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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1930)
THE BATTALION 3 Collegiate World STUDENTS ESTABLISH SERMON SWEEPSTAKES Cambridge, England— (IP)— The varied restrictions which tend to make life dull for Cambridge University students on Sundays, no longer hold any threat to the happiness of a large number of the undergraduates since the inauguration of the “Sunday Ser mons Sweepstakes.” Unwittingly, the pastors of 12 lo cal churches play the biggest part in the operation of this newest and strangest sporting event which has already become famous. What it amounts to is betting on the length of the Sunday sermons of the pastors. In the rooms of the organizers of the sweepstakes are charts showing the records of past performances by the divines, and there bets ranging from two shillings to ten shillings may be placed up to 11 o’clock every Sunday on any one of the day’s speak ers. A group of official timers take their stop watches to the various churches with them, and keep careful track of the number of minutes over time each pastor preaches. After several weeks of observation, the affair has become one of handi caps, and there are dopesters and tip sters who regularly clean up because they have carefully studied the hab its of the ministers in the town. The university preacher, usually a visitor, usually is an unknown quanti ty, and is the object of bets of the casual followers of the sport, and is usually given long odds. Odds on a bishop are automatically cut in two, however. Not long ago the sweepstakes nar rowly escaped bankruptcy when a minister who substituted for a long shot and on whom bets were allowed at regular minister’s rates, set a new record by preaching for 56 minutes. Statistics reveal that 21% minutes is the average length of a sermon, with one which lasted only nine min utes holding the record in that direc tion to date. Length of prayers is not taken into account in calculating the extent of the pastor’s remarks. COLLEGE OR PEN SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—(IP)— With penitentiary convicts writing for the elite magazines and studying uni versity extension courses, and with colleges banning automobiles and pho tographing all incoming students with serial number cards stuck up in front of their bosoms, the saying has be come: “If you can’t go to college, go to jail.” Now, University of Utah under graduates love their alma mater dear ly, and when the little cards with numbers on were included in the pho tographs, they passed it off as con venience to the hard worked college officials who like to keep their stu dents straight in their records. But when the same pictures—num bers and all—appeared in this year’s books (called Frosh Bibles on many a campus), it was to say the least disconcerting. A young revolution was threatened until the Utah Chronicle, sensing trouble if something was not done, carefully explained that convict pic tures always appear without collars and ties, whereas every student pho tographed fortunately had been cloth ed to the gills. Moreover, the college newspaper pointed out, the student pictures were taken before the undergraduates had sworn to go without shaving until old alma mater defeated hated Si- wash. Convict pictures always are un shaven. And as a further precaution against a general uprising, the Chronicle sug gested that a double-barrelled shot gun be used on the next humorist who commented: “Doesn’t it look just like a convict in the rogues’ gallery?” Our happiness is equal to our re sources divided by our wants; we must diminish our wants to increase our quotient.—Mgr. Michael J. La- velle. HARNESS GULF STREAM MATANZAS, Cuba—(IP)—After two failures which cost his backers hundreds of thousands of dollars, Pro fessor George Claude has at last demonstrated the practicability of his electrical power plant operated by utilizing variations in temperature of Gulf Stream water. As cold water flows from the huge tube more than 4,000 feet long to the bottom of the ocean, warm water from the surface flows into great vacuum tanks, where it is converted into steam because of the lack of pres sure. In a short time the steam reaches such a pressure that the adjacent tubes begin to revolve, and the cold water flowing about vacuum tanks condenses the steam in one while the other is filling. The condensation produces a fresh vacuum, so that by the time the full tank is exhausted the other is ready to begin functioning. Professor Claude was able to light 40 light bulbs with his strange tur bine. Observers believe it will mean a revolution in industrial power meth ods. Athlete and Student BLACKSBURG, Va.—(IP)—Wil liam Grinus jr. the second freshman ever to win class numerals in four sports at Virginia Polytechnic Insti tute, stands at the head of a class of 500 in academic work. Grinus is from Orient, 111., and he met require ments for athletic awards in football, boxing, baseball and track. Athletes Study MADISON, Wis—(IP)—“No prac tice until further notice — hit the books!” is a sign recently posted on the training room door of the Uni versity of Wisconsin football squad by Coach Walter T. Mean well, who seldom loses a member of his team through low grades on their part. The student’s ability can be meas ured very well, but we have no meth ods of comparable validity for gttag- ing interest and opportunity. These factors, however, cannot be neglect ed, for they account for a large per centage of scholastic failures.— D. T. Howard. r— -n If You Want To Listen In— SNOWFLAKES are this season’s newest develop ment . . . A fabric entirely original . . . totally different . . . still in keeping with the season’s trend. If the unusual appeals to you. Snowflakes will . . . Of course they are by Braeburn. $35 $40 $45 all with two trousers rilaldropflfi College Station Bryan Did You Know ing down with the First Battalion, Infantry, staff early last week ? In an effort to offset the habit of becoming “music listeners” gendered in youngsters by the radio and player piano, school authorities in New York are setting up courses in music to develop “players of mus ic” among children. We are killing the race off faster than ever in history.—Clarence Dar- row. - - Listen, Aggies CAMPUS SHOE SHOP Serving A & M Since “91” By J. A. Barnes ? ? ? ? Yesterday was Dean Charles Pur- year’s seventieth birthday ? ? ? ? ? The first copy of The Battalion was published in 1901, twenty-nine years ago ? ? ? ? ? The water tower is over 150 feet high and has a capacity of 150,000 gallons ? ? ? ? ? From September 19 to October 10, this year, there were 584 teaspoons, 254 knives, and 350 pie plates removed from the mess hall? ? ? ? ? The Mississippi River flows up hill and the entire Jordan river is below sea level ? ? ? ? ? Bob Herbert, editor-in-chief of The Battalion, was actually caught walk- BEFORE YOU HAVE YOUR UNIFORM MADE—SEE US. WE MAKE UNIFORMS, SHIRTS, BREECHES AND SLACKS OUR PRICES ARE RIGHT The Aggieland Tailor Shop DRAWING MATERIAL AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES MACHINES AND RECORDS—ATWATER-KENT R. C. A. AND VICTOR RADIOS Haswell’s Book Store BRYAN, TEXAS Mil ease you think that purchasing merely means buying Back and forth across four states traveled a Western Electric man— out to secure one particular kind of tree for telephone poles. CL Month after month he checked quantity and quality of timber, means and cost of transportation. the labor situation, value of stumpage. prices. Not until every point was settled satisfactorily did Western jjfov Electric buy a single pole. CL Purchasing all the Bell System uses is a vast and fascinating task. It requires keen judgment, extensive research, scientific planning. Western Electric continually searches the whole world to make sure of adequate sources of supply. CL This is just one of its many responsibilities in the Bell System. Western Electric Manufacturers... Vurchasers... distributors SINCE 1**2 FOR THE BELL SYSTEM