CIRCULATION 5,500
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
VOL. 39 122 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 4, 1940
Z725 NO. 83
Support-Local-Theater
Movement Enters Fourth
Big Week at Aggieland
Stay-at-Home Campaign Started To Get
First-Run Pictures; Bryan Is Sufferer
From the Thursday, May 2 Issue of The Dallas Morning
News, By Staff Correspondent Walter C. Hornaday
(Editor’s note: The following reprint from Thursday’s Dallas
Morning News is one we consider accurate and fair, on the whole).
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 1.—The 6,000 students of Texas
A. & M. College have entered the fourth week of a stay-at-home, save-
your-money campaign in .a movement to obtain a moving picture show
on or near the campus showing first runs equal to those of Bryan.
The students, who are staying-'
with the movement almost to a
man, carefully refrain from term
ing it a boycott, but Bryan mer
chants, admitting they are losing
business, declare the effect is the
same.
Uniformed cadets, who were
found on the streets of downtown
Bryan by the hundreds the after
noon and night before the “strike”
started, are a rarity now.
Students keep softball diamonds
on the campus in constant use dur
ing the afternoon instead of go
ing to Bryan. Businessmen in
Bryan claim the students would
like to come to town for their rec
reation, but their ranks so far
have held firm.
Not Directed at Merchants
Durward B. (Woody) Varner of
Cottonwood, cadet colonel and cam
pus leader, said the stay-at-home
movement is not directed at the "the Y.M.C.A., costing 15c, or less
merchants, but only at the three
movies in Bryan, all owned and
operated by Mrs. M. Schulman,
who, he said, has refused to fur
nish the college with first-run
movies on or close to the campus.
“We’re going to stay on the cam
pus until we get first-run shows,
whether it takes two weeks, two
months, or two years,” said Var
ner, who will be valedictorian of
his class in June. “We are saving
money and making better grades by
sticking on the campus.”
The move was voted by the sen
ior and junior classes at a meet
ing April 7. It was said then that
students spent $64,000 a year with
the Bryan shows, compared with
$14,000 at the show on campus
operated by the Y.M.C.A., using
second-run films. Bus and taxi
fares to and from Bryan have cost
the students $52,000 a year, it was
said.
Leaders in the move have figured
that each student spent an aver
age of 15c in Bryan when he went
to town to a movie in addition to
the show admission price. Bus or
jitney fare is 10c each way, and
the movie costs 35c. Students
have available a show operated by
when coupons are purchased, but
this show must wait forty-five
days after the pictures have been
shown at Bryan.
The Battalion, college newspa
per, printed long stories and edi
torials when the boycott first was
decided on, calling on the Aggie
(Continued on page 4)
College Station’s Newest
Addition, ‘Campus’, Opens
Highlights of Press Club Banquet
president; Bill Becker, vice-president; and A. J. Robinson, secretary of the 1940-41 Press Club.
Upper left: E. L. Angell, Manager of Student Publications and Students Activities, receives a gift
presented by members of the Press Club. Presenting the gift is George Smith, out-going president of
the Press Club. Mrs. George Wilcox is seated in the foreground.
Lower left: Inspecting the gift are, left to right, Mrs. Wilcox, Mrs. Angell, Charlie Hamner, Mr.
Angell, E. B. “Chic” Sale, and Larry Wehrle.
Outstanding Veterinarians Appearing At
A. & M. This Spring in Series of Lectures
Dr. M. G. Fincher Dr. Frank Breed Dr. E. F. Schroeder
Management Opens Theater Without
Ceremony; Feature Opens Program
Thursday night saw another step in the march of progress of
College Station with the opening of the new $65,000 theater, the Cam
pus, which, for its first performance, was filled to capacity.
The management of the Campus avoided the pomp and ceremony
that usually accompanies an opening of this sort and instead slipped
quietly into the regular program of the theater.
The opening of the show, entirely'
eliminating a stage program, was
very brief. The proceeding was
begun by the playing of two re
cordings of Aggie songs and yells
which were made at an Aggie
football yell practice by W. A.
Owens, of the English Department.
Following the recordings and pre-
ceeding the show a specially pre
pared trailer of Aggie interest
was run as an introductory ele
ment which explained the policy
of the Campus theater.
The refrigerating unit of the
theater was not in operation Thurs
day night due to the failure of a
small part of the machine to ar
rive on time, however, the system
is working in perfect order at
the present time.
At the midnight show Saturday
the Campus will feature the show
“His Girl Friday”. The manager of
the Campus said, “It is my aim to
keep working until I secure for
College Station pictures that are
both first run and First Class.”
NO CORPS DANCE
TONIGHT
There will not be the cus
tomary Saturday-night corps
dance tonight, May 4, because
of the large number away
from the campus this week
end, social secretary Charlie
Hamner has announced.
Welfare Committee Endorses Principle
Of Plan To Distribute Jobs More Evenly
Local Movie Campaign Also Up for Discussion;
Varner Restates Purposes, Expresses Confidence
The Student Welfare Commit-ftion is a point system; the points
tee, composed of representative j are determined by the amount of
members of the faculty and the stu. I work required for a position and
dent body, at its monthly meeting I th e importance it carries; and no
Thursday evening, voted unani- | student may be permitted to carry
mously to endorse in principle the more than 10 points,
plan lately proposed by the Stu- The point system originally rec-
dent Activities Committee of the ommended had as the highest
college, whereby student positions | number of points the cadet colonel,
would be more evenly distributed j Battalion and Longhorn editors,
among the students. with 10 each, and took in all stu-
The recommendation from the dent positions in a scale descend-
Activities Committee, originally j mg; to 2.
proposed by a group of seniors | Th<
headed by Cadet Colonel D. B. ! purp«
Varner, states its purpose as to Comi
distribute the various student jobs : the
and activities among as many stu-1 the maitex
dents as possible, and at the same j committee appointed
time prevent any one student from j Dean F. C. Bolton, consistin fe
having more to do than time will j D. W. Williams, faculty chairman;
permit. The basis for the limita- (Continued on page 4)
Yesterday marked the close of the second of three series of lectures given in the School of Vet
erinary Medicine by prominent veterinarians from several of the outstanding colleges in the country.
Dr. M. G. Fincher appeared April 20th to April 22nd and was followed by Dr. Frank Breed from April
22nd to May 3rd. Dr. E. F. Schroeder will start his ten-day lecture series on May 6.
Dr. M. G. Fincher, professor of
veterinary obstetrics and in charge
of the Ambulatory Clinic, College
of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York,
gave a series of lectures and dem
onstrations on diseases of dairy
cattle April 20th to April 22nd.
He also included discussions and
demonstrations on sterility and
artificial insemination. From A.
& M. Dr. Fincher, who is on sab
batical leave from Cornell, went
to the college of veterinary medi
cine at Ohio State University on a
similar assignment.
★
Dr. Frank Breed, who is a grad
uate of Cornell University, is the
director of the Norden Labora
tories for preparation of biologies
for the prevention and treatment
of diseases of farm and pet ani
mals and poultry at Lincoln, Ne
braska. From April 22nd to May
3rd he lectured with accompanying
•♦■demonstrations on diseases of swine.has given lectures and demonstra-
which included swine erysipelas,
swine typhoid, hog cholera, swine
plague, and influenza of swine.
His discussions included labora
tory diagnosis and preparation and
use of chick vaccines, particularly
for prevention of equine ence
phalomyelitis.
★
Dr. E. F. Schroeder, an ex-Aggie
of the class of ’05, will start his
series of lectures on surgical and
medical treatment of pet animals
on May 6. An outstanding special
ist on the fracture of bones, he
has designed special appliances and
Rockefeller Board
Gives Scholarship
To Joe Slaughter
Joe Slaughter, son of Dr. and
Mrs. S. B. Slaughter, of Bryan,
has received word that he has been
awarded a Rockefeller Foundation
Research Scholarship by the Foun
dation Board in New York City.
Slaughter is now attending the
Graduate School of the University
of Iowa.
In 1937 Slaughter received his
Faculty’s
Last Dance Is
Monday Night
Come one prof, come all ... .
and wear your lightest duds!
The last faculty dance for the
current session will be held in the
Sbisa Hall banquet room Monday,
May 6, from 9 to 12 p. m., Faculty
Club president Walter S. Flory
has announced. The date has had
to be advanced over that previous
ly announced because of student
demand for the banquet room.
This dance will be the spring in
formal. It is suggested that very
informal sports wear be the dress
keynote, with sports clothes of
any type being worn, and slack
suits for men, cotton dresses for
ladies, or any other very cool at
tions before orthopedic surgeons
and veterinary organizations in
many states. At the present Dr.
Schroeder is the chief veterinarian
at the Angell Memorial Hospital
in Boston, Massachusetts, an en
dowed institution which is the larg
est of its kind in the world.
Born in Industry, Texas, in
1886, Dr. SchroedAr graduated from
A. & M. in Animal Husbandry in
1905 and was a member of the
first stock judging team here. Aft
er graduating he managed the
Clifton Ranch in Waco for three
years before entering the College
of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio
State University from which he
graduated with the class of 1911.
He practiced in Boston, Massa
chusetts, and in Harrisburg, Ohio,
before joining the Angell Memor
ial Staff in 1924.
bachelor of science degree from A.
& M. The two following years he I tire> be j ng qu jte satisfactory. The
was a graduate student assistant wear j ng 0 f sports clothes is merely
and in 1939 he received his master a suggestion, Mr. Flory states; and
of science degree. He has now al- jf f or an y reason it is more con-
most completed a year’s work tow- ven i e nt to attend in other attire,
"'ncr the idea and I ard his Ph.D. degree. members may do so.
' - Welfare The scholarship which Slaughter A]1 staf f members of the college
th I has been awarded is a very high | are being cordially invited to at
tend and bring their friends. A
large number of couples are ex
it provides adequate remuneration pected, and the best faculty dance
for continuation of his chosen of the season is in the offing, it is
work. declared.
mnor. It does not require that the
"<? student change his field of work.
EX-CONVICT MILLS
SPEAKS BEFORE
AGGIE AUDIENCE
Bill Mills, a Texas convict for 25
years from Emory, Texas, spoke
before ^n audience of A. & M. stu
dents at Guion Hall Friday night
in an effort to bring to the boys
relevant information concerning
the State Prison System.
Dressed in striped denham cov
eralls that he wore in the peniten
tiary, Mr. Mills made a striking
figure, and he made a striking im
pression upon members of the au
dience when he displayed a mur
derous appearing whip called a
“bat” that was and is still used by
prison officials as a means of pun
ishing offenders.
Mr. Mills said he was innocent of
his first and last crimes, but that
he took the “rap” for a friend the
first time. He emphasized the ne
cessity of keeping one’s reputation
clean, because, as he said, a con
vict has a very poor chance of
convincing a jury that he is inno
cent of a repeated crime.
Staley and Beck Elected
Junior Yell-Leaders For
1940-41 School Session
Over 700 Members of the Sophomore
And Junior Classes Present At Meeting
Skeen Staley, engineering student from Witchita Falls, and Bill
Beck, agricultural student from Pecos, were elected junior yell-leaders
for 1940-41 at a joint meeting of the junior and sophomore classes
Thursday night.
Jim Borden, Ed Allen, J. O. Alexander, and Billy Davis were the
remaining members of the six candidates aspiring for the office. The
Tuesday Last
Day for Senior
Banquet Sales
Tuesday will be the last day
that money may come in for the
Senior Banquet to be held next
Friday night, according to senior
class President Max McCullar and
social secretary Charlie Hamner.
The deadline has to be established,
the class leaders said, in order that
the mess hall may be advised def
initely of the number of couples
to prepare for. Money should be
turned in to McCullar, by 5 p. m.
“The biggest and best ring dance
and banquet of them all is the
goal of this year’s function,” class
officers said, and “work is prog
ressing steadily to insure seniors
and their dates a great time in
this event of all events for A. &
M. men.”
9
Russ Morgan, who sports a
high hat and tails nowadays, will
be on hand to furnish music for
the banquet and ring dance. Russ
at one time was an ordinary guy
who hardly sported more than a
miner’s cap and dungarees.
For Russ is inordinately proud
of his background as a Scranton,
Pa., coal digger. His dad was a
mine foreman, and a darned good
one. Moreover he was a musician
—drummer with the leading local
band. His mother was a pianist
too, with his father, they had play
ed vaudeville before the mines
presented the latter a more sub
stantial sort of a living.
■six candidates had previously been
selected from a field of twelve
sophomores, who had submitted
their names by petition to be con
sidered for the post, at a meeting
of the sophomore class Thursday
of last week.
The results of Thursday’s elect
ion are as follows:
Skeen Staley 467
Bill Beck 367
Ed Allen 225
Jim Borden 146
Billy Davis 103
J. O. Alexander 101
(Continued on page 4)
MATH CONTEST
PRELIMINARIES
HELD THURSDAY
Preliminaries in the Mathemat
ics contest were held Thursday
night at 7:30 in the Academic
Building. In the contest, which
is sponsored annually by the Math
Department, there were 30 fresh
men and 50 sophomores participat
ing.
Three prizes are being offered
to the winners of the contest. The
first and second place winners will
receive watches, while a prize of
ten dollars goes to the third
place winner.
The twenty students receiving
the highvst grades in the prelims- -»
nary examination will take the
final exam Thursday night, May
16th, at 7:30 in the Chemistry
Lecture Room. These students
selected to take the last test may
substitute their score on the final
test as their semester exam grade
in Math 104.
Naturally enough they were in
terested in a musical career for
their son. However, there had to
be a succession of cave-ins, ex
plosions, and the deadly black damp
of the mines before he got his
first whack at a musical job—that
of pianist in a Scranton movie.
ENGLISH CONTEST
FILING DEADLINE
IS THIS MORNING
It was dollars earned there that
bought his first trombone which
he shortly carried “blind baggage”
into Philadelphia where two inci
dents of importance were to be
fall him. He knocked off a job
in Paul Specht’s Orchestra and
won a radio commercial.
(Continued on page 4)
NEXT YEAR’S T
CABINET HOLDS
FIRST MEETING
The Y cabinet for next year had
its first meeting Monday night,
April 29, in the Y chapel, where
Preston Bolton, newly elected pres
ident, and M. L. Cushion, general
secretary of the College Y, talked
to the new members and discussed
plans for next year.
For its first activity, the club
Today marks the final dead
line in which entries for the Eng
lish Contest, sponsored by the
English Department, may be filed.
No entries will be accepted after
10 a. m., regardless of the reasons
for delay in filing.
The contest will be held May 9
in the Library classroom between
6:50 and 9:30 p. m. According to
Dr. George Summey Jr., head of
the English Department, the ex-
amination will consist of a gener
al vocabulary test, course questions
on material in English 104, 207,.
210, and 232, and will include high
value questions that will test the
student's ability to organize and
develop short papers, with enough
options in subject matter to allow
for differences of training and
special interests.
Those students that participate
in the contest are invited to attend
the Mathematics-English Contest
dinner Tuesday, May 21, tickets
for which will be furnished without
charge.
members are going to Bastrop on
Saturday, May 4, where they will
enjoy swimming, a steak dinner,
and hear a talk by Block Smith,
the head of the Y at Texas Uni
versity. About 40 members are ex
pected to make the trip. The group
is scheduled to leave from the front
of the Y at 1:00 on Saturday and
return about 10:30 the same night.
The newly elected officers for
the club during the coming year
are Preston Bolton, president; Paul
Haines, executive vice-president;
Tom Richey, social vice-president;
Paul Egner, secretary; and Fred
Smitham, treasurer. At the meet
ing, members were asked to select
the committees on which they would
like to work next year. There will
probably be about two more meet
ings this year to complete the or
ganization so that next year’s cab
inet may begin work as soon as
school starts.
Major Irvin To Be
Transferred To
Fort Oglethorpe
Army orders have been issued
from Washington to the effect that
Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Weeks,
Cavalry, at Fort Oglethorpe, Geor
gia has been transferred to Col
lege Station. The Military Depart
ment at A. & M. College has re
ceived no word as yet about the
time he will arrive here.
Lieut.-Col. Weeks will take the
position which has been held the
past six years by Major W. R.
Irvin, who will go to Fort Ogle
thorpe at the end of school.
Major Irvin has been senior in
structor of the Cavalry unit at A.
& M. College.