HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation A. L. GiesenschlagTo: College Station Historical Project
From: Alton L Giesenschlag
The Depression
I'm going to tell about the Depression (starting in 1927). Roosevelt was President.
Everything was cheap. The farmers got very little for their cotton. Everybody was
poor. Roosevelt went to work. Giving out food. Making jobs. (Up to this time we
used kerosene lamps). Roosevelt started putting electricity out on the farms. We
still had the Model T automobile. The Model A car came. My dad went to
Houston to get a used Model A. It cost him $150.00. Things started to pick up
since the government was giving money and work to anyone they wanted. We were
still plowing with mules. All the plantations in the Brazos Bottom used mules. On
the plantations tractors came to be in 1936. I was a senior at Snook, TX. I wanted
to go to Texas A &M College.
Going to A &M in 1938
Going to A &M and a place to live
Getting Money
I was determined to go. My Dad gave me $40.00 to go, sign up, and get the books
needed.
Counties began building for students. They were called Project Houses, My county
(Burleson) didn't do that. I found a place on the F &B Road. (It was called the
haunted house). No electricity. It was several miles to the campus. A man and his
wife came to get us to the campus. Their son was also going to A &M. They fixed a
four wheel trailer. He carried us in the morning and picked us up in the evening.
There were very few automobiles on the campus. There were a very few paved
roads. Cars didn't go very fast. At that time cars didn't drive very fast, 30 -40 miles
an hour. Hwy. 6 was the only hwy.
I had to get some kind of work to get the money. I went to the bowling alley (at
A &M) and got a job setting pins. I could make a dollar when ever I worked. I had
to walk back to the haunted house. I went to a person that was helping students get
work. I could get 13 cents an hour. This job was working on the grounds. Mr.
Mike was our boss. I didn't stay at the haunted house but a semester. I found out I
could get into the Washington County (Project House). I could get room and board
for $15.00 a month. I spent the last semester there. The war /veterans (WWI) built
a nice house for students to live in. I also picked up a little money with concessions.
I got the candy, shoes, and clothes. The people that did that kind of work picked
the items up and brought them back to the building. I collected the money.
We walked every place we went. There weren't many concrete walks. We ate our
breakfast at them and went back to our project houses at noon. We had a good
meal at night.
Traveling at A &M
There were very few automobiles on the campus. If you wanted to go somewhere
on the weekend we hitch hiked. There was a line every Friday or Saturday down
the east side of the campus. They also hitched back Sunday night. I walked home
to Snook several times. My Dad would bring me back... Later I bought a bicycles
for $10.00. There were very few students who had automobiles. If we wanted to go
to Bryan a bus would take us there for 50 cents. The bus ran constantly. ( Down
Old College Main to Old College Rd. to South College and into Bryan.) A &M
didn't have any place to eat. Bryan had a good restaurant. We could get a very
large steak for a dollar. There was a person that had a hamburger stand under a tree
on the campus. (It was near Sbisa Dining Hall) If a person wanted to go a long
way, a train ran between Houston and Dallas. It ran on a schedule and ran several
times each day and night. WWII came on in 1942. I needed one semester to
graduate. I graduated. My dad bought a new 8 cylinder ford car. It was the last car
that was built before the war was on. After that, every kind of vehicle was a war
vehicle.
World War II
I didn't take but 2 years of military (at A &M) I didn't want to be in the infantry. I
went to my draft board (in Burleson Co.) to let me finish and graduate. They said
no. I kept on going to my classes at A &M. One night I saw a note in one of the
buildings saying "Join the Navy and don't get drafted ". I went to the place and
signed to be in the Navy. That made me very happy. The Navy called me in
October. I didn't know where I was going to training. I got my orders to get on a
train. The train took me to Notre Dame, Indiana Then they took me and the others
to Chicago. I became a Navy officer without ever seeing a ship. Things were
working fast. They sent me to my Naval District (12 District) in New Orleans. I
was then sent to Sabine Pass near Orange, Texas. I married when I was there.
Everything I did, I went by train. From Sabine I was sent to Virginia to a mine
school. From the school I was ordered to go to the Southwest Pacific Ocean. I was
put on a mine sweeper. I was soon commanding officer. We swept mines all the
way through Borneo, the Philippines, and New Guinea. I ended up in the Navy
being a Lieutenant Commander. A person can go many kinds of roads if you get in
many situations. I was in the water 22 months in the Pacific.
Final Thoughts
I am still an Aggie. I also have a daughter and son -in -law who are Aggies. He has
gone through a war (Vietnam) I have one granddaughter graduating and a grandson
ready to go.
Original document written by: Alton Giesenschlag
Typed from original by daughter: Sarah Hensz
April 1996