WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:18.160 Two men bet more than two billion dollars on a building. 00:18.160 --> 00:20.120 Cows in Scotland wear sweaters. 00:20.120 --> 00:22.160 Herring is never seen alive. 00:22.160 --> 00:23.160 Can you imagine that? 00:23.160 --> 00:26.400 Yes, this is Lindsay McCarrie back again, ladies and gentlemen, with odd gleanings from 00:26.400 --> 00:28.720 libraries, newspapers and encyclopedias. 00:28.720 --> 00:31.600 In just one and a half minutes we'll all be back with proof of the statements made a few 00:31.600 --> 00:32.600 seconds ago. 00:32.600 --> 00:59.600 Until then, wait around, won't you please? 00:59.600 --> 01:20.320 But where's half of it? 01:50.320 --> 02:07.560 I'm sure you must have all heard or read at some time of the custom of placing copies 02:07.560 --> 02:11.800 of current newspapers, coins, legal documents, pictures, phonograph records and what not 02:11.800 --> 02:14.040 in the cornerstone of a new building. 02:14.040 --> 02:18.140 This custom may seem to us to be an estimable method by which to preserve for posterity 02:18.140 --> 02:20.080 the modes and manners of the day. 02:20.080 --> 02:23.440 It may appear to be a gladsome salutation to the erection of a new building, an auspicious 02:23.440 --> 02:26.280 recognition of the beauty of the handiwork of man. 02:26.280 --> 02:29.960 But the origin of laying a cornerstone is one of the most bloody in all the annals of 02:29.960 --> 02:31.320 antiquity. 02:31.320 --> 02:36.360 To prehistoric men the raising of any edifice, whatever, was a direct act of impiety, a challenge 02:36.360 --> 02:38.680 to the wrath of their ancient gods. 02:38.680 --> 02:42.880 Man was born to live in caves, to take shelter under trees, as did his animal brothers. 02:42.880 --> 02:46.560 And when he presumed to erect any sort of building toward the heavens, he was flying in the face 02:46.560 --> 02:49.400 of possible vengeance from the gods. 02:49.400 --> 02:53.600 Man was convinced this was true because so many buildings were struck by lightning, shattered 02:53.600 --> 02:56.040 by earthquakes, or ravaged by the elements. 02:56.040 --> 03:00.880 So to appease this supposed righteous wrath, human beings were buried alive under the foundations 03:00.880 --> 03:02.280 of any new structures. 03:02.280 --> 03:07.860 Thus our present custom of laying a cornerstone actually originated in the ghastly custom 03:07.860 --> 03:10.080 of human sacrifice. 03:10.080 --> 03:15.120 If you were the heir to either J.D. Stottler or R.E. Collins of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 03:15.120 --> 03:17.760 you would be able to collect more than two billion dollars. 03:17.760 --> 03:20.400 Yes, I said more than two billion. 03:20.400 --> 03:24.000 But you'd have to wait until the year 2432 to collect. 03:24.000 --> 03:25.000 Why? 03:25.000 --> 03:28.360 Well, it was back in 1932 that the two men were arguing about the new Capitol building 03:28.360 --> 03:29.600 in Baton Rouge. 03:29.600 --> 03:30.600 Said Mr. Stottler. 03:30.600 --> 03:32.760 Say, that's what I call a building. 03:32.760 --> 03:35.840 For five million dollars they should have had a better one. 03:35.840 --> 03:37.880 Say, this one will stand for five hundred years. 03:37.880 --> 03:39.320 That's how well it's built. 03:39.320 --> 03:40.320 Five hundred years? 03:40.320 --> 03:42.320 I'll lay you money it won't. 03:42.320 --> 03:43.600 Put up or shut up. 03:43.600 --> 03:47.880 I've got two and a half dollars that says this building won't last five hundred years. 03:47.880 --> 03:49.880 Here's my money that says it will. 03:49.880 --> 03:52.480 Well the two men banked their bets under contract. 03:52.480 --> 03:56.120 Then in July 1938 they went to the bank and reaffirmed their contract. 03:56.120 --> 03:57.480 Said an official of the bank to them. 03:57.480 --> 04:01.240 Gentlemen, I don't know whether you're aware of it or not, but that original stake has 04:01.240 --> 04:03.960 grown to six dollars and eighty five cents. 04:03.960 --> 04:05.480 That's with four percent interest. 04:05.480 --> 04:06.480 Let's see. 04:06.480 --> 04:09.840 Bet doesn't get paid off until five hundred years. 04:09.840 --> 04:11.880 That's added to 1932 then. 04:11.880 --> 04:12.880 The year 2432. 04:12.880 --> 04:13.880 Correct. 04:13.880 --> 04:17.600 And you've made provision for the bet to be paid to the heirs of the winner. 04:17.600 --> 04:18.600 That's right. 04:18.600 --> 04:20.600 Just as a matter of curiosity, sir. 04:20.600 --> 04:23.600 How much will that amount to in 2432 A.D.? 04:23.600 --> 04:26.200 I thought you'd ask that. 04:26.200 --> 04:27.240 Here are the figures. 04:27.240 --> 04:34.060 In the year 2432 the heirs or heir of the bet's winner will receive two billion eighty 04:34.060 --> 04:39.520 four million four hundred and ninety five thousand six hundred and five dollars and 04:39.520 --> 04:41.060 twenty two cents. 04:41.060 --> 04:42.060 Can you imagine that? 04:42.060 --> 04:45.800 Over two billion dollars can be collected on a two and one half dollar bet. 04:45.800 --> 04:49.800 The twenty two cents seems a little picky-oonish, but who knows what twenty two cents may buy 04:49.800 --> 04:52.800 in 2432 A.D. 04:52.800 --> 04:56.720 To those who believe the crow or the raven to be birds of evil omen, here's a new story 04:56.720 --> 04:58.880 that will clinch that belief. 04:58.880 --> 05:02.440 It's rather weird and smacks of the supernatural, but I'm going to report the story just as 05:02.440 --> 05:06.060 I read it in a newspaper of February 27, 1931. 05:06.060 --> 05:09.400 It was in Sydney on that day that Justice Hugh Ross was addressing the prisoner at the 05:09.400 --> 05:10.680 bar, Alfred Beckett. 05:10.680 --> 05:14.200 A crowded courtroom hung on his words. 05:14.200 --> 05:18.480 And it is now the duty of this court to pronounce sentence upon you, Alfred Beckett. 05:18.480 --> 05:23.960 Alfred Beckett, it is the judgment of this court that you are to be electrocuted. 05:23.960 --> 05:24.960 The crow. 05:24.960 --> 05:25.960 Here, the crow. 05:25.960 --> 05:26.960 There he is again. 05:26.960 --> 05:35.840 I must ask the spectators to remember that this is more serious than can be imagined. 05:35.840 --> 05:42.840 Alfred Beckett, I hereby sentence you to be executed in the electric chair in the state 05:42.840 --> 05:43.840 penitentiary. 05:43.840 --> 05:44.840 Yes, sir. 05:44.840 --> 05:47.840 There he is, right on schedule, too. 05:47.840 --> 05:48.840 Weird. 05:48.840 --> 05:49.840 That's what it is. 05:49.840 --> 05:50.840 Weird. 05:50.840 --> 05:51.840 Don't tell me it's just a coincidence either. 05:51.840 --> 05:52.840 This is the fifth time. 05:52.840 --> 05:53.840 Hey, what's this all about? 05:53.840 --> 05:54.840 I'm a reporter. 05:54.840 --> 05:55.840 I'd like to get the story. 05:55.840 --> 05:56.840 What for? 05:56.840 --> 05:57.840 No one believed it if you printed it. 05:57.840 --> 05:58.840 Oh, I don't know. 05:58.840 --> 05:59.840 They might. 05:59.840 --> 06:00.840 What is the story? 06:00.840 --> 06:01.840 It's a story about a man who was a prisoner in a prison cell. 06:01.840 --> 06:02.840 He was a prisoner in a prison cell. 06:02.840 --> 06:03.840 He was a prisoner in a prison cell. 06:03.840 --> 06:04.840 He was a prisoner in a prison cell. 06:04.840 --> 06:05.840 What is the story? 06:05.840 --> 06:07.840 You're looking right up at it, son. 06:07.840 --> 06:08.840 That crow? 06:08.840 --> 06:09.840 What are you talking about? 06:09.840 --> 06:10.840 The crow. 06:10.840 --> 06:12.840 That's what we're talking about. 06:12.840 --> 06:14.840 This is the fifth time it's appeared. 06:14.840 --> 06:18.840 Well, what's so odd about a crow roosting in a tree and cawing his head off? 06:18.840 --> 06:23.840 Son, that same crow is lighted in that same tree and cawed in exactly the same way five 06:23.840 --> 06:24.840 times now. 06:24.840 --> 06:29.840 And each time he did it, the judge was reading the death sentence against somebody. 06:29.840 --> 06:30.840 No. 06:30.840 --> 06:31.840 See? 06:31.840 --> 06:32.840 You don't believe it. 06:32.840 --> 06:34.840 It's a real tragedy. 06:34.840 --> 06:37.840 Last time he did it was when Justice Ross was sentencing Bing Anderson, that ski jumper 06:37.840 --> 06:38.840 to death. 06:38.840 --> 06:42.840 Maybe you'll call it coincidence, son, but people around these parts don't call it that 06:42.840 --> 06:43.840 anymore. 06:43.840 --> 06:45.840 Not after five times. 06:45.840 --> 06:50.840 Seems like that crow knows just when to perch in that tree and start cawing. 06:50.840 --> 06:57.840 Listen to him. 06:57.840 --> 07:01.840 Yes, that same crow, according to the people of the region, roosted in the same tree and 07:01.840 --> 07:06.840 cawed at the exact moment the death sentence was being pronounced upon a prisoner during 07:06.840 --> 07:08.840 five death trials. 07:08.840 --> 07:10.840 Can you imagine that? 07:10.840 --> 07:15.840 From a San Francisco paper of March 2, 1917, comes the ultimate in animal highlights. 07:15.840 --> 07:18.840 Visiting the Golden Gate City at that time was Sir Francis Webster of Edinburgh, Scotland, 07:18.840 --> 07:19.840 who stated that... 07:19.840 --> 07:22.840 Oh, but wait, let's have Sir Francis tell us. 07:22.840 --> 07:27.840 As owner of one of the finest dairies in Scotland, I've been asked what is the most modern step 07:27.840 --> 07:29.840 in dairy farming. 07:29.840 --> 07:35.840 Well, the latest is dressing the cows in knitted sweaters in winter to keep them warm. 07:35.840 --> 07:42.840 The sweaters are much like those made for humans, buttoning around the neck in chess. 07:42.840 --> 07:47.840 Unlike a blanket, they cannot be misplaced when the cow lies down. 07:47.840 --> 07:49.840 Knitted sweaters for cows. 07:49.840 --> 07:53.840 We wonder what Bossy would think when a couple of attendants were buttoning the latest turtleneck 07:53.840 --> 07:55.840 style around the bovine body. 07:55.840 --> 07:58.840 At any rate, it must have been startling to anyone to come suddenly upon a pasture dotted 07:58.840 --> 08:02.840 with daisy bells and flossies, all decked out in what the well-dressed cow will wear. 08:02.840 --> 08:04.840 Can you imagine that? 08:04.840 --> 08:06.840 Here's an interesting bit of phrase origin. 08:06.840 --> 08:09.840 You've probably used the expression as dead as a herring. 08:09.840 --> 08:11.840 But do you know why you use it? 08:11.840 --> 08:13.840 Do you know just how dead a herring really is? 08:13.840 --> 08:18.840 Well, according to our sources of information, very, very few people have ever seen a live herring. 08:18.840 --> 08:22.840 Sailors and others who know the sea and its ways and the ways of its denizens will tell you 08:22.840 --> 08:26.840 that as soon as a herring is taken from the water, it dies instantly. 08:26.840 --> 08:30.840 Fishermen were quick to adapt this peculiarity of the herring to their everyday speech 08:30.840 --> 08:34.840 and added the expression as dead as a herring to their already colorful vocabularies. 08:34.840 --> 08:39.840 Of course, it was a short step from the fisher folk to the land lovers who wanted to know why the expression was used. 08:39.840 --> 08:42.840 They were told, and soon the phrase took hold. 08:42.840 --> 08:47.840 And nowadays, when we want to say something is particularly defunct, we say it's as dead as a herring. 08:47.840 --> 08:49.840 Can you imagine that? 08:49.840 --> 08:55.840 Well, now, I imagine that most of you at one time or another have heard the old vaudeville wheeze that goes something like this. 08:55.840 --> 08:59.840 Say, Joe, did you know the two states are fighting over where I was born? 08:59.840 --> 09:00.840 No, is that so? 09:00.840 --> 09:05.840 Yep. New York says I was born in New Jersey, and New Jersey says I was born in New York. 09:05.840 --> 09:09.840 Well, I'm sorry that we can't tell you the date of the origin of that gag, 09:09.840 --> 09:15.840 but none of the volumes in the archeology department of our library go farther back than 5000 B.C. 09:15.840 --> 09:21.840 We can tell you, however, about an amazing woman over whose residents no fewer than four states fought at one time. 09:21.840 --> 09:28.840 This woman was the famous Hetty Green, who, when she died in 1917, left a fortune of $170 million. 09:28.840 --> 09:32.840 Despite the fact that she and her husband had lived and reared their children in Bellows Falls, Vermont, 09:32.840 --> 09:37.840 the state of New York began its fight to prove that it was actually in that state that Hetty Green had been a resident, 09:37.840 --> 09:40.840 for it was in New York that she had transacted her business almost daily. 09:40.840 --> 09:44.840 It was there that she kept her deposits. It was there that her husband had courted her. 09:44.840 --> 09:50.840 Vermont, on the other hand, claimed that she had retained her family homestead and paid taxes on it in that state. 09:50.840 --> 09:55.840 Council for Vermont also said that at no time had Hetty Green established legal residence in New York, 09:55.840 --> 09:59.840 whereas upon many documents she had given her residence as Bellows Falls. 09:59.840 --> 10:02.840 Suddenly, in the midst of this legal battle, two other states raised objections 10:02.840 --> 10:06.840 and claimed the residence of Mrs. Green, Massachusetts and New Jersey. 10:06.840 --> 10:09.840 Why all this embattlement over the citizenship of one woman? 10:09.840 --> 10:12.840 Were they all going to raise monuments to her memory? Well, not quite. 10:12.840 --> 10:16.840 It was a little matter of a transfer tax on her estate amounting to $6 million. 10:16.840 --> 10:19.840 This was the amount that New York was claiming from her heirs. 10:19.840 --> 10:22.840 The case was carried on through to the U.S. Supreme Court, 10:22.840 --> 10:25.840 and Vermont was ultimately declared to have been Hetty Green's legal residence, 10:25.840 --> 10:30.840 whereupon the heirs paid a tax of $52,000, and the case was closed. 10:30.840 --> 10:32.840 Can you imagine that? 10:32.840 --> 10:34.840 It comes time now for the music lesson. 10:34.840 --> 10:37.840 Ah, but don't run away like that. We're not going to hold a metronome over your head 10:37.840 --> 10:40.840 or strike your fingers sharply with a ruler if you don't get things right. 10:40.840 --> 10:44.840 All we're going to do is play over a couple of songs, and you can join in the community singing too. 10:44.840 --> 10:48.840 For you all know the song, it's Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here. 10:48.840 --> 10:52.840 But do you know where that jolly song of comradeship and convivial living may have come from? 10:52.840 --> 10:54.840 Well, listen to this for a moment. 11:08.840 --> 11:12.840 Of course you recognize that. It's part of the Anvil Chorus from Verdi's opera Il Trovatore. 11:12.840 --> 11:16.840 That first part contains more than just a hint of Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here. 11:16.840 --> 11:19.840 Verdi wrote Il Trovatore in 1853. 11:19.840 --> 11:22.840 Then about a quarter of a century later came Gilbert and Sullivan 11:22.840 --> 11:25.840 with their delightful and extremely clever series of musical comedies. 11:25.840 --> 11:29.840 Far be it from us to suggest that these two geniuses of biting satire and musical wit 11:29.840 --> 11:31.840 would have accepted a suggestion from Verdi's opera, 11:31.840 --> 11:34.840 but holding that phrase from the Anvil Chorus in your mind, 11:34.840 --> 11:38.840 listen to this selection from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. 11:38.840 --> 11:46.840 Come friends who plow the sea, truce to navigation, take another station. 11:46.840 --> 11:53.840 Let's bury piracy with a little burglary. 11:53.840 --> 12:00.840 Come friends who plow the sea, truce to navigation, take another station. 12:00.840 --> 12:09.840 Let's bury piracy with a little burglary. 12:09.840 --> 12:13.840 Did you catch it? Of course. So perhaps from one, perhaps from the other, 12:13.840 --> 12:17.840 we got our song that is always sung when a few of the boys from the class of 93 12:17.840 --> 12:34.840 get together for a little fun and frolic and here's the way it might go. 12:34.840 --> 12:41.840 Hail, hail, the gang's all here. What the heck do we care? What the heck do we care? 12:41.840 --> 12:48.840 Hail, hail, we're full of cheer. What the heck do we care now? 12:48.840 --> 12:51.840 And there you have a tabloid history of hail, hail, the gang's all here. 12:51.840 --> 12:55.840 If you'll tear off the hide from the nearest elephant and write a short history of the Orient on it, 12:55.840 --> 12:57.840 we may send you another musical history a little later. 12:57.840 --> 13:01.840 But right now comes time for me to turn you back to your own station announcer. 13:01.840 --> 13:25.840 Until we meet again then, this is Lindsay McCarrie saying goodbye now. 14:01.840 --> 14:26.840 Thank you. 14:31.840 --> 14:42.840 Thank you.