THE BATTALION
■SATURDAY, DEC. 9, 1939
PAGE 2
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. 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 8, 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 Golle&iate Press
BILL MURRAY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LARRY WEHRLE ADVERTISING MANAGER
James Critz i Associate Editor
E. C. (Jeep) Oates Sports Editor
EL G. Howard Circulation Manager
'‘Hub” Johnson Intramural Editor
Philip Golman Staff Photographer
John J. Moseley Staff Artist
SATURDAY STALE
James Critz Acting Managing Editor
Don Burk Asst. Advertising Manager
W. C. Carter Editorial Assistant
Junior Editors
A. J. Robinson Billy Clarkson Cecil De Vilbiss
Senior Sports Assistants
Jimmie Cokinos - Jimmy James
Junior Advertising Solicitors
J. M. Sedberry G. M. Woodman
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, Alden S. McKellar, E. M. Rosenthal, Lee
Rogers.
Spirit of Aggieland?
In today’s “Open Forum” column appears a
letter from Colonel George E. Hurt, director of the
University of Texas band. It is not the purpose of
The Battalion’s editorials to continually sermonize
in respect to occasional faults shown by members
of the cadet corps, but this case is so outstanding
and so unrepresentative of the wishes of A. & M.’s
4,000 upperclassmen that The Battalion takes time
out to question the reasons involved in the occurrence
mentioned in Colonel Hurt’s letter.
Certainly it is true that if such occurrences
continue to happen, A. & M. College and the mem
bers of its cadet corps will receive a name so tarnish
ed that the school will be in continual disrepute
with native Texans as well as the nation’s popu
lation in general.
The actions mentioned in Colonel Hurt’s letter
fall in a certain class which, for want of a better
word, we will call “high-schoolish.” It can hardly
be denied that this sort of thing went out with the
bustle and horse-and-buggy days.
Of course, there are two sides to every story
and Colonel Hurt’s letter only relates one side—
that of the University. However, investigation has
shown that his letter was not only a fair and just
one, but one which actually minimized the true
state of affairs.
The damage has already been done. One thing,
however, can still be undertaken which will take
the edge off the unwarranted attacks on Texas
University’s band members—RETURN THE STOL
EN CAPS AND THE MEGAPHONE. You upper
classmen who know where these articles are located
will be helping the college and yourselves if you will
see to it that they are turned over to The Battalion
which will, in turn, have them fbrwarded to the
University. . ,v : v ;.: . •;
The men frdnr whom these’ caps were stolen
will have to pay'for them and, in many cases, this
will work a hardship.! So; come on out. Aggies. Let’s
partially make up; for what has. been done and return
the property. You owe it , to .yourselves and your
college to do this. i<::0 '
“Dear Mr. Gregory--”
We read with interest some time ago your first
comment on the Aggie yelling corps, and grant that
there is some truth in what you had to say.
However, after reading your continued com
ments upon the same subject, we’ve begun to wonder
if you are encountering a dearth of information and
material for your column. If so we’li be glad to
furnish you with plenty.
It looks as if in your “Looking ’Em Over” you
have gone to an extteme in “looking over” this item.
In branding as unsportsmanlike the action of
the Aggie yelling section, you seem to have over
looked the fact that every other student body and
band in the conference follows the same tactics. And
while we are not trying to excuse ourselves by
citing other examples of the same thing, it does
seem that you’ve singled out A. & M. because we
have a greater school spirit and a mightier-lunged
student yelling section than other schools.
Mr. Gregory, we like to read your column even
when we are put on the spot. But a repetition of the
same note gets monotonous. Let’s add another string
to the violin.
OPEN EORUIVI
UNPLEASANT AFTERMATH
December 6, 1939
Gentlemen:
I have waited a few days before writing you
concerning an unfortunate happening after the
football game on Thanksgiving at College Station.
Let me first say I was advised to write you by a
young cadet officer who was very nice to me and
whose name, I believe, was Neubert. Before I go
into details, I should like to tell you that the Austin
newspapers yesterday and this ‘ morning’s Daily
Texan make reference to some disturbance against
the members of The University of Texas band last
Thursday, but these references have been made with
out conferring with me, and so I am in no way
responsible for them.
Just before the close of the game, I instructed
some of the members of our band to leave the
stands and go down to the train with some of our
property. It was sometime before I noticed that as
the boys reached a point in front of the corps, they
were being snatched from sight by cadets bent
over so that they were no longer visible to the
to the crowd outside, and in these struggles we lost
several of our uniform caps. The head yell-leader
was grappled with in the same way, and he came out
of his huddle minus his megaphone. Two instru
ments belonging to boys of our band were taken
from them, but I was able to retrieve these, and
our only losses so far as I can find out now are
about seven caps and the megaphone belonging to
the head yell leader, together with some cow bells
which were carried by our boys. The latter, I think,
we might call “spoils of war” and let them go,
although the were actually taken from the boys
by force. The caps that were stolen are the property
of the University and must now be paid for by the
boys to whom they were issued, which in some cases
will entail a great hardship.
I recognize, of course, the spirit in which dis
turbances of this kind take place, and I know only
too well that they do not represent the true spirit
of Aggieland. The members of the Aggie Band
were so fine to us this year, and they themselves
formed the finest Aggie Band we have ever heard,
that it seems to me what happened to our boys was
not at the wish or will of the upperclassmen of
this fine school.
So that the record may be clear in regard to my
personal experiences, after the game and especially
in view of the fact that references have now ap
peared in print, let me give you an exact account
of what happened in which I was involved. After
we had, with the assistance of the police, been able
to get our boys clear of the mobs that had hold of
them, I was working back to the stands to carry on
my job of supervising the movement of our band
members from the stands when I saw a cadet seize
a Longhorn Band member by the coat, pull it open,
twist him around, and rough him. The Texas boy
was then knocked about by two or three other boys,
one of whom took his cap. I ran after the cadet who
attacked the boy first and caught him and twisted
him around and asked him what on earth he thought
he was doing trying to rough one of our boys. He
scarcely had time to reply when a student of the
University (not a bandsman) hit him, using these
words, “You can’t do that to Colonel Hurt.” I
realized the student who had hit the cadet was under
the erroneous impression that I had been attacked.
I, therefore, stayed with the A. & M. cadet and
apologized to him, and he and I later shook hands.
Two cadet officers then came with me to the north
end of the field, and one of them stayed with me
until I was ready to leave. They were extremely
kind, and no one regrets more than I do the oc
currence just mentioned.
Just previous to this particular happening while
I was trying to get my boys out of the various
huddles to which they had been dragged, a cadet
did say, “I will knock your damn block off if you
don’t scram.”
I can’t help believing that there is something
quite fine which can come out of the intense rivalry
between A. & Mj. and Texas, and I know so many
upperclassmen at A. & M. who were former students
of mine and others whom I have only met since I
have been here at the University who would regret
so much the degrading of this rivalry between our
two schools. Now that the battle is over, there can,
of course, be in the minds of our boys only bitter
ness for the unprovoked attacks upon them by
overwhelming numbers, and I am asking that you
will be so kind as to use whatever influence you may
have to recover our property for us and have it
shipped here to me, charges collect. It may be
within your sphere of influence also to let it be
known among the freshmen and perhaps the soph
omores that what happened to our boys after the
game was not an expression of the true spirit of
Aggieland.
Be assured that I shall be most grateful to yoir
for anything that you can do, and if there is any
way you can think of in which I can collaborate
with you in obviating difficulties such as this ever
arising again between our two student bodies, but
without in any way lessening the keen rivalry
between the two schools, believe me I shall be most
happy to be called upon.
GEORGE E. HURT
Director of Bands
As the World Turns...
By DR. AL. B. NELSON
Communist newspaper headlines in their “New
York Daily Worker” read “RED ARMY HURLS
BACK INVADING FINNISH TROOPS” showing
once again the close ties between American Com
munist and Soviet Russia.
Even Germany and Italy are call
ing Russia names because of the
invasion of Finland. This is indeed a
case of the POT calling the KETTLE
black and yet, on the basis of recent
reports, the Germans and Italians are
giving the most immediate and ef
fective aid to the Finns. Germany is
sending arms and ammunition to Fin
land and Italy is reported to have al-
Neison ready delivered sixty planes to the
Finns by air.
The French Chamber of Deputies and Senate
recently extended Premier Deladier’s dictatorial
powers for the duration of the war.
In the realm of national politics New York
State’s John Dewey has formally launched his cam
paign for the Republican Party presidential nom
ination. In most of weekly national polls he is still
top man in the Republican race and in comparative
polls on public favor he is frequently found running
a close race with the President.
President Roosevelt, however, is beginning to
talk economy again, in preparation for the coming
presidential campaign. The last time he mentioned
economy with any degree of frequency was just
preceding the 1936 campaign. His main idea this
time seems to be that by listing the national defense
expenditures separately he can make the main bud
get smaller.
Our high prices are not so high after all, in
comparison with others. To give a few samples,
coffee costs three dollars per pound in Hungary
but if it can be smuggled into Germany the enter
prising smuggler can get eight dollars per pound.
Those who like pictures can find plenty of both
war and girls in the new issue of LIFE.
Looking over the “What’s Show
ing” column, we find first “THE
STAR MAKER,” another of Bing
Crosby’s pictures. As usual Bing
does a fine job with his vocaliz
ing, but another of these child
prodigies lays him in the shade
with a torried rendition of “Dark-
town Strutter’s Ball.” The effect
is improved when she follows it
with Tschaikowsky’s “Waltz of the
Flowers” sung in the best operatic
style. Bing plays the part of song
writer who cannot Ijold a job, but
who, with the aid of his wife,
interests a producer in an act he
has developed. After his first per
formance, his success is assured.
He becomes a producer himself,
putting on kid vaudeville acts all
over the country. He has trouble
with the law and the Child Labor
Act, but his ever-present ingenuity
irons this out in a hurry. Two
popular songs he sings in this pic
ture are “An Apple for the Teach
er” and “Go Fly a Kite.”
An announcement from the Y.
M. C. A. reads: Y cards of Decem
ber 2 will be good for “The Star
Maker” Saturday at 12:45 p. m.
A seldom-mentioned chapter in
the history of the American Navy
is brought to light in Wallace
Beery’s newst picture, “THUNDER
AFLOAT.” A point in the picture
noticed by many was the fact that
the Navy was always fighting the
same enemy submarine, and that
when it was sung, the Navy cele
brated as though the incident had
won the war. History reveals that
the American 110-foot subchasers
destroyed more than just a few
submarines in the war. However,
be that as it may, the picture is
a good one, and has plenty of fast
acting.
“THE ROARING TWENTIES”
is a very recent release from War
ner Bros, showing at the Palace
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The
picture is supposed to be a re
view of the lawlessness and carous
ing that accompanied the high
prices during the 1920’.
The cast for the picture is as
follows:
Eddie Bartlett James Cagney
Jean Sherman ....Priscilla Lane
George Hally....Humphrey Bogart
Panama Smith Gladys George
Lloyd Hart Jeffry Lynn
Eddie Bartlett, in France at the
close of the war, plans to return
to his old job as a machanic. When
he finds that it is no longer avail
able, he turns to bootlegging. His
business prospers and he becomes
a big shot. Night life in the
speakeasies and fights among the
racketeers provide the background
for the plot; but I wonder if the
presence of these factors isn’t a
great deal over-emphasized? After
all, there’s a great number of “just
folks” living in New York and
Chicago that never saw a gangster
and never visited a speakeasy.
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Saturday, 12:45 (Y cards
for Dec. 2 good) — “THE
STAR MAKER,” with Bing
Crosby, New Sparks, and
Laura Hope Crews.
Saturday, 6:30 and 8:30—
“THUNDER AFLOAT,” with
Wallace Beery and Virginia
Grey.
AT THE PALACE
Sunday, Monday, and
Tuesday—-“THE ROARING
TWENTIES,” with James
Cagney, Priscilla Lane,
Humphrey Bogart, and
Gladys George.
AT THE QUEEN
Sunday and Monday—
“BAD LITTLE ANGEL,”
with Virginia Weidler.
BACKWASH
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from soma action
By
George Fuermann
or occurrence.”—Webstar.
In the grove . . . An Aggie fresh
man with a more-than-usual
knowledge of campus affairs and
personages recently declared, “I’m
going to see Major Moore this
afternoon.” “But there is no Ma
jor Moore at A. & M.” an upper
classman pointed out. “I meant
General Moore,” the first-year man
replied . . . Fred Waring’s recent
ly written song, “Texas Forever,”
which was written especially for
T.S.C.W., will make its radio de
but on Waring’s broadcast of Wed
nesday, December 20. . . . The
list of Aggies passing less than
ten hours on December first num
bers 1198, two per cent more than
December firstj. 1938, and makes
up 20.1 per cent of the student
body ... If you will turn to the
“J’s” in the student directory and
look on page 63, you will find the
name of one Glendon P. Jones.
Nothing unusual in itself, the name
takes on a particular significance
when you notice that he is listed
as a member of P. Company In
fantry. Maybe a new company
was added when we weren’t looking
. . . Most unusual name on the De
cember first failing list: I Belaus-
teguigoitia . . . The negro janitor
in dormitories one and three, John
Richardson, has set an enviable
record this football season in the
matter of guessing football scores.
With but few exceptions he has
guessed within one or two points
of all conference games this year.
A. & M.’s games with T. C. U.,
Arkansas U., and Baylor were
guessed exactly, and his guess on
the Turkey Day game was A. & M.
21, Texas 0.
•
Where is the place?
One of the local messenger boys
invaded A Signal Corps’ sanctuary
earlier this week with a telegram
for Arba Norton. A freshman in
the company pointed out that Arba
was in steam lab. Back came the
messenger boy with, “Steam lab,
Texas?”
•
In the poetry corner:
The latest is Doyle Dodd’s con
tribution to T.S.C.W. date memor
ies. Doyle adds that the occur
rence in the poem actually happen
ed.
Will you listen while I relate
The story of a C.I.A. date?
It was on our last corps trip to old
Big D,
That I met this girl, you see.
She came on the train with all the
rest.
And for looks, she was one of the
best.
After we met, and talked awhile,
I asked to be her date, in Aggie
style.
She was a fish, the sweetest of
types,
I was a sophomore, a wearin’ two
stripes.
Two terms of summer school had
classified me,
I thought I’d never pass that Chem
istry.
All over Dallas, we did go,
The game, the dance, and the pic
ture show.
Then came the time for us to part.
And this I thought would break
my heart.
I last asked her, “Where do you
dwell ? ”
And here’s the part I hate to tell.
To think of it I have to frown.
By gosh, we’re from the same home
town!
AH WOMEN 5L Charlton
Special to The Battalion from The Lass-O of T. S. C. W.
^ Musical Meanderings ^
Event of the week seems to be
the Sophomore dance. . . the
About bands: Glen Miller and
the Andrews sisters have been
signed to replace Paul Whiteman’s
band on the Wednesday night CBS
Chesterfield smoke show. New
program begins Decemoer 17 . . .
Anita Boyer, sparrow with Tom
my Dorsey, has stepped into a
tough job, that of replacing Edythe
Wright as vocalist with Dorsey.
Edythe from 1935 until a few
weeks ago was the only girl sing
er Tommy featured, making Anita’s
job more than tough . . . Artie
Shaw has declared himself “sick”
of the orchestra business. But he
didn’t stop there. He said (with
out pulling his punches) that he
didn’t care about giving the peo
ple what they wanted—that he was
interested only in making music—
that he detested the sight of auto
graph hunters. Shaw, most mu
sicians agree, has been kicked
around unjustly of late. He has
been criticized for dozens of things
over which he had no control. He
is to be admired for being honest
enough to act as he feels—being
frank and candid at all times—
but he is certainly losing his vast
following of cash customers who
resent being snubbed at his dances.
Artie plans to retire soon, as he
has accumulated scads of the long
green. Maybe it’s just as well,
for the public who made him can
(and will) “dethrone” him if he
continues his unprovoked tirades
against them.
Closer to home: Remember the
old-timer, “Moonlight Cay”? The
Aggieland Orchestra has received
a Glenn Miller arrangement of the
number, and featured it at the
Thanksgiving Dance in Sbisa Hall
last Thursday night.
I still like Chu Berry’s sax take
off on “Ain’t She Sweet,” recorded
by Jimmie Lunceford for Victor.
You should hear it.
On the Cuff: Someone extracted
five dollars from Ray Noble, the
old Englisher, for a fake “cat-
license” . . . The pseudo-cat-catch
er had something there ... $5 for
a cat; $10 for an ickey; $15 for a
jitterbug . . . That’s the way to
make the boys upstairs stop tap
ping their feet . . . Governor Stark
of Missouri made a special broad
cast from Westminster College over
CBS with Postmaster-General Far
ley and John D. M. Hamilton . . .
“Sofiesta,” they’re calling it. Sophs
tell us the decorations are going
to be quite ultra, and it must be
true because they’ve been making
paper flowers for it for the past
few weeks. And it will be the first
dance in the T.S.C.W. gym ever
to have the orchestra seated in the
balcony. The sophs are expecting
great hordes of fellows from Ag
gieland including Sophomore class
president Edna Clarke’s brother,
Fred, who has a date with Madge
Putnam. Edna’s escort will be
Aggie Joe Evans.
Other Aggies coming up for the
dance are Sam Crews to see Doris
George; Bill Evans to see Shorty
McGlasson; Don Peterson to see
Ann Marrs; Bob Alexander to see
Sara Jane Carter; Ed Bush to see
Dorothy Blazek; Dee Poteet to see
Marie Robertson; and Charles Hol-
linshead to see Winelle Nesbitt. ..
See on the campus Sunday:
Korky Stephens and Bill Conatser
with Geraldine Walker.
The Senior Christmas formal, a
week from today, will be held in
the Stoddard recreation room.
Something new for senior dances
T.S.C.W.-its to be at the New
Orleans’ Sugar Bowl: Alice Keck,
Martha Perrin, and Mary Lang
ford.
We hear tell ’twas an embarras
sing moment for Jimmie Schultz
last Thursday when Daphne Salois,
inspecting the dorms with Dan
Sharp, walked in on him while he
was clad only in shoes, sox, shorts,
and shirt . . .“sin pantallones ?” so
to speak. (That’s Spanish!)
Shorty Johnson, B Engineers,
writes that we say too much in
our column about fellows. “Why
not tell us more about the girls. I
think they’re pretty important,”
says Shorty. Well, here’s your
story about a femme: A Lowry
Hall freshman tells us that she
and her date had to stop on the
highway two hours Thursday night
to wait until the fog lifted so he
could see to drive her home. That’s
what we call subtle.
Box 1971, who signs himself “An
Aggie,” writes, “Your column has
a concealed humor. By humor I
mean that I don’t get it.” That’s
nothing, we don’t either.
Eloise Hunt, whose heart be
longs to the Field Artillery this
year instead of the Cavalry, will
join the throngs at the College
Club tonight with Jimmie Giles.
, cuRisimns
* '^Sil
m
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RTfRS
©
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