Hi, one Whiteside was dean of Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas15 or more years ago when I taught there. Had to go back to public schools to get a living wage, but loved the school and students, who won State contests. One day Dean Whiteside and a few teachers were talking about college pranks. They discussed when J-Tac Plowboys (Now Tarleton State Univ. ) and N-Tac Grubs- (Now Arlington State U. which abandoned the A&M system image for the direct control of University of Texas at Austin, called University of Texas at Arlington). When they were both sister Junior Colleges and rivals, they, or the high school kids from Stephenville and Arlington would try to set each other's homecoming bonfire (They usually played each other at Homecomings at least every other year). . I told them about in the late 1940's or early fifties the Arlington State student (Grubs then) flying his piper cub low over the Tarleton campus and trying to throw a torch into their bonfire pile, which was guarded for 3 or 4 days by ROTC and girls bringing coffee 24 hours a day. They usually beat 4 or 5 barrels for drums one barrell at a time- until it was shredded. One of the Tarleton players got a short 2" x4" board from the bonfire and threw it into the plane's prop , causing him to make an unplanned landing on the campus. We heard They took him to the basement of the old auditorium and held him until the game was over or the bonfire was burned. Somehow, he ended up with a T shaved in his head. (T for Tarleton, Texas, Tennessee, & whatever). Dean Whiteside looked at me and said "That pilot was a cousin or close kin of his", One year, some Stephenville high students were cruising around the edge of the campus and the Tarleton students thought they were Arlington "Grubs" and turned their model A ford over on the sidewalk by hand. One had a bruised ankle. Dad said in the 1920's several Tarleton cadets leased a Pitman Cattle 3 axle trailer truck to see the game in Arlington. It came a blue norther and the truck broke down half way home. Several , in cadet uniforms, caught other rides home. Hitchhiking was the way for cadets and soldiers to go through to 1950's. Can we ever share these stupid tricks students pulled on each other without upsetting someone? If not , we have lost a rich part of our sense of humor. These boys would have died for each other in Korea or Vietnam and laughed about old times if they lived through the wars. Take care, Charles Wyly. On Thu, 01 Jul 1999 12:13:11 -0500 Horatio Paul McAfee <horsepower@pdq.net> writes: >Captain R. M. Whiteside, Jr. was a pioneer >resident of Erath County and was sheriff there >for a time prior to 1880. He later moved to >Eastland Co. and died in the huge cyclone that >struck there in the 1890's. > >I would appreciate finding out when Capt. >Whiteside was sheriff of Erath Co. And any other >data on him. > > >Horatio Paul McAfee > >