THE BATTALION
•SATURDAY, NOV. 4, 1939
PAGE 2
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the city of College Station, is
published three times weekly from September to June, issued
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; and is published
weekly from June through August.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon
request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-6444.
1939 Member 1940
Associated GoUe&iate Press
STAFF
BILL MURRAY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LARRY WEHRLE ADVERTISING MANAGER
James Critz Associate Editor
E. C. (Jeep) Oates Sports Editor
H. G. Howard Circulation Manager
“Hub" Johnson Intramural Editor
Philip Golman Staff Photographer
John J. Moseley Staff Artist
SATURDAY STAFF
James Critz Acting Managing Editor
Don Burk Asst. Advertising Manager
Ross Howard : Asst. Circulation Manager
W. C. Carter Editorial Assistant
Junior Editors
A. J. Robinson Don K. Hill Cecil DeVilbiss
Senior Sports Assistants
W. F. (Chick) Denny Jimmy James
Reportorial Staff
J. W. Amyx, W. G. Bohning, P. H. Brown, G. M. Green,
M. L. Howard, W. A. Moore, Jack McGarr, Leslie Newman,
J. A. Shelton, Earl Vezey, Alden S. McKellar, E. M. Rosenthal.
A Tie That Should Be
Strengthened
A. & M. was highly honored recently with
the presence on the campus of the National Com
mander of the American Legion, Raymond J.
Kelly, for the ceremonies dedicating the new Legion
cooperative student dormitory. Through that build
ing, and through the interest that the American
Legion in Texas already feels in Texas A. & M.,
should come a friendship that will mean much to
the college.
A primary plank in the Legion program is
national preparedness. Texas A. & M. is contributing
more to that end than any other educational in
stitution in the United States today. That fact
alone should make A. & M. the favorite of the
Legion.
The friendship, the interest, and the assistance
of the Legion can be tremendously helpful to A. &
M. and its program. If there is virtue in the mili
tary program of the college—and The Battalion
does not believe this virtue can be challenged—
then the institution should be given full credit for
its work along this line. As the one big national
organization deeply interested in the nation’s mili
tary program of preparedness, the Legion should
be seincerely interested in Texas A. & M.
It is the hope of The Battalion that the ties
between the college and the Legion can become
stronger and closer as the years pass on. The col
lege needs the help of the Legion, and the Legion
as deeply concerned with the military program of
A. & M. There is a community of interests that
should draw together a great organization and a
.great educational institution.
x *Man, Your Manners -
In a late issue The Battalion quoted part of
a letter written by an ex-Aggie of the class of ’29,
;in which he stated that he thought the one thing
that Aggies lack above all else is manners.
The writer stated that many Aggies seem not
to know how to act in mixed company, or to know
the proper etiquette for all occasions.
The Battalion believes that this is true. Though
it’s hard to say, it seems to us that the traditional
classification of “two per cent” is too low for
those members of the student body who are
lacking in manners and who do not live up to
the fine code of ethics subscribed to by the
majority.
It’s high time that the Aggies were making
an effort to improve upon their manners. Lack of
knowledge of them is a decided handicap through
out life.
In an effort to try to instill better etiquette
in the student body, The Battalion is inaugurating
a regular feature, “Man, Your Manners—”, writ
ten by Mrs. R. M. Sherwood, a resident of College
Station who has frequently addressed students
on etiquette as part of the College Y. M. C. A.
program.
Mrs. Sherwood, in accepting our invitation,
stated her belief that the majority of the Aggies
were gentlemen in the true sense of the word.
But believing that many need schooling in the
more important points of etiquette, she is writing
the column, which will appear at least once a week,
beginning today. Mrs. Sherwood will be glad to
answer in The Battalion any questions addressed
to her.
Mrs. Sherwood also makes the suggestion that
seniors could and should take a leading part in
helping underclassmen to acquire better manners.
We think she’s right.
QUESTION: When making introductions, is
the lady presented to the gentleman or the gentle
man to the lady ?
ANSWER: A gentleman is always presented
to the lady. The correct formal manner is “Miss
North, may I present Mr. Black?” Do not repeat
the names “Miss North, Mr. Black”, etc. The in
formal manner would be “Mary, do you know
Tom Black?” Then to Tom Black you would say
“Mary is Miss North.”
QUESTION: Does a gentleman offer his hand
to a lady when introduced?
ANSWER: A gentleman does not offer his
hand to a lady when introduced. When being for
mally introduced, the lady usually smiles, bows,
and says, “How do you do.” The gentleman bows
and says nothing. Never, never say, “Pleased to
meet you,” etc.
Apologies, Congratulations
The Battalion wishes to apologize to the faculty
for the statement in the Thursday issue that “for
the first time in history, the faculty voted un
animously” in deciding to send the Aggie Band
to Arkansas for the game with the Arkansas Razor-
backs. This was not printed as a “slam” at the
faculty on the part of the staff; in editing copy
we took the statement to be an item of news actu
ally reported.
While mentioning this story. The Battalion
wishes to congratulate the faculty on its action in
allowing all members of the Band to make the
trip—the Band’s first out-of-state trip in nine years,
incidently. We think it a fine gesture indeed.
Again, our congratulations—and our apologies.
OfEIV FOREIVI
TENNIS COURTS NEED REWORKING BADLY;
MORE ARE NEEDED
Can anyone tell us when the tennis courts
were last worked, if they have been worked. Play
ing on the clay courts is becoming extremely haz
ardous. One might easily turn an ankle or break
a leg by stepping into some of the chug holes and
furrows. The gravel is so loose on these courts
that tennis balls are actually lost when they dig
in, and are covered up. Of course this ideal con
dition tends to turn out good tennis players.
Best in the state.—We have too few courts
for a college of 600 enrollment,much less one of
6,000. And those we do have are not in playing
condition. Can’t something be done about this ?
Surely the college could at least afford to work
four courts once a week.
—R. B. Pierce
Anyth Ingelse
The story was about a stubborn English guest
who disliked American dishes and confined himself
to a cut of roast mutton and a slice or two of bread.
I read on and came to this:
“No eloquence of the hostess could induce him
to taste anyth ingelse.”
Being fairly familiar with British cooking, I
was puzzled to identify such a delicacy as anyth-
ingelse”—until it dawned upon me that the linotyp-
operator had made that out of the author’s “any
thing else”. However, such printer’s errors are us
ually due to the poor “copy” furnished them; and
the caligraphy of famous writers in the past was
often wonderful—or dreadful to behold, according
to what one was supposed to do with it.
There is a story that Horace Greeley once dis
charged a servant, but, to avoid a scene, wrote him
that he was fired and that if ever he put foot on the
place again he would have the man arrested. It
was a very simple matter for the discharged servant
to find another and a good situation by producing
that note and offering it as a letter of recommenda
tion, since nobody could read it.
However, compositors and make-up men some
times do a bit of mixing of their own; and “lifting”
the type in the old days was often fraught with un
happy results. One of the most amusing of these
was credited to The Prudence Society Journal, by
Conde Williams:
“The congregation resolved upon a European
trip for their beloved pastor, and on Saturday ac
quainted him with the delightful fact. Accompany
ing the report of the committee was a nicely-filled
purse, which was placed at the disposal of the pas
tor, who after thanking them . . . made a turn down
South Main Street as far as Planet, then to Beaufort
where he was caught by some boys who tied a tin
can to his tail. Away he went up Beaufort and
down College Street, at the foot of which he was
shot by a policeman.”
As the World Turns...
By DR. AL B. NELSON
.It is a popular slogan of pacifists,
and others who do not desire to go to
war for cause or another, that the
men who declare war never fight
but sit back in ease and comfort while
others bleed and die. More than one
hundred members of the French
Chamber of Deputies (their House
of Representatives) were serving as
privates in the army after the out
break of war. They were recently
given commissions.
Earl Browder, General Secretary
of the Communist Party in the United
States, has been arrested for traveling to Russia
on falsified passports twice in the last three years.
This information was brought out by investigations
of the Dies’ Committee.
Kermit Roosevelt, son of “Teddy”, believes in
the cause of England and has shown his belief by
joining the British army to fight Germany. He
was commissioned as a lieutenant. In the last war
he did not wait for the entrance of the U. S.
but joined the British forces, rose to rank of
captain and was decorated for bravery. His younger
brother, Quentin, was later killed in action with
the U. S. air forces over the German lines.
President Ortixof Argentina is in bad health.
This is serious news for if he should die or resign,
the vice-president, who is pro-German, would auto
matically take his place, thus creating an embarras
sing situation for the United States in our relations
with that country.
A new expedition to South Polar regions will
set out this month under the leadership of Admiral
Byrd. The purpose of this expedition is to formally
claim land for the U. S. and to leave men to hold
posts in the name of the U. S.
Hitler is practicing shootinga revolver lately,
it is reported. John Gamer is helping the President
put over the neutrality legislation but his cam
paign for the presidency has not been stopped.
Germans were recently given permission to buy
one egg each as a special concession.
Nelson
BACKWASH
By
George fuermann
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster.
Doctor's Degree Without High School
Diploma Is Record of “Bat” Columnist
Drivel . . . Aggies began “high-
waying” to Arkansas as early as
last Tuesday, three of them even
going via motorcycle ... It was
“Hairless Joe” Snow who remark
ed of T.S.C.W.,
“That’s where I
want to go when
I die” . . . Hun
dreds of Aggies
were keenly dis
appointed when
The Aggie War
Hymn was not
played over last
Fuermann Thursday night’s
Kraft program.
Instead, Cornell’s song was play
ed . . . “The wearing of red,” A
fellow by name of Twysffort
points out, “makes a man strong,
invincible, and dynamic. Yellow
makes him gay and green makes
him amorous.” Jack Keese says
he’ll take green every time . . .
Born in Berlin, Germany, but def
initely not Nazi are two Glee Club
members who sing side by side, Sig
Newbert and Warner Gohmert.
•
A Cavalry freshmen, recently
in need of a date, proceeded to
’phone a Bryan girl of more or
less short acquaintance. With a
determined throb in his voice he
quizzed the girl as to “Whatcha
doing Saturday night?” Quick as
a flash she enlightened the fresh
men with “I’ve gotta date.”
“What about the Saturday night
after that?” the Aggie asked.
“I’ve gotta date.”
Still undaunted, the optimist
stuck his neck out once more: “And
the Saturday night after that?”
“Gotta date.”
His honor at stake, the fresh
men. bowed out with “Good gosh,
woman, don’tcha ever take a
bath?”
•
An interesting sidelight of
Keyes Carson’s spectacular four-
day crossing of the continent via
the thumb this summer concerns
a bet Keyes made with the usually
correct New York Times. While
being interviewed by Times’ re
porters, Keyes declared that he in
tended to hitch-hike from New
York to San Francisco in six days.
The reporters told him that the
idea was preposterous; that he
couldn’t do it in less than two
weeks.
Four days later Keyes tele
graphed the Times from San Fran
cisco, making the trip in two days
less than he had anticipated, and
beating all train and bus sched
ules.
•
One of the newer of A. & M.’s
English profs recently asked the
members of one of his freshman
classes to write a theme telling
of their previous English training
in high school and otherwise. His
prize paper included two congrat
ulatory messages—the first con
gratulating him on being head of
the English department and the
second congratulating him on hav
ing the writer of the theme for a
student.
Theme grade—F.
The latest edition of The Read
er’s Digest carried the following
short short concerning A. & M.
back when Bible was coach here:
After being badly outplayed
during the first half of a football
game, members of the team of
Texas A. & M. College sat deject
edly around the locker room wait
ing for a tongue-lashing from their
coach, Dana X. Bible. He entered
on the signal for the second half,
looked slowly around at each play
er, and turned to the door. Then
he paused, looked back, and said,
“Well, girls, shall we go? They
won the game.”
•
The spice of life, less the profit
of the business, is often made
clear to Jack Doran who won the
candy concession in his organiza
tion. Jack recently found a note
in his cash box which read, “Mr.
Deeds goes to town with one of
Jack’s bars of candy.” Another
even more original and far more
elaborate, consisted of a note at
tached to three milk bottles and
a medicine bottle. The note read,
“When I was a little boy I used to
sell bottles for a cent each. There
fore i.o.u. one cent.”
A doctor’s degree without a sin
gle day of high school attendance!
This is the record of Dr. A1 B.
Nelson, professor of history at A.
& M. and one of the three History
Department news columnists for
The Battalion newspaper.
Dr. Nelson was born in Dallas,
Texas, and received his public
school education in that city. When
he reached the sixth grade he was
forced to quit school and get a job.
During the next several years he
worked at everything from office
boy to private detective.
Finally he was able to go back
to school to work for college de
gree. After taking entrance ex
aminations, he entered T. C. U.,
where he became interested in his
tory and received his bachelor and
master of arts degrees.
In 1933 he went to the University
of California, where he served as
head teaching and research assist
ant in the history department. In
1936 he received his Ph. D. from
that institution.
A true Texan, Dr. Nelson was
discontented outside of his home
state, and in 1937 he came to
Texas A. & M.
Although he professes to care
little for organizations, Dr. Nelson
is a Mason and a member of the
American Association of University
Professors, the Southwestern Com
mittee on Latin American Culture,
and the Texas History Association.
His hobby is photography. He and
Mrs. Nelson have traveled exten
sively, and in these trips he has
taken as many as two or three
thousand pictures, many of which
he makes into slides. His photo
graphy is of practical value also;
in his office are box after box of
photographs of historical docu
ments, ranging from the Declara
tion of Independence to the Mexi
can census of 1756.
His greatest interest lies in the
history of Mexico and the border,
and he has written several articles
relating to the history of this reg
ion. He is teaching a course in
Spanish American history, this
semester, among other things.
Dr. and Mrs. Nelson not so
long ago built a new home in Col
lege Park, for which he was archi
tect, head electrician, and “canvas-
putter-onner.”
Dr. Nelson is author of the Sat
urday chapter of The Battalion’s
regular news column, “As the
World Turns . . .”
His first name, he insists, is
“Al” and nothing more —not “Al
bert” or “Alford”. Of late he’s
been having name troubles. There’s
another prof here in the Mechani
cal Engineering Department, whose
last name is Nelson and whose
nickname is Al; and their mail,
laundry, etc., frequently are sent
to the wrong Nelson, sometimes
causing much puzzlement for the
recipient. And to make matters
a little worse, there is another
Nelson in the History Department
—M. F. Nelson, who came here
this year to teach—'and a fourth
A. & M. prof by the name of Nel
son—T. R.—teaching in the Mathe
matics Department. Having the
same last name causes many a per
plexing mix-up.
Officers of Kansas City, Mo.,
received this wire from a woman
in Whicita: “I left an electric
cooker going in my home. Please
have someone turn off electricity
under beans. Police can have
beans.”
“MARX BROTHERS AT THE
CIRCUS” may not be the best in
dramatics, but it’s the funniest
show this weekend. For those who
wish a laugh after A. & M. beats
Arkansas, the best recommenda
tion is to see the Saturday night
preview at the Palace. People who
cannot get a laugh out of the
Marx brothers are few and far
between.
The stars and the parts they
play are as follows:
Attorney Loophole
Groucho Marx
Antonio Chico Marx
Punchy Harpo Marx
Jeff Wilson Kenny Baker
Julie Randall Florence Rice
Because the foolishness put on
by the Marx brothers obscures the
story that accompanies the show,
the plot as necessarily simplified
in this short space probably would
not be recognized. For that rea
son it is best to slight the plot
almost altogether. Jeff Wilson for
sakes his inheritance to manage
a circus of his own. He falls in
love with Julie, one of the danc
ers. Also he borrows ±en thous
and dollars from the strong man.
When the time comes to pay off
the debt, someone steals the money
from him. Antonio and Punchy
call in Attorney Loophole and the
three set to work to solve the
crime. It’s worth two grade-
points.
“INVITATION TO IJAPPI-
ness” is another good show
for this weekend. It’s show
ing Saturday night at the
Assembly Hall. Deep drama
mixed with prizefighting is the
concoction that is offered by Fred
MacMurray and Irene Dunne.
Irene’s father stakes fighter Fred,
with the fighter’s father, Charley
Ruggles as his manager. To make
certain that her father wasn’t
gypped she meets Fred. Later they
are married, but because Fred is
away from home so much, their
happiness is limited. A son is
born, and that is another problem
arisen. I’ll give it., two grade-
points also.
“THEY ALL COME OUT” shows
Saturday at 12:45 at the Assem
bly Hall. Y cards will be good
for this show in place of the 6:30
show if the holder desires to make
the switch. It is a story of con
victs and prisons, gloomy stuff.
First show to flung altogether.
IT’S A KNOCKOUT I!
SPECIAL!
2 Cans Briggs and 1 Pipe—$3.50 Value
$1.25
PARK LANE MODEL
Registered with U. S. Patent Office October 15, 1925
Retails at $3.50
CLIP THIS AD
And Receive The $1.25 Special For $1.00
GEORGE’S CONFECTIONERY
“In The New Y”
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Saturday, 12:45—“THEY
ALL COME OUT,” with Rita
Johnson and Tom Neal.
Saturday, 6:30 and 8:30—
“INVITATION TO HAPPI
NESS,” with Fred MacMur
ray and Irene Dunne.
AT THE PALACE
Sunday and Monday—
“MARX BROS. AT THE
CIRCUS,” with Groucho,
Chico, and Harpo Marx, Ken
ny Baker, and Florence Rice.
Sealed Sunshine
Housewives are bringing home
more watermelons this summer.
Somehow they’re hard to resist.
They’re shinier than ever this year
and they taste as good as they
look. Southern growers are seal
ing in sunshine sweetness with a
wax coating and shipping them in
excelsior-lined crates to ease the
bumps. Travelling at a regulated
temperature of 40 degrees they ar
rive as picked from the vines, fresh
and unbruised from the trip.
Rail-Auto Trips
For travelers who dislike a long
rail journey plans are in the mak
ing for rail-motor trips.
Tickets are purchased in the
usual way with the traveler stipu
lating the points along the line
where he would like to use an
automobile.
At these points a car is placed
at his disposal, and he continues
his tour until he tires and again
takes the train. The new service
is scheduled to begin about Janu
ary 1940.
COOPERATIVES
Announce the opening of a Service
Station at College. Texaco Service Sta
tion on Highway 6 at northeast corner
of College property.
Brazos Valley Gas & Oil
Cooperative Ass'n.
Phone 405