WEBVTT

00:00.000 --> 00:17.040
A black cat does bring bad luck.

00:17.040 --> 00:19.040
An attorney wins an impossible case.

00:19.040 --> 00:22.080
A strange lawsuit is never actually heard.

00:22.080 --> 00:23.080
Can you imagine that?

00:23.080 --> 00:26.520
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, this is Lindsay McCarry speaking to you from my laboratory

00:26.520 --> 00:30.120
of amazing news stories, strange facts, and little known historical incidents.

00:30.120 --> 00:32.880
In just a moment or two, my cohorts and I are going to be back with you.

00:32.880 --> 01:01.720
Until then, we hope you'll wait for us.

02:02.880 --> 02:08.200
How do you react to all the old superstitions that have been kicking around this world of

02:08.200 --> 02:09.200
ours for centuries?

02:09.200 --> 02:11.200
Are you afraid to walk under a ladder?

02:11.200 --> 02:14.280
Do you always knock on wood when telling a piece of good luck?

02:14.280 --> 02:17.800
And do you avoid allowing a black cat to walk across your path?

02:17.800 --> 02:19.720
Do you know the origin of that particular superstition?

02:19.720 --> 02:23.520
Well, in the old days, when people actually believed in witches, it was thought that any

02:23.520 --> 02:27.540
witch could change herself into any sort of animal form, and that the favorite animal

02:27.540 --> 02:29.640
form of most witches was a black cat.

02:29.640 --> 02:33.440
First, because a black cat was difficult to see at night, and second, because a cat had

02:33.440 --> 02:38.040
nine lives and the witch could make nine changes without losing her own life.

02:38.040 --> 02:40.280
But nowadays, we're not superstitious.

02:40.280 --> 02:42.360
Who says a black cat brings bad luck?

02:42.360 --> 02:43.360
I do.

02:43.360 --> 02:44.920
Count me in on that, too.

02:44.920 --> 02:50.000
Well, those two assenting voices might be W.G. Benton and James E. Spragans of Atlanta,

02:50.000 --> 02:51.000
Georgia.

02:51.000 --> 02:53.200
And why are they so emphatic about black cats bringing bad luck?

02:53.200 --> 02:58.240
Well, it was on the 16th day of February, 1939, that Mr. Benton and Mr. Spragans decided...

02:58.240 --> 02:59.240
Sure.

02:59.240 --> 03:03.480
What's up about black cats being bad luck is just a lot of superstition in old wives'

03:03.480 --> 03:04.480
tales.

03:04.480 --> 03:06.480
There's nothing in it at all.

03:06.480 --> 03:10.240
And just to prove it, Jim Spragans and I are going to take a black cat for a ride in our

03:10.240 --> 03:11.240
car.

03:11.240 --> 03:12.240
Isn't that right, Jim?

03:12.240 --> 03:13.240
Sure.

03:13.240 --> 03:16.520
It's silly to think a little animal like a black cat could do any damage.

03:16.520 --> 03:19.540
He can't help it if he's got a color that's supposed to be dismal.

03:19.540 --> 03:23.320
So hopping in their car with a black kitty going along for the ride, Mr. Benton and Mr.

03:23.320 --> 03:26.880
Spragans defied the tradition of black cats and bad luck stringing along together.

03:26.880 --> 03:28.880
How's the cat, Jim?

03:28.880 --> 03:29.880
He's enjoying the ride.

03:29.880 --> 03:32.880
He seems to be getting a great kick out of it.

03:32.880 --> 03:36.880
Hey, hey there, look out!

03:36.880 --> 03:42.640
Yes, Mr. Benton and Mr. Spragans defied bad luck and black cats by taking a sable feline

03:42.640 --> 03:43.760
for a ride.

03:43.760 --> 03:47.200
The two scoffers landed against a pole and later landed in a hospital.

03:47.200 --> 03:48.200
And the cat?

03:48.200 --> 03:52.120
Well, with a scornful flick of his tail and perhaps a wise leer, he jumped from the wreckage

03:52.120 --> 03:53.120
unharmed.

03:53.120 --> 03:55.600
Can you imagine that?

03:55.600 --> 03:59.600
Whether true or not, or deserved or undeserved, the gypsy has a rather evil reputation when

03:59.600 --> 04:00.920
it comes to honesty.

04:00.920 --> 04:04.920
In other words, everyone expects the sons and daughters of Romany to be a little light-fingered.

04:04.920 --> 04:08.800
Even they themselves have a habit of distrusting each other, which does add color to their

04:08.800 --> 04:10.760
already tinted reputations.

04:10.760 --> 04:14.720
For when a band of gypsies are entertaining with music or in some other way, they usually

04:14.720 --> 04:17.880
pass a bowl to collect money at the end of the performance.

04:17.880 --> 04:19.440
Now here's the odd part.

04:19.440 --> 04:23.320
The gypsy to whom is given the honor of making the collection from onlookers is required

04:23.320 --> 04:28.400
to hold a live fly in the closed fist of the hand not occupied with the bowl.

04:28.400 --> 04:32.240
This effectively prevents him from helping himself to some of the proceeds with his free

04:32.240 --> 04:33.240
hand.

04:33.240 --> 04:37.120
For when he returns the money to the leader, he must open his fist and show that he still

04:37.120 --> 04:38.320
has the fly.

04:38.320 --> 04:42.260
If he has, it's a sure sign that he didn't filch a little for himself from the collection.

04:42.260 --> 04:46.520
For opening even one finger of a fist in which is enclosed a live fly is a pretty hard thing

04:46.520 --> 04:48.160
to do without the fly escaping.

04:48.160 --> 04:54.400
Thus do some gypsies protect themselves against themselves, can you imagine that?

04:54.400 --> 04:58.200
Some years ago a popular song extolled the joys of ten little fingers and ten little

04:58.200 --> 05:01.120
toes waiting for someone in 1010 Tennessee.

05:01.120 --> 05:05.560
Well from a newspaper of December 3rd, 1910 comes a story of twelve fingers, still in

05:05.560 --> 05:07.960
the South but in Atlanta, Georgia.

05:07.960 --> 05:11.840
It was in a court there that Charles Tanner stood trial for larceny, charged with stealing

05:11.840 --> 05:14.160
a suit from a pawnbroker known as Uncle.

05:14.160 --> 05:18.320
Judge, jury and courtroom audience listen to the prosecutor question Uncle.

05:18.320 --> 05:22.440
Now is the man who stole that suit from you sitting in this courtroom?

05:22.440 --> 05:24.080
Sure, sure he is.

05:24.080 --> 05:25.480
Could you point him out to us Uncle?

05:25.480 --> 05:29.520
Yeah, there he is right there, that man they call Charles Tanner.

05:29.520 --> 05:31.480
You wouldn't mistake him anywhere would you?

05:31.480 --> 05:35.640
Anybody that steals something from me I shouldn't mistake in a hundred years, that's him.

05:35.640 --> 05:37.560
Thank you Uncle, that'll be all.

05:37.560 --> 05:39.960
Does the defense counsel wish to cross examine?

05:39.960 --> 05:42.600
Yes I do, in just a moment.

05:42.600 --> 05:46.640
Your honor, may I speak with my client for a moment before questioning Uncle?

05:46.640 --> 05:47.800
You may Mr. Dorsey.

05:47.800 --> 05:48.800
Thank you.

05:48.800 --> 05:52.200
Mr. Dorsey, defense counsel had something up his sleeve.

05:52.200 --> 05:56.040
For while Uncle fidgeted on the stand, Mr. Dorsey talked along and earnestly with his

05:56.040 --> 06:00.120
client Charles Tanner and with another man who sat at their table and then...

06:00.120 --> 06:03.480
I am ready your honor, thank you.

06:03.480 --> 06:05.480
Order, order.

06:05.480 --> 06:09.960
Uncle, you said you could never mistake Mr. Tanner for anyone else, is that so?

06:09.960 --> 06:14.160
In a million years I shouldn't call myself a liar, he is the one, he is the one who stole

06:14.160 --> 06:16.200
the suit with the plaid, it was marked...

06:16.200 --> 06:20.320
Yes, yes Uncle, now let me ask you this, did you get a good look at his face?

06:20.320 --> 06:21.320
A good look?

06:21.320 --> 06:22.520
I shouldn't need a good look.

06:22.520 --> 06:25.960
Oh you wouldn't need a good look, and why not?

06:25.960 --> 06:30.160
Because, because the man that stole the suit I didn't have to look in the face, he had

06:30.160 --> 06:32.920
six fingers on each hand, twelve altogether.

06:32.920 --> 06:35.920
Well, your honor, your honor.

06:35.920 --> 06:37.880
Yes, yes Mr. Dorsey.

06:37.880 --> 06:41.320
I should like to ask Mr. Cass Jones Turner to take the stand.

06:41.320 --> 06:42.440
Coming Mr. Dorsey.

06:42.440 --> 06:47.920
I don't think Mr. Turner need take oath for this nor need he get on the stand.

06:47.920 --> 06:49.960
Mr. Turner, hold up your hand.

06:49.960 --> 06:50.960
Sure.

06:50.960 --> 06:53.800
There you are gentlemen of the jury, count them.

06:53.800 --> 06:57.760
Mr. Turner also has six fingers on each hand.

06:57.760 --> 07:00.040
Your honor, your honor.

07:00.040 --> 07:01.880
Mr. Foreman, what is it?

07:01.880 --> 07:05.280
As Foreman of the jury, I say not guilty.

07:05.280 --> 07:08.080
Case against Charles Tanner dismissed.

07:08.080 --> 07:10.760
So came the sudden climax to the trial of Charles Tanner.

07:10.760 --> 07:14.640
It seems as though the sight of twenty-four fingers on two men was too much for a judge

07:14.640 --> 07:15.640
and jury.

07:15.640 --> 07:19.120
But just enough for Mr. Tanner and his wily defense counsel, Roy Dorsey.

07:19.120 --> 07:20.460
Can you imagine that?

07:20.460 --> 07:22.480
And here's another strange case at law.

07:22.480 --> 07:23.480
Listen.

07:23.480 --> 07:28.400
In the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of New York, fall session in the year 1905, Anno

07:28.400 --> 07:32.520
Domini, the civil case of Low versus Lipkins will now be heard.

07:32.520 --> 07:34.040
But will it be heard?

07:34.040 --> 07:35.720
This case is one of the strangest on the records.

07:35.720 --> 07:39.540
It seems that Jacques Low, a native of Austria living in the United States, was telling his

07:39.540 --> 07:43.280
friend William Lipkins, a native of Germany, how his skill in the working of leather and

07:43.280 --> 07:48.100
plush had been magnificently recognized by Emperor Franz Joseph following Low's exhibit

07:48.100 --> 07:51.080
of his work at the Vienna Exposition in 1873.

07:51.080 --> 07:55.180
Well, the reaction of William Lipkins to this statement wasn't particularly flattering

07:55.180 --> 07:57.040
to Jacques Low and his handiwork.

07:57.040 --> 08:00.840
As a matter of fact, Lipkins gave Low reason to believe that he, Lipkins, doubted that

08:00.840 --> 08:05.040
the Emperor had ever recognized the leather and plush work of his friend Low.

08:05.040 --> 08:08.000
This served as the first breach in a long friendship.

08:08.000 --> 08:11.760
Perhaps you're wondering why I doubted that this case was ever actually heard.

08:11.760 --> 08:16.160
The reason for that doubt lies in the fact that both Low and Lipkins were deaf mutes.

08:16.160 --> 08:19.560
And therein lies the motivation for the rest of this amazing story.

08:19.560 --> 08:23.560
Not long after the first misunderstanding, another deaf mute, Rudolf Janik, arrived from

08:23.560 --> 08:27.000
Germany to attend the World's Congress of Deaf Mutes in St. Louis.

08:27.000 --> 08:31.280
Just about this time, Jacques Low and William Lipkins started rival clubs for those without

08:31.280 --> 08:32.280
speech and hearing.

08:32.280 --> 08:36.800
Janik, after the convention, tried to join the society founded by Lipkins and was refused

08:36.800 --> 08:37.800
membership.

08:37.800 --> 08:42.320
Thereupon Janik and Low got together, talked it over, in sign language of course, and decided

08:42.320 --> 08:46.120
that William Lipkins had slandered them and instituted lawsuits.

08:46.120 --> 08:49.840
Lipkins countered with suits against each of the others, and this strange chain of circumstances

08:49.840 --> 08:51.120
had begun.

08:51.120 --> 08:54.560
One of the most surprising angles to this whole story is this.

08:54.560 --> 08:59.080
More than fifty witnesses were called to testify, all of them deaf mutes, some of them unable

08:59.080 --> 09:01.180
to speak or understand English.

09:01.180 --> 09:05.400
So that in order that the court reporter might be able to make a transcript of the proceedings,

09:05.400 --> 09:09.980
not only was it necessary to interpret sign language, but also to interpret sign language

09:09.980 --> 09:11.240
in German.

09:11.240 --> 09:13.760
Can you imagine that?

09:13.760 --> 09:17.080
Comes now the time for you to get your Sherlock Holmes cap, your musical dictionary, and go

09:17.080 --> 09:19.640
to work finding clues to another musical mystery.

09:19.640 --> 09:22.840
You remember the Minute Waltz composed by Frédéric Chopin?

09:22.840 --> 09:27.600
Well, there's a selection from a very famous musical comedy which very closely resembles

09:27.600 --> 09:29.760
the middle part of the Minute Waltz.

09:29.760 --> 09:32.800
Just in case you've forgotten how that particular part of Chopin's composition goes, here it

09:32.800 --> 09:33.800
is again.

09:33.800 --> 09:37.200
And while you're listening to it, rack your brains and search your musical memories for

09:37.200 --> 09:41.040
the musical comedy that contains a selection very similar to this.

09:41.040 --> 09:58.720
Did you get it?

09:58.720 --> 10:00.320
Or are you going to give up so easily?

10:00.320 --> 10:03.880
Well, we're not the ones to keep you in breathless suspense, are you?

10:03.880 --> 10:07.280
Nevertheless, listen to Castle of Dreams, the number that charmed everyone when it was

10:07.280 --> 10:11.280
played and sung in that colorful, sparkling musical comedy Irene.

10:11.280 --> 10:15.440
Listen to it and see if it doesn't sound like the middle portion of Chopin's Minute Waltz.

10:15.440 --> 10:38.320
There's a candle in our dreams Where we place our hopes and all our fancies

10:38.320 --> 10:46.480
And the light of Rome and Rome And sweetheart, come a-wooing

10:46.480 --> 10:59.480
Under your window, wooing Leave behind our burdening knees

10:59.480 --> 11:08.600
Find the stairway to the Castle of Dreams

11:29.480 --> 11:59.400
There's a castle in our dreams

11:59.400 --> 12:14.600
Where we place our hopes and all our fancies And the light of Rome and Rome

12:14.600 --> 12:29.800
And sweetheart, come a-wooing Under your window, wooing

12:29.800 --> 12:40.600
Leave behind our burdening knees Find the stairway to the Castle of Dreams

12:40.600 --> 12:41.600
There you are.

12:41.600 --> 12:42.600
That was easy, wasn't it?

12:42.600 --> 12:44.560
I'm sure we've had a little fun with playing musical sleuth.

12:44.560 --> 12:46.740
It's time to turn you back to your own station announcer.

12:46.740 --> 12:50.120
And until the next time we get together for another session of Can You Imagine That, this

12:50.120 --> 13:13.000
is Lindsay McHarris saying goodbye now.

13:13.000 --> 13:41.260
I'm going to come back and say goodbye.

14:41.260 --> 14:43.320
you