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About The Texas Aggie. (College Station, Tex.) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1939)
SPORT FODDER Best defensive back against passes that the Aggies have pos- sessed in many years will be Der- ace Moser, 185 pound freshman from Stephenville, who looks like a starter next fall. The lad has all the ear-marks of a great back, both offensively and defensively. He is fast, fairly shifty, a nice passer and a good kicker. On de- fense he “reacts” unusually fast and both this spring and last fall has been a thorn in the flesh of opposing attacks. Basketball in the Southwestern Conference hits all-time high point this winter in outstanding teams and in the class of game played in this section. Texas University, Ar- kansas, Rice, Baylor and S. M. U. have teams that will compare favorably with the best in any oth- er section of the United States. As evidence of the general improve- ment of this year over last, take the cases of S. M. U. and the Ag- gies. The Mustangs were the top team last fall, retained their en- tire starting line-up, but could get nowhere near the top this winter. The Aggies finished last year with a 600 per cent mark, are as good or better this winter, and yet have found themselves outclassed by all other conference teams except the cellar hermits, T. C. U. The class of play will be even better next winter. Baylor returns intact with the greatest array of talent any squad has ever enjoyed in this conference. Texas will be as good next fall as this, Rice should be even better and Arkansas may be one of the great teams of the nation. It still adds up to plen- ty of head-aches for Aggie coach Hub McQuillan, although he’ll have a team that in many years of the past 10 might have swept to an easy conference title. Old basketball players have dif- ficulty understanding the present style of play. On a recent campus visit “Todda” Forbes, 21, rated by this column as still one of the GREAT players of this section, snorted in disdain at present day tactics. “Boy, what Pat Dwyer, Flop Hartung, Hoots Williams, Keen, King Gill, Dutch Ehlert, Gene Darby and some of the rest of the boys back in those old Ag- gie championship days of 1920-24 could do to these ‘Gaston and Al- phonse’ boys of today.” What he fails to realize, however, is that under present rule interpretations the above crew would last about MACHINE & SAMSCO "KOHLER PLUMBING FIXTURES COMPLETE STOCKS AT BRANCHES SAN ANTONIO SUPPLY CO. ~~ 30 seconds, and thereafter be bar- red for the balance of the season. One of today’s whistle-tootin of- ficials would drop dead from pain- ed shock at the sight of Pat Dwy- er, Flop Hartung or Dutch Ehlert committing mayhem on the bas- ketball court in the style fashion- able in their days. But those lads played for the Aggies during a period of time when four straight championships were hung up, and they represent the Golden Age of basketball as far as Texas A. & M. is concerned. To this column today’s game is far superior to the past in its clever ball handling, in its scien- tific blocking and checking and in its one-handed shots. It is INFER- IOR to the old game in following shots up and is no better on its straight long or short shots into the basket. In fact, today’s defense could not drop back placidly under the basket against such a dead-eye long shot as Gene Darby, ’25, or TEXAS A. & M.’s FIRST FAMILY Ed Longcope, 20. Without close guarding that pair would sink them all day from far out in the court. But today’s one-handed push shot leaves the old-timers gasping. They took your uniform away from you back in the dark ages for even thinking you could make pointers in any such fool fashion. Rice’s Ernie Lane may have been the biggest back in big time foot- ball last fall, but he'll lose that doubtful honor next fall if Euel Wesson, Aggie freshman from Temple, makes the Cadet football team. With all his gear arrayed upon his huge frame, Wesson tips the scales just a few ounces under 260 pounds, and he’ll go 245 strip- ped. And he’s not looking so bad this spring, either. And of course, he’s still a growing boy. He may see lots of service, although he is not scheduled to beat out Jim Thomason for the first string The eight original Rollins “Boys’” above were gathered at a r-union of the family held last summer at the home of Henry One of the most interesting and astonishing stories of the long his- tory of the A. & M. College and its graduates, is that of the Rollins family, a family clearly entitled to the honor of being “A. & M.’s First Family.” When young A. P. Rollins, Jr. receives his degree this spring he will be the eleventh member of the family to graduate from Texas A. & M., and that does not include Jim Parks, ’27, the son of the oldest sister of the original Rollins brothers, and numerous other relatives. Few have been the years since C. W. Rollins entered A. & M. in 1890 that have not seen one or 4 Waco - Austin - Corpus Christi - Harlingen San Antonio | pounds. blocking back position. Thomason, though, is just a midget of 195 > - fe feet Fak —because telephone tests at Western Electric made sure of it Your Bell telephone will transmit clearly any spoken word, be it short . or long. For it represents not only skillful design by Bell Telephone Laboratories, but skillful construction by Western Electric—manufacturing unit of the Bell System. Every telephone made at Western Electric must pass an electrical test to prove its capacity to faithfully transmit the human voice. This is one of hundreds of tests which your telephone undergoes before it is deemed fit to serve you. Western Electric . . » made your BELL TELEPHONE [ more of the original Rollins broth- Rollins, in Gulfport, Miss. Left to right, sitting, are Guy Rollins, ’13, Henry Rollins, ’97, Charles W. Rollins, ’93, and A. P. Rol- lins, ’06. Standing, left to right, Albert S. Rollins, Texas University, 99, Millard Rollins, ’14, John Wesley “Dough” Rollins, °17, and Jesse Tom “Little Dough” Rollins, ’21. J. Guy Rollins, Jr., son of Guy Rollins, graduated from A. & M. in ’38, and is studying law at S. M. U. A. P. Rollins, Jr., son of Andy Rollins, will receive his de- gree at A. & M. this spring. H. M. Rollins, third son of Henry Rol- lins, is a freshman at A. & M. this year. In addition Henry Rol- lins has three daughters who have graduated from Sophie Newcomb College at New Orleans. Mrs. Hen- ry Rollins was Sophia Hutson, one of the famed Hutson twins, raised on the A. & M. campus and daughters of faculty member “Grandpa” Hutson of the early years of the century. The second generation Rollins’s ers or one of their sons enrolled in the College. Every one of the family who entered has received his degree. Eight sons and four daugh- ters were born to Mr. and Mrs. John M. Rollins, pioneer settlers in Hunt County. The family lived on a blackland farm and not only the eight sons but the four daughters were sent to college, every one of them receiving his or her degree. The real heroes of any story of the Rollins family are those parents, both now de- ceased. There has been no death in the family since 1904. Of the eight sons, seven received their degrees from Texas A. & M. Embarrassing is the dereliction of one son who received his law de- gree from Texas University in 1899, but blood being thicker even than A. & M. ties he is still ad- mitted into the family bosom. Law- yer A. S. Rollins was lured from retirement this past fall to be- come an Assistant Attorney-Gen- eral of Texas. Charley W. Rollins was the first, receiving his degree in 1893, now making his home at China, Texas, and being connected with the Gulf States Utilities Co., Beau- M. Rollins, '97, now President of the Gulfport Creosoting Co., Gulf- port, Miss. A. P. “Andy” Rollins, 06, is Director of Public Works, City of Dallas, and is one of Texas’ best known and respected en- gineers. J. Guy Rollins, ’13, is Division Engineer of the State Highway Department at Dallas. Millard E. Rollins, ’14, is in the engineering department of the Texas P. & L. Co. at Dallas. John Wesley “Dough” Rollins, 17, is Assistant Athletic Director, Business Man- ager of Athletics and Varsity Track Coach at A. & M. Jesse Tom “Little Dough” Rollins, ’21, is teacher of Vocational Agriculture at McKinney High School. With the graduation of the original Rollins brothers the sec- ond generation began its day at is with the Ethyl Gasoline Corp., with headquarters at Houston, and is the son of Henry M. Rollins. Jim M. Parks, '27, is the son of the eldest Rollins sister and is with the Soil Conservation Service at Lockhart. J. F. Rollins, ’34, son of C. W. Rollins, is with an oil company in South America. C. H. “Swampy” Rollins, ’35, another son of Henry Rollins, is assisting his father in the creosoting busi- _|ness at Gulfport. mont. He was followed by Henry A. & M. J. M. “Corp” Rollins, 26, have made some unusually fine scholastic records, with both the lads now in school ranking as Distinguished Students. The AG- GIE has made no check of the scholastic attainments of the first generation, but one veteran facul- ty member at A. & M. was heard to remark that the family was get- ting smarter. Two more sons of A. P. Rollins and one of J. T. Rol- lins are being groomed for future entrance. Heroes of the saga of the Rol- lins family, it must be repeated, are the parents of this fine group of men and women. They made a great and lasting contribution to Texas A. & M. and to the State of Texas. J. R. Haas, 37, is living at 1421 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Cadets Close Court Season Completely out of the running for any conference honors the Ag- gie basketball team will close its season against Texas University at Austin, Thursday night. With the Longhorns already having a tie for the title cinched, and well in the lead for the championship, the Ca- dets will have little chance of a victory. Last week-end the Aggies dropped a pair of games to the second place Arkansas Razorbacks at Fayetteville. Their only vic- tories this winter have been at the expense of the T. C. U. Horned Frogs, who like the Aggies have found themselves outclassed by other conference quints. W. E. Haby, ’30, perennial mayor of the city of Calf Creek, McCul- loch County, Texas, was inaugu- rated into office recently in im- pressive ceremonies staged on the J. Rockett Hall Ranch. Most of the population of his city, as well as many friends from other cities were present. Representing the A. & M. College at the occasion was a committee composed of W. S. Nicholson, ’24, San Angelo; Shields Norwood, Jr., ’25, and R. M. Pries- meyer, ’'26, Brady. Mayor Haby ranches in his spare time and is an active member of the Triple M (McColloch, Menard, Mason Coun- ties) A. & M. Club. Present Aggie Band Is a Far Cry From College Band of Earlier Years BY BILL MURRAY It’s a far cry indeed, from the present Texas Aggie Band that started out the 1938-39 session with an enrollment of 200, back to the days of the early Aggie Band of just a few boys. But it’s a farther cry yet, to the ninth year of our school’s life, when one boy formed half of what might be called the earliest “Aggie Band” of them all. This was back in 1885, when just two Aggies—Fritz Hoffman and Ed Gruene—furnished all the music at A. & M. And till 1887 they were all the band there was. They play- ed “fiddles”. There were then no other musicians at college. The av- erage enrollment of the entire col- lege during those years was 135 boys—one-forty-third of this year’s enrollment, and considerably small- er than the present Aggie Band alone. Hoffman and Gruene on their fiddles played for all the “corps dances” of those days, and on all other occasions when music was desired. Occasionally they even took the lead of the corps in marching to the mess hall, as the Aggies Band does every day. Hoffman graduated from A. & M. in 1888. He is now deceased. Gruene got his B. S. in Mechani- cal Engineering here in '87. A let- ter was just recently received from him in which he recounted memo- ries of those early days at A. & M. and of his playing for a corps of 135 students. Gruene has been liv- ing for many years at New Braun- fels. John E. Fontaine, ’28, is with the Graybar Electric Company and lives at 1043 Rutherford, Shreve- port, Louisiana. Reserve Lieutenant V. P. Parr, '26, directed the observance of Na- tional Defense Week, in Houston. He is equipment engineer for the Southwest Bell Telephone Com- pany, headquarters in that city. Paul H. Bimmerman, 22, is pres- ident of the Texas Star Flour Mills of Galveston. At the com- pany’s recent annual stockholders’ meeting, it was announced that the operations of the concern would be expanded by producing cormeal, pancake flour, cereals, and other flour products, in packages. Bim- merman received his degree at A. & M. in chemical engineering. Arthur B. Knickerbocker, ’21, contractor at Odessa, was recently appointed to serve on the school board of the Ector County Inde- pendent Scheool District. “Nick” is president of the Odessa High School Athletic Council and is also a director of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce. He is still regarded as one of the greatest quarter- backs ever to perform in the South- west and played on championship teams during his time at A. & M. under D. X. Bible. He has been in the contracting business for many years and has made his headquar- ters at Odessa for the past several years.
