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-Texan Photo—DrafldyThe Original Alec?•. . lawyers, engineers disagreeThe Saga ofEngineer's TaleBy ALICIA HELTONAlexander Fredericke Claire, the patron saint of the College of Engineering who will be unveiled Friday to the public after 25 years in hiding, first came to the University in 1902.He came—not as a student but as the hero of a song.IN 1908, A GROUP of engineers decided April Fool’s Day should be a holiday and retired to Jacoby’s Beer Garden to discuss plans. There, one of the engineers spotted a wooden statue holding a glass of beer in his right hand.In a bit of hurried intrigue, the statue, about five feet tall, was spirited away and April 1 was introduced to students on the front lawm of the Main Building as Alexander Fredericke Claire, Alex, creator of the universe.The next year, Alec’s history was again proclaimed in eloquent prose, at his second christening in front of Main Building.“ALEC FIRST appeared as Alexander the Great, the mighty w'arrior, who conquered the world. He laid out the Reman baths, which were later introduced into B-Hall for the purpose of dunking refractory and hitherto unwashed junior lawyers. Alec made the plans and superintended the construction of the Pyramids of Egypt.“It was his invention of the elephant that enabled Hannibal to crass the Alps without tunneling through them.“It was Alec who conceived the idea for the great canals at Suez and Panama and successfully dug the Straits of Gibraltar. . . Alec dug the hole in the Niagara River which made the wonderful falls which so delight us. and he hit the ever-lasting Fires of Vensu-vius.”In this manner, Alec assumed his role of patron saint of engineering students and faculty at the University.ALEC BEGAN his reign at the steps on the first floor of the Engineering Building, now the Speech Building. His stay was not long, however; March 3, 1910, a group of law students took him.Rescued and soon returned to his post, Alec began a long and arduous series of adventures. In 1913, he was again captured by law students and later found on a farm near Pflugerville.In 1917, Alec landed in a jail cell, convicted before a Justice of the Peace as a vagrant at the instigation of law students, his perennial antagonists. Dean T. U. Taylor obtained a full and unconditional pardon for Alec from Governor James E. Ferguson.DEAN TAYLOR’S book “Fifty Years on Forty Acres,” enumerates more of Alec's experiences :Fall, 1918—Alec’s right leg was cut into small strips and sent to all Texas engineers in the American Expeditionary Forces.Spring, 1919—Alec was retired to a mountain ranch, and a new figure constructed.February, 1917—The new Alec was captured by the lawyers and dissected.March, 1917—His head was returned to Dean Taylor by Gov. Dan Moody.Spring, 1928—The old Alec was brought out of retirement and returned to his throne. Engineers insist he reigns today.EN ROUTE to these various hideaways. Alec was encased in a crate about the size of a coffin and labelled “Surveying Instruments.”Alexander ClaireLawyer's VersionBy LINDA RENEAU Texan Staff WriterKidnaping is a tradition In the long rivalry between lawyers and engineers at the University.One of the original kidnapers of Alexander Frederick Claire, patron saint of the engineers, is a lawyer whose version of Alec’s history varies considerably from the engineers’.(X)L. HAL C. Horton, 78, who entered the University in 1907 and is back this fall, says that Alec first appeared in 1908. A group of engineers appropriated the five-foot tall wooden figure from a local tavern. They named him Alexander Frederick Claire and made him their patron saint.Alec, as he was nicknamed, had a long white flowing beard. His cape was embroidered with strawberries and he caried a torch in his right hand and a shield on his back.During the saint's long and difficult life, he has reportedly been kidnapped seven times by lawyers. Similarly, the law* saint, Praeter Peregrinus, has been kidnapped five times by engineers.Horton confessed with a twinkle in his blue eyes to being one of the original kidnappers of Alexander Frederick Claire. The lawyer said that John Barclay, Albert Moodie, and himself planned to kidnap Alec from the engineers about three weeks before April Fool’s Day, 1910.HORTON S AID that a lot of the rivalry between lawyers and engineers began as retaliation. The lawyer registered for a surveying course and was ribbed so unmercifully by the engineers that he dropped the course. So, the plan to kidnap Alec, he says, was largely for revenge.The three walked to the rotunda of the old engineering building at dusk, Horton said. “Then I picked Alec up on my shoulder and we stored him in the new' law building basement the first night,” he recalled wdth a smile. The next night they moved him to a bam on (See LAWYERS, Page 7)AFTER A LONG absence from the University, Alec reappeared last July when some Texan staffers found him in a casket in an old house near campus. Alec was confiscated by the Campus Police and turned over to Traffic and Security division, ending up in the Service building. Alec is being used in dedication ceremonies at 3:30 p.m. Friday for the Engineer ing-Science Building.The engineers ’ version of Alec’s history does not specify whether they have Alec I or Alec II, who was constructed about 1919. Horton believes they have Alec II.—Texan Photo—GossettCol. Hal. Horton,,. one of Alec'* kidnappers.
Newspaper Details
Austin Daily Texan
Austin, Texas, US
Fri, Oct 02, 1964
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Blake W.
NA, 11 Sep 2023
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