Dihydrogen Monoxide

Thirst slacker

I designed the football water wagon that the Hi-Y gave to Stadium in 1945.

It had six water fountains, and a streamlined body with a rounded front covered with a large and beautiful artist's rendition of a tiger. There is a great picture of it on page 106 of the 1945 Tahoma yearbook.

It was my first engineering project - and a prolog to a very satisfying and enjoyable engineering career.

I designed the wagon while working on the hot slab at the Todd's shipyard in the summer of 1944. I sketched its outline in chalk on the hot slab floor. Then I made a full scale layout on butcher paper and took it to a welding shop for a bid.

When school started in September, the Hi-Y gave me permission to proceed with construction. A plumbing outfit on Pacific Ave donated the fawcets and some of the plumbing. Some other business gave us a good price on the wheels.

I obtained a great picture of a Bengal tiger which the artist referred to as he painted the football water wagon. It turned out more beautiful than I could ever have imagined.

Robert Lessley, Class of 1945

Memories@CelebrateStadium.com

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