Say, ain't that a dog howling?
Yep.
Been hearing it for quite a spell now.
Wonder what's the matter with it.
Let's take a look outside, Joe.
Sounds like it's pretty closed.
Okay.
Say, there it is.
That collie right over there.
Hey, get away from there.
Shut up.
He ain't going to get.
He's staying right there.
Well, I'll...
Say, look, run in a little piece, then stop still.
He wants us to follow him.
Yep.
Come on, let's get Sam and Cole.
That dog might have found the leopard that's running loose.
Come on, we'd better get a couple of guns just in case.
A half a dozen citizens followed the frantic dog, following him to a mud hole where they
stopped.
See anything, Joe?
Nope.
No, anything, Ed.
That dog sees something.
Hey.
Hey, look, Ed.
Look in the center of the mud hole.
A cow?
Yeah.
Stuck in the mud with only her head showing.
Come on, get the others.
We'll get her out of there.
Poor critters.
All right, come on, boys.
There it is.
Anxious to help, the collie jumped into the mud hole and promptly got stuck right in the
way of the cow's rescuers.
First, the dog had to be pulled out and then the cow.
Can you imagine that?
But that isn't all about New Jersey's Animal Fair of August 1926.
It was on August 11th that Leon Scholder of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taking his pet
chimpanzee for a walk when...
Now, now, take it easy.
Take it easy.
You'll...
Hey, hey, oh my gosh, he slipped out of the leash.
Hey, somebody catch that chimp.
Somebody catch him.
Get after him down there.
Get after him.
Spurred on by yells and commotion, the chimp raced down the streets through alleys.
Every once in a while, he eased the strain on his feet by swinging through trees and
dropping to earth in front of frightened citizens.
He bit three of his pursuers and then...
Gosh, I'm glad you got here, boys.
I think I've got that chimpanzee cornered in the cellar at 309 Center Street.
Just give me a hand and we'll have him in no time.
We'll take care of him, mister.
Better let the police handle this.
This is no job for you.
What do you mean?
It ain't a job for me.
Say, I guess you don't know.
I'm the dog catcher around here.
The two officers and Mr. Hauk cornered the wandering chimpanzee in a cellar where Mr.
Hauk tossed a dog catching net over the slippery simian and the chase was over.
One more chapter had been written in the August 1926 saga of the New Jersey Galloping Animals.
But one more was to follow.
In orange, a little dog decided to chase a cat but forgot that the cat was smaller and
a bit more agile.
The cat slithered between 209 and 211 Main Street.
The dog followed him only to find that the space between the two buildings, although
ample for kitty, was just a little too small for himself and he was soon held fast.
A few moments later, the phone rang in an orange police station.
Yeah, orange police station.
Say, there's a dog stuck between two buildings, 209 and 211 Main Street.
You better get him out.
Okay, I'll send somebody.
Tully, Gareth, you two are the skinniest cops around here.
Go down to 209 Main Street and get a dog out that's stuck between two buildings.
The two officers went but the dog was stuck fast.
The officers made funny little noises like a cat, tossed ropes and did everything to
get the dog out but it was useless.
The fire department was called and the ladder lowered between the two buildings.
The dog refused to climb the ladder but was eventually rescued by slipping a hooked pole
under his collar.
And that about ends New Jersey's Animal Fair.
In the seven days between August 5th and 12th, New Jersey had a loping leopard, a quagmired
cow, an over enthusiastic collie, a chasing chimpanzee and a wedged in dog.
Can you imagine that?
Well, here's an odd way to clear up a debt.
From a newspaper of December 1, 1909 comes a story about the Temple of Emmanuel in
Chicago, Illinois.
It seems that a debt of $5,000 had accrued.
After a conference, it was decided to hold, of all things, a kissing bee.
Can you imagine that?
More than a score of girls.
Each of them, a pretty miss, volunteered their services.
Said their leader.
The girls will line up in a corner of a hall, which will be known as Smackville.
Kisses will be 50 cents each and no one man will be allowed more than a dollar's worth
from one girl.
If the men want to kiss more than that, they will have to take their money's worth by kissing
all the girls.
Of course, the various kinds of kisses came up for discussion.
Some girls said the kiss should be limited to a platonic peck upon the cheek, but said
one practical miss.
Nonsense.
What man will pay 50 cents to kiss a girl on the cheek?
We won't do any business at all.
And so it was agreed to take a chance with the more amorous of the kiss purchasers who
might try to get more than 50 cents worth of osculation by prolonging the kiss.
Said the spokeswoman of the girls.
This won't be any love affair.
This is purely a business proposition to lift the debt on the temple.
I'm sure we can charge 50 cents per kiss because it's worth every bit of it.
I've always hated mustaches, but I'll take a chance on them for the good of the temple.
No girl will be allowed to sell more than 400 kisses.
We salute the genius of the person who thought up the plan of selling kisses at 50 cents
each to liquidate a debt of $5,000.
For the musical portion of this Can You Imagine That, we're going to present another of those
interesting song stories.
That is, we're going to tell you how a certain song was written.
The title of our lesson today is I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now.
This famous old song was written, as you probably know, by Frank R. Adams and Will M. Huff.
But how?
Well, it seems that Mr. Adams and Mr. Huff were collaborating on a new musical show,
The Prince of Tonight.
During this collaboration, Adams gave a party at his summer home in White Lake, Michigan.
Among the friends he invited were two young ladies who were known to be chums.
Came the night of the party and...
Well, well, well, I was just beginning to give up hope.
I thought you weren't coming.
Oh, no, Mr. Adams, I wouldn't miss your party for the world.
Good girl. Good.
Oh, you know Mr. Huff, of course.
How do you do?
How do you know? I'd begin to give up hope too.
But now we can have a real party with such a charming guest.
Your compliments sound a great deal like lyrics for a song, Mr. Huff.
He's got you there, Will.
Oh, where's your friend? I thought she was coming with you.
Oh, she had a previous engagement.
She asked me to thank you and excuse her.
Well, that's too bad.
Well, come along and I'll introduce you to some of the people you haven't met.
Coming, Will?
Yes, I think I will.
And incidentally, I'm going to put in my bid for the first dance.
Well, it may be that the young girl wasn't having a very good time. We don't know.
At any rate, we find her later out on the veranda in the moonlight,
singing a romantic song through the trees.
Perhaps she thought of her absent friend who had a date,
maybe with a handsome lad down from Yale in her bulldog shoes,
pegged-top trousers and a calabash pipe.
While she was on the veranda, Adams and Huff were standing nearby talking.
Well, Will, you've got to get out the lyrics for that one song.
I've been writing lyrics in my sleep. I can't seem to get a good theme, a good start.
Oh, never mind. We've been stuck before, but we've come out of it all right.
See, Frank, a young lady seems to be a bit lonely without her friend.
Or it may be we're just a little too old for her, Will.
Now, let's go over and cheer her up. All right.
Here, here. Oh.
What kind of business is this? Pretty girl like you standing out here alone.
I'll fix that up during the next dance. Oh, thank you.
You seem to be down and thought.
Oh, yes, I guess I was dreaming a little.
Maybe it's absurd, but I was thinking about my chum.
I guess I'm different than she is.
But everywhere she goes, she seems to have such a good time.
So many gentlemen, friends.
Well, I...
Well, I guess I was just meant to be a wallflower.
I wonder... I wonder who's kissing her now.
Oh, now, isn't that silly of me?
Excuse me, please. I'll be back in a moment.
Yes, certainly.
Frank, did you hear that?
I heard it, Will. I wonder who's kissing her now.
I think that's it, Frank. I think that's it.
I wonder who's kissing her now.
I wonder who's looking into her eyes, breathing sighs.
Telling lies. That's it. That's it!
I wonder who's kissing her now.
Just a chance remark, but it was enough to start Adams and Huff
on the lyrics to a song that was destined to sweep the country.
Oddly enough, when the song was put in the show, The Prince of Tonight,
the management and the principals concentrated on other songs
which they thought would get the most applause from the audience
and almost ignored, I wonder who's kissing her now.
Can you imagine that?
I wonder who's kissing her now.
I wonder who's teaching her how.
I wonder who's looking into her eyes, breathing sighs.
Telling lies.
I wonder who's buying the wine, for lips that I used to call mine.
I wonder if she ever tells him of me.
I wonder who's kissing her now.
I wonder who's buying the wine, for lips that I used to call mine.
I wonder who's kissing her now.
I wonder who's buying the wine, for lips that I used to call mine.
I wonder if she ever tells him of me.
I wonder who's kissing her now.
And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the song that made a nation hum
and was built around the chants remark of a young lady who envied her chum.
Can you imagine that?
Well now, before I turn you over to your own station announcer,
I'd like to say this is Lindsay McHarry bidding you goodbye now.
Thank you.