The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 15, 1917 Page: 5 of 6
six pages : ill. ; page 19 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE THRESHER. FEBRUARY 15, 1917
i-L L ' J. JR.!!! —
BoMJhiMM&M! o/ 74. & Af. Made
Jn Affempffo Recover fAe Ow/
(Continued from Page One)
and the party returned to Houston by
automobile, arriving home Sunday af-
ternoon. January 31, 1917.
The following four days saw several
0. P. A. meetings in Room 503, Group
1, and numerous pians were discussed
to get our oid owi back home. After
careful consideration a pian was hit
upon.
A certain detective by the name of
Snowbaii proceeded to A. & M. on the
morning of January 39, 1917. This
gum shoe artist posed as a newspaper
reporter and was very anxious to get
the true story of the owi—his picture—
and aii the information that was obtain-
able. Being possessed of much smooth-
ness, he succeeded where others had
failed—gaining the confidence of three
of the only four men who knew where
the owl was hidden. He was no school
boy detective and did excellent work.
At noon Tuesday, January 30th, the O.
P. A. received a telegram that "Sammy
was fairly well and would like to see
his parents at 11 o'clock"—which was
a signal that the owl had been located
and that its capture was now a matter
of daring.
Seventeen men left Houston in a Hud-
son Supr-six and two Fords immediate-
ly and arrived in College Station about
11:30 p. m., met the detective at the
appointed place and were made aware
of the owl's hiding place. The detec-
tive was of the* opinion that it would
be impossible to get the bird, as it was
in the third floor of the U. S. Armory,
the strongest room at A. & M. But he
stated that there was a sporting chance
to win out.
The party retreated two miigs down
the road and mapped out a campaign
for the rescue. Kyle Feld was chosen
as a base of operations, and four men,
Fulweiier, Billups, Waters and Moore,
set out on a scouting expedition to
verify conditions under which the owi
was kept and to arrive at some plan
of action. Billups was located at a con-
venient place on the campus, where he
couid reiay signals from the scouting
party to the main body on Kyle Field.
Moore, Waters and Fulweiier entered
the main building, went up three Rights
of stairs and found the armory door
was securely locked. They immediate-
ly began to cut a panel out of the door
with knives, but the night watchman
heard the noise and came up to inves-
tigate. He was discovered by Waters
before he reached the third fidor, how-
ever, and was ied away by the same
man. Waters accomplished this by
stepping out of the third Hoor window
and climbing down the side of the build-
ing in fuil view of the night watchman,
who was waiting for him on the ground.
Jitutnie ted the watchman off to the de-
pot at a dead run and left the coast
clear for Moore and Fulweiier to finish
breaking down the door. Waters re-
turned and resumed his sentry duty just
in time to give warning that another
buil seargeant was attempting to slip
up on the party. Quiet reigned for 30
minutes, at the expiration of which
Waters and Fulweiier made a bolt for
the ground floor. Just as they passed
out of the door they ran into two more
sergeants and were kind enough to es-
cort the gentlemen to the depot via the
coat-tail route—leaving Buhl Moore
gently caressing the barred door with
a crowbar.
After ditching the watchmen, Waters
went back to the cars to report and Ful-
weiier went back to find Moore in con-
versation with Bull Sergeant No. 1, giv-
ing name, family history, etc. This was
the only sergeant who did not know
where the owl was hidden, so luck
smiled on the little party for the Hrst
time. Fulweiier slipped up behind the
seargeant with murder in his heart and
a gag in his hand, but a wireless from
Moore routed him and he slipped away
and watched the sergeant lead Moore
away. He followed until Moore jerked
away and ran back to Kyle Field.
Just at this moment bull sergeant came
upon "Pig" in the process of putting
on his shoes, flashed a light on him, and
they both circumnavigated the campus,
the sergeant being deposited at the de-
pot dumping ground.
Waters in the meantime had reported
these events to the party and It was de-
cided that those at the main building
needed reinforcements. .So Drummond
and Waters advanced o4ly to And the
main building carefully surrounded by
Bull Seargeants, and with none of their
party in view. Waters remained to
watch the sergeants and Drummond re-
turned to Kyle Field to ascertain if any
of the original party had returned. Ful-
weiier had returned, and accompanied
by Drummond he returned to the cam-
pus to find Moore and Billups.
Half way across the parade ground
they met Waters, captain of last year's
track team, nursing two more worthy
watchmen to their favorite place of re-
cuperation at the depot. After deftly
depositing the two watchmen Waters re-
turned and the following plans were de-
vised. All hope of securing the owl by
stealth was abandoned, and it was pro-
posed that the gang should rush up to
the building in the Hudson, batter down
the door—and escape with the owi. The
three then returned to Kyle Fieid, or-
ganized the party and advanced.
Waters, Dain, Drummond. Kirksey,
Clark and Payne, each armed with a
Pyrene fire extinguisher fiiled with con-
centrated ammonia, entered the main
building and went up to the armory.
The time of the attack was so weli
planned that the Hudson containing Ful-
weiier and Parker arrived at the side
entrance just in time to delay a night
watchman from entering the building.
He was engaged in conversation and was
told a story of runaway Seniors—and
was induced to tell the shortest route
off the campus by road. His recital was
broken into by three Hashes from above
which indicated that the raiding party
had arrived.
Payne, of the raiding party, being
over-zealous to gain admittance to th<(
presence of the owi, threw himself vio-
lently on the door and reciined in a
splattered condition on the hallway
Hoor. Drummond charged the door
with a crowbar and Joined Payne on the
Hoor. Team work was then resorted to,
and Dain. Kirksey and Payne lined up
tandem fashion and began charging the
door en mass. After the second charge
the door went down even as the A. & M.
footbail line had shattered under these
same attacks.
The owl was concealed under some
canvass at the rear of the armory. The
six men seized the old bird, soused him
in gasoline, and rushed down three
Hights of stairs to the ground Hoor
where the night watchman was encoun-
tered. The entire escapade was ex-
plalned to him by Kirksey, who told
him that the owl was being moved to
Right over there. However, he woke
up and began puncturing the atmos-
phere with his 44 when the Hudson
started off with the bird.
The raiding party made the car on a
dead run and the car rocked around the
campus, giving the cadets a serenade of
rooty-ty-toot at every corner. The re-
maining invaders were pointing 20-0,
the score of last year's football victory
over A. & M„ over every building avaii-
able.
As the Super-six puiled up at the ren-
dezvous rotl was caiied and Moore and
BiUu^s were found missing. In order
not to desert any of the party, the owl
was loaded into a Ford and headed for
Houston, while the Super-six made sec-
ond trip across the campus, which re-
sembled a hornets' nest by this time.
Cadets were running everywhere—bu-
gles were blowing, and such a commo-
tion arose that the Hudson had to leave.
It returned to Kyle Field and waited sev-
eral minutes for the missing men. How-
ever, Dain soon discovered a Hash code
from down the road signalling. "Come
on. " Billups and Moore were picked
up a mile down the pike and the Hud-
son gave chase to the Fords with the
owl.
At this point a series of misfortunes
began to befall the party. A mile or so
further down the road the lighting sys-
tems of both Fords broke down and in
a few minutes the leading Ford went to
pieces and was run into by the second
Ford, whose lights were out. The owl
was transferred to the good Ford, and
the Hudson began to tow the disabled
car. Two miles of this found the dis-
abled Ford in the ditch and abandoned,
while the Hudson loaded with fourteen
men started out to overhaul the owl.
This was accomplished In Hve miles, and
the two cars were running merrily to-
wards Houston when It became evident
that old lady luck was hot yet through
with the little band of adventurers.
There was only one mistake made In
all the calculations for rescuing the owl
—the time at which the H. & T. C. train
passed College Station was miscalculat-
ed. It was thought that the train had
passed the little station as the armory
door was being smashed in. They were
soon made aware of their mistake, how-
ever, for the limited roared by with ca-
dets hanging out every window. It was
impossible to make any speed on the
road, so the party turned around and
started back towards College Station.
They turned up the Hrst lane they found,
and a wild ride of tive miles through
the woods ensued.
The remaining Ford soon gave up the
struggle and was left with tive men to
guard it and to draw pursuit away from
the big car containing the owl. Four
more miles found the Super-six without
gas due to a hole in the storage tank
caused by a Hying rock. Everything
was going wrong.
The party then split into two parts;
one carrying the owi back into the
woods, while Fulweiier and Drummond
returned to the stranded Ford for gaso-
line. The Ford, which had been re-
paired by its crew, met them shortiy,
but broke down and ran out of gas
simultaneously within 200 yards.
Fulweiier, accompanied by Bright
and the redoubtable Snowbaii, who was
still with us "as a sporting proposition,"
proceeded to the nearest town for gaso-
line; while Drummond ied the remain-
der back to the Hudson to formulate
some plan to extricate the oid bird from
her difficulty.
Fulweiier returned after daylight
with ten gallons of gasoline, and leav-
ing Hve gallons with the Ford, brought
the remainder to the Hudson. But on
attempting to Hi] the supply tank, the
aforementioned hole was discovered,
and many precious minutes were wasted
while repairs were made with soap and
strips of rags. However, it was soon
apparent that the Hudson couid not de-
velop any speed in its battered condition,
and the owi was again taken to the
woods while the car proceeded to Mil-
liken for repairs.
In the meantime the A. & M. cadets
had been busy organising their pursuit.
Everything that had four wheels had
been requisitioned and pressed into serv-
ice. Eight hundred cadets were brought
up to the firing line in automobiles, mo-
torcycles, wagons, buggies and trains
and were strung out between Bryan and
Navosota in hope of catching the raid-
ers. A detachment of cadets raided
Miiliken and found at! of Rice's means
of locomotion in the garage. They Im-
mediately took charge of the cars—nine
Rice men, who had been left to deiay
pursuit as long as possible, were cap-
tured with the cars.
They succeeded in holding the pur-
suers in conversation iong enough for a
messenger to advise the men with the
owl to hunt the tall grass, and the re-
maining eight men made good their es-
cape in the brush. Running with a 200-
pound owi was a larger contract than
the exhausted men couid ill!, and ai)
hopes of taking the bird home whole-
sale were abandoned. The A. & M.
searchers were hot on the trail, so the
eight men hid themselves in a thicket
and skinned the cover off the owi and
the hide given to four men with instruc-
tions to take it to Houston. The stuff-
ing was then set on Hre, as it had been
discovered that the party was comptetely
surrounded by cadets. The excelsior
made no smoke, due to the fact that it
had been soaked in gasoline, and the
fire was practically out before it was
seen by the cadets.
The cadets charged what they thought
was the burning owl, and were so in
terested in trying to save some of the
old bird that the party of four managed
to get away up a small arroyo on a dead
run. The four men who had been de-
tailed to draw off pursuit were captured,
but not until they had led the searchers
a merry chase in the opposite direction
to that in which the owl's skin was
headed.
The "elusive four," Dain, Payne, Wa-
ters and Drummond were discovered as
they entered some thick woods and had
over Hfty men on their coat tails in no
time at all. The four men had been
well chosen, however, and the pursuers
were soon distanced. The squad then
proceeded two miles further towards
Navasota and stepped boldly out into the
road, being unaware that there were any
more men In front of them. It was
now 10 a. m., Wednesday, and the party
had been without food and water since
noon Tuesday. A well was soon found
in a small clearing and the four
quenched their thirst. A new sart for
Navasota was then begun, and just In
time, for a whole company of cadets
was swooping across a cotton patch to
seize them. A third entrance was made
into the high brush a la rabbit, but the
men soon discovered that the original
Hfty pursuers were closing In from the
other side and it looked as though they
were caught. It was a close race, but
the boys made it with about 26 yards
to spare. A wild run of two mites fot-
lowed and the men were so exhausted
that Waters, atl-State high jumper,
coutd not clear a one-foot fence and left
if*
AH Suits and
Overcoats at
25X
Reduction on the regutar price, (Bine
Serges, Worsteds and our famous
Hou-Tex not included.)
Was $15, now.
$11.25
Was #17, now
$12.75
Was $20, now
$15.00
Was #25, now
$18.75
Was $30, now
$22.50
Was #35, now
$26.25
"Satisfaction Must Be Yours
30!) Main.
Op]msi!<)tinH«t'*t
First National Bank
OF HOUSTON
HOUSTON, TEXAS
Capital . . $2,000,000.00
Surplus .
. 400,000.00
Deposits
. 15,000,000.00
ATTENT!0!\!!!
Basket BaM. Base Bat! and
Tennis Piayers
WE ARK HEADQUARTERS FOR
tSupp/res
C, L, & Itieo, Bern, Jr
J Ul,
Sporting Goods Annex, ) 009 Capito!
We Have the Goods for Those
INTER-CLASS ATHLETIC CONTESTS
tAf FY// YoMr Order.!.
Your
Book
Store
F*!L. LOT'S
409 MAIN STREET
Your
Book
Store
THOROUGH THROtrHHOt T
MODEL LAUNDRY
CLEANERS AXn !)YEH&
WORK
Crescent Barber Shop
PtZZO BROS.
508 Main Street
HEAR MCE HOTEL
PMom,
r$t
imatMX6^toww))Yi
EDGE'S
TOOTH
At /or ParUcM/ar T3 A CTTt?
HHAS' MODEL BARBER SHOP
TTfo.w Co/feye
A/a/rtun
0;*n Night! Strict!) Sanitary
9!4TrxM/\vf. Opp.RiccHotf! Prratn!9(i2
<0$
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 15, 1917, newspaper, February 15, 1917; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229795/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.