Page 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1976
Whodunnit?
Something went ‘thump* in the night
By DON MIDDLETON
and
JOHN ADAMS
College Station, Texas. Sunday,
May 27, 1912.
12:15 a.m. A senior cadet is
awakened from a deep sleep in his
dormitory room by a buddy. Slowly
he dresses and makes his way to the
depot of the Houston and Texas Cen
tral Railroad, a few hundred yards
away at the entrance to the College.
Arriving at approximately 12:30
a.m., he relieves a fellow cadet who
has been on guard duty since 10 p.m.
the previous day.
1 a.m. Clyde Threlkel, a worker at
the College power plant, takes his
usual mid-shift break and strolls to
the Main Building, in the geograph
ical center of the campus. He enters
the College Post Office, which is
never locked, located on the first
floor of the building. Retrieving the
contents of General Delivery
Drawer No. 5, Threlkel pauses
Before . . .
momentarily as the early morning si
lence is broken by the sounds of
chairs being shuffled on an upper
floor.
Taking little heed of the noise,
Threlkel leaves the building and re
turns to work.
2 a.m. Senior Cadets G.W.
Ashford and W. G. Church are study
ing for an upcoming exam in their
room in Ross Hall. Through the win
dow they can see the dark outline of
the Main Building. From the dar
kened building comes the sound of a
large can being knocked over and
rolled down the supposedly deserted
halls. Ashford comments in passing
to Church regarding the distur
bance. Moments later Ashford gazes
out the window and is surprised to
see the reflection of a bright glow in
the windows of the Chemistry Build
ing, located on the opposite side of
the Main Building from Ross Hall.
With Church close at his heels,
Ashford dashes out the door oF the
dormitory and hurries toward Old
Main.
At the same instant, the cadet on
duty at the Railroad depot notices a
strange light in the upper windows of
the Main Building. Sensing disaster,
the cadet sprints down the dirt road
PEANUTS
During . .
fVo!
. . . and After
YOU'RE TAKIN6 AN AlOFUL
CHANCE TREATING HIM
•HOURSELF'UJHAT IF 50METHIN6
GOES k)R0H6 ?HE COULP SUE HOUl
eue ME ?! UJOOD^TOCK
IaJOULP never do THAT!
I Reo U.s Pat Oil —All rights reserved*
...
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or
of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the
university administration or the Board of Regents. The Battal
ion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by stu
dents as a university and community newspaper. Editorial
policy is determined by the editor.
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., New
York City, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College
Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods. Sep
tember through May, and once a week during summer school.
Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full
year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request.
Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station,
Texas 77843.
LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are
subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial
staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran
tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, shod) the
address of the writer and list a telephone number for verifica
tion,.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news
dispatched credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of
spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of reproduction of all other matter
herein are also reserved.
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room
217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843.
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Bob G. Rogers, Chairman; Dr.’
Gary Halter; Dr. John Hanna; Roger P. Miller; Dr. Clinton A. Phillips, Jeff Dunn,
Tom Dawsey and Jerri Ward.
Director of Student Publications: Gael L. Cooper.
MEMBER
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
Editor James Breedlove
Managing Editor Roxie Hearn
News Editor Pam Whigham
City Editor Jim Peters
Contributing Editors Sandy Russo, Steve Gray
Sports Editor Paul McGrath
that runs a half mile directly to
Old Main, drawing his pistol and fir
ing both rounds into the air.
The cry of “Fire! Fire in the Main
Building!” goes up around the sleep
ing campus. The alert Corps bugler
quickly sounds the fire call as cadets,
teachers and staff members begin
pouring out of houses and dorms and
flock to the burning edifice.
R. R. Rosa, believing he had over
slept his watch, struggles from his
bed. Hearing the shouts of his
neighbors, he looks out his win
dow to see Old Main engulfed in
flames.- He reaches for his trousers
but finds that the legs have been tied
in knots and it is ten minutes before
he can pull them on. By the time he
reaches the Main Building there are
500 to 600 people clustered around
it.
During the next two hours chaos
reigns. Fearless cadets and teachers
risk their lives in countless attempts
to save valuable documents, records
and books from the inferno.
Efforts to fight the fire with extin
guishers and hoses prove futile. By 4
a.m. the once-magnificent structure
has been reduced to a blackened
brick skeleton.
The Main Building, built in 1876,
was the nerve center of the growing
campus. At the time it burned it
housed the offices of the President
and the Commandant, the Exchange
Store, Library, Post Office, Athletic
Department, Student Press, Arc
hives, as well as other vital offices,
classrooms and assorted drawing
rooms.
The four-story building was
erected at a cost of $ 100,000 and over
the years had served as a dormitory,
mess hall and residence for the
teaching staff.
When the first students came to
A&MC they found the Main Build
ingstanding in the middle of a barren
prairie, with Gathright Hall a few
yards away.
On the morning of May 27, 1912 it
stands in the middle of a bustling
college campus, its elaborate ar
chitecture obliterated, cherry-red
brick walls charred and grey slate
roof lying crumbled among the
ashes.
Monday, May 28, 1912. Room 25,
Civil Engineering Building, later to
be named Nagle Hall.
7:30 p.m. Professor D.W. Spence
calls to order the committee ap
pointed by President R.T. Milner to
investigate the circumstances sur
rounding the burning of Old Main.
Other members of the committee in
clude Professors E.J. Fermier and
Wilmon Newell and Capt. C. L. Fen
ton, Commandant of Cadets.
Also in attendance are President
Milner and State Fire Marshall Wal
lace Inglish.
The committee has been au
thorized by the president to call any
and all witnesses who might shed
light on the confounding situation.
Their task is to determine, if possi
ble, the cause of the tragic fire and to
leave no stone unturned in pursuit of
that goal.
The proceedings begin with a
question directed to the committee
by Fire Marshall Inglish.
Mr. Inglish: “Where did the fire
originate?”
Capt. Fenton: “That’s what we re
here to find out.”
Who, if anyone, burned Old
Main? And Why?
To be continued, next week.
People interested in helping plan Arts & Crafts
Fairs, Artist in Residence & just generally en
riching The Art Culture of A&M come to the
Crafts & Arts Committee meeting lues.
January 27th at 7:30 p.m.
in the Craft Shop MSC Basement.
Houston
symphony
and
Singing Cadets
in
A TAMU Centennial Performance
.. c \
Mon., Feb. 2 8:00 pm
i
Rudder Auditorium
Tickets
Regular- 7.50, 6.20, 4.95
A&M Student - 6.00, 4.95, 3.95
Tickets and Information MSC Box Office - 845-2916
Presented by
A scientific approach
to diamonds.
An artistic approach
TAMU — TOWN HALL
YOUNG ARTISTS SERIES
presents
The Art of the Troubador as Recreated byGi
MARTIN BEST
with
EDWARD FLOWER
in three performances
Free Preview concert — 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28.
MSC Student Lounge
Free Workshop — 8:00 p.m. Wednesday Jan 28,1976- :
Forum
Concert — 8:00 p.m. Thursday Jan. 29, 1976 — Ruddef
Tickets (No Reserved Seats)
A&M STUDENT FREE W/ACTIVITY CARO
STUDENT DATE SI.00
GENERAL PUBLIC $2.50
Tickets and Information: MSC Box office — 845-2916
“A 2-hour program |
movement, color is
PRESENTED BY
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
TOWN HALL
UNIVERSITY VARIETY SERIES
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5, 1976 8:00 P.
RUDDER CENTER AUDITORIUM
STUDENT/DATE $3.50
GENERAL PUBLIC $6.00
NO RESERVED SEATS
TICKETS AT MSC BOX OFFICE FIRST FLOOR OF RUDDER TOWER 845!!
the world's greatest mime
assisted by PIERRE VERRY
0PAS SPECIAL ATTRACTION
Rudder Auditorium-fn., Jan. 30»8J
Tickets
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Regular
6.50
5.50
4.50
A&M Student
4.50
3.50
2.50 /
Tickets and
Information MSC Box
Office - 845
-2916 |
L
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