The
Immortal Twenty-One
Editor's
Note: The Bootleg is proud to present this article as it originally appeared in
Editor Peter Grothe’s outstanding, but long out-of-print 1952 compilation of
essays, Great
Moments in Stanford Sports.
The Bootleg is profoundly grateful to our longtime friend, the late Mr. Grothe,
for personally having given us permission to re-publish these wonderful,
long-forgotten articles and open them up to a new generation of Cardinal
fans.
Larry Cahn is sports editor of the Stanford Daily
and a contributor to Skyline
Magazine. A member of Sigma Delta Chi, professional journalism fraternity,
he is art editor of this book. Here he describes the most daring and cunning
theft in sports annals.
--------------------------
THE
STANFORD AXE, a symbol of tradition, was captured by California on Saturday,
April 15, 1899, following a baseball game.
And
Cal kept the Axe for thirty-one years, frustrating attempt after attempt by
Stanford students to regain it. Then, along came twenty-one Stanfordites with a
daring scheme. Let's trace the events leading to the Axe recovery.
On Thursday morning, April 3, 1930, the twenty-one went over their plot for
the final time. At 4:30 that afternoon three cars, with seven men in each, left the
Stanford mausoleum and headed for Berkeley to get the Axe.
One
car, driven by Eric Hill, '29, went directly to Alston Way, east of Shattuck
Avenue. There, the occupants dressed and acting like true Californians, joined
the Cal frosh in their march to the bank vault to get the Axe for the ensuing
rally.
In another car, Barry Likens, '31, and his crew drove directly to South Berkeley
to the Axe Rally. Meanwhile, Donald Kropp and James Trimingham, '29, sped to
Hertz Drive-Yourself Service and there rented a Buick roadster, the get-away
car.
Kropp
then picked up his own car, and with Arthur Miller went to Sather Gate to await
the departure of the armored car carrying the Axe back to the safety of the
bank. Upon seeing it, they were to hustle back to the bank and ready the others.
Trimingham, Warren Gage and Raymond Welch proceeded to the bank, backed the car
onto the sidewalk, set up a camera, and posing as photographers, waited.
Suddenly
Miller and Kropp were back at the bank. The Axe was on its way. Kropp parked his
car at the rear of the camera car in such a way as to ward off any cars that
might pursue the roadster and the prized Axe. Miller, concealing a tear gas bomb
under his coat stood at the entrance to the bank.
It
was 7 p.m. when the black-steel armored car came into sight. Riding with the Axe
were Norm Homer, custodian, an armed guard, and a driver. But more important
were the Stanford men who had climbed aboard as the car left the rally.
As
the armored car rolled to a stop in front of the bank, the fake cameramen
ordered room to be made so a good shot of the Axe could be taken. California
frosh, who had arrived and were acting as guards, smiled politely and stepped
back.
Then Custodian Homer stepped from the car, Axe in hand. At
that moment an overloaded shot of flashlight powder was discharged with a
blinding flash. Scarcely had Homer touched the sidewalk when Howard Avery, '31,
dropped from the roof of the armored car, wrested the Axe from Homer, and passed
it through several hands until the treasure reached Bob Loofbourow,
'29.
Loofbourow tucked it under his sweater
and calmly walked to the camera car, got in and, with Trimingham at the
wheel, the Axe was on its way back to Stanford.
As
the roadster sped away, Miller let his bomb fly, scattering the now excited,
ever-increasing crowd. Avery, attacker of Homer, escaped in the melee.
Stanford
men now mixed freely with Californians, shouting in protest against the theft
and voicing the idea of gathering at the Campanile to form a pursuit party. This
ruse delayed the immediate chase of the car now speeding toward Palo Alto.
Meanwhile,
the remainder of the twenty-one finally faded from the Berkeley mob and headed
home as best they could. No one was captured by the infuriated Californians.
At 7:
50 p.m. on that memorable April 3 evening, the Axe was back on the Farm and
safely in the hands of jubilant Stanfordites. And the twenty-one Stanford
patriots went down in Stanford's hall of fame, never to be forgotten, always to
be revered as the Immortal Twenty-One
“The Immortal 21”
Howard
Avery, '31
Gerald Bettman, ' 31
Glenford Brunson, '31
John Coons, '30
William Eberwine, '31
Louis Ferrino, '31
Warren
Gage, '30
Robert Gordon, '31
Eric Hill,
‘29
Abe
Jensen, '31
Donald Kropp, '26
Matt Lehmann,
'31
George
Likens, ‘31
Bob
Loofbourow, ‘29
Arthur
Miller, ’31 (the last surviving member, who passed away in July of
2007)
Henry Powell, ‘29
Edward
Soares, ‘30
Gordon
Snodgrass, ‘30
Robson
Taylor, ’32
Jim
Trimingham, ‘29
Raymond
Welch, ‘30
Thank
you, gentlemen! At The Bootleg, we never forget!