V'
-THURSDAY, JAN. 25, 1940
PAGE 2
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OP
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The battalion, official newspaper of the Asrricultural and
ttechanieal College of Texas and' the city of College Station, is
published three times weekly from September to Jane, issued
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; and is published
weekly from June through August.
Bntered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879.
Subscription rate, 83 a school year. Advertising rates upon
request
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
si New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Prancisco.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-6444 *
1939 Member 1940
Plssocioied GoUe&iote Press
BILL MURRAY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LARRY WEHRLE ADVERTISING MANAGER
lames Grits Associate Editor
E C. (Jeep) Oates Sports Editor
a G Howard Circulation Manager
Hub” Johnson Intramural Editor
Philip Golman Staff Photographer
lobn J. Moseley Staff Artist
THURSDAY STAFF
Ray Treadwell Managing Editor
I. W. Jenkins Asst. Advertising Manager
Don McChesney Asst. Circulation Manager
Phi) Levine Editorial Assistant
Junior Editors
George Fuermann B°l> Nisbet
Senior Sports Assistants
Jimmie Cokinos -_ v Jimmy James
Junior Advertising Solicitors
L. J. Nelson A. J. Hendrick
Reportorial Staff
Jack Aycock, H. D. Borgfeld, P. H. Brown, R. A. Doak, Jim
Dooley, Walter Goodman, Guy Kane, R. R. Mattox, R. B. Pearce,
R. G. Powell. Walter Sullivari, Delbert Whitaker. D. C. Thurman,
Murray Evans, Dow Wynn, Joe Taylor
Know Your Fellow Student
There is a great need for tolerance of many
kinds in the world today. If the various peoples of
the world knew each other better, it would be
more difficult for a single man to precipitate
them into war against each other.
One of the things A. & M. needs—as do all
colleges—is a closer, friendlier feeling between stu
dents of the various races and creeds, and a better
understanding of the people, life, culture and cus
toms of other countries.
In furthering such a purpose as this, the A.
& M. Cosmopolitan Club is to be highly commended.
The Cosmopolitan Club, an affiliate of a nat
ional organization, is sponsored here by the College
Y.M.C.A. Students of all nationalities are welcome
as members.
It’s not the usual type of club. Its meetings
are informal, social, entertaining. They bring to
gether a large group of poys—all • students of
A. & M.—hailing from all parts of the globe, who
take part freely in interesting discussions of wide
spread subjects, and witness well-planned programs
dealing with foreign lands and peoples.
It’s one of the most active, convivial and con
genial groups on the campus. At its meetings
mingle boys from the United States with boys
from the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South
America, Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Japan,
India, Arabia, Egypt, and other lands.
In such associations boys gain new friendships,
changing and broadening viewpoints, greater toler
ance and understanding of others. In tales of far
away lands one finds great fascinations—next best
to taking a trip to them. In tales of other coun
tries one hears of things of interest not found
in his homeland, but he discovers at these meetings
that even though customs and languages differ,
people are much the same the world over.
A number of American boys are already mem
bers of the Cosmopolitan Club, and are deriving
much pleasure from its meetings. Everyone who
wants to join is welcome.
Aggies, take advantage of this unusual oppor
tunity to meet and know your fellow-student—
whether he be from your own home country or from
.a distant clime.
JVYA Helps Musicians
IMusic students of the nation, including those
'of this college, have until February 15 to make ap
plication for a place in the 109-piece All-American
Youth Symphony Orchestra which is to tour South
'.and Central America next summer.
A project being worked out with the aid of
NYA forces throughout the state, the orchestra
will aid many young musicians who want a chance
at orchestra work and who would profit by working
with Leopold Stokowski, who will direct the sym
phony group on the good-will tour. NYA for the
college will advise any students here who are
interested in the orchestra.
Leopold Stokowski outlined his requirements
for the young musicians he will help to choose from
final eliminations. He wants the players to be
within an age range of 16 to 25 and possess great
ability as orchestra players.
“Good technique is necessary,” he says, “but
even more important are beauty of tone, variety of
tone color, good phrasing, musical feeling, imagi
nation, and poetry. It would be taken for granted
that they read music fluently, have a good ear,
and play in tune. Orchestral experience is valuable
but not one of the most important requisites.
-Great talent is more important than experience.”
We Owe It to Them
"“If that is the true Aggie spirit I’m glad that
I graduated from the University of Texas,” re
marked a member of the A. & M. faculty Saturday
night after seeing the cadet corps deliberately
handicap its basketball team by making the gym a
smoke-filled hades for the players when the team,
by means of leaflets, had just asked the cadets to
refrain from smoking during the game.
Aggies always point with pride to the fact
that they think so much of their football team
that they stand up the entire game, yet these same
Aggies will go to a basketball game and deliberately
handicap the team by filling the gym with cigaret
and pipe smoke. They will stand up for two hours
for the football team but they won’t give up a
luxury like smoking for two hours for the basket
ball team. And yet they talk about having “the
old Aggie spirit”.
By its very nature basketball is a game that
puts a strain on the lungs by demanding enormous
amounts of air. When that air is half full
of smoke not only does the smoke tend to choke
a player but in addition cuts his wind and conse
quently his ability. Still the student body, with
every desire to see the team win, persists in placing
that handicap on it.
During the Rice game last week the gym was
so full of smoke that is was almost impossible to
see spectators on the opposite side of the room. At
the S.M.U. game leaflets were passed out to the
audience requesting them not to smoke and while
the condition did not approach that of the Rice
game the gymnasium still looked like a testing
ground for smoke screens.
Smoking is not allowed in the Assembly Hall
and the rule is vigorously enforced by the O. D.’s, so
why couldn’t the same rule be applied to the gym ?
Three weeks on the “bull-ring” or a visit to Senior
Court might serve as an inspiration to those Aggies
who are so thick-headed that they can’t get it any
other way. The basketball team is as much a part
of our school and its life as the Assembly Hall or
the football team, so why shouldn’t it get the
support that they have so fully earned and so
rightfully deserve ? It would be an immense aid to
the team if smoke was eliminated from the gymna
sium and with the support of the senior class and
its officers this could easily be done. Action should
have been taken ages ago on the problem, or is
the senior class against the curtailment because
the seniors would have to give up smoking too ?
—Ray Treadwell
LEE DIED A “PRISONER”
It may not be generally known that General
Robert E. Lee was technically a prisoner of war
at the time of his death in 1870, but such is the
case, according to a recent writer.
After Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomat
tox on April 9, 1865, he was released on parole.
President Johnson’s amnesty proclamation issued
the following month did not include Confederate
officers above the rank of colonel, or any who had
been educated at West Point or who had resigned
from the United States Army to join the Confeder
acy, so Lee was ineligible for amnesty on all three
counts.
Johnson provided, however, that those in the ex
pected classes would have their applications for
pardon considered, and Lee made application ac
cordingly, but his request was entirely ignored by
the president. The terms of his parole were respect
ed however, and he 'was never molested, although
he was never restored to citizenship.
As is well known, after the war General Lee
accepted the presidency of Washington College at
Lexington, Virginia, and remained in that office
until he died, when the name of the institution was
changed to Washington and Lee. But at the time
of his death he was still a paroled prisoner of
war, deprived of his civil rights.
As the World Turns...
By “COUNT” V. K. SUGAREFF
The cooperative' organizations in the United
States are severely criticised by Harold P. Janisch,
general manager of the Association of Insurance
Agents and Brokers. Mr. Janisch takes the position
that the cooperative movement in
the United States is “subversive”
and tends toward Communism. The
United States Chamber of Com
merce has also branded the coope
ratives as ‘un-American”.
The cooperative movement is one
of the by-products of our industrial
age. Back in 1761 the Weavers’ So
ciety in Fenwick, Scotland, sup
plied its members with oatmeal for
home consumption. The “Rockdale
Sugareff Equitable Pioneers”, later known
as the “Rockdale Clan”, organized
a cooperative society in 1844 at Rockdale, England,
and sold grpceries to its members. England today
has a large number of cooperatives with 8,000,000
members, which do an enormous business throughout
Great Britain. It is hardly possible that the move
ment is leading England toward Communism.
The cooperative buying and selling movement
in the United States has had varied successes and
failures. The Grange tried in the decade 1860-70 to
counteract the large profits of the middlemen and
commission merchants but made little headway, due
to opposition from various interests. Since then
the movement has been revived in many sections
of the United States and there is now a Cooperative
League of the United States. It has about 2,000,-
000 members and sold $600,000,000 worth of goods
last year. The League has also encouraged coopera
tion in production. A $7,000,000 oil refinery was
built last year at Phillipsburg, Kansas; two feed
mills, one flour mill, a coffee roastery, four fertilizer
factories, and other productive ventures, amounting
in value to $2,000,000, were built.
The proposed $60,000,000 loan to Finland has
caused a great deal of speculation, both in and out
of Congress. The President passed the question of
the loan to Finland on to Congress to avoid making
a political issue of it. If the loan is granted with
the approval of Congress, both parties will share
the responsibility of making the loan. If we dis
regard the emotional aspects of the question, and
consider it in a realistic manner, the question of
a loan to Finland assumes varied implications. Gov
ernment aid to Finland would be drifting away
from the avowed policy of the American people to
keep out of this war. It is true that there is no
war between Russia and Finland in the traditional
sense, but the dictator states have disregarded the
preliminary technicalities of declaring war. At least,
the “undeclared war” between these two countries
is a good old-fashioned trial of arms. It is possible
that Russia, Germany, the Allies, and other coun
tries might look upon this official loan to Finland
as a means of “breaking the ice” for more actual
participation in the war. Then, too, the President has
recommended large reductions in many New Deal
projects, such as W.P.A., C.C.C., N.Y.A., and R.E.A.,
to mention only a few. Wisdom, like charity, should
begin at home.
THE BATTALION
BACKWASH
By
George Fuermann
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence."—Webster.
Fuermann
Touch and go . . . Combination
radio-victrola sets are popular fea
tures in several rooms on the
campus, but one of the most un
usual and complete of these sets
is that owned by
“Red” Guill and
Tommy Hagood.
More than a hun
dred records in
the collection,
they are indexed
as expertly as
the library’s Car
negie collection
. . '. Coach Hub
McQuillen, to a
protesting coach of an opposing
team: “Sit down, coach; .you’re
rockin’ the boat!” ... At the risk
of his Christmas hat and personal
aplomb, one A. & M. prof dared
to walk past a dozen snowballers
to catch his afternoon bus, yester
day. All went well until he entered
the bus—twelve snowballs hit as
one—the dozen snowballers looked
guiltless . . . Barry Francks and
J. J. Stevens wondered what would
happen if they tried to put through
a long-distance call to President
Roosevelt. The attempt was made
and, to their surprise, could have
been successful except for one
thing—a $5 charge . . . Jack Lit
tlejohn’s great song, “I’d Rather
Be A Texas Aggie,” has been pub
lished and is receiving a quick sale
indicative of its popularity.
The Midnight Coffee Club:
If you’ve ever wondered why
the lights on the fourth floor of
the Academic Building remain on
all night long almost every night,
the answer is — architecture stu
dents.. The very nature of their
course makes for long hours. The
result is a nightly time-out for
coffee at one of the college eater
ies. Main stand-bys of the Mid
night Coffee Club include Sid
Lord, La Vere Brooks, Jo Spiller,
Roland Laney, Preston Bolton, Ed
Whitney, F. R. Ross, Charles Bail
ey, Frank Beadle, and Mike Soto.
•
‘Morbid’ is the word:
And speaking of the architects,
they’ve lately adopted a pass-word.
Everything—to the architects—is
moi’bid; a morbid problem, a
morbid automobile, etc. They’ve
even taken custody to a local tom
cat. Its name—you guessed it—
“Morbid!”
0
Backwash predicts that within a
few weeks the directorship of the
Aggieland Orchestra will change
hands. Tommy Littlejohn will soon
accept a fine position in Houston
and brother Jack—of “I’d Rather
Be A Texas Aggie” fame—will
take over where Tommy leaves off.
0
Two T. C. U. coeds did it:
In the unusual vein is the tele
gram received last week by a Band
senior and an Infantry sophomore.
Written entirely in song titles, here
it is:
“Hey Good Looking” “Is It
Possible” to “Get Out of Town.”
“Please,” “It’s A Lonely
Street” “On This Side Of
Heaven” “When We Are
Alone.” “Its Been So Long”
and “I Want My Share Of
Love” for “There Is So Little
Time.” “My Prayer” is to
spend “One Hour With You”
so “Please Be Kind.” “To You”
“I Am Faithful Forever.”
Not to be out-done, the two Ag
gies wired back:
“I Need Lovin’” “About A
Quarter ’Til Nine.”
After making a thorough search
of all the high-class and not-so-
high-class night spots of our var
ious Texas metropolises, search
ing for the most original name
for the place that always comes
to mind after ten beers or so, one
Aggie the writer knows of r£h
across this gem in Houston which
is passed on to you for what it
is worth: “First Aid Station No.
1 For Exhausted Jitterbugs.”
/>y Dob Nisbel
^ Musical Meanderings ^
PLUG YOUR OWN SONG
SAYS JOHNNY GREEN
“I was pretty smug about writing
a hit song when I was a sophomore
at Harvard,” said Johnny Green
with a typical grin, “and I still
am. But I’m not the only college
student who ever wrote a good
song. The trick is to know what
to do with it after you write it.”
“I haunted an unknown band
that was playing over a little local
radio station. I kept after that
band until they finally played my
song on the air. It sounded good.
The band started to feature it.
Then a music publisher heard about
it, listened to it, and decided to
publish it. The song was called
‘Coquette.’ The unknown band
was also heard from later. It was
led by a man named Lombardo.”
Johnny was giving his orchestra
a five-minute rest during a re
hearsal for one of his Columbia
“Johnny Presents—” broadcasts.
Johnny didn’t seem to want to
rest himself, although he’d been
doing the work of four men: lead
ing the orchestra, adjusting ar
rangements, playing the piano,
and remembering what notes the
first sax played in the 93rd bar.
In the brief intermission a dozen
details had to be taken care of:
a bandstand arrangements y at a
party where Johnny would play
later in the evening, the piano’s
microphone pick-up, new orchestra
tions for the band’s theme. '
“I must get over a hundred let
ters a week from young people
who’ve written songs and want me
to see about publishing them. Lots
of them are college students. I’d
like to help them, but I just haven’t
got time. No one in the music
business has time to attend to
anyone else’s things; he’s having
enough trouble just with his own
stuff. The thing a college song
writer has to do is go into the
music business for himself . . .
“Impossible? Not at all. There
isn’t a college in the country that
isn’t near a radio station where
some band broadcasts. Every col
lege is near some kind of road
house where a band plays. If you
write songs you’ve got to keep
after those bands—pester them,
talk to them, and finally get them
to try playing your songs. Even
tually, if your songs are any good
at all, they may play them over
some local radio station—and from
then on it’s in the lap of the gods.
By R. B. Pearce
(Pinch-hitting for Bob this week
because of sickness in his family.
Since the grade-point rating was
his idea, we won’t try to classify
“Charlie McCarthy,” Detective” at
all.)
0
In “Charlie McCarthy, Detective”
Charlie not only has the title role,
but he’s a big star. Only fly in
Charlie’s honey is the presence in
the cast of Mortimer Snerd, Ber
gen’s other boy friend, who de
scribes himself as living on a farm
where he is the “chief squirt” in
the dairy. McCarthy thinks of him
only as “an uncouth person, a hick
from the sticks.”
Bergen and McCarthy find them
selves in the midst of a tangled-up
murder mystery; and, besides tor
menting his associates and insult
ing Mortimer Snerd, Charlie finds
time to solve the murder just as
the going gets tough for the hero.
Those who suffered most under
barrage of Charlie’s splintery wit
were Mortimer Snerd, Robert Cum
mings, Constance Moore, John
Sutter, Samuel S. Hinds, Louis Cai-
hern and producer-director, Frank
Tuttle. After Sutton, in playing
the scene had fumbled a line for
the second time, McCarthy turned
to Director Frank Tuttle.
“Frank,” he said, “Let’s rewrite
the script; I’m sure we’re going to
kill the wrong man in the pic
ture.”
An interesting highlight ojt the
picture is that it includes Bergen’s
“hospital act.” The act, one of
the most famous ever performed
by Bergen and his talkative part
ner, has been seen only at the ex
clusive night clubs in America and
abroad and before special audiences
which have included heads of for
eign governments. Charlie goes
to the hospital as a result of stop
ping a bullet intended for another,
as McCarthy is doing a little un
official investigation on the crime.
Robert Cummings, Constance
Moore and John Sutton furnish the
romantic element of the story, with
Cummings as a magazine column
ist, Miss Moore as Bergen’s part
ner in his night act, and Sutton
as Miss Moore’s sweetheart. The
story is unusually sound, and with
Bergen’s inimitable comedy, the
combination produces one of the
top entertainment offerings of the
season.
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Thursday and Friday—
“GOOD GIRLS GO TO
PARIS,” with Melvyn Doug
las and Joan Blondell.
AT THE PALACE
Thursday, Friday, and Sat
urday — “JUDGE HARDY
AND SON,” with Mickey
Rooney and Lewis Stone.
AT THE QUEEN
Friday and Saturday—
“THE INVISIBLE MAN RE
TURNS,” starring Sir Fred
rick Hardwicke and Nan
Grey.
The New Sunbeam
SHAVEMASTER
This Razor Shaves
Closer Than A Straight-
Edge and Faster.
No Interference With
Radios
Only $7.50
THE RADIO SHOP
Opposite Post Office
Bryan
Four bullfighters refused to sail
from Spain to fill contracts in
Venezuela, frankly admitting that
they were afraid, not of the bulls
they were to fight, but of mines
or submarines their ship might en
counter.
CAMERA HEADQUARTERS
MAKE A PICTURE RECORD OF ALL YOUR
WEEK-ENDS OF THE COMING SPRING
«=S3IEH=1GJES=>
Argus, Eastman & Parfex
$2.50 and up
LIPSCOMB’S PHARMACY
North Gate
A COMPLETE IM
OF
UNIFORMS
BOOKS
SUPPLIES
NOVELTIES
THE EXCHANGE STORE
“An Aggie Institution”
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