Over the years tactics on both sides changed. One of the most creative was that of the Freshmen class during the 1904 Scrap. The Freshmen built a raft before the event and placed it in the flooded tank which at the time apparently did not have a roof. Two Freshmen spent the night onboard with the intent to dislodge the Sophomores ladders and painters with water and sticks. After the Freshmen were defeated the two continued to resist. Since by tradition the winners had to paint the tank before daylight to make the win official the victors went to the pumping station and bribed the engineer with ten dollars to flood the tank making it dangerous for the inhabitants. After abandoning the tank the two joined their defeated and chained classmates who were forced to encircle the tank and get thoroughly drenched as the water flowed over them.
Tank Scrap battle of 1904 ended in a win for the Sophmore class of 1907.
Source: "Tank Scrap of Other Years," The Purdue Exponent 19 (September 21, 1907): 1.
