|
 mong the many fascinating stores contained in the files of the
Texas A&M University Archives is a tale so incredible that it
is almost unbelievable. However, the documents are all
there. Yellow, brittle old newspaper clippings from 1917
verify that it all happened. Kidnapping, private detectives,
Keystone cops, turncoats, spies, a great car-train chase, and
precision military operations all blend into an amazing story of
dash and daring.
On the cold dark afternoon of January 16, 1917,
the Texas A&M basketball team finished their showers and
post-game celebration after a tough 21-13 win over Rice Institute
in the old Houston City Auditorium. Rice, only a few years
old at the time, did not as yet have its own gymnasium.
As the Aggies left the dressing room the team
members and former students noticed the large canvas-covered
stuffed owl used by the Rice students as a mascot standing
unattended in a corner. J. Percy Street Thompson '17 and
Sidney F. Mitchell '18 quickly hatched a very simple plan to nab
the bird.
A brief ceremony inducted the fowl into the
Corps of Cadets, bestowing the rank of general on the bird.
Picking up the six-foot, nearly two hundred-pound, sawdust-stuffed
mascot was something of a feat itself. With the owl hoisted
on the shoulders of some of the players, the "birdnappers"
walked quickly by the police guard at the door. When
challenged by the guard they calmly explained they were returning
the bird to the Rice campus.
|
The ploy worked and the owl
was soon in the back of an automobile and on the way to the
railroad station where it was entrusted to Wells Fargo in the
express car. A phone call from Mitchell to his old friend
Charles O. "Squirrel" Denning '17 at Texas A&M
alerted a few select seniors to the eminent arrival of an
"honored guest."
When the train arrived at College Station,
Denning and his cohorts quickly collected the owl and welcomed it
to the campus with all the respect due its rank. From the
station they retired to Denning's room in Milner Hall where the
owl received visitors for the remainder of the night. The
next day the owl served as "General in Chapel," attended
military science lectures, and reviewed members of the Corps of
Cadets as they marched to evening chow. To the Cadets this
was great sport at the expense of an athletic rival. The
Battalion, the A&M student newspaper, was quick to lay
down the challenge, writing that "if Rice wishes to claim
their bird and ever think they are able to take him safely back to
the Insti---toot, they can find him at 37 Milner Hall, College
Station, Texas."
Naturally, it took little time for the Aggies
to boast of their triumph. Even the Houston newspapers began
to play up the story. The Rice reaction was to deny that
their mascot was missing. They quickly produced an exact
copy and placed it in its usual place on the Rice campus. A
small band of Institute students then began to plan one of the
boldest raids ever attempted against the Texas A&M
campus. They would try to rescue their owl.
To be continued.
|
