THE BATTALION
Tuesday, January 18, 1966
College Station, Texas
Page 3
Wii
e<
»soa
who
•eat she
and sk ■<'
f courx. ; ■
;o critidi s'
seem to: |
that g«
is is tk '
lege ti'
ted with I
I thinkj '
e men i
alonf [
jmeday*
lieve thi|
■actices fl
l
of the n't
30 a.
r
d by the _
whiti
on,
for tap]
ession ^
iad beef "
in-
la'ining
hen two
he was^
tional if fl
id some 1 '
>•“ bt !;’
be callo'
Those
those'
t passed
debts'
>ugh the:
they
Schoet
of retu
behind 1
\es ^
0 1
GRADUATE
STUDENTS
All Graduate Students
who wish to have their
portraits made for the Ag-
gieland ’66 should do so be
fore Feb. 21.
NOTICE TO
CIVILIAN SENIORS
JANUARY GRADUATES
CORPS SENIORS
Civilian Seniors willl have their
portraits made for the Aggie-
land ’66 according to this sched
ule. Portraits will be made at
the University Studio. Coats
and ties will be worn.
January—18 - 19 Q - T
January—20 - 21 U - Z
Attention Corps Seniors: All
corps seniors are urged to have
their picture made for the Ag-
gieland ’66 during the final
make-up schedule from January
10 - 14.
NOTE: January graduates
should have their portraits
made before leaving school,
disregarding any conflict in
schedule dates.
OPEN YOUR
ACCOUNT NOW I
4VM
Annum
Paid Quarterly on
INSURED SAVINGS
AT
FIRST FEDERAL
SAVINGS and LOAN
ASSOCIATION
2913 Texas Ave.
Old, New Hitchhikers Reveal Experiences
imam JL
EDITOR’S NOTE: The fol
lowing story on a famous Aggie
hitchhiker of a quarter-century
ago originally appeared in the
San Antonio News.
By CLARENCE J. LaROCHE
The world champion hitchhiker
who figuratively hung up his
thumb 26 years ago, has a few
ideas to help New Yorkers over
come their transportation strike
Keyes Carson, who as a Texas
Aggie traveled 251,000 miles in
6,680 automobiles, said the solu
tion is signs.
“People in New York trying to
get to a specific area should hold
out signs noting their destina
tion,” suggests Carson.
“People who work, for exam
ple, at Macy’s, should stand with
a sign labeled ‘Macy’s.’ If they’re
going to the Bronx area, or other
sections, they should hold up
signs denoting where they hope
to go.”
Carson is an expert on “signs.”
As a college student in the golden
age of hitch-hiking, he caught
rides all over the United States,
Canada and Mexico.
“I really didn’t hang up my
thumb,” Carson recalled here Fri
day. “I never used it. I used
signs.”
It was depression, and students
in those days didn’t have the cars
they have today.
“Many of us at A&M had to
get home to help out with work
over the weekend — the only
way we had to come and go was
by hitch-hiking,” recalled Carson.
Without a peer as a hitchhiker,
Carson worked out a scientific,
systematic procedure for obtain
ing rides.
He always wore his Aggie cadet
uniform. He rigged up a special
suitcase in which he carried not
only necessities, but all his signs
for key cities on his route.
Inside the suitcase was a small
radio. He rigged up dials with
map rolls that instantly told him
CARSON WITH TOOLS OF TRADE
. . . sign, suitcase from college days.
(Photo Courtesy Express Publishing Co.)
OPEN TO SERVE YOU 7 A. M. TO 6 P. M.
6 DAYS A WEEK
Does your onglno Stutter,
Jerk, Fetter or Stall?
DON'T LET EN6INE TROUBIE
RUIN YOUR WINTER
TRAVELING PLEASURE!..
Get a TUNE-
UP
Ttreston*
We do all this:
O Clean and Adjust)
Spark Plugs
© Replace Points
© Set Timing
© Adjust Carburetor
© Replace Condenser and Rotor
© Check Generator and
Voltage Regulator
© Check Battery
ONLY
095
Any
^ American
*0ther parts extra
if needed
Use Your Texaco Credit Card
Just say “CHARGE IT”
Take 12 Months to Pay
FRED CARROLL
FIRESTONE
846-7230 Across from Sands Motel College Station
where he was on his route. A
pair of strong binoculars also
was included.
“When I saw a car coming I
could check it at a distance to see
whether I wanted to solicit a ride
or whether there was available
room in it for me,” Carson ex
plained.
He also worked out “rules of
the road,” which included a de
tailed log of all rides—name and
address of the driver, make and
model of car, miles traveled, edu
cation, age, and background of
the driver, business of driver,
average speed, time of beginning
and end of ride, and topics of con
versation.
Carson, each year, memorized
indexing of Texas license tags
and could tell at a glance what
county an approaching car was
from.
His record-keeping, one day
literally bit the hand that gave
him a ride.
During the ride, the driver told
Carson he was from West Texas.
“That’s odd,” replied the Aggie
A BABY COMING
You Will Look Beautiful and
Have Fun Wearing The Latest
Style From Our Maternity Dept.
Joyce's
608 S. College
822-2864
hitch-hiker, “your license plate is
from Wharton County.”
Shortly after that, the driver
stopped the car, telling Carson
he had to turn off on another
road.
“Next day I read where a Hal-
lettsville bank had been robbed.
I gave a description of the driver
and the license and the man was
arrested. He turned out to be the
bank robber.”
Before World War II halted his
activities, Carson had formed a
nation-wide Collegiate Thumbers
Club, complete with rules and
printed releases for drivers in
the event of an accident.
One of Carson’s greatest ex
ploits came in the fall of 1940,
when the Aggies, No. 1 in the
nation, went to Los Angeles to
play UCLA.
Carson waved goodbye to the
team at College Station, and was
on hand to welcome them mid
way to Ei Paso.
He was at the station to greet
them in El Paso, and promised
the team he would have some
girls lined up at Union Station in
Los Angeles for their arrival.
“And I did. I found several
girls from Texas and they went
with me to welcome John Kim
brough and the team.”
At the game and at the ban
quet afterward, Carson was with
two famous Texas girls—movie
stars Mary Martin and Linda
Darnell.
Returning from Los Angeles,
he made even better hitch-hiking
time.
“I left the banquet at 11:30
p.m. Saturday and walked in for
my first class at A&M Monday
morning at eight,” he remem
bered.
In 1940, he hitch-hiked to
Washington with a live Cuero
turkey for President Roosevelt
in 2% days.
He went to the New York
World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940,
and twice to the San Francisco
Fair—all hitch-hiking.
His hitch-hiking career started
when he was a senior at San
Marcos Academy, en route to San
Antonio.
“I was to meet my parents
here, and took a taxi to the bus
station in San Marcos. It had
gone. So, I had the taxi take me
to the highway. I beat the bus
to San Antonio.”
His last hitch-hike was a trip
to Mexico in 1941, to take an
other Cuero turkey to President
Manuel Avila Camacho.
“I hitch-hiked from San An
tonio to Laredo, then took the
train to Mexico City.”
Since then, he hasn’t hitched
rides.
Carson says his education was
furthered by his hitch-hiking ca
reer. For one thing, he says, he
learned not to get married.
“I caught many a ride with a
husband or wife who was either
disenchanted or, at that moment,
trying to get away from it all.”
Aggieland Agency Again Receives Number One Agency Award For
Being Leading Agency In Southwest
M'Ivin^Johnson CharJes^Johnson Charle*^Thoma» Larry Greenhaw JW , Jerry Mitchell
'64 *($
Contact One Of The Above Representatives
For An Appointment To Learn About The College Master Program
FIDELITY UNION LIFE INSURANCE
Aggie Who Spent Summer
On Greek Cargo Vessel
Claims Thumbing Crown
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week
The Battalion published a four-
part series on the experiences of
Larry Jerden, who purported to
be the Southwest Conference
hitchhiking champ. The following
story was submitted by senior
Everett Lindstrom, who disagrees
with Jerden’s contention. The
second part of Lindstrom’s article
will appear Thursday.
By EVERETT LINDSTROM
I would like to challenge Mr.
Jerden’s claim to “champion
hitchhiker.” Although traveling
under very different circumstanc
es, I believe my summer’s experi
ence will easily qualify as hitch
hiking. Let me describe what
happened, and we can let an un
biased judge tell who is the real
champion hitchhiker.
About Easter of last year, I
met the captain of a Greek cargo
ship. He was the husband of my
sister’s Greek ex-roommate in
college and was docked in Hous
ton for a few days. In our visit
ing, I managed to get an invita
tion to go with him sometime on
a voyage. There was nothing
very certain or definite about the
whole thing, but I applied for a
passport and took shots for any
place in the world, just in case.
That was the last I heard from
him until the Friday I got home
from final exams. That’s when
my hopes began to fade. A letter
from him explained that his ship,
the SS Olympos, would be in
Coatzacoalcos, Mexico but that
there was no way for me to go.
The next morning, as soon as the
Olympos got into port, I called.
But, it was no use; arrangements
could not be made and there was
no way for me to go. The ship
was going to South Africa and
might not be coming back to this
side of the world for a couple of
years. Even if I went, there
would be no way for me to get
back in time for school.
All seemed to be lost, and with
out even unpacking from school,
I began preparing £o-r~~a^summer
of teaching swimming. Then at 5
p.m. that same Saturday, the cap
tain called and my hopes took a
jump. I could go, but I had to be
on ship in Coatzacoalcos which
was nearly 1400 miles into Mexi
co and I had no plane reserva
tions. The captain stressed that
the ship could not wait, and that
I had to be there by 6 a.m. Mon
day. The race was on, and I
grabbed a few books and clothes
from my still unpacked bags from
school, and made a few other last
minute plans.
Twelve hours after the “go sig
nal” I was leaving the house and
on the way to the airport. The
only plane for Mexico City was
leaving Houston at 7 a.m., but I
could only get on if someone else
decided to cancel his ticket. No
one did. Finally, after driving to
San Antonio in three hours flat,
I did get on a plane for Mexico
City. Once there, I had 13 hours
to make a 12 hour bus ride to
Coatzacoalcos. It took 14 hours.
This meant that I got to the little
port town one hour after the ship
was supposed to have left. How
ever, the machine that was load
ing the ship’s cargo of sulfur had
broken, causing a slight delay.
When I scrambled up the gang
way of the Olympos, I think cap
tain Tsevas was as surprised as
I was relieved.
On board, I had my first chance
to catch my breath and relax a
bit. I began exploring the ship
and getting acquainted with the
ship’s 30 very Greek crewmen. It
was an old liberty ship and car
rying 12,000 tons of sulfur to
WE NEED USED BOOKS
TOP CASH PRICES
Paid For Your Books
25^ MORE! IF YOU TRADE
SHAFFER’S
North Gate
Capetown and Durban, South
Africa. A few hours after I got
on, the Olympos left the little
Mexican port and I got my first
taste of life at sea.
My only obligation was to keep
happy and talk to the captain and
few officers and crewmen that
could speak English. They treat
ed me as a special guest, which,
of course I enjoyed. Sometimes,
to get a better knowledge of all
the activities on the ship, I helped
the deckhands, the engineers, the
carpenter and other details. How
ever, most of the time was spent
reading, teaching English, learn
ing Greek and relaxing in gen
eral.
We stopped in Barbados for
bunkers (fuel oil) and I spent the
few hours walking into the little
port city of Bridgeport. It was a
dark Saturday night and I was
glad to be with Demetrios Grigo-
riadis, the ship’s carpenter. After
a few hours of nightclubs, we got
back to the Olympos and were
soon headed for South Africa.
It was a long voyage, 38 days,
and as we got a few days out
from Capetown, the weather be
came a little cooler. The southern
hemisphere was in its mid-winter
season and I was more comfort
able in a sweater. The closer we
got to land, the more excited the
crew seemed to get. And I’m sure
I wasn’t less excited.
Minlccflrl Supply
'PioluAe. pmwjeA-
923 SaCollsgs Avc-BryoaTotes
PARDNER
You’ll Always Win
The Showdown
When You Get
Your Duds Done
CAMPUS
CLEANERS
la-de-da
snooty affairs
our specialty!
Ladies love meeting at Ramada
Inn! Fancy banquets, Club get-
togethers and Luncheons are just
more fun! Hold your next femme
fest at Ramada . . . whether lav
ishly formal or quaintly unre
strained. At Ramada it’s no secret:
we love ladies!
Try our fast, friendly
breakfast and luncheon
service.
RAMADA INN
Bryan - College Station
846-8811
My first view of Africa was
the historic Capetown with its
Tablemountain and modern build
ings flashing in the sunlight. It
was 9 p.m. before the ship was
docked and I could get off for a
much needed walk on solid
ground. I walked, alone, toward
the lights of the city and got a
small preview of the sights I was
to see in the following week.
Later, I found out it wasn’t safe
to walk alone after dark in Cape
town.
I