He Plays Here This Weekend
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Del Courtney, leader of the nationally-known orchestra whose
“Candid Camera Shots in Music” will delight dancers at the Field
Artillery Ball Friday night and the corps dance Saturday.
Del Courtney Band
Plays for Artillery
Ball, Corps Dance
Popular Band Is Made Up Entirely Of
College Grads; Played Here Last Year
Del Courtney, the “Candid Cam--
era Music” man, will be in town
next weekend for a two night
stand, covering the , Field Artil
lery Ball and the Saturday night
corps dance. He and his orchestra
played for the Senior Bing Dance
last spring and proved to be one
of the best liked orchestras that
had played in Aggieland for quite
a while. Guy Lombardo has term-
it “one of the outstanding bands
of the present day.”
Del has thirteen men in his band,
and likes to open and close on the
13th—says it’s lucky as far as he’s
concerned, and from the number of
times his band has been held over,
he should know.
The orchestra is probably the
most unique one in the country,
being made up entirely of college
graduates. Some of the members
graduated from St. Mary’s Uni
versity in San Francisco and the
rest are graduates of the Univer
sity of California at Berkley, where
Del graduated himself. His band
is quite a versatile aggregation,
with a Romeo in the singing
guitarist, Jimmy Turner, and a
star crooner in the talented saxo
phonist, Sherman Hayes.
Del’s musical career began as
soon as he attained sufficient
height to reach the keyboard of the
piano. Being the son of a musical
family, he gave most of his time
and energy to music, playing in
his public school and high school
bands and other orchestras, and
majoring in music at St. Mary’s
University, a school better known
for its football teams. He later
transferred to the University of
California, where he received his
A. B. degree in 1932.
Instead of teaching music, the
profession for which he was pre
pared, he organized an orchestra
made up of classmates from both
his alma maters. Due to the de
pression and the large number
of popular dance bands in the
country at the time, his new or
ganization had little chance to
survive. After several unsuccess
ful engagements the band broke
up and scattered over the country.
Del reluctantly began to teach
music, but after one semester
rounded up his old members and
was back in the dance business
again. This time they were lucky
and were booked for a few weeks
at Oakland’s Athens Club where
they remained for a year. Since
then his orchestra has played in
most of the leading cities in the
country and also in Honolulu,
where he remained for twenty-two
weeks.
Animal Husbandry Prof Is Head Of
Swine Division of S. W. Exposition
F. I. Dahlberg is a member of-
the younger generation that is
taking over the reins in the live
stock industry. At the age of 36,
he is beginning his second year
as superintendent of the swine de
partment as the Southwestern Ex
position and Fat Stock Show, to
be held in Fort Worth, March 8-
17.
Dahlberg deserted the cotton
sack, the hoe, and the cultivator
for livestock when he was a boy.
Bom at Hutto in 1904, he moved at
the age of three with his parents
to a cotton farm near Taylor; but
young Dahlberg preferred to work
his hogs, chickens, cattle, mules
from boyhood.
He arrived at the conclusion
early in life that the central Texas
section should raise more livestock
and less cotton. He hasn’t chang
ed his mind to this day.
After graduating from the Tay
lor High School, Dahlberg receiv
ed his B. S. degree from Texas
A. & M. in 1925, majoring in ani
mal husbandry. He was a member
of the junior livestock judging
team that judged at the Fort
Worth Stock Show in the spring of
1924. In the fall of the same
year he was a member of the sen
ior team that competed at the
American Royal Livestock Show
in Kansas City and the Interna
tional Livestock Exposition in
Chj Btidurso
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farr- ... colock at Texas Tech
nological College from 1925 to
1927, when he returned to his
schooling and received his M. S.
degree in animal husbandry at
the University of Wisconsin.
After teaching science and voca
tional agriculture at Taylor for
eight years, Dahlberg returned to
Texas A. & M. where he is now
assistant professor in charge of
the swine division of the Depart
ment of Animal Husbandry.
The Battalion
VOL. 39 PHONE 4-5444
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY MORNING, FEB. 27, 1940
Z725 NO. 56
Most Popular Seniors To Be Selected
****** ****** ****** ****** ******
Lamar, Kilgore Win Junior College Debate Tourney
A.&M.
Sophs,
Fish,
Also
Tie for First
Annual Debate Meet
Attended by A. & M.,
Four College Teams
Kilgore Junior College, Lamar
Junior College of Beaumont, and
a sophomore-freshman team from
A. & M. carried off honors in the
Second Annual Junior College De
bate Tournament held here Friday
and Saturday.
The A. & M. team and Lamar
tied as first affirmative teams, and
Kilgore won the position of first
negative team.
Representing A. & M. were Don
Gabriel and W. O. Cowder; Lamar,
Nadalon Tassin and Patricia
Pierce; Kilgore, Raymond McDuff
and James Crook. The victorious
Lamar team was the only girls’
debate team entered in the tourna
ment.
E. E. McQuillen, secretary of the
Former Students Association,
stressed the importance of intel
lectual intercollegiate activities in
announcing the results at the final
dinner given the visitors Satur
day noon in the banquet room of
the old mess hall.
“Athletes get the glory from
their activities in representing
their colleges, but those of you
who engage in mental activities
get the gravy. An athlete may get
more medals, cups, and-so-forth,
but after he has completed his
activities, he must live in the past;
those who engage in activities such
as debating are equipping them
selves for a fuller life in the years
(Continued on page 4)
Gladys Swarthout Sings Up to Expectations
Before Delighted Audience of Over 2,000
MARCH 1 LAST
DATE TO APPLY
FOR A DEGREE
Friday, March 1, is the last date
on which applications for degrees
to be conferred on May 31, 1940,
can be made, according to H. L.
Heaton, Assistant Registrar. This
date is set as the deadline by col
lege regulations, and those stu
dents who are expecting to gradu
ate should, therefore, attend to this
matter at once. Forms for filing
the application may be secured in
the Registrar’s Office.
Approximately 450 applications
have been turned in thus far, Mr.
Heaton said.
By George Fuermann
“Best concert of the year,” “The
loveliest singing star I’ve ever
heard,” “One of the most enjoyable
evenings I’ve spent this year.”—
thus ran the comment of Aggies
and civilians alike as they left
Texas A. & M. Town Hall’s fourth
program this year, the Swarthout
concert.
The lovely and gracious star of
the Metropolitan Opera, the con
cert stage, the screen, and radio
didn’t let the Aggies down. She
was as beautiful and sang as well
as they were led to believe by
advance publicity. Before an en
thusiastic audience of 2,000 persons,
Miss Swarthout concluded her cur
rent six-thousand-mile, eight-
month concert tour.
“I was terribly pleased with the
unique and enthusiastic Aggie
ovation,” Miss Swarthout said.
Even more specific was her ac
companist, Lester Hodges. “Nev
er in my twenty years of concert
experience have I seen such an en
thusiastic and spontaneous recep
tion as the cadets gave us tonight
—and we liked it more than we
can possibly say.” Miss Swarth
out went on to say that, “The won
derful audience we had tonight was
responsible for whatever success
the concert enjoyed.”
Asked if she knew that A. & M.
was the home of the nation’s na
tional championship football team,
she smilingly replied, “I should say
I do. My husband, Frank Chap
man, is quite a football fan and
took a great interest in the Aggies
when he learned that I was to
sing here.”
“Your campus is swell,” Lester
Hodges declared. “Frankly, we
didn’t expect to find such a tre
mendous institution as this,” he
added.
Her concert at A. & M. was
not Miss Swarthout’s first concert
at an all-male college as she has
-4-sung at Colgate and several other the best liked of the opening
Eco Seniors Soon To
Make Inspection Trip
All seniors who are candidates
for degrees either in June or Au
gust, who are majoring or minor-
ing in economics and desire to go
on the annual inspection trip for
economics students, are notified to
get in touch with instructors I.
G. Adams or R. L. Elkins of the
Department of Economics at once,
it has been announced.
Engineering administration stu
dents who do not go on any other
inspection trip are also eligible
to go on this one.
Fourth Annual Sophomore Ball
Saturday Night Was Big Success
By George Fuermann
(Editor’s note: A story relating
to Friday night’s successful A.S.
C.E. Ball will appear in Thursday’s
Battalion.)
•
Twenty-two hundred persons—
Aggie sophomores and seniors, T.
S. C. W.-ites of all classes, girls
from Texas-at-large, and guests—
were among those present at the
most successful of Sophomore Balls
Saturday night.
Two hundred strong were the
belles from the Aggies’ Denton
sister school; 130 of them arriv
ing in three specially chartered
buses. And they were all with one
accord when it came time to leave
—“Gee, we hate to go,” they said.
So there isn’t much argument
as to the great success of the
sophomores’ fourth annual hop.
Aided and abetted by its attractive
songstress Dorothy Thames, Jack
Littlejohn and his Aggieland Or
chestra were tops as the class of
’42 presented its number one func
tion of the year.
"fry Filsinger, Bill Wilson, Tom
Gillis, Bob McLara, and E. S.
Ddll. Sophomore qlass officer's
are Willard Clark, president; Tom
Gillis, vice-president; E. C. Bell,
secretary; Alden Cathey, historian;
and David Shelton and Jeff Bell,
student welfare representatives.
Sophomore representatives, who
were largely responsible for the
success of the prom, include Gene
Copeland, James Boudreaux, Ro
land Bing, Bill Wilson, B. C. Bra
dy, M. E. Krug, Erwin Naborney,
Alden Cathey, Gordon Grote, Hen
ry Filsinger, Dick Hervey, T. P.
Callier, M. L. Brenner, Bob Rus
sell, George Ogdee, J. B. Hancock,
T. E. Buck, Paul Knapp, Chip
Brannon, Paul Egner, Hugo
Thompson, Terry Thrift, Tom
Sparks, and Albert White,
Bill Vivian, J. O. Alexander, H.
E. Eberhard, Jack Holliman, F. J.
Hess, Frank Bird, Jack Forman,
Sonny Stroebele, Louis Tregre, A.
J. Bohuslab, Otis Bolton, Fred
Ashford, Bob McLam, Louis Byrd,
Leroy Brown, J. D. Saunders,
The dance’s committee chairman James Rivenbark, Raymond Read,
included Alden Cathey, Jack For-. R. V. Derrick, Johnny Goble, Har
man, Paul Egner, David Shelton,; ry Spencer, Ken Terrell, T. L.
Gene Copeland, Roland Bing, Hen- j Holloway, and J. T. Nev.
men’s schools.
Leaving the campus Saturday
morning, Miss Swarthout went to
Houston where she boarded an air
plane bound for New York. Ar
riving there, she will immediately
begin preparations to reenter the
Metropolitan Opera for the first
time in two years. Her first role
will be the lead in Bizet’s “Car
men” on March 15. She will also
appear in Thomas’ “Mignon” and
other roles not yet decided upon.
•
Miss Swarthout opened her con
cert with a typical Handel num
ber, “Lascia ch’io pianga” from
his opera “Rinaldo.” Then came
Scarletti’s lively “Tu lo sai.” Con
cluding the first group were two
early English numbers, the slow,
sentimental “Come Again Sweet
Love” by Dowland and Arnold’s
“Hist, Hist,” which was probably
group.
The second portion of the pro
gram consisted of the elaborate
aria from Thomas’ opera “Mignon,”
“Connais tu le pays.” A popular
and well-loved excerpt from grand
opera, this number was one of the
most difficult but well-executed
portions of the program.
Returning to the stage again,
Miss Swarthout sang three simple
French folk songs arranged by
Jacques Canteloube. The first
was “Passo pel Prat” (Come by
the Fields); and the second, the
lively “Malorous qu’o uno fenno”
(Unhappy He Who Has A Wife),
received the best ovation of the
entire concert. The third of the
French folk songs was a lullaby,
“Brazairola.” Then came Grana
dos’ “El Majo Discreto” which
proved to be another very popu
lar number. Concluding the third
(Continued on page 4)
“Gone With The Wind’’, Screen Epic
To Open at Palace Theater March 13
By Bob Nisbet
What is the biggest thing done
this year by the movie people ?
Certainly there is only one answer
to that question, and that is the
production of “Gone With The
Wind.” More big news is that
it is to appear at the Palace Thea
ter in Bryan for one whole week
beginning Wednesday, March 13.
According to Mrs. Schulman of
the Bryan Amusement Company,
the film has been definitely con
tracted and is to take the place
of “The Grapes of Wrath,” which
had been booked for that date.
Prices will necessarily be raised
to $1.20 for reserved seats at night
and $.75 for afternoon shows.
There will be no reserved seats in
the afternoon matinees.
At last the voluminous thousand-
page book by Margaret Mitchell
has been filmed for ~ public con
sumption, but if the book was a
long book, the show is a longer
show. The full-time regular run
last three hours and forty minutes.
Strangely enough, however, it is
neither hard on the eyes nor hard
on the nerves. So interesting is
the show that the time element is
lost in the turmoil and confusion
of Sherman’s march through
Georgia.
The most outstanding feature of
“Gone With The Wind” is its utter
faithfulness to the book from
which it was taken. As one crit
ic put it, it was put on the screen
commas, semi-colons, and periods
intact. This is quite a phenomenon
for the makers of the movies, and
►seems to justify its exceeding
length.
Another good point about the
show is the almost perfect casting
of characters. Public and produc
ers alike were unanimous in choos
ing Clark Gable to play the part
of Rhett Butler, and he does it
as no other actor could. The part
of Scarlett O’Hara required two
years to cast, dozens of actresses
of fame and prominence having
their try. When at last the deci
sion was made, it was discovered
than an almost unknown English
actress, Vivian Leigh, had been
chosen to play the part of the re
nowned Southern belle. An Eng
lish actress play the part of a
Southerner? Impossible! But not
so impossible as might have been
thought. Since the picture has been
released, Miss Leigh has been ac
claimed by many as a sure bet to
win the Academy Award trophy
for outstanding acting perform
ance. No better choice could have
been made for the meek, blond
Ashley than Leslie Howard. He
even looks the part. And Olivia
(Continued on page 4)
Today’s Your Last Chance
To Drop or Add a Course
The final date for adding new
subjects and for dropping subjects
without a grade this semester has
been extended to include today,
Tuesday, Dean F. C. Bolton has
announced.
Subjects dropped after 5 p. m.
today will carry a grade of “F”.
Aggies’ Little Southwestern
Five Men To
Be Chosen In
Battalion Poll
Graduating Seniors
Only Allowed Votes
By Billy Clarkson
The five most popular seniors
of the class of ’39 will be deter
mined this week by means of a
poll held under the auspices of The
Battalion and the Longhorn.
Only graduating seniors are al
lowed to vote in this election. They
will be asked to name five men
whom they think are the most
popular among their class.
Ballots, on which the choices are
to be filed in, will be printed in
Thursday’s Battalion. The first
sergeants in each organization will
collect the ballots and turn them
in to Max McCullar, senior class
president, not later than Friday
noon, February 29.
A committee will be appointed
by McCullar to count the ballots
and announce the names of the win
ning five. Each of these men, as
has been the custom every year,
will receive a full page in the 1940
Longhorn.
Voting on last year’s most popu
lar five was lighter in this election
than in those of many years past.
Less than 20% of the senior class
voted. The Longhorn and The
Battalion editors urge that all sen
iors take part in the election and
fill out their ballots, to make the
voting as representative as possi
ble. This is of the utmost import
ance, as the five men to be elect
ed are announced as the choice of
the senior class and not just of a
limited few.
The five most popular seniors
elected last year were Owen (Slick)
Rogers, captain of the football
team; Bob Adams, senior class
president; Dick Todd, A. & M.’s
All-Southwest halfback for two
years; Beal Hargrove, King of the
Cotton Ball and Entertainment
Series manager, and Hub Aston,
chief yell-leader.
In looking back on past selec
tions, it appears that the opinion
of the seniors as to the five most
popular men closely parallels the
opinion of the entire student body.
This is shown by the fact that the
men chosen have received various
other honors at A. & M. both from
the faculty and the student body
during their school life here.
1
Above are officials of the Texas Aggies’ own “Little South
western” livestock show held here last week. Standing left to right
are D. W. Williams, head of the Department of Animal Husbandry;
Jack Turner, manager of the Silver Creek Farms near Fort Worth
and cattle judge for the local event; Rufus Peeples of Tehuacana,
head judge; Roy Snyder of the Extension Service, horse judge; and
J. P. Heath of Argyle, sheep judge. Kneeling is freshman John Holt
of B Infantry, named champion fitter and showman, with the fat
lamb with which he won the championship.
Sheep-Goat Short
Course To Be Held
Here During March
The Animal Husbandry Depart
ment is making plans for a one-
day Sheep and Goat Raisers Short
Course, which is to be held on
March 4.
Several important men in this
phase of the livestock industry
will speak on the care, feeding,
and marketing of sheep and goats.
Dr. R. D. Turk, veterinarian
with the Experimnet Station, will
discuss sheep and goat internal
parasites, particularly stomach
worms. J. M. Jones, chief of the
Division of Range Animal Hus
bandry here will talk on sheep
feeding. W. R. Nisbet, of the Ex
tension Service, is to discuss the
handling of Angora goats for the
different sections of Texas. L. F.
Aston, of the Midwest Wool Mar
keting Association of Ft. Worth,
will talk on the grading and mar
keting of wool.
No Plays Submitted—So,
No Play, Says Spriggs
Because of the fact that no plays
were submitted for the Aggie Play
Contest, Professor C. O. Spriggs
of the English Department has
announced that there will be no
Aggie Play produced this year.