1912–13 Volume 37 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

250 THE SCROLLThe team, unless present indications mislead, will present this year theunusual spectacle- of three brothers in its regular lineup. These three youngathletes bear the well-known name of Van de Graaff, and their names areAdrian, Hargrove and William otherwise known as "Bully." The first isplaying his fourth season on the team, the second his third and the lastnamed is a freshman, just entering his athletic career. These three youngTitans are Tuscaloosa boys, the sons of Hon. A. S. Van de Graaff, for a numberof years a professor of law in the University, now one of the most prominentcitizens of Tuscaloosa, an inveterate follower of athletics of, any and allkinds, particularly football and baseball, and in his own college days at theuniversity a pitcher of more than usual ability. In fact, only two commencementsago Mr. Van de Graaff donned a glove and played right field for analumni team against the varsity.But to return to the youngsters. They ought to make a name for themselvesthis season, not merely because of the fact that there are three of themon the team at once, but because they have in them the qualities that go tomake a football player of the first rank.They are fighters from the blowing of the first to the last whistle, and inaddition they have weight, speed and intelligence—a combination that cannotbe beaten. At present Adrian is playing at full back, Hargrove at lefthalfback and William at left tackle.An excellent likeness of the three Van de Graaff brothers appearsin this issue of THE SCROLL.Alabama Alpha is also represented on the team by Brother FarleyW. Moody of the class of 1914, one of the fastest and headiestquarter-backs in the South. FRANCIS M. BROWN, Alabama, '14.BIRMINGHAM—THE NEXT CONVENTION CITYThe great and most enjoyable thirty-second biennial conventionof the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at Chicago is history, and, theeyes of the Fraternity are turned on the next convention city, thoughthe time is nearly two years hence.The "Hookworm Club," organized at Nebraska, has accomplishedits purpose, and, Birmingham, Alabama, has been selected as themeeting place, for the thirty-third biennial convention.Birmingham is a unique city; its history covering a span of relativelyfew years. The streets, avenues, and boulevards of this citywere laid out in the year 1870, before a house was built. A boxcar was pushed off of a siding at a' crossing of two railroads, andused for a station; around this a hamlet grew -rapidly, and, in 1871the city was really begun, having then a population of nearly one'thousand inhabitants.Only three times has Birmingham appeared in the Federal censusreturns; in 1890 the city had a population of approximately 20,000.in 1900 there were 38,000, while in 1910 the figures jumped.toapproximately 133,000, a phenomenal gain of nearly two hundredand fifty per cent in ten years for the Iron City. As a suburbancenter Birmingham is the second city of the South, with a total population,as indicated by the Federal census of 1910, of 211,000. Thisis increasing at the rate of approximately 10,000 each year. The reasonis to be found in the unquestionable supremacy of Birmingham