 A tin can on a dog's tail almost kills two persons. A traveler rescues more than $10,000, two minutes before sailing for Europe. A driver wins an automobile race at 15 miles an hour. Can you imagine that? Once more, ladies and gentlemen, this is Lindsay McCarrie greeting you with another batch of amazing facts and absolutely true stories from the files of the newspapers of the world. In just a moment or two, we'll be back with you to present our first, can you imagine, that item. The first shot in our attempt to astound you. It's a real human interest story I dug up from a newspaper of the year 1905. It's a yarn about a prank played by two unthinking lads on an unsuspecting dog. A prank which started off in the spirit of dubious fun and ended in near tragedy. On the crisp wintry day of January 4th, 1905, George Gowdy, age 15 and a friend of about the same age, Con Winship, went out upon a rabbit hunting expedition. As they were returning to the Winship home, they passed a natural gas wire. Teddy, Teddy, come here. That purple view is a sure frisky today, Con. Yeah, I'm gonna have to dress him down if he doesn't stay close. Come here, Teddy, you know, stick with us. No, no, no. Heal, boy, that's it. Hey, lookie. What? See that old tin can over there by the well? Yeah, what about it? Let's tie that can on your dog's tail. Yeah, sure, yeah, that's a good idea. You run and get it, George, while I hold Teddy. All right. Come here, boy, here. That's it now. Here's the can. All right. Now, hand me that piece of string on your belt. Here you are. Gee, this is gonna be fun. Yeah. Now, hold still, Teddy. Just a minute now. There. There now. Run, Teddy. Run. Look at him run, George. Look at him run. Yeah. Gee, scared to death. Just at that moment, some member of the Winship family, hearing the commotion and laughter outside, opened the front door and admitted the hapless pup. The dog bounded into the house through the living room, through the dining room and into a room in which a 10-month-old baby, attended by its mother, sat in its crib, watching in wild-eyed amusement the antics of the Winship dog. As the hurried pup leaped past the baby's crib, the tin can struck a leg of the crib and the explosion which followed blew the mother through an open door into the yard, blew the baby out of its crib and across the room and amputated the nether appendage of the Winship canine. Fortunately, the mother and the infant suffered no more than a few painful bruises and the dog suffered no more than the loss of his tail. But I think it's safe to assume that George Gowdy and Con Winship never repeated their prank, for you see the old tin can which the boys picked up near the natural gas well, the old tin can which they presumed to be empty, actually contained a substance used in the boring of gas wells, nitroglycerin. Can you imagine that? We're probably prone to think of automobile racing as a sport witnessed by thousands of persons in a grandstand, a sport which comprises a number of especially constructed automobiles running at well over 100 miles an hour around a beautifully built track. But the Indianapolis Speedway, the first of its kind in the world, completed in 1910 as a baby compared to the really first automobile race ever run. This was on June 22nd, 1894. Yes, sir, more than 40 years ago. It was run from Paris, France to the neighboring city of Rouen, 78 miles away. The next year, on July 13th, another race was run between Paris and Bordeaux in return, a distance of 744 miles. And what do you think the average time was? Well, it was the breakneck speed of 15 miles an hour. Even that was really whipping it up compared to the first auto race ever run in the United States. That was also in 1895 on November 28th. It took place in Chicago, starting from the heart of the city and going into the suburbs and return. It was won by JF Durie in a car of his own make and his average speed was 7.5 miles per hour. Can you imagine that? I wonder what sort of a situation it would take to make you forget more than $10,000. You don't think you would? Well, I don't think I would either, as a matter of fact. But, well, it was on Saturday, June 3rd, 1911, that Mrs. Grace E. Donnell of Chicago stepped from a taxicab of the Hotel Aster in New York and onto the gang plank of the steamship Caronia, joyously anticipating a transatlantic voyage and a tour of Europe. As she entered her stateroom... Oh, it was nice. I'll leave your luggage right over here, Mrs. Donnell. Yes. Now, let me see. I would like to have the person put my jewel case in his safe. Uh, jewel case? Yes, my jewel case. Well, uh, I didn't see any jewel case, Mrs. Donnell. You didn't see? Oh, let's look right away. Yes, ma'am. Well, uh, I don't think it's here, ma'am. Oh, it isn't. But I know I put it in that cab. That's where it is. I left it in that taxicab. Oh, call the person, please. Call the person right away. Yes, ma'am, right this way, please. But the jewel case containing $7,500 worth of diamonds and $3,000 in cash was nowhere to be found. Mrs. Donnell and Purser McCuban dashed to the pier. Now, if I can only find that taxi... You see him, Mrs. Donnell? Oh, no. No, I don't. Well, perhaps you'd better telephone to the Aster. He'll probably return there right away. Yes, yes, of course. Oh, thank you, Mr. McCuban. You're such a help. Oh, there's a telephone right over here. Now, there you are. Just a moment. I'll get it for you. Hello? This is Purser McCuban of the Caronia. Get me the hotel Aster right away, the room clerk. Yes, sir, Mr. McCuban. What time is it now? Uh, 9.30. When the ship sails at 10. Yes, that's right. Oh, sir. Room clerk? Yes. Has the cab that brought Mrs. Donnell of Chicago to the pier returned yet? Just a moment. I'll find out, sir. Thank you. Goodness, how silly of me. I don't know what I'll do. Yes? No, he hasn't come back here yet. Well, hold him there when he comes in, please. Mrs. Donnell left her jewel case in his cab. Oh, yes, sir. We'll hold him here. Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Donnell. He hasn't arrived yet. Less than half an hour. Well, I guess the only thing I can do is go back there. I must have that case. Catching a cab, Mrs. Donnell raced to the Aster, hurried to the lobby where she was informed by the clerk. Why, Mrs. Donnell, we never expected you to come back here. The driver has returned. We found your jewel case and we've already sent a porter with it to the pier. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. A driver, take me back to the pier and hurry. And hurry he did. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Donnell's driver made such miraculous speed through New York traffic that he beat the cab driving the Aster Hotel porter with a missing jewel case. With understandable impatience, Mrs. Donnell and Purser McCuban waited and watched on the pier as the precious moments ticked off all too rapidly. Finally... What time is it now, Mr. McCuban? Just two and one half minutes before 10 o'clock. Oh, dear. Look, do you see that man? Well, yes. Yes, he's wearing the Aster Hotel uniform and he's carrying something under his arm. That's it! My jewel case! My jewel case! And with just two minutes to sailing time slipping away, Mrs. Donnell clutched her jewel case containing more than $10,000 in gems and cash and ran once more upon the decks of the Caronia. There doesn't seem to be any available record of just how long Mrs. Donnell remained resting in her stateroom, but I'll bet she more than enjoyed the quiet passage across the Atlantic. What do you think? On these, can you imagine that broadcast? We've told you that from time to time we'll give you rather startling examples of the similarity between a number of excerpts in the realm of classic music and some of our popular song hits of more recent years. Well, here's another. About 10 years ago, Earl Burtonette rose to justifiable renown as the leader of his own dance orchestra in the famed supper room of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Those who knew Earl knew him for an extremely likeable fellow who looked upon his music with serious intent, lived life dangerously, and who put his very soul into his work. The dance music which Earl Burtonette's orchestra put out was the epitome of the Jazz of the Times and I believe very, very few of his thousands of friends and acquaintances ever realized that Earl, deep in his heart, held a keen appreciation of the classics. There must have been something inherent in the principal theme of the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony that struck a responsive chord in Burtonette's mind and no wonder, for it is a sweepingly beautiful melody. What an inspiration that is to any musician. Well, in 1927, Earl Burtonette penned a modern ballad with lyrics which certainly seem to me to have been born of the melody itself. He called it, If I Should Lose You, and although Earl has passed on, in my opinion, his song deserves a place as one of the best of the popular ballads of the past few years. That's our final, can you imagine, that item for this session, friends, but we'll be back with you on this same station soon and we all hope you'll be listening for us. Until then, this is Lindsay McCarrie saying goodbye now.