THURSDAY, FEB. 29, 1940-
JVhy Do You Do Like You
Do?.. History Has the Answers
By Bill Murray
What do you really know about yourself?
Whence come the customs that are so ingrained in your nature that
they govern your actions, your beliefs, even your clothing?
You might be surprised to know that some of our familiar gestures
come down to us from ignorant savages who were more nearly apes
than men, and others from the gallant knights of the Age of Chivalry.
For instance, do you know why-f-
April Fool’s Day is our day for
jokes ? . . . Well, it all started back
in 1564, when Charles IX of France
decreed that the New Year should
begin January 1st instead of April
1st. Those who objected to this
change became the butt of many
jokes, some of which have come
down to us today. The French call
ed the persons they fooled “poisson
d’avril,” meaning “an April fish,”
or a young fish, easily caught.
Why does O.K. signify approval?
... It was October 6, 1790, when the
expression was first so used. On
that date Andrew Jackson “proved
a bill of sale, which was O.K.”
in the court records of Sumner
County, Tennessee. The probable
source of the expression is the
Choctaw word “Okeh,” meaning “It
is so and in no other way.” Today
dictionaries recognize this custom
ary expression for showing approv
al as a part of our language.
than 500 years ago in the city
of London, bakers were required
by law to give an extra loaf with
each twelve that were sold. Thus
the customer was assured of get
ting full value and the baker avoid
ed the risk of being fined for
short weight. From this old law
comes the present-day “baker’s
dozen” meaning thirteen.
Who started this custom of shav
ing, and why? . . . Although the
earliest instance of shaving is not
known, as early as 300 B. C. Alex
ander the Great made shaving a
universal custom among his Mace
donian soldiers. Long beards, he
observed, were too convenient for
the enemy. The Persians had a
distressing habit of grabbing a sol
dier by the beard and neatly slic
ing off his head. So Alexander’s
men were ordered into battle minus
their whiskers.
We don’t light “three off a
match.” Why? . . . During the
Boer War (1899-1902) the British
soldiers started the custom of
avoiding three lights from one
match. They found it dangerous
enough to light ONE cigaret at a
time, foolhardy to light TWO, and
to light THREE was sheer suicide.
Three lights gave the Boer sharp
shooters time to set their sights
and fire. Today the custom still
persists.
When meeting you “shake
hands.” Why? . . . Before the
dawn of history, one of man’s
most natural customs had its be
ginnings in a simple gesture. By
dropping his club or stone war
ax and extending his empty hand,
primitive man showed that he was
unarmed and peacefully inclined.
From this crude manner of inspir
ing confidence in early times comes
our handclasp of today.
Many people call their wages
“salary.” Why? ... In the early
days of the Roman Empire, salt,
then a rarity hard to obtain, was
regarded as being almost as valu
able as gold. Roman soldiers re
ceived all or part of their pay
in salt. This salt stipend was term
ed “salarium,” whence comes our
present-day word “salary” mean
ing pay for services rendered.
Of course, you wear a band on
your hat. Why? . . When Knight
hood was in flower it was con
sidered a gallant gesture for a
knight to wear his lady’s scarf
on his helmet when he sallied forth
to perform deeds of valor. From
this custom and that of the ancient
Egyptians of wearing a head-band
to keep their hair in place, comes
the band on men’s hats, an accepted
style of today.
You wear buttons on your coat
sleeves. Why? .... Frederick the
Great (1712-1786) took great pride
in the appearance of the Prussian
army. To stop the men from
wiping their faces with their
sleeves, the soldier-king had a row
of buttons sewed on their uniform
sleeves. From this old custom,
therefore, comes the present style
of sewing buttons on men’s coat
sleeves.
A “baker’s dozen” means thir
teen. How come? . . . Well, more
Brazos County Day
At Flower Show To
Be Sat., March 2
Saturday, March 2, has been
chosen as Brazos County Day at
the National Flower and Garden.
Show in Houston, according to an
nouncement made by Mrs. L. L.
Fouraker, chairman of the local
flower committee, and Mrs. C. B.
Campbell, hostess for Brazos Coun
ty Day.
ARE YOU READY?
. . . FOR THE FIELD ARTILLERY BALL AND
THE CORPS DANCE SATURDAY . . .
WE HAVE CORSAGES and BOUTONNIERES
STUDENT FLORIST
(Trade With Your Fellow Students)
— —
SPECIAL
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Market
Brisket Stew or Soup Meat, 1 lb.
Loin, Round and T Bone Steak, 1 lb.
lowana or Banquet Bacon, 1 lb.
Pork Chop or Roast (End of Loin) 1 lb.
Vegetables
Wine Sap Apples, 1 doz.
Texas Oranges, Nice Size, 1 doz.
Fresh Carrots, 2 bunches
Lettuce, large heads, 2 for
Cabbage, hard, 3 lb.
New Potatoes, 3 pounds
Avocados, 2 for
Groceries
Quaker Puffed Wheat, 3 boxes .20
Corn Kix, 2 for .25
Libby’s Pineapple Juice, 3 cans .22
Trappey’s Cut Stringlee Bean, No. 2, 3 for .25
Concentrated Super Suds, 2 P. O. soap .25
Peaches, large halves, No. 2‘/2 -15
Libby’s tomato juice, 3 for .22
Yacht Club Corn, white or yellow, 2 for .25
Armour’s Corn Beef, large .19
Ideal Dog Food, 3 cans .23
Oriole Peas, No. 2 can .15
Admiration Coffee, 1 lb. can .25
Admiration Coffee, 3 lb. can .74
Pineapple, sliced. No. 2 can .15
WE WILL HAVE A FULL LINE OF FRUITS
AND VEGETABLES
ALSO FISH, OYSTERS, SHRIMP, FRYERS
AND HENS
LUKE'S
We Deliver Phone 44 & 242
15
30
25
18
15
15
05
09
10
.10
.17
THE BATTALION
PAGE 3
Something Snappy in Football Fashions Back in 1894
Above is the first Texas Aggie team ever to play the University of Texas, the giants of 1894. Shown in the picture are Dr. Charles
Puryear (wearing derby), then faculty manager and now dean emeritus; F. D. Perkins (holding ball), captain and co-captain; Harry Jordan
(in cadet uniform with cane), team manager; R. W. Burleson, John Burney, William Krug, J. L. McGonagill, J. C. McNeil, H. Chiles,
W. G. Mossenberg, H. F. McDonald, W. Lane, Milton Simms, H. Martin, C. Carson, M. McMillan, and J. Childress.
DAIRY TEAMS
PRACTICE FOR
JUDGING CONTEST
The Dairy Cattle Judging Team
spent the past weekend do
ing practice work at the Keep
Jersey Farm at Buda, at Hilde
brand’s Rio Vista Farm at San
Antonio, and at the Luling Founda
tion Farm at Luling. This work is
preparatory to the Intercollegiate
Dairy Cattle Contest to be held
at the Southwestern Exposition
and Fat Stock Show at Ft. Worth
on March 11. The team is com
posed of J. K. Adams of Tulia,
C. F. Baird of Carrollton, B. B.
Fowler of Rockwood, E. L. Pierce
of Goldthwaite, and N. B. Yarling
of Rosenberg. Professor A. L.
Darnell, coach of the team, ac
companied the boys on the trip.
The Dairy Products Judging
Team is also preparing for these
contests, which will be held at
Ft. Worth on Tuesday, March 12.
This team is trained to judge
milk, butter, ice cream and cheese.
The members of the squad are
Jack Calhoun of Sherman, H. L.
Dalton of Mt. Pleasant, G. F.
Hagler of Joshua, D. F. Erwin of
Ft. Worth, H. R. Sloan of Denton,
and N. B. Yarling of Rosenberg.
Professor A. V. Moore is coach
of the Dairy Products Team.
Mathematics Club To
Be Organized Here
Dean Gibb Gilchrist
Speaks in Oklahoma
“The Engineer’s Complex” was
the subject of a talk made by Dean
Gilchrist of the" School of Engi
neering before the Oklahoma A.
& M. Chapter of the American So
ciety of Civil Engineers in Still
water, Oklahoma, Monday even
ing.
Educator Reports
Gains of American
Schools During ’39
CINCINNATI, Ohio. — Nearly
one-fifth of the full time enroll
ment now in American colleges and
universities is represented in the
119 institutions in the east-north-
central states of Ohio, Indiana, Il
linois, Michigan, and Wisconsin,
according to Dr. Raymond Walters,
president of the University of
Cincinnati and nationally-known
statistician in the field of college
attendance figures.
Full-time students in this area
represent an increase this year of
3.18 per cent, well above the na
tional increase of 2.7 per cent, Dr.
Walters reported in his twenty-
first annual survey of enrollment in
648 colleges and universities.
Throughout the nation there are
873,697 full-time students as
against 822,891 last year and 1,-
323,874 grand total, including part-
time and summer students—1.8
per cent more than last year’s
1,259,973.
The country’s largest universi
ties are California, where 26,004
full-time students rank it first in
this classification and 31,932 stu
dents rank it second in grand
totals; and New York University,
where 12,745 full-time students
rank it sixth in this classification
and 36,880 students rank it first
in grand totals.
The state of North Dakota re
ported a gain of 11.64 per cent in
full-time students, the largest per
centage increase in the country.
At the other extreme is the state
of New York, reporting a percent
age loss of 1.99 but maintaining
its first-place rank in collegiate
population with 96,967 full-time
students.
Examining national trends, Dr.
Walters states: “Of special inter
est is the measure in which inde
pendent colleges of arts and
sciences give evidence of enroll
ment recovery. ,
“The attendance of 236,915 full
time students in 401 such colleges
is 3.4 per cent larger than last
year. This exceeds the gam of
2.5 per cent recorded by 55 uni
versities under public control hav
ing 275,458 full-time students and
the decrease of 1.3 per cent in the
184,766 students attending 51 uni
versities under private control.
“As to freshmen entering upon
libei'al arts courses, the independ
ent colleges likewise recorded a
gain over the universities. Engi
neering freshmen show by far the
most significant increase, 34.1 per
cent.
“The largest full-time gains are
7.8 per cent in 71 teachers colleges
and 6.5 per cent in 48 technological
institutions. As to geographical
distribution it may be said that en
rollment increases are widespread.”
Bedouins of Northern Sinai Include from One to Three
Wives Among Their Few Possessions, Seldom If Ever Work
An Aggie Tells of His Adventures in the Near East
(Editor’s note: This is another-f
in a series of stories dealing with
the trip taken by two Aggies—
John Pranglin and the writer, A
C. Bassett—through Europe and
the Near East, to do geophysical
work for an oil company in Egypt.)
•
By A. C. Bassett
Nov. 15, 1938
We are now camped in the
purely sand dune country of north
ern Sinai, near the Palestine bor
der. Our camp is located among
the date palms on the shore of the
Mediterranean and it makes us
feel that we are wintering at a
winter resort. We have a fine
beach and it is still warm enough
for swimming and doubtful that
there will be many days when it
will be too cold.
The country in this area is very
difficult to work; one huge sand
dune follows the other for miles
and miles. The dunes slope up
gradually for a quarter of a mile
or so arnd then drop on the leeward
side for as much as 100 feet. This
drop is made at about a fifty-
degree angle. We are able to tra
verse this country in cars equipped
with doughnut tires by gaining as
much speed as possible on the
gradual “up-slope” and plowing
through the soft crest. As the car
drops over the crest onto the steep
down-slope it causes a small land
slide in the soft sand and rides it
to the hard surface at the bottom—
and on to the next one to repeat
the procedure. It’s fun and quite
a thrill as you come over the crest
but a little dangerous.
And believe it or not, this wil
derness of sand is inhabited by
tribes of Arabs known as Bedouins.
Webster defines the Bedouin as
“a desert dweller; a nomadic Arab”
—and take it from me, he is a
nomad “from way back.”
Breaking into the notes here
but my interest in the Bedouin lat
er prompted me to attempt an
article on his life and it ap
propriately fits in at this point
It follows in part:
Unlike the oil exploration clan,
the Bedouin does not call on the
modern outside world for a helping
hand in his subsistence but lives
on what he finds and produces in
the desert. It is believed he can
live on a few crumbs of bread and
a cup of goat milk per day.
The average Bedouin’s posses
sions are a donkey or a camel or
both, a small herd of goats, one of
two half-tent windbreak affairs
woven from mohair, a half-dozen
chickens that lay pea-sized
years, he plants or supervises the
planting of a small patch of grain,
The soft sand is plowed with a
crooked stick shaped like the beam
of a walking plow but havings only
one handle. The plow is drawn
by a donkey or a camel. After
sowing by hand, he never touches
it until harvest, if there is one. It
is rumored that he inwardly hopes
there will be none as it would re
quire more work. It appears that
prosperity means absolutely noth
ing to him, whether he eats well
or not at all does not seem to con
cern him in the least.
The Bedouin’s food consists of
bread, eggs, goat milk, coffee, and
dates in season. The bread is
principally a mixture of flour
water, goat fat, and salt. This
mixture is poured directly upon a
hot bed of coals and covered with
the same. After it’s cooked, the
ashes and sand are knocked off
by a slap of the hand, leaving an
ample supply of grit to make it
almost inedible for an ordinary
man.
The Bedouin’s coffee is far dif
ferent from any known to the
average American. The coffee
bean is toasted very crisply and
then put into an earthen jog and
crushed to a powder with a blunt
wooden pin. This powder is boil
ed in water and drunk, dregs and
all.
The Bedouin, both men and
women, are small of stature. The
majority of the men are less than
five feet, ten inches tall. A few
of them are trimly and huskily
built but on the whole they are
scrawny and undeveloped.
The men dress in a long gown
of rather heavy-weight cotton
cloth, a headdress consisting of a
scarf draping over their head and
thrown back over their shoulders
This scarf is kept in place by a
double-cord band having the same
effect as a hoop and canvas over
a water barrel. His shoes, if any
are sandals. For no apparent rea
son, he usually carries a sword or
hunting knife, though he has very
little use for either.
The small stature of the women
is about as far as the casual ob
server can comment on their physi-
Texas U. Making
Plans for College
Boxing Tournament
Plans are being made for a
Boxing Tournament for college
boxers to be held in Austin, prob-
eggs ably March 19 and 20. The tour-
(the only size egg that any chick-' ney is being sponsored by the
en in Egypt ever lays), and from Longhorn Boxing Club of the Uni-
one to three wives. Beds, chairs versity of Texas, with the support
or any other form of furniture is of its Faculty Committee and the
unknown to him. As for cooking Longhorn Band, and will be con-
utensils, he may have a bucket ducted under intercollegiate and
for brewing coffee and a small
skillet.
It seems that the one fortunate
enough to have two windbreaks
keeps one wife along with his
camel and chickens in one, and
another wife along with his
state regulations.
All capable and eligible boxers
in Texas colleges and universities
are invited to participate in the
contest. As the tournament will
be conducted under intercollegiate
rules, only amateurs whose physi
cal condition is certificated will be
donkey and goats in the other.
The Bedouin very seldom if ever eligible.
works. His wives or children herd ;
the goats over the almost bare Exactly 91 per cent of the Con-
desert and fetch the water from cordia College (Minn.) student
the nearest bir or oasis. In rainy. body are Lutherans.
cal appearance. They dress in a
long black gown and are very
heavily veiled. The most fitting
description of the Bedouin Arab
woman still is, five yards of black
cheese cloth that has sprouted legs
and one eye.
It was surprising to me to find
a people living such a miserable
existence in this modern world of
ours, but they seem quite con
tent with their lives. The Bedouin
is hopelessly lacking in ambition or
initiative. He absolutely refuses
to work, not even to build a mud
hut for shelter or construct a
small dam to catch water so that
his wife would not have to make
long journeys for a small bag of
water.
He lives a very devoted life
facing Mecca innumerable times
daily and saying his prayers. He
seems to be only marking time in
this world and waiting his calling
to the next one of divine happiness.
There will be a meeting of all
students interested in forming a
Mathematics Club at A. & M.,
Thursday at 7 p. m. in room 212
of the Academic Building, Robert
Reed Lyle, instructor in the de
partment, has announced.
The purposes of the club will be
to foster interest in questions con
cerning mathematics, to discuss
advances and problems of the
mathematical sciences, and to car
ry on other such activities as the
organizers wish.
All those interested in finding
out more about the formation and
purposes of the club should see Mr.
Lyle. ,
A Good Hair Cut
“We
Know
How”
Y.M.C.A. Barber
Shop
In Old “Y”
foWf|j/ig
JUST AROUND THE CORNER
Here comes spring . . . and Easter’s only three
Sundays away! Let us order you the clothes the
well-dressed man has adopted as classics for the
season ahead. They’re styled right and they’re
priced right.
AGGIE CLEANERS