LIBRARY
DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
VOL. 39 122 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 29, 1940
Z725 NO. 57
Five Most Popular Seniors To Be Selected
Miss Swarthout Arriving at Aggieland
Above is shown Gladys Swarthout, star of radio, screen, and grand opera, as she arrived at Aggie
land last Friday noon for her concert here that night. Left to right are Walter “Sully” Sullivan, stu
dent Town Hall manager; Mrs. T. O. Walton, Miss Swarthout, and President Walton.
Attention Uglemugs! Here’s
Your Chance To Be Famous
Hurry! Contest
For Beauty To
End Sunday Night
Frankenstein, Editors
Ineligible; All Other
Aggies Can Enter Contest
Official announcement of the
rules and regulations pertaining
to the forthcoming Ugly Boy con
test, was made this morning by
Battalion editor Bill Murray and
Battalion columnist and junior edi
tor George Fuermann. Sponsored
by the Battalion column “Back
wash,” first primary of the con
test begins tomorrow and ends two
days later at midnight Sunday.
To facilitate the running of the
contest and to insure fairness
throughout, a commtitee has been
appointed to collect the ballots,
count them, and generally conduct
the election. Don Peterson, Engi
neer senior from Fort Worth, has
been appointed general chairman
of the committee. Assisting Peter
son will be head yell-leader Bodie
Pierce, Jack Bibbs, Dick Pitts, Gat
Garrison, A. D. Toland, Morris
Pettit, Leonard Glaser, Jimmy Rad
ford, George Mueller, Graham Pur
cell, Joe Snow, and Max Melcher.
Ballots, which appear in another
part of today’s Battalion, should
be turned in to the various dormi
tory representatives. These men,
and their room numbers, are as
(Continued on page 5)
She is Really Human Says Sully About
Town Hall’s Star, Gladys Swarthout
“Singing Cadets”
Is New Name Of
Aggie Glee Club
The title, “A & M. Glee Club,”
is no more. In its place, A . &
M.’s highly successful band of
singers in the future will call them
selves “The Singing Cadets” as a
result of the recent name contest
sponsored by the club. The $5.00
prize offered for the winning name
was won by Charles Drumwright
of Bryan with his entry of “The
Singing Cadets.”
Four of the many names sub
mitted were given honorable men
tion by the club in the order nam
ed: “Aggie Men of Song” by J.
O. Bartlet of First Headquarters,
Signal Corps; “Cadet Singers,” by
A. J. Robinson, A Field Artillery;
“The Soldiers of Song,” by James
E. Greer, graduate assistant in the
Genetics Department; and “Merry
Men of Song,” by Mrs. R. H.
Bush, of Bryan.
The selection of the new name
was made by vote of the entire
Glee Club.
By Walter Sullivan
At first, it was surprising to
learn that Gladys Swarthout could
entirely forget her profession for
the sake of talking of such com
monplace things as new makes of
automobiles, the radio, and popu
lar music. More surprising was it
that I could forget while talking
to her that she was the same wo
man who had sung before Con
gress, presidents, and kings . . .
that’s how interesting a conversa
tionalist she is.
In the course of a conversation,
anyone could easily observe that
Miss Swarthout is modest, intelli
gent, and attentive. Also one
quickly finds that the life of an
opera star is no bed of roses, so
to speak, for she watches her diet,
her sleep, and her practice relig
iously. In short, most of the nicer
things that such a life as hers
could afford, she must abstain
from in order to maintain it . . .
and this she does, simply because
she loves to sing.
Most impressive to me was the
firmness and sincerity with which
she grasped our (Steurer, Wil
liams’ and mine) hands just prior
to her boarding the plane for New
York City ... it would take a
much more intelligent person than
I to perfectly express the feeling
transmitted by her handshake.
Just as she entered the plane I
■told Miss Swarthout that I had
never witnessed such a delightful
combination of true singing ability
and beauty as she had presented
to our Town Hall here at College
Station; also, I added that I would
never miss an opportunity to hear
her again. This opinion, I think
is general for all who heard her
last Friday night.
Saddle And Sirloin
Club Initiates 83 New
Members at Meeting
The Saddle and Sirloin Club held
its annual initiation of new mem
bers in the Animal Husbandry
Pavilion last Monday night add
ing 83 new members to the club
roll. All of the new members are
animal husbandry majors while in
the past a number of the mem
bers have been animal husbandry
minors. This number exceeds last
year’s new member enrollment by
9.
Applicants for membership are
required to be in their sophomore
year of an animal husbandry course
and to have paid the nominal fee
of $2.00 to the secretary of the
club.
Club membership before the ini
tiation was 93. Last year’s initia
tion brought in 74 new members.
Sadie Hawkins DeLuxe-That’s
February 29, Leap Year Day
Superstitious ? ? ? February 29-
comes only once* every four years
and we’ve heard or maybe just
imagined that this is the day dur
ing Leap Year that all eligible
men who don’t desire to be hook
ed lock the door to their room,
and to be doubly sure lock the
door to the closet. Incidentally
the eligible is supposed to be in
side of locked portion.
All this brings forth the ques
tion—what is the reason for this
extra day and this “Leap Year.”
It seems that scientists have
proved that the earth does not
revolve in an exact designated
time and revolves only 36514
times each year which every 4th
year completes a cycle and starts
again.
Tradition has it that, though a
■man must ask a woman to be his
wife on three years, every fourth
year brings the woman the pri
vilege of taking matters in her
own way and doing the pursuing.
Thus 1940 sees once again, the
woman taking her pick and choice
and bachelor men on the run
without much chance for woe be
it, if caught, for married life has
no joy to confirmed bachelors.
Clubs have been formed both
for “getting their man” and “to
keep from being caught by wo
men.” You’ve heard, of them—
these Sadie Hawkin’s affairs—
Nevertheless our money is on
the ladies, but our sympathies
are with the men and our hope
is that everybody will be satis
fied with no unhappiness evident
at the turn of the year.
Artillerymen Stage Annual Ball Friday
To Music of Del Courtney’s Orchestra
Season’s First Big
Prom To Be Given
By Field Artillery
Sbisa Hall Decorations
To Carry Out Traditions
Of Field Artillery
Friday night Aggieland will re
sound with the music of the famed
Del Courtney band playing for
the Field Artillery’s sixth Annual
Ball, which promises to be the
greatest this large organization
has yet presented. The dance,
which will be the'first organiza
tion ball of the year, will begin
at nine and last until one o’clock.
The Field Artillery Ball pro
mises to present something new in
the way of band decorations. The
back stand will consist of a large
blue background, which will be
made in several sections with the
center section projecting before
the others. The artillery insignia
of cross cannons will be painted in
gold letters on a five-foot circular
background which will project out
ward from the blue center section
of the stand and will be surrounded
by a circle of light. Above the
center section of the stand will
appear the United States Flag
while on the sides of the band
stand wyi be placed the guidons
of the Field Artillery batteries. The
design of the new stand, which
(Continued on page 6)
MRS. FOURAKER
IS DIRECTOR OF
COTTON PAGEANT
Ladies Store in Houston,
“The Fashion,” Will Present
Style Show for This Year
It has been announced by the
Cotton Ball committee that Mrs.
L. L. Fouraker of Bryan has been
selected by the members of the
Student Agronomy Society to di
rect the Cotton Pageant for this
year. Mrs. Fouraker was born and
Mrs. L. L. Fouraker, director of
the Cotton Pageant.
reared in Bryan and is one of the
Bryan “400” of years past, who
married an Aggie. Mr. Fouraker
is an ex-student of A. & M. and
is now professor of Electrical Engi
neering. Having worked as a
purchasing agent for a large ladies’
ready-to-wear store, she has had
considerable experience as a de
signer, and she should arrange for
an exceptional show.
The theme of this year’s style
show and pageant will be along the
lines of patriotism, according to
Mrs. Fouraker. Among her plans
for the show will be the construc
tion of a mammoth American
flag to be made of cotton bolting
and dyed the appropriate colors.
The flag will cover one entire end
of the gymnasium.
(Continued on page 6)
Kiest Lounge
To Be Open
Over Weekend
Guests Attending Field
Artillery Ball To Use
Newly-Opened Lounge
The new Y. M. C. A. Lounge
in Kiest Hall will be opened Fri
day afternoon at 2:00 o’clock for
the convenience and comfort of
visiting girls and parents attend
ing the Field Artillery Ball, M.
L. Cushion, secretary of the A. &
M. Y. M. C. A., announced Wednes
day.
A hostess will he In charge of
the lounge and the lounge will stay
open all night on Friday and Sat
urday nights for the convenience
of the campus visitors. Maid ser
vice will also be provided so that
complete facilities will be available
for the girls attending the Field
Artillery Prom to dress at the
lounge.
The building will be open until
at least 6:00 o’clock Sunday after
noon and later if the boys need it,
Mr. Cashion stated, and any boy
with a date or whose parents are
visiting him is invited to make full
use of the lounge. A telephone
(College 264) has been installed
and stationery will also be pro
vided for occupants.
Del Courtney (left) and his or
chestra (above), who will play for
the Field Artillery Ball Friday
night and the corps dance Satur
day. Courtney’s band, composed of
young college graduates, is known
for its “Candid Camera” music.
Musical authorities have called it
one of the best orchestras in the
country today.
FRIDAY LAST
DAY TO APPLY
FOR MAY DEGREE
Candidates for Bachelor
And Master Degrees Must
Turn In Applications
Thursday and Friday of this
week are positively the last days
that applications for degrees to be
conferred on May 31, 1940 can be
made. Included in this group are
all candidates for degrees of Bache
lor of Arts, Bachelor of Science,
Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor
of Petroleum Engineering, Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine, and Master
of Science.
The deadline for applicants is
set by college regulations and is
strictly adhered to by the Regis
trar’s Office in accepting degree
applications. All candidates for
degrees in June including graduate
students must make application.
Graduate students are required to
fill out applications with the Reg
istrar’s Office as well as with the
Dean of the Graduate School.
Forms for filing the application
may be secured at the Registrar’s
Office.
Almost 500 students have already
filed applications with the Regis
trar, and more than 600 students
are expected to have done so by
the deadline at 5:00 o’clock Friday
afternoon. Last year 623 students
filed applications for degrees and
595 degrees were conferred.
Degrees will be conferred on
Friday night, May 31, 1940, at the
commencement exercises which will
follow the baccalaureate services
Friday morning. The school year
will end for the seniors with the
Final Review, Saturday, June 1.
Engineering Society Shows
What It Takes For A Dance
By George Fuermann
With two hundred and fifty per
sons in attendance, Jack Little
john’s better-than-ever Aggieland
Orchestra, and a bevy of Texas
beaux and belles, the A.S.C.E. pre
sented A. & M.’s only engineering
society prom at their annual func
tion last Friday night.
Previously labeled as the col
lege’s first engineer-society ball,
history shows that the A.S.C.E.
was equally as progressive twenty-
five years ago because, as late as j
1915, the organization held an an- ;
nual prom. Formerly they were |
held in the drafting room of the !
Civil Engineering Building, but |
the advent of the World War call
ed a halt to the function. Now,!
however, it’s to be an annual af-1
•fair for all civil engineering and
engineering administration stu
dents.
But 1940’s prom was head and
shoulders above any which the
A.S.C.E. had previously been re
sponsible for. With a specially im
ported group of Sam Houston State
Teachers College coeds, T.S.C.W.-
ians, and local feminine-kind, the
land-measurers and cut-the-rug,
put-your-foot, and just plain danc
ed from ten until one.
And the decorations were what
you might have expected from
civil engineers. Transits, levels, and
plane tables abounded in every
nook and corner, and the orches
tra played in front of a back
ground which featured the emblem
(Continued on page 6)
SEE INSIDE FOR UGLY BOY, POPULAR SENIOR BALLOTS
Ballots For
Contest In
This Issue
Senior Ballots
Must Be In By
Friday Afternoon
Balloting is to take place today
and tomorrow in the selection of
the five most popular seniors on
the Aggie campus. This contest
is held each year under the aus
pices of the editors of the The
Battalion and the Longhorn.
Ballots to be used in the selec
tion are printed in another part of
this Battalion. Seniors are request
ed to fill in their choice of the five
most popular seniors and to give
the ballots to their first Sergeants.
The first sergeants will turn the
ballots in to be handled by a
committee appointed by Senior
President F. M. “Max” McCullar.
The winners will be announced in
a later issue of the Battalion. They
will each receive a full page pic
ture in this year’s Longhorn, as
has been the custom in the past.
Only graduating seniors will be
allowed to vote in the election,
and only graduating seniors will
be eligible to receive this honor.
Seniors should name on their ballot
in order the five men whom they
consider to be the most popular
members of their class.
All graduating seniors are be
ing urged to cast their ballots and
turn them in before the deadline
so that the vote may be as repre
sentative as possible. The opinion
of each member of the class is
necessary to choose the truly most
popular member.
Last year the most popular sen
iors were: Owen “Slick” Rogers,
captaip of the football team; Bob
Adams, executive officer of the
corps and senior class president;
Dick Todd, twice All-Southwestern
halfback; Beal Hargrove, King of
the Cotton Ball and manager of
the Entertainment Series; and
Hub Aston, chief yell-leader.
These selections and those of
past years have shown that the
Aggies selected have been the
most prominent students on the
campus. Each year the most popu
lar students have received the
highest acclaim and honors from
the faculty and their fellow stu
dents durftig their school life here.
A.& M., T.S.C.W. Meet
In Conflict! Don^
Worry—It’s Debating
A. & M. debaters Mayo Thomp
son and Don Gabriel will enter
a wordy conflict with feminine rep
resentatives of the Texas State
College for Women at Denton de
bating team on the field of the
Physics lecture room at 7:30 Fri
day night.
The subject, Resolved: That the
U. S. should follow a policy of
strict economic and military iso
lation toward all nations outside
the western hemisphere engaged
in armed civil or international con
flict.
This is the first time debating
teams from the two schools have
met for a number of years. A. &
M. will pay a return engagement
on March 15 to Denton.
The audience will be the judges
for the debate.
CLUB RESERVATIONS
IN LONGHORN MUST BE
PAID FOR BY MARCH 15
According to a decision of the
Longhorn Staff, all those respon
sible for club pictures must pay
the balance due for their Long
horn picture space before March
15. This is the absolute deadline
if the picture is to appear in the
1940 Longhorn. However, it is
preferred that the payments be
made as soon as possible so that
an estimate can be made of the
number of pages that these pic
tures will require, but payments
will be accepted until March 15.
Payments may be made to D. H.
Watson in room number 106, Dor
mitory 10.