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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1915)
THE BUTTlILIflH Published every Wednesday night by Students of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas Subscription price $1.25 per year. Advertising rates on application. Member of Texas Collegiate Press Association. JUNIOR BATTALION STAFF. L. V. WITCHER Editor S. C. MOFFETT Assistant Editor S. P. McFADDEN . . .Assistant Editor A. R. HAWKINS... Business Manager C. M. EASLEY Asst. Bus. Mgr. J. D. BROWN Cartoonist H. A. JOPLING Cartoonist R. Kerbow Cartoonist All material for publiication should be signed and turned in not later than Monday night. Entered as second-class matter at College Station, Texas, February 17, 1905. SPECIAL DRILLS FOR COM MENCEMENT. During commencement each year hundreds of Texas citizens from every part of our State visit A. and M. These people, on their return home, tell all their friends, and all others who will hear them, of the incidents and hap penings of their stay here. If a good impression is made on these visitors our school is advertised and boosted; if a bad impression is made our school is again advertised, but not boosted. What we want to do is to make this favorable impression. And here is one way in which some companies will endeavor to make such an impression: Company “A” is plan ning to give a short close order exhi bition drill without commands, if time can be allotted for this performance, in like manner. Company “B” is in tending to offer the double rifle drill for the entertainment of the visitors. Both of these drills are short, and it is hoped that the military department will see fit to place them on the pro gram. This action on the part of the offi cers of these two companies is indeed commendable. These drills, which are, in a way a departure from the monotony of the military discipline here, are interesting the men more than could hardly be expectd, and for this one reason they will be worth the watching. Why could not more of the companies follow this lead and as sist in making the 1915 commence ment something new? For the past several months there has been more or less discussion as to whether or not the distinguished students would adhere to the faculty’s ruling that these students be allowed to wear old English “T’s.” Believing this to be a question of interest to many of us, we think it relevant to mention it here. The following are statements made to us by various distinguished stu dents and T men concerning this matter: M. B. Gibson—I think the letter is distinctive within itself. However, if the sentiment of the corps be against the distinguished students’ wearing an old English “T,” I would not wear one. Also if the wearing of the “T” by the distinguished students would in any way hinder the ambi tion of athletes, or fail to meet with their approval, I do not favor the wearing of the old English “T.” L. C. Dennis—I think that the men who have been distinguished should have some reward for their work, and I see no reason why we should not be allowed to wear an old English “T;” for as I see it, there is no rea son why one should not be rewarded for his mental achievements as well as for his brute strength. G. W. Adriance—A great many other colleges award old English let ters to their distinguished students, while block letters are worn by the athletes. I see no reason why we should not wear this style of “T.” But since the athletes have objected we have abandoned the idea. O. S. Gray—I think an old English “T” would be the ideal letter to al low distinguished students to wear, since “T’s” are awarded to those men who show skill and efficiency in their work. P. B. Metcalfe—Mr. Gray expresses my sentiments to a “T.” F. W. Cawthon—Personally, I am not in favor of distinguished students wearing such a letter. In the first place it will have a tendency to curb the ambition of athletes; second, it is not a universal custom to award letters for class standing; and third ly, the “T” Association does not favor the plan. W. K. Hanson—A “T” is a “T” in the eyes of the people, regardless of whether it is old English or block style. Some other emblem could be worn by the distinguished students that would show their mental achieve ments as well as a “T” would. Then there would be no cause of misap prehension. N. M. Braumiller—To us the old English “T” is distinctive, but to peo ple at large there is no recognized difference between the two forms of letters. It seems from the above statements that although there is some opposi tion on the part of the athletes to the distinguished student’s wearing the old English letter, there is still the feeling that these men should be re munerated in some way for their creditable class standing. This honor coming diretly from the college, why could not these men be given a medal by the faculty, this medal to be pre sented at commencement each year? It is our further suggestion that the man holding the highest class record for the year be awarded a gold medal and the remaining students who are announced as distinguished be awarded medals of bronze or silver of uniform style. This we think ■would be a much more appropriate manner of bestowing honor on these men. “B” COMPANY READING ROOM. About the middle of January of thig year Company “B” installed in room 44, Goodwin Hall, a company library. It was begun as an experiment, with the idea of bettering the social life is of the dormitory. The success with which this plan has met was hardly expected by the men who suggested it. It was the first effort made to im prove the dormitory life, and “B” Com pany deserves credit for fostering a plan which has been of material bene fit to every member of the company. The financial end was taken care of of by a collection of $25 from those men in the company who desired to pay. Subscriptions were placed for six weekly magazines and six or eight monthly publications. Subscriptions held by different members of the com pany were also donated, which greatly increased the list of periodicals. Sev eral daily and weekly papers are also kept on file. Contributions of pennants, pictures, etc., were received and the room was artistically decorated. Sets of domi noes, checkers^ and other games were bought for the room. The reading room is open at all times except study hours to “B” Com pany men and their friends. Other organizations would do well to follow in the footsteps of “B” Company. We noticed in the Sophomore edition of this paper a short paragraph on the question of compulsory chapel exercis e s on Sunday morning. This paragraph was expressive of the feeling of the corps toward these compulsory serv- iceg, but there is still one phase of the problem that has not as yet been brought out. The discontinuance of religious service on Sunday morn ing is, of course, not to be considered. The men who are invited to address the corps at this time are of state-wide and often Nation-wide prominence and should they, on rising to make their address, see only the vacancy of empty chairs before them, it would indeed leave a bad impression on them and ultimately create a similar impression over the State. But in answer to this, it has been and that if attendance of these ex ercises should be made voluntary that the students would surely attend. Perhaps they would, but the question is a doubtful one. President Bizzell is no more pleased than the cadets with the idea of com pulsory religion, but it is his statement that the use of the present compul sory Sunday morning service is the best way out of a situation slightly difficult to handle. It is his intention to give the voluntary Chapel attend ance a fair trial at some hew date— if not this year, at some time early in the 1915-16 session. CHANGE OF UNIFORMS. The question of the adoption of khakhi uniforms for the coming year is one which has been discussed for some time past. The intention of the authorities is to discard uniform No. 2 and substitute for this the khakhi, retaining uniforms No. 1 and 3. We would like to say this, that if the khakhi can be secured at a reasonable price and can be gotten from a firm which will guarantee a fit in the uni forms, this change will be advisable. Put if the adoption of the khakhi would entail any extra expense or if the uniforms could not be made to fit any better than those now used by the United States army troops and the National Guard, this proposed substi tution would indeed be a bad step. The neat appearance of the A. and M. corps has ever been a noticeable char acteristic, both at home and abroad, and any move which would impair this valuable asset should assuredly not be considered. A committee composed of President Bizzell, Dean Puryear^ and Lieut. Hill is looking into this matter, and as soon as accurate estimates as to the cost of the khakhi can be obtained a decision will be reached and the corps notified. Once upon a time a man invented glasses with which people could see their own faults. He starved to death.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. Once upon a time a lover told his girl she was not the only girl he ever kissed. She dropped dead.—Houston Post. Once upon a time a corporal said he didn’t want to be a first sergeant. After that he was just a plain liar. And again, a student told Dr. X. he didn’t like his course—was taking it just because he had to. Well, he’s still answering to roll call in the same sec tion room. Our inspection of the Freshman is sue of the Battalion shows that the 1918 class deserves credit for this lit erary achievement. Considering the fact that, as a usual thing ; more than nine months is -required by a class to perfect its organization, for its mem bers to become well acquainted, and for the truly worthy men to be recog nized, we think that the current Fresh men showed excellent judgment in the choice of officers for their class issue of our paper. The editor’s duties were faithfully and creditably discharged and there can be no doubt as to the support he received, both from the class and from the business managers. Some few months ago the Colum bia student body inaugurated an anti- militarism movement. It seems, however, that a wet blanket was in some way spread over this emotional fire, for we have heard nothing addi tional to the first notice. On the other hand, the Princeton faculty has recently decided to institute, at the suggestion of Secretary of War Dan iels, a chair of military science and tactics. No answering roar has been heard from the Princeton Tigers; so we infer that the Princeton and Co lumbia student bodies do not hold unanimous views on the question of National protection. The planting of the shade tree on the main road is certainly a com mendable act in the captain of “A” Company. The campus within a few short years could be made a veritable Garden of Eden if each Senior would take it upon himself to do as much toward the beautification of the col lege grounds. We have noticed recently that a German professor claims to be able to change straw into human food. However, we have a suspicion that he is infringing on B. Sbisa’s formula for preparing the Sunday night am brosia. Truly it is a shame that Cortez hadn’t discovered Belgium instead of Mexico. King Albert would most as suredly be a more agreeable next- door neighbor. And then Kaiser Wil helm would now be a hero instead of a tyrant. Exports of pig iron have begun to be received from China. This Nation is said to possess deposits of iron ore large!' than those of all other Na tions and that are presumably inex haustible. Berlin has one of the most elab orate sewerage systems of the world. All sewage is pumped from the city in underground mains and used to fertilize over 40,000 acres of agricul tural district. The Galveston News some time ago sported the following headline: “Two Dallas Men Soon to Marry.’’ Live and learn. New things happen daily. We wonder if it was a happy union?