A Song For Peace

of compromises. The Magna Carta is a powerful example. Drafted in the year twelve fifteen, the document made a compromise between King John and his barons, setting the stage for many elements of the modern democratic process. Marriage is another of those moments of compromise. What else are the vows of the bride and groom but a promise to work hard and stay together, no matter the cost, two sides coming together to set aside differences and work together building

something that's better than the two individual pieces. Clearly, when we compromise, we can make great things. But compromise didn't look possible when the players arrived at Fenway Park back on September eleventh of nineteen eighteen. It was Game five of the World Series, and after a long season and a lot of hard work. The Red Sox were feeling pretty proud of their accomplishment, so proud, it seems that they wanted more. Specifically, they wanted a bigger payday for

their championship games. For context, the entire payroll for the Red Sox organization that year was around ninety thousand dollars roughly one point five million in modern dollars. Last year, their payroll was over two million, so it might be fair to agree that the nineteen eighteen Red Sox were a bit underpaid. Justified or not. The team disgusted amongst themselves and decided that if their owner, Harry Frazy, didn't pony up a little extra dough, they weren't going to

take the field. And with a little over ten thousand people waiting in the stands, dozens of whom were wounded World War One veterans, there was a lot of pressure to make a decision quickly. It took about an hour, but finally the players and Phrasey came up with a compromise. No, they wouldn't get a pay raise for their performance that day, but they would take a moment to honor those veterans. And how would they do it? With a song? Of course, Phrasey approached the band that played at each of the

games and leaned in towards the musicians. There was a brief conversation, and then the men nodded in agreement. A moment later, the notes of a song rang out, and everyone in attendance stood up and took off their hats. At first, the people they're just listened, hypnotized by the beauty of it all. Slowly, though, more and more of the millitary service members began to sing along, and others

followed them. By the time the last verse came around, the entire crowd was bellowing out the words as best they could, all to the tune of an old British bar song about getting drunk and flirting with the ladies, which might sound right if you've ever been to a baseball game, Except those weren't the words the crowd was singing. No. The song had been used in America for nearly a century before that day, with a whole new set of lyrics, a poem really written by a guy named Francis Scott Key.

It wouldn't be until nineteen thirty one when the Star Spangled banner would be recognized as the official national anthem. But at that game on September eleventh of nineteen eighteen, it became a fixture of another American institution, baseball. You see, in the years that followed, and inspired by the impact the song had on the audience that day, Crazy had it played before each and every Red Sox game, and in the process did a tradition that's still taking place

today in a wide assortment of sporting events. Yes, the Star Spangled banner is a wonderful way to honor our military before each game, but it's important to remember that it almost didn't happen at all. Today, it's an essential part of the ballpark experience, and yet in nineteen eighteen, it was nothing more than a bit of compromise, a way to get the players out of the dugout and

onto the field. And in the end, though, it's also a reminder of an even older baseball tradition arguing about money. Everyone put a lot of hope in Patrick. His father was a young widower, having lost his wife just a few years into their marriage, and Patrick was the only boy among his siblings, which at the time meant that there was a out of pressure on him. Thankfully, he showed all the potential of living up to that hope.

He was a gifted artist, producing paintings and illustrations that blew his peers away and wowed his friends and family. And he had a way with words that most kids just didn't, which led the poems and stories that hinted at an underlying genius just waiting to burst forth and conquer the world. Patrick's father, though, didn't earn a lot of money, and he knew as a single parent, looking at his large family, that there was honestly just no chance he'd be able to give all of them a

push out into the world. In fact, it would take all his resources, plus the efforts of the rest of the kids, to send Patrick off to college, but they somehow managed. Art school was supposed to be the key that would unlock Patrick's genius, but not long after arriving he was headed home. There's even rumor that he didn't even attend classes, but instead tried his hand at teaching others how to paint and not me that. But the process had used up all of the funds his family

had worked so hard to give him. They're one great hope dashed on the rocks of failure. After that, he got a local job tutoring others, but it allowed him a lot of time to socialize, which was good. Patrick was an outgoing guy, and he happened to live in an area that was frequented by an artistic crowd musicians, writers, artists, all of them rubbing shoulders together in the same space, and he was right there among them. Sometimes he would even show them his most recent work and they loved

it all. It had to have honestly been incredibly encouraging to stand in front of his heroes and have them praise his work and consider him appear. It's easy to imagine how his family felt about it all too. Sure, art school hadn't panned out, and the boy had lost all their money, but he was starting to get the attention of big players in the art world, so maybe all their efforts had been worth it after all. But

its sadly wouldn't be. Aside from a few pieces that got published in small time magazines, Patrick just couldn't seem to get his career off the ground, and that frustration and despair started to creep in and rot his drive and his hope from the inside out. Alcohol and drugs became his escape. When he lost his teaching job, he was forced to move back home with his father and siblings. Not long after, he got a job as an administrative

assistant at the local public transit. No, it wasn't an artistic job, but it paid real money, and that could have provided a boost to his efforts in the publishing world if he treated the job with respect. Instead, he used it as an opportunity to steal. After all, having access to the accounting system made it easy for him, and over his short time there he managed to siphon off about fift dollars. When he got caught, though the price was even higher, he lost the job entirely. Sadly,

Patrick's story doesn't end well for him. After all those attempts to make it big and fight the currents of failure, he got sick. His father did the best to care for him, but at the young age of just thirty one, Patrick passed away, and in doing so, he took all the hope his father and sisters had placed on his shoulders with him. They were left to make the most of their own poor existence, each of them leaning on the same hobby their brother had writing, and amazingly, despite

their challenges and social obstacles, each of them succeeded. In fact, each of them wrote and published entire novels of their own. Anne wrote a book called Agnes Gray, while her sister Emily became known for her own story, one she called

Wuthering Heights. And there are other sister Charlotte might have written the most famous of them all, Jane Eyre Patrick might not have lived up to the hope and hype his family placed on him, but we can all be thankful that his sisters far surpassed it all to become literary legends. Le Bronzes. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting

Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Ye