From the very beginning of the event the city, university presidents, and the faculty either tried to or threatened to stop it. Yet, it continued for twenty years. In the 1896 Debris there is evidence that there was a price to pay for damaging city property. A student by the name of Joseph Gordon Swain had to pay the West LaFayette Water Works Company ten dollars for damages. The reason why the Tank was so important to the students was that it could be seen from campus and stood out high above everything else. At the time there were few trees, houses, or tall campus buildings to obscure the view. In the early years of the tradition there was not one big event, but a series of small group efforts of the sophomores and freshman painting and repainting the Tank beginning at the opening of the classes in September and even during the summer. As time progressed however the activities ended with the first home football game of the season.
In the 1896 Debris there is evidence that there was a price to pay for damaging city property.
Source: "What it cost me," 1896 Debris (Lafayette: The Senior Class of Purdue University, 1896): 53. "History of '98," 1898 Debris (Lafayette: The Senior Class of Purdue University, 1898): 72. "Looking Backward," 1899 Debris (Lafayette: The Senior Class of Purdue University, 1899): 101.
