when they were discharged from the Army, soldiers were not allowed to take their uniforms
home with them despite having worn them during most of their time in service.
The sophomores gathered on Elm Street behind the Normal [Note. Where Snell Hall
now stands] attired in pick-up old clothes, gathered specially for the occasion.
Lining up around the tank at 7:15 the frosh were eager for the fray to begin, not
realizing that the sophs, knowing that impatience is one of the greatest goat-getters, kept them
waiting for 15 minutes before suddenly racing from both sides of Old Main.
Surprised at seeing a few of the sophs jump into the tank of their own volition, the frosh
soon learned to their sorrow that if they ventured too near the tank, a well-stationed soph would
haul them into the icy water. Just before the whistle blew to end the fray, the sophs obviously
had won this first encounter, for far fewer sophs had gotten dunked than frosh.
Cane Rush.
Five days later in the open lot behind Public School No. 8
[Note.
Where Clarkson Hall now stands], the two classes faced each other in their second encounter.
With about equal numbers on each side, the two classes gathered on a balmy sunny afternoon to
settle the dispute about which class could keep the most hands on the cane. To prepare, the men
tied their pants' legs at the ankles; a number of men had taken the precaution of sewing up their
pockets.
When the starting whistle blew, all rushed toward the cane, and were determined by any
means possible to prevent opposing team members from reaching that goal. In the ensuing
"battle," the idea seemed to be to tear all the clothes off their opponents. A great many
practically succeeded. When the rush was almost over, the real goal of the contest was
remembered, and for a few minutes the teams scrambled for the cane. The final score ended at
18 to 5 in favor of the sophomores.
Sports.
Seventeen of the freshmen responded to the call for varsity basketball candidates, and
some revealed themselves quite athletic at tryouts on October 15. The schedule called for eight
home games against Old Timers, Hobart, Brooklyn Poly, Canisius, CCNY, and St. Michaels.
Three away games included Colgate, Albany Teachers College, and Cornell.
Opening the football season against Vermont in September, Clarkson was plagued with
misfortune. Winning the toss, Clarkson received the kickoff, but after only two rushes, fumbled
on their own 25-yard line. The ball was recovered by a speedy Vermonter who raced in for the
score. On the next series of downs, Clarkson's left guard, "Squint" O'Neil had his knee injured
so badly that he was out for the rest of the season. During the remainder of the half, Vermont
scored three more touchdowns, largely due to Clarkson's fumbling because the Techers had had
only three days practice prior to the game. Even though Clarkson held them to only one
touchdown in the final half, Vermont won 34-2.
That same afternoon in Massena, Potsdam Normal played Massena, confident of victory
after their 34-6 drubbing of Malone the previous weekend. Massena, however, proved too
speedy for the Normal men, and swamped them 82-0. Learning about that score, Clarkson's
team felt that their efforts against Vermont did not seem too bad.
