THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1940-
THE BATTALION
PAGE 5
Firemen’s Training School Here Has
Helped State Save $10,000,000 Yearly
believe,-f to
It may sound hard to
but a $20,000 appropriation made
by the State Legislature in 1931
is returning Texas property own
ers a saving of approximately $10,-
000,000 a year in preventing fire
loss, and at a cost of about $4,000
annually.
That appropriation was made for
the equipping and operation of the
Firemen’s Training School at Tex
as A. & M. College, and the bulk
of the original money was spent
for fire-fighting apparatus and oth
er permanent equipment. The $4,-
000 annual cost is spent for the
salary and expenses of field in
structor G. F. Williams, who spends
about ten months of each year tra
veling throughout Texas instruct
ing fire departments in the latest
and approved methods of fire-fight
ing and fire prevention, according
to H. R. Brayton, director of the
school, sponsored by the A. & M.
Department of Chemistry ' and
Chemical Engineering.
School Organized
The training school was organiz
ed under Prof. Drayton’s guidance
in 1929 and the first annual Fire
man’s Training School was held in
1930, when 76 cities sent 196 men
LA SALLE
HOTEL
BRYAN, TEXAS
100 Rooms - 100 Baths
Fire Proof
R, W. HOWELL, Mgr.
Class ’97
attend the course. It has grown
annually, until last year 269 cities
were represented and approximate
ly 600 firemen took part in the
training.
It was not until 1933, however,
and after the appropriation men
tioned had been made, that the
work was extended to the field.
Cities sending representatives to
the course received a three percent
reduction in their key rate, provid
ing the existing rate is not twenty
cents or lower.
Figures Compiled
Figures compiled by Prof. Bray
ton show that between $40,000 and
$50,000 in reduced fire insurance
premiums is saved by Texas prop
erty owners each year, with more
than $300,000 saved since the es
tablishment of the school, through
1937.
The savings reported do not show
the improvement which has been
made in fire-fighting methods,
Brayton explained. “In 1931 the
fire loss in Texas amounted to
over $17,500,000,” he said, “but in
1937, after seven years of training
school instruction, the loss was
only about $7,500,000. The fire loss
ratio compared to insurance pre
miums was 75 percent in 1931 but
last year it was only 34 percent,”
he added. Meanwhile insurance pre
miums have shown considerable re
duction in addition to the three
percent key rate reduction.
Prof. Brayton’s report shows that
the Texas fire loss for the five-
year period ending in 1932 totaled
about $81,000,000 as compared to
a similar period ending in 1937,
which showed a total of almost
$38,500,000 destroyed through fire.
This reduction may be attributed
in a large measure to the training
given the firemen at the school.
Success of School
“I attribute the success of the
training school, not only to the in
creased efficiency of the firemen
themselves, but to the fact that we
have made Texas citizens fire-pre
vention-conscious,” Brayton con
cluded.
Cost of operation of the annual
school is paid by nominal registra
tion fee of $12 charged those en
rolling and covering their room,
meals and instruction while at the
college for six days.'
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
CONGRATULATIONS
We hope your choice of schools will be Texas A. & M.
College - The Home of the Aggies
Aggie Jeweler for Half a Century
CALDWELL’S JEWELRY STORE
Bryan, Texas
\N'' 11
EVERYONE
IS GOING
TO
/"■in
COLLEGE COORTS
COFFEE SHOP
Good food and service go hand and hand.
We excel in both. We furnish you and your
dates with dinner and supper party menus
that anticipate your every wish.
ACROSS FROM THE COLLEGE COURTS
College Station 20 Years Ago - - - And Today
A
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hk
These two photographs graphically portray the growth of College Station. Above is shown the entire
North Gate 20 years ago. Below is a section of the North Gate today.
College Station Is Fastest Growing
City For Its Size in State of Texas
By Bill Clarkson
Until last year College Station
was considered just a community
five miles south of Bryan and the
home of A. & M. College. However,
since its incorporation in the spring
of 1939, College Station has en
joyed the feeling of being a
“grown up” city in its own right.
It can now compete with Bryan in
population during the regular
school sessions and before long will
be able to compete equally with
Bryan in business enterprises.
College Station is known as the
fastest growing city in Texas. Dur
ing the past four years its gains
have been almost miraculous.
The residential sections of Col
lege Station are districts of which
any city would be proud. The sect
ions include the homes on the cam
pus and the several surrounding
additions including College Park
and Oakwood, oldest residential
districts, rapidly growing; College
Hills, College View, and the Boyett
Addition. The newest of these ad
ditions is the restricted College
Hills Estates which was opened
last spring and already has a large
number of modern cafes and bus
iness houses.
The thriving business center of
College Station is located at the
northern end of the A. & M. cam
pus, better known as the “North
Gate” to both students and towns
people. It consists of cafes, drug
stores, grocery stores, confection
eries, tailors, cleaning and press
ing establishments, shoe repair
shops, men’s furnishing^, jewelers,
photographers, barber shops, a den
tist and a post office. Recently a
new $65,000 theater has been add
ed to the many business establish
ments at “the Gate”. It has a seat
ing capacity of 628 people and
has the most modern movie equip
ment obtainable. The other theater,
located on the campus, is the As
sembly Hall, sponsored by the Col
lege Y. M. C. A.
The modern Aggieland Inn, lo
cated at the heart of the A. & M.
campus, is the only state-owned
hotel in the Union. Many tourist
courts, located on the highway bor
dering the east side of the campus,
are also available for visitors.
Churches of all denominations
are located around the college cam
pus. A beautiful Methodist church
and student center have been plan
ned and are to be erected as soon
as sufficient funds have been se
cured. A new Episcopal chapel was
completed in 1939 and is located
in College Park at the south end
of the campus.
The Battalion newspaper, al
though put out by students of the
college, serves as a combined col
lege and city paper. When College
Station became incorporated, it
was designated immediately as the
official city newspaper. The paper
is run entirely by students except
for the actual printing, which is
done by the modern College Print
Shop.
■f" Not to be outdone by other cities,-f-of the best in the country, as it is
99.9714% free of minerals, as com
pared to the high mineral cotent of
the “old” water.
College Station has its own radio
station, W.T.A.W., which broad
casts the Farm and Home Program
six days a week and also broad
casts the “Aggie Clambake”, a
student program, on Friday after
noons. The studios are located in
the College Y. M. C. A.
Among the many improvements
around College Station in recent
months is the new water supply,
which comes from wells a few miles
north of the city of Bryan. This
new water supply is considered one
College Station has its mayor,
city council, police officers, traffic
laws, city ordinances, just as any
other city*. It could not lay claim to
these appurtenances before last
year. Neither could it boast of the
modern business sections several
years ago that it has today.
College Station is definitely “on
the up-and-up”, a center for college
students’ and college people’s trade.
College Museum a Valuable Adjunct In
Teaching of Biological Sciences Here
In 1937 Dr. O. M. Ball retired,
from active duty with the Biology
Department after thirty-four years
as its head. He became first cura
tor of Francis Museum. The foun
dations for the museum collection
of plant and animal fossils had been
laid through a lifetime of coopera
tion between Drs. Mark Francis and
Ball. Although the museum is sep
arately organized, it serves as a
most valuable adjunct to biological
instruction at A. & M. College.
Upon the retirement of Dr. Ball,
Dr. C. C. Doak was appointed head.
Under him regular staff members
and graduate assistants instruct
about 1,500 men in all phases of
life science. Zoology, botany, gen
eral biology, bacteriology, plant
physiology and plant diseases are
.only a few of the special phases of
plant and animal science taught by
experts in these fields.
The department is housed in the
Science Hall, which underwent
some renovation in the past year.
Much new equipment and many
models and other teaching aids
have been added.
The department performs its
greatest service in teaching the
foundations of the life sciences to
men entering agriculture but also
gives work to premedical students,
biology teachers, and who who wish
to enter applied phases of biology
work.
You eat between 92 billion and
126 billion ergs (yes, ergs, not
eggs) every day.
School of Arts and Sciences Performs
Varied Services for Numerous Groups
The thirteen departments of the
A. & M. School of Arts and Scienc
es serve the students in the tech
nical curricula of the college by
providing instruction in the basic
sciences and mathematics and in
those phases of general and civic
education essential to life in a cul
tured democratic society. More
than a dozen years ago it became
apparent that by proper selection
and organization of work offered
to meet the needs of such students,
curricula leading to degrees in the
liberal arts and in sciences could
be provided also for students de
siring such training in the college.
As a result, the School of Arts
and Sciences is now serving large
groups of students who are seeking
general training for business;
others who are preparing for the
study of medicine or law; others
who are specializing in geology,
•biology, or the other sciences; and
still others who are preparing to
teach academic lines in high school
or college. The number who look
to A. & M. for such training has
increased rapidly in recent years.
The outstanding enlargement of
the service of the School of Arts
and Sciences in the past year has
been the expansion of the courses
in business law offered by the De
partment of Economics. To make
this possible, Dr. P. L. Gettys, a
Texan who was for some years a
professor of law in the University
of Oklahoma and in Temple Uni
versity, Philadelphia, was added
to the staff of the department. His
courses are of importance not only
to the economics majors and stu
dents in agricultural administra
tion, but to students of petroleum
engineering and engineering ad
ministration.
CONGRATULATIONS
Mr. Graduate...
No matter what you may expect to do or where you
may go .. . Look and Feel your best
The right kind of clothes will play an important part
in your business or professional life. Good clothes will
turn your disposition sour or sweet—make your am
bition slump or soar. Come in and let us show you how
to make “an investment in good appearanoe” that
will pay big dividends.
Kuppenheimer and Griffon Clothes
Stetson and Knox Hats
Bostonian Shoes
Arrow Shirts and Ties
Arrow and B.Y.D. Underwear
Knothe and B.Y.D. Pajamas
Hickok Belts and Jewelry
Gantner Swim Suits
Interwoven Socks
ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
Prospective Aggies are cordially invited to visit
our store when in Bryan. Visit our Uniform De
partment where you’ll find a complete stock of
regulation uniforms and equipment. Aggie Belts
and Buckles, Pennants, Stickers, etc.
7 t X
WIMBERLEY STONE DANSBY
\-j T±y
CJ,OUKl£RS
BRYAN
GREETINGS TO HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
For 21 years we have been making uniforms
for A. and M. Students. The symbol of “Made
By Mendl & Hornak” has become one of dis
tinction and satisfaction on the campus.
We invite all High School Graduates entering
A. & M. next fall to come in and see our high
quality uniform. All work is guaranteed.
Mendl & Hornak
UNIFORM TAILOR SHOP