•MSC • TOWN • HlALLr
Presents
THE RETURN OF
THE JUDY’S
8:00-11:00 Nov. 21
Deware Fieldhouse
Tickets $4. 00
MSC BOX OFFICE
Page 8AThe BattalionAThursday, November 20, 1986
Mascot stealing once i-
a Texas A&M tradition c
Editor’s note: Eh is week is bonfire
Push Week, another in a long line of
Texas A&M traditions. Today and
Friday, The Battalion will publish
articles on Aggie lore submitted by
members of Student Government’s
Traditions Council, who gathered
their information after combing
through the University Archives.
By Steven Ihnen
Special from the Traditions Council
Mascots of the Southwest Confer
ence have seen plenty of action off
the playing field as well as on. The
stealing of mascots from other
schools was once a pasttime of A&M
and was practiced on every school in
the Southwest Conference.
On Jan. 16, 1917, Rice Universi
ty’s mascot was the unfortunate vic
tim of mascot theft. This theft rep
resented perhaps the most extensive
ordeal a mascot has ever endured.
The mascot, for what was then
known as Rice Institute, was a 6-foot,
200-pound, stuffed canvas owl
named “Sammy.” It attended the
A&M-Rice basketball game in Hous
ton as usual, but was left unguarded
after the game. Left in the gym, the
owl fell prey to a an eager group of
victorious A&M basketball players
who took the mascot to College Sta
tion as a trophy.
The players paraded him around
town, and even the University’s pres
ident got in on the act by posing for
a picture with the newly sworn-in
ROTC cadet owl.
Houston newspapers published
the pictures and quoted the Aggies’
invitation: “If Rice wishes to claim
their bird and even think that they
are able to take him back to the ‘insti-
toot,’ they can find him at 39 Milner
Hall, College Station, Texas.”
Accounts of the mascot theft were
denied at Rice, where it was claimed
that the original owl was still around
and that A&M cadets had made a
duplicate.
A group of Rice students orga
nized to form the “Owl Protective
Association,” a group whose job it
was to recover the owl. Members of
the group sent a detective to A&M to
locate the exact whereabouts of the
mascot and report back to them.
The detective’s midnight search
through campus via the steam tun
nels proved fruitless.
A second rescue attempt was
made in which another detective was
sent. But this time, the detective
posed as a newspaper reporter
looking for a story. The Aggies
obliged the reporter’s request to see
the owl. That night the OPA met
with the detectives and asked about
the owl’s whereabouts.
The plan was then put into action.
The headquarters of the expedition
was Kyle Field. A network of com
munications was established by hav
ing students station themselves
within sight of each other.
Then, four of the 16 students
planned to retrieve “Sammy” who
was locked securely behind the Ar
mory door. Using knives to carve out
the lock, the students drew the atten
tion of one of the night watchmen.
The watchman entered the build
ing, and one of the students darted
“If Rice wishes to claim
their bird and even think
that they are able to take
him back to the ‘insti-toot,’
they can find him at 39
Milner Hall, College Sta
tion, Texas. ”
— Aggie challenge to Rice
through the window in plain view of
him and climbed down the side of
the building. The watchman chased
the student, leaving the coast clear
for the remaining three students.
After escaping from the watchman,
the first student returned just in
time to discover another watchman
attempting to sneak up on the party.
Two of the other three students
made a dash for the ground floor
and ran to the headquarters to issue
a report. The watchman discovered
the last OPA member and was walk
ing him out when the student man
aged to escape in the direction of
Kyle Field.
At the headquarters, the OPA de
cided to charge the building, break
down the door to the Armory and
make a quick exit before the cadets
awoke. With fire extinguishers in
hand, the OPA stormed the main
building and approached the Ar
mory door.
Forming a human wedge, the stu
dents broke the door down and dis
covered the owl sitting in the corner
of the room. They poured gasoline
on the owl so that they could burn it
if they got caught.
While exiting the biiikiul
encountered another watch
filled the silent air with thes
his .44-caliber pistol, const
waking up every cadet inibij d< i
But the group members mai-tAc
their cars and took off for Hu pot
I he whole plan was worliKhc
fedly until the H&I C trainirj sav
scheduled stop in College sj for
Cadets boarded the train in:Hio
<>l the OPA. Aggies hungpuiHir
train’s windows when thev® 1
the Owl gang driving on tklliit:
alongside the tracks. The 0.1 on
turned its getaway cars anxclmat
|H
look the first road it found.
Five miles down the road ■
the cars broke down, so it uaJ
hind along with five men tos
the Aggies from the car J
Owl. But misfortune struck |
gang again when its othert
out of gas.
I
The OPA split into twoj
One carried the owl mascou
woods, and the other returod
broken-down car togetgasuj
the other car. Hut bad lud
again. The crew fixed itscarl
broke down and ran out:
again.
As a last resort, oneofii
dents went to the nearest:
Millican — to buy gas.
11 was later discovered d
car's gas tank Was punctum
more gasoline would beofix.
the meantime hundreds of d
tot cycles, wagons and bud
loaded with eager Aggie
searching for the owl.
As a final resolution, tlr
stripped the skin offtheotdJ
and burned its 200-pound- j
The cadets found the group!
time to see the last flamesdJ
while the “Elusive Four”mil
way to Houston witli thesliEi
owl.
file cadets, knowing thesl
existed, went in searchofitafi
iug captive the remaining git®
OPAs. I he "Elusive Four J
the Aggies by splitting ifflB|
groups of two — one groupif
the Aggies, while the other*
skin, took off to Navasota.
Through the helpofagr
hunters, the skin made it
Navasota and on to Houston,
three days for the skin to
at its home.
This is Your LAST Chancel!
Since
Juniors, Seniors, Grad.,
Med. and Vet students
didn't get their pictures made,
the/Vggieland is giving them
one last chance.
Get your picture made by
November 21 at AR Photgraphy II
Mon-Fri
8-12 1-5
707 Texas
Suite 120-B
(Across from the
A&M Polo Field)
Freshmen and Sophmores deadline Nov. 7.