Page 2-
THE BATTALION
■TUESDAY, SEPT. 24, 1940
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the city of College Station, is
published three times weekly from September to June, issued
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; also it is published
weekly from June through August.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon
reauest.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-6444.
Bob Nisbet
Keith Hubbard
George Fuermann ....
Hub Johnson
Tommy Henderson ....
Phil Golman
Pete Tumlinson
J. B. Fierce
T. R. Vannoy
Editor-in-Chief
. Advertising Manager
Associate Editor
Sports Editor
. Circulation Manager
Staff Photographer
Staff Artist
Editorial Assistant
... Editorial Assistant
Bill Clarkson
Jack Hendrick
Tuesday Staff
Assistant
Managing Editor
Advertising Manager
Lee Rogers
Junior Editors
Bob Myers
Jack Hollxmon
Sports Staff
Reportorial Staff
Jack Aycock, Don Corley, J. M. Huling, Ralph Inglefield’, Tom
Leland, W. A. Moore, J. M. Speer, Jack Decker.
Good Signs and Bad Signs
Football season can be considered to be well un
der way when the freshmen begin painting and
hanging signs over the campus. Already such signs
are making their appearance, and the Fish are to
be congratulated for their promptness in the matter.
Most of the signs are good.
However, a word of warning to the freshmen
painting these signs. The purpose of the signs is
to keep the corps football-conscious, and to help
the Fish, themselves, acquire as much of the Aggie
spirit as possible. The purpose is not to amuse the
freshmen with vulgar jokes nor pictures.
There is nothing funny nor inspiring in vulgar
ity no matter what the medium. Over-enthusiastic
freshmen may have the idea that all Aggies are
rough and tough, and all such rot, but they will find
that conception mostly bull-session talk. Upperclass
men, and especially seniors, do not appreciate dirty
pictures or dirty language displayed prominently
before the public. In the first place such signs are
not very effective in prompting Aggie spirit. Again
it is decidedly not favorable publicity for the school.
Visitors on the campus have been embarrassed in
past years by vulgar pictures and language.
Our warning is this: “Think before you print
such a sign just what your reaction would be to
have your mother, your best girl, or your sister
visit the campus and See such a sign. Would they
blush and turn away? If so, then don’t print it.”
So far, no such sign has been hung. Let’s keep
them as dean in the future as they have been till
now. ^
An Open Letter
This is an open letter to the President of the
United States, the Secretary of War, and the Sec
retary of the Navy. We want to ask a question. We
ask it respectfully, but with all seriousness.
WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT CONTIN
UE TO BUILD SUCH VITAL INDUSTRIES AS
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING PLANTS ABOVE
GROUND?
It will not do to answer that the government
is not building the plants. When one considers the
way the plants are financed, it is absurd to say
they are being built by private contracting firms.
All the new plants are being built because of or
ders on hand from the federal government and not
until then. All of them are operating with the nat
ional defense council. And even if they were not
at the position they are occuying today, it is an
axiom that control of the aircraft plants is in the
hands of the government, because the government
controls the purse-strings, which is control enough
anywhere, any time, any country.
Dispatches from foreign countries all tell that
those countries which had airplane factories hard to
find survived longer than those in the open. Great
Britain at this very moment is finding out the best
place to put factories is out of sight. Yet this coun
try ignores what has gone before and continues to
build factories where enemy bombers can most easily
find them.
To say that this country is immune from in
vasion is the blindest form of wishful thinking. This
country has been invaded before. There is Hitler’s
threat that he will invade. There is no doubt but
that there is not only a possibility but a probability
Why do we not profit by history and written
threats ?
You have only to ride through Burbank, Calif.,
to see how little protection the plants there have.
Flimsy construction and flimsy protection. One
bomb could tear apart the majority of the plants
in that great center of the industry. Built close
together, with great glass windows for the most
part, they are an ideal target. ,
Engineers say it would cost more to build the
plants underground. It would cost a little more for
permanent construction and quite a bit more in re
lation to the kind of initial cost. It costs less, for
example, to build a plant underground which can
operate under bombings than to build a plant which
is bombed into non-existence at the first blow.
It is not a question of cost involved. It is a
question of common sense and intelligence.
And the question still remains, why does the
government continue on its same inane way?
When are we going to prepare for all eventual
ities ? —Daily Texan
OPEN FORUM
Are you a Wilkierat or a Democrat? That is
a serious question confronting every true Demo
crat in the United States. There are many individ
uals of Democratic party affiliation, that is pre
vious affiliation, who are making statements to the
effect they are Willkie Democrats or Wilkierats.
Of course, this is obviously impossible, as a voter
could scarcely support the Republican ticket and be
a Democrat. Notwithstanding this fact there are many
people who are misinformed as to exactly what
the true facts of the cases concerning these Wilkie
rats are and therefore the Democratic party needs
all the help and support it can possibly get from
all its party members or affiliates.
The Young Democrats of Texas propose to
give this help and do everything in their power
to re-elect our present great president, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, for a third term. Practically every other
school of any importance in the South has a Young
Democrats Association on their campus, and these
associations or clubs have shown themselves to be
of value, not only in a political sense but also in
the fact that they encourage interest in the civic af
fairs of our government. Aggies, I know that there
are enough Democrats among us to form a fine
Young Democrats Club. This club will require work
and cooperation. It is not an easy task which we
have before us, but I feel that in a short time we
can and wall have a progressive Young Democrats
Club here at Aggieland which will be of real as
sistance to the Young Democrats of Texas and to
the Democratic Party Organization in this coming
election.
In the very near future the Battalion will car
ry an announcement of a meeting to form this chap
ter of the Young Democrats of Texas. When the
time comes, let’s really get behind this movement
and help the people decide against the Wilkierats
and for the DEMOCRATS.
Carl Harris, ’41
Mind Your Manners
•By I. Sherwood
Good manners belong to our everyday living;
we need them in the home with the family; we need
them in college with classmates and faculty, and
more than all, we need them in our contact with
strangers on the street or in public places. Good
manners should be genuine, and based on kindness
and consideration for others.
In our association with others the process of
introducing and meeting strangers is often a source
of embarrassed confusion. This is unfortunate, be
cause in avoiding and fearing introductions, one may
miss valuable friendships. And confusion is un
necessary, if a few basic rules for introductions
are used casually and pleasantly.
Introductions Are Easy
The following are a few simple rules for intro
ductions which are important to remember:
A man is always presented to a woman—
the only exceptions are the President of the Un
ited States, royalty, and church dignitaries.
A younger person to a much older person
of the same sex.
An unimportant person to an important
one of the same sex.
An unmarried woman to a married woman,
unless the married woman is considerably old
er.
Extremely young children to adults of eith
er sex.
The most formal introduction is “May I
present?” If you are presenting a man to a
lady, you should say, “Miss Young, may I pres
ent Mr. Smith?” If this form seems too for
mal for the occasion, you may substitute the word
“introduce” fqr “present” or you may say,
“Miss Young, Mr. Smith”, but do not repeat
names, “Mr. Smith, Miss Young.”
The proper response for any introduction
no matter who is introduced to whom, is “How
do you do?”
A man may just bow in formal introduc
tion to a lady, and he never offers his hand
unless the lady first offers hers.
Never say “Shake hands with”, “I want
to make you acquainted with,” or “Meet Miss
Young.”
Men always shake hands when introduced
to each other, and a man always rises for in
troductions, for either a man or woman and re
mains standing until the woman is seated.
A woman never rises when a man is pres
ented to her unless he is distinguished or she is
a hostess.
As the World Turns...
By Dr. R. W. Steen
The United States and Britain are drawing
closer together. The transfer of fifty destroyers to
Britain gave America eight naval and air bases
on territory belonging to Britain. Obviously the
United States will defend these bases against all at
tacks, and in doing so she will be defending British
territory. The latest move is a series of discussions
which will probably result in the
granting of permission for the
American fleet to use the great
British naval base at Singapore.
These discussions are a result of
Japanese activity in the Far East,
and they are a clear indication
that the government considers
America’s interests in the far East
to be of vital importance. They al
so indicate a belief that American
and British interests are in a sense
identical.
Sam Rayburn of Texas is now speaker of the
National House of Representatives. Mr. Rayburn
has been a member of the House for almost thirty
years, and during that long period his record has
been subjected to little criticism. Each house of Cong
ress now has a Texan as its presiding officer, but
it is doubtful that Texans will preside over both
Houses at the same time, as this session of Cong
ress is soon to adjourn and Vice-President Gamer
seems to be making no plans to return to Washing
ton.
German plans for the invasion of Britain seem
to have struck several snags. German and Italian
newspapers are now discussing the probability of
a long war, and the sudden interest in Gibraltar
seems to indicate that Britain has failed to respond
properly to German bombing raids.
German and British reports of plane losses are
hopelessly at odds. Americans who favor a British
victory can take a great deal of satisfaction from
statements made by official American observers
that the British reports are as accurate as it is
possible to make them.
R. W. Steep
Brain Twisters
By
By R. R. Lyle
The evening before the A quiz
in Mathematics 204, five Aggies
decided to relax a little and be
came engaged in a poker game.
Their names were Brown, Green,
White, Black and O’Reilly.
Their brands of cigarettes are
Luckies, Camels, Kools, Old Golds,
and Chesterfields, but not neces
sarily respectively. At the begin
ning of the game the number of
cigarettes possessed by each of the
players was 20, 15, 8, 6, and 3, but
not necessarily respectively. Later
in the evening, at a given time,
when no one was smoking, the
following conditions existed:
First, Green asked for three
cards.
Second, O’Reilly has smoked half
his original supply or one less than
White has smoked.
Third, the Chesterfield ham ori
ginally had as many more plus
half as many more, plus two and
one-half more cigarettes than he
has now.
Fourth, the man who draws to
an inside straight absentmindedly
lit the tip of his fifth cigarette,
the last he smoked.
Fifth, the man who smokes Luck
ies has smoked two more than
anyone else, including Green.
Sixth, no one has smoked all his
cigarettes.
Seventh, Brown drew as many
aces as he originally had cigarettes.
Eighth, the Camel man asks
Black to pass Brown’s matches.
HOW MANY CIGARETTES
DID EACH MAN HAVE TO BE
GIN WITH, AND WHAT WAS
EACH MAN’S BRAND?
(Answers on Page 3)
BACKWASH
By
George Fuermann
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—We barter.
Backwashin’ around . . . Today
the College’s enrollment is nearing
the seven thousand mark, but it
hasn’t always been thus. It was
September 14, 1890,
that The Galveston
News published the
following item:
“Officers in charge
of A. & M. College
are more than
pleased with the
school’s prospects
For the coming
season. Today some
200 students have
arrived and they are still coming.”
. . . One of the profs living in the
Y. M. C. A. received a gift from
a very young nephew last week.
Nothing unusual in itself, the at
tached card was worth a hundred
times its weight in uniqueness. It
read, “To my uncle, who has really
been to college!” . . . Number one
quip of the thus-far-college-year:
Ira Lewis’ “The boy-debutantes of
the University of Texas.” . . . And
what about the Dallas lovely who,
replying to a service station eb-
ployee’s remark that her oil was a
quart low, let go with, “Oh, that’s
low enough.” . . . The new $10,000
night club now being constructed
on the Airport Road will contain
more than one unusual feature—
for A. & M. at least. There‘11 be
a bar for stags only and a dining
room for couples only. There’ll also
be a ban on stags where dancing is
concerned . . . Band freshmen E.
E. Volts is true to his name and
initials . . . He’s taking E. E. (Elec
trical engineering, in case you’re
new.) . . . Tops in classified ads
was the one in a Dallas newspaper
last week which read, “Lost, one
paycheck. Don’t need the money
but think of the sentiment attach
ed.”
•
Came the Revolution.
The newest slant on feminine
decoration is the drawing of pic
tures on milady’s fingernails. Ini
tials, cats, dogs, silhouettes, and
the Brooklyn Bridge are among the
designs which are available at any
self-respecting beauty salon. Us
ually painted in yellow over red
fingernail polish, the fad is com
paratively new at College Station.
Quizzed in respect to the new fing-
ernailing, one bauty operator said,
“We’ve even put some of the de
signs on Aggies’ fingernails.”
•
On C. E. McMullan.
The College Station restaurant-
er has a hobby all his own—one he
doesn’t tell people much about, but
one that rates him a “regular fel
low” rank in any corps. His hob
by: Dogs, cats, and boys. Stray
animals of any of the three men-
INSURE NOW
Against
ATHLETES FOOT
DIRTY FEET
Wooden Shower Shoes
Sold in Every Dorm
These Shoes
GUARANTEED
Student Concession Price
65c
tioned species are taken in hand
and fed by the generous-hearted
Irishman as long as they care to
hang around. One man—in a posi
tion to know—recently said of
Mac, “He has kept more boys out
of reform school and more dogs
out of the pound than any other
man I know.” Most recent of Mac’s
adopted family is a small, brown
combination-breed dog — dubbed
“Buckskin” by Ed Handley—who's
fast becoming a tradition at the
North Gate. Buckskin, be it known,
was originally imported to these
parts by Tom Taylor who brought
the canine from nearby Caldwell.
•
Aggieland Orchestra
Maestroed now by Ed Minnock,
who will not be a front man, the
orchestra will probably have the
best year in its history despite the
loss of the brothers Littlejohn. The
new pianist, Fred Nelson is prob
ably the best the orchestra ever
owned. Ed declared that. “Fred can
side-read anything, play excellently
in any key, and he has a chorus
technique that’s second to none.”
Another new man is Frank (Sug)
Barnes. A base player of better-
than-average ability, he’s a double
feature attraction through the me
dium of his instrument. Popularly
known as a bull fiddle, Frank’s is
technically known as a five-fourths
base—meaning that is it a fourth
larger than an ordinary instrument.
Made in Germany about a hundred
years ago, the thing was originally
owned by a member of the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra.
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Tuesday 3:30 & 6:45: “LIL
LIAN RUSSELL,” starring
Alice Faye, Don Ameche,
Henry Fonda, Edward Ar
nold, Warren William, and
Leo Carrillo.
Wednesday 3:30 & 6:45:
“ANDY HARDY MEETS
DEBUTANTE, ’ ’ featuring
Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney,
Cecila Parker, Faye Holden,
Judy Garland, and Ann
Rutherford.
AT THE CAMPUS
Tuesday: “ZANZIBAR,”
with Lola Lane and James
Craig.
Wednesday: “LA CONGA
NIGHTS,” starring Hugh
Herbert.
If your eyes are bother
ing you, have them
examined by
DR. JOHN S.
CALDWELL
Office in
CALDWELL
Jewelry Store
Bryan
BETTY HOUSTON
SCHOOL OF DANCING
Private Lessons and Classes in Ballroom . . . Special
Classes in Nigger Shuffle, Laconga, and
Other New Dances
K. of C. Hall B1179J
By Tom Gillis
By Tom Gillis
Although it was reviewed in
Saturday’s column, the life story
of the glamorous “LILLIAN RUS
SELL” is still well worth seeing at
the Assembly Hall. Alice Faye -as
Lil’ makes a good performance,
but the one most noted and prob
ably longest remembered will be
that of Edward Arnold, the jolly
business tycoon, as Diamond Jim
Brady. His courtship of Miss Faye
is futile, and his part in the pro
duction is very minor, but it is the
most impressive and convincing.
Starring with these two are Don
Ameche, Henry Fonda, Warren
William, and Leo Carrillo.
And Andy Hary is coming again,
this time trying to bust into the
If you want your home
attractive and pretty,
have Venetian blinds at
your windows.
Cloth Window Shades
75£ each
Guaranteed Satisfaction
SHADE SHOP
East Gate - Ph. C. 4-4744
New York ‘400’ with his high
school antics. The whole family is
of course with him, and Lewis Stone
and Fay Holden, as usual, typify
the fatherly small town lawyer and
wife. Mickey, however, somewhat
runs his part into the ground with
too much ‘mugging’. A good actor
should be able to express shades
of meaning by the expression on
his face, but Rooney has long been
accused of over-acting which al
most borders on ham acting for
being the most terrible fault. In
“ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBU
TANTE” young Rooney is given
opportunity to run the whole gamut
of human emotions and display
(Continued on Page 4)
GOOD and
PLENTY at
CANADY’S
FOUNTAIN
Our soda men work hard
to get an extra-big scoop
ful of ice cream for your
sundae - and they’ll top
it with anything you
like!
CANADY’S
Pharmacy
“On the Corner”
Bryan
SOc DOWN
SOc A WEEK
Never have you been able to get so much for
so little in a compact radio! Clearer, richer
tone, amazing power at surprisingly low cost.
The PT-25 is an AC-DC Superheterodyne with
5 working Loktal tubes. Attached aerial. Brown
plastic cabinet. Underwriters’ Approval.
KRAFT FURNITURE GO.
Radios, Refrigerators and Electrical
Appliances
218 South Main Phone B. 110
BRING YOUR USED BOOKS HERE
AND GET A BETTER PRICE
FOR THEM.
•
WE STILL HAVE PLENTY OF USED
BOOKS FOR SALE ... COME
IN TODAY ...
Loupot s Trading Post
North Gate