 Chowder is not an American dish, but baseball is an American game You can find a famous popular song in Nicolai's opera The Merry Wives of Windsor. Can you imagine that? This is Lindsay McCarrie back with you once more to spread the good tidings that things are not what they seem Yes friends We're going to present a series of odd facts and unusual news stories in just a moment or two So stay with us for first tidbit of audiology into a steaming bowl of Boston or Coney Island clam chowder You probably think that you're partaking of a genuine American dish or maybe that it might have come over on the Mayflower, but you're wrong Yes, sir Chowder was originated by the Fisher folk of Brittany on the coast of France All the villagers used to bring their contributions for the common cauldron to which of course various kinds of fish and Bivalves were added the name of the cauldron itself gave the dish its name ch-a-u-d-i-e Re shojair and when the early American settlers learned to concoct this robust delicacy they called it as best they could Chowder, can you imagine that? Well How well do you know your Bible? Do you remember this passage? But thus sayeth the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to receive the spirit of the humble And to revive the heart of the contrite ones That is the 15th verse of the 57th chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah and within that brief quotation The word eternity is used the only time in the entire Bible for thus sayeth the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity Yes, the word eternity is used only once in both the old and new testaments. Can you imagine that? You know every once in a while a sympathetic reporter will pick up a news yon that has bound to warm the hearts of those who read and run Here's a quaint touch to the annals of coincidence It began in Cambridge, Ohio on September 6th 1938 truck driver Edward Rohr was preparing to make his daily run when his wife rushed to him from another part of their room What's the matter dear? What? Let me see Because I don't want to go to school. Where could he have gone? Why did he go? Oh my poor boy And what in the world will he do? He's only 16 years old. Well He'll come back soon, honey. Yeah, of course he will He'll get tired pretty soon. He'll come on back home. Maybe tomorrow. Oh, don't cry honey. Gene will be alright But 16 year old Eugene Rohr didn't come back for four days and four nights Edward Rohr and his wife sat in Dismal silence waiting for some word from the boy who had left home because he didn't want to go to school But Ed Rohr couldn't lay off from his work He must still go on earning the family's income so on the night of September 10th as he headed homeward on the dark highway He thought sadly of his runaway son on one lonely stretch of the winding ribbon of pavement The headlights of his truck picked up the shabby figure of a thumbing hitchhiker Ed Rohr thought again of his son somewhere in America probably thumbing his way along some unknown highway Just as this lad was doing Ed Rohr pulled his truck up to an island stop Sure, sure hop in Jean hello, Pa Jean What do you know about that? Say where have you been? What was the idea of running away like that? Don't you know you've had your mother and me worried the deaths for the last four days Don't ask me any questions. I just well take me home. Will you? Yeah, sure I will Gosh, but you're mild be glad to see you and Ed Rohr took his son back home Maybe the myriads of unexpressed prayers in that mother's heart had nothing to do with the father picking up his own boy on that Lonely black highway that night. Maybe it was just a coincidence But on the other hand maybe not who knows oh the watchword of the great American game baseball But is it the great American game? Well, let's see when the early settlers in America came to the new world They brought with them two ancient English games cricket and rounders From these games young boys develop the sort of embryonic forerunner of baseball in which the teams Composed of a catcher and a pitcher took turns at hitting the ball The team hitting the ball the greater number of times in a specified number of tries at bat was declared the winner In 1839 a group of young men in Cooperstown, New York Assembled for a session of this rather crudely organized sport among them was a young fellow named Abner double day Wait boys, I have an idea We've been playing this rather silly game for some time silly why I thought you enjoyed it Well, I do Alex or rather I did enjoy it, but I think I found a better game Here's the way it goes look I fetched this flat slab of stone with me Well, what's that for? Well, my idea is to place this stone about 50 feet away from where we stand to hit the ball And after we make a hit we'll run for the stone and then the pitcher or catcher Can try to touch the runner or throw the ball at him and try to hit him with the ball And if the runners touched by the pitcher or catcher or hit by the ball his team is out and the other team tries the same procedure Well, what do you think of it? What'll we call this stone? It doesn't sound right to call it just a stone or slab? Oh, I thought of that too. Let's call it a base And so this 20-year-old lad can be credited with the origin of the great American game Originally the game was called one old cat then when two bases were included It was called two old cat finally when a friend of Abner double-day Alexander Cartwright a student of draftsmanship became dissatisfied with the haphazard placing of the bases He laid out what he called a baseball square Placing all bases 90 feet apart and to this day that is the exact measurement of the official baseball diamond I think you'll find it interesting too that Abner double-day can be credited with two firsts in history Not only did he create the game of baseball, but as a graduate of West Point He found himself second in command of Fort Sumter at the outset of the American Civil War and Distinguished himself as the man who fired the first shot in its defense in 1861 Today the plot of ground where Abner double-day and his teammates first played baseball in Cooperstown, New York is called double-day field So I imagine it's still proper to call baseball a great American game Say, uh, do you have any idea what the word kangaroo k-a-n-g-a-r-o-o means? That's silly Lindsay. It's the name of an animal. Well, quite right. It is now, but do you know what it means? I don't understand and that's right The little girl is correct and your old professor quizzle puss awards her the handsome first prize of a last week's map of the world Come on Lindsay, what's this all about? Well, all right, I'll break down and tell you You were absolutely right when you said the meaning of the word kangaroo is I don't understand It was in 1770 when captain James Cook the noted explorer was traveling through Australia that he first saw one of the peculiar native animals The female of which carries her young around in a pouch He turned to one of the native men in his party and asked him what the name of the animal was the native replied Kangaroo which actually means I don't understand Poor captain cook thought it was the name of the animal and it has remained the name of the animal as far as we're concerned ever since Can you imagine that? Well now I guess it's about time for our musical oddity for this session You know it often happens that the composer of a modern popular song will inadvertently set down a melody That is quite reminiscent of an older piece of music often from the classics I want you to listen as the orchestra plays just a few bars from Auto Nicolai's famous opera The Merry Wives of Windsor I wonder whether or not you picked out from that little melody the foundation for one of our best beloved popular ballads of a few years back You want another try? Okay, listen again. Not yet. Well, all right then listen to this That was Marquita composed by that able veteran of motion pictures Victor Scherzinger and the melodic pattern of that Breezy little passage from the Merry Wives of Windsor and the first part of the melody of Marquita are identical Can you imagine that? Well, it's time to close our book of oddities again But we'll be back soon once more on this same station with another edition of can you imagine that until then this is Lindsay McCurry saying goodbye now