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DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
the Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
YOL. 40 122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, SEPT. 21, 1940
Z725
NO. 3
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Existing Records Broken As Enrollment Reaches 6.057
New Laundry Is Latest
Addition To Aggieland
Equipment, Housing ■
Worth Over $100,000
Work on A. & M.’s new laundry
is completed and they are now
ready to carry out a modern blitz-
kreig on dirt. The laundry, locat
ed just back of the armories and
to the side of the power station,
was begun last May at a cost of
$70,000.
The new plant is of the same
general design as the new dorm
itories with adequate space and
including every modern conven
ience for the employees. It is
equipped with modern attic fans
and overhead heating systems.
Purchase of the $38,950 worth
of new equipment makes it one
of the best equipped plants in the
Southwest. A new shirt unit has
been added that will turn out
100 shirts per hour. The six shirt
units in use will handle better than
20,000 shirts in forty-four work
ing hours thus assuring the Aggies
of the best in shirt service.
Mr. G. P. Ayers, manager, stat
ed that better rough-dry work
would be turned out due to the ad
dition of several new drying tumb
lers. The mending department has
also been enlarged. A new 500
lb. washer has been added to the
ones already in use.
Fourteen new presses for work
on the new Bombay slacks have
been installed bringing the total
to twenty-eight. All pressing ma
chines are operated by compressed
air and are of the latest design.
Mr. Ayres stated that all laund
ry will be turned in at the stations
and that none will be accepted at
the laundry. There will be a limit
of twenty-three pieces. In a bundle
there will be a limit to 4 shirts,
2 pants, 3 polo shirts, and 1 cover
alls. Shirts may be substituted
for pants but not vice-versa. Extra
bundles may be sent for 55c. If
laundry stub is lost another may
be secured at the laundry for 5c.
See official notices for complete
laundry schedule and prices.
Dept, of Chemical
Engineering Now
In Pet. Building
The newest addition to the field
of engineering at A. & M. is the
Department of Chemical Engin
eering which came into existence
this past summer as a result of
a report made by the administrat-
tion department relative to the con
ditions which prevailed under the
former combined Department of
Chemistry and Chemical Engineer
ing that made it impossible for
the latter to become accredited by
the Engineer’s Council for Pro
fessional Development unless it
became a separate and independ
ent department.
All equipment and machinery
was moved from the Chemistry
Building to the rear of the Pet
roleum Engineering Building under
the supervision of Dr. J. D. Lind
say. The space assigned to the
new department consists of three
floors which were formerly oc
cupied by the Engineering Exten
sion Service laboratories. All ex
perienced work which had pre
viously been done by the extension
service will be undertaken in the
future by the chemical engineer
ing students.
Dr. C. C. Hedges, former head
of the combined departments of
Chemistry and Chemical Engin-
needing, will be the head of the De
partment of Chemistry in the
School of Arts and Sciences under
the new plan.
Professor F. F. Bishop will con
tinue his duties as Associate Pro
fessor of Industrial Chemistry in
the new department. Professor |
Bishop conducted the cottonseed
oil short course for the cottonseed
oil mill operators in the summer
school this year.
(Continued on page 5)
Fish Prepare To Start - Senior Begins the End
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Fish Class Responsible
For the Big Increase
College Night Has Biggest
Attendance In History
‘Buster’ and ‘Foots’ *
Preside Over Meeting
The largest cadet corps in the
history of Aggieland met in front
of the “Y” Thursday night to give
the freshmen class their first taste
of what yell practice is like. After
the regular routine of quieting the
freshmen College Night was offi
cially started by senior yell leaders
“Foots” Bland and “Buster” Keet
on, and their junior assistants Bill
Beck and Skeen Staley.
The corps was presented with
President T. O. Walton, who wel
comed the students back for an
other year. Cadet Colonel William
Becker gave a short talk, and A.
& M.’s new commandant, Col.
James A. Watson was enthusiasti
cally received by the corps.
As a climax came the presenta
tion of Homer Norton, his coaching
staff, and the number one football
team of 1939. A noticeable thing
at the yell practice was that all the
leaders and speakers urged the
corps not to be over-confident be
cause of last year’s success. Coach
Norton stated that “In order to re
main victorious the team will have
to be fifteen per cent better than
they were last year.” He said the
team reported this year in the best
physical condition that they have
ever been in, and will continue their
policy of taking each game as it
comes and looking forward to no
“Bowl” games.
After running through the Aggie
yells and songs with the 216 piece
band and implanting some school
spirit in the fish the largest yell’
practice ever to have been held
was dismissed.
Attorney General
Visits A.&M. In
Unofficial Capacity
Attorney General Gerald Mann
paid a visit to the A. & M. campus
Friday. Mr. Mann’s visit was strict
ly unofficial and the day was
spent by the attorney general in
specting and familiarizing himself
with the teaching personnel of the
various departments in the School
of Agriculture.
Mr. Mann was particularly in
terested in the work of the Dairy
Husbandry Department. A detail
survey was made of the arrange
ment of courses and the teaching
staff in that department.
2,500 Post Office
Boxes Rented
More than twenty-five hundred
post office boxes have been rented
here during the past week by stu-
Industrial Engineering Curriculum
Is Only One in the United States
Establishment of a curriculum-fthe Harvard Graduate School of
of Business.
An honor graduate of Texas A.
& M., Neff received his Mechanical
Engineering degree in 1928.
After several years in professional
work he attended the Harvard
Graduate School of Business for
(Continued on page 5)
in industrial engineering, not of
fered anywhere else in the United
States, has been announced by
Dean Gibb Gilchrist of the School
of Engineering.
Heading the department will be
Judson Neff, graduate of Laredo
high school, Texas A. & M., and
The contrasted moods caught by
the photographer during registra
tion are shown in the adjoining
pictures.
Above, the freshmen get fitted
out in their cuff less Government
Issue slacks and blue-lapeled blous
es. Waiting in long lines has tired
them considerably, but they are
glad to be almost through.
At the left, the senior has his
boots polished for the first time.
Note the look of concern on his
face as the Negro shine-boy ap
plies the deft strokes of his trade.
The senior in the picture is Tommy
Williams of Dallas.
McDowell Appointed
Vice-Director of Ag
Experiment Station
While those lazy 1940 summer
days were drifting by, a former A.
& M. student climbed to a higher
rung on the ladder of success. He
was C. H. McDowell, graduate in
the class of 1912.
Mr. McDowell was formerly as
sociated with the Agricultural Ex
periment Station before he receiv
ed notice of his appointment as
Vice-Director of the Agricultural
Experiment Station last August..
He succeeded P. C. Mangelsdorf
who resigned to accept a position
at Harvard University.
Mr. McDowell has worked and
experimented in four of the princi
pal farming regions of Texas and
has established himself as an or
ganizer and manager.
First identified with the Experi
ment Station in 1917, at which time
he was Superintendent of the Den
ton Station, he resigned in 1922 to
accept a position on the Taft Ranch.
In 1930 he was appointed Super
intendent of Substation No. 16 at
Iowa Park. Here he placed the af
fairs of the station on a substan
tial basis. Since 1937 Mr. McDowell
has held the position of Superin
tendent of the Blackland Experi
ment Station at Temple.
Junior R0TC
Physical Exams
Will Be Sept. 23
Physical examinations to deter
mine the physical fitness of the
applicants for enrollment in the
first advanced course ROTC will
start Monday, September 23, 1940,
at the College Hospital. All stu
dents who have been enrolled for
junior military science will be ex
amined. Lists designating the time
that the individual students will
report to the college hospital will
be posted on the bulletin boards
opposite Room 101, Academic
Building. Insofar as possible stu
dents will be ordered to the hos
pital at times when they do not
have classes. It is believed that
the number of contracts that will
be available will be somewhat less
than the number of applicants.
Therefore every applicant is urged
to get his physical examination at
the time scheduled. The War De
partment has also set a limited
time for the Military Department
to determine how many and who
will be given contracts and delay
in obtaining or failure to obtain
the physical examination on time
may be cause for not being award
ed a contract.
Under the present regulations
those students enrolled in the ad
vanced ROTC under contract will
be paid each quarter of a fiscal
year at the rate of $0.25 per day
for commutation of subsistence. In
addition members of the first ad
vanced course (juniors) will re
ceive $29.00 commutation of uni
form. This is paid through the col
lege in the summer following ini
tial date of enrollment. Second ad
vanced, or seniors receive $7.00 paid
in a like manner.
Enrollment Will Be
Nearly 12% Larger
A total of 6,057 had completed
the registration procedure by
Thursday night, according to fig
ures issued officially by Registrar
E. J. Howell. This represents an
increase of six hundred and fifty
over the number, 5,407, who had
enrolled by the same time last year.
Reasons for the tremendous in
crease is due mainly to an un
usually large enrollment of new
students. Complete figures for the
entire registration are not avail
able yet however, but up to this
date the freshman class is show
ing a large gain over last year.
By the time registration for the
semester is completed approxi
mately 6,600 students will have en
rolled, according to an authorita
tive estimate by Mr. Howell. This
figure which represents a percent
age increase of 12 per cent over
the previous total enrollment of
6,066 students will be a new peak
in enrollment at A. & M.
Two thousand and sixty-four of
the students are housed in the old
dorms, two thousand, six hundred
and thirty-six are living in the new
dormitories, six hundred and fifty
in the project houses on the cam
pus, and the other students are liv
ing off the campus here and in
Bryan. All dormitory room reser
vations were taken up almost a
month before school started. Due
to the overcrowded conditions here
at College Station, boys have been
permitted to remain in project
houses and college approved res
idences in Bryan or other places
outside the campus as was done in
past years.
Complete figures were not avail
able for classes and the various de
partments, due to increase enroll
ment. So far all departments have
shown a decidedly increase over
the enrollment at this date last
year.
Guard House To Be Moved To Ross
Hall; 0. D.'s To Sleep There At Night
By Charles Babcock
Stop worrying fellas. There sim
ply “ain’t” no more Guard House.
That is, there will not be a
Guard House this year for the im
prisonment of habitual offenders
of the college regulations. There
will still be a Guard House, how
ever, and it will be located in the
remodeled Ross Hall.
The Guard House is a familiar
phrase to old students, for it
wasn’t many years ago that stu
dents who had disobeyed college
rules repeatedly were sent there
to live for several weeks. During
their period of imprisonment they
could only leave their rooms for
meals and classes.
Prior to 1936, the Guard Room
was very well known to all stu-
■fdents. At that time it was located
in Pfeuffer Hall; however, in 1936
the Guard House underwent a
change and students wern’t im
prisoned so frequently. In 1937 it
was moved to Austin Hall where
it has been until this year.
This year the Guard House will
be used only as a bureau of in
formation and headquarters for
Officers of the Day who are on
duty. Each officer will sleep in one
of the guard rooms overnight while
he is on duty.
There will also be three students
living in the Guard House whose
duty it will be to provide infor
mation about the College and any
of its students. A complete set of
files will be kept on all students.
Anyone desiring information
should call College 45414.
A. & M. Agricultural Journalism Professor, Dr. John H. Aston, Is
Selected As Exchange Professor for the University of Nicaragua
Received Schooling From
A. & M. and Missouri U.
Dr. John H. Ashton, associate
professor of agricultural journal
ism at Texas A. & M. College, has
received notification that he has
been selected by the Nicaraguan
dents. This statement was issued " government to serve as an exchange
by the local postmaster as a means
of warning all new students that
there is a premium on letter boxes
at the present time.
Many new students have been
mailing letters without icturn ad
dresses or stamps. This practice
will have to be discontinued if the
local post office is to give prompt
and efficient service Some letters
were found in yesterday’s mail ad
dressed to parents asking for mon
ey, but the sender forgot to place
a return address on the envelope.
If the sender of a letter or card
has no box number, he should give
his return address as General De
livery, College Station, Texas.
professor at the University of Nic
aragua under the terms of the Con
vention for the Promotion of Inter-
American Cultural Relations, and
will sail for his post the latter
part of September, according to in
structions received from Cordell
Hull, Secretary of State.
Dr. Ashton was one of the first
professors selected under the agree
ment between the Latin-American
nations and is aptly fitted for the
work. He speaks English, French,
Spanish and Italian, which has en
abled him to travel in all parts of
the world while studying agricul
tural methods in general and live
stock in particular. He is an au-
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thority on breeds of horses and cat
tle and for the past few years has
been at work gathering data for
the preparation of a book on his
tory of the development of the live
stock industry in Texas and the
Southwest.
He is the author of several books
Well Adapted To the Work;
Speaks Four Languages
on hogs, mules, horses, beef cattle
and has collaborated with several
other writers in preparation of
their works. He also has written
innumerable articles on American
and foreign agriculture for pub
lications in this country, and others
where he has traveled.
Dr. Ashton also is a former edi
tor of the Breeder’s Gazette and the
Valley Farmer, published in the
Lower Rio Grande Valley.
He was born in England in 1880
and after completing his element
ary and secondary education, came
to America and attended Texas
A. & M., graduating with the class
of 1906. He received his master of
arts degree from the University of
Missouri on 1924 and his doctor of
philosophy from the same school
two years later. In 1937 he came
back to Texas A. & M. to accept
(Continued on page 5)
Dormitory Telephones
To Arrive Next Week;
Will Be Latest Type
Telephones for the dormitories
have been ordered and will arrive
here next week. Orders will be
taken from orgnization command
ers immediately upon their arrival.
New equipment of the dial type
that is used throughout the College
Station area will be available for
use. Cost for the telephones will
be $2.50 per month plus a charge
of $1 for installation fee.
Former Cadet Colonel
Marries Waco Girl
Miss Price of Waco and Durwood
Varner of Cottonwood, Cadet Col
onel at A. & M. during the year
’39-’40, were married at the Austin
Avenue Methodist Chuch in Waco
on September 14.
The couple will make their home
in Houston where Mr. Varner is
employed at the Houston Federal
Land Bank. The groom is a grad
uate in Agricultural Administra
tion.