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THE BATTALION
-THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1941
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. A M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
nd
published
Tuesday, '
weekly from June through August.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Aet of Congress of March 8, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon
request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angelea, and San
rraneiseo.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-A444.
Bob Nisbet Editor-in-Chief
George Puermann Associate Editor
Keith Hubbard Advertising Manager
Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager
Pete Tumlinson Staff Artist
P. B. Pierce, Phil Levine Proof Readers
Photography Department
Phil Golman Photographic Editor
Jack Jones, T. J. Burnett, G. W. Brown,
Joe Golman, John Blair Assistant Photographers
Sports Department
Hub Johnson Sports Editor
Bob Myers Assistant Sports Editor
Jack Hollimon Junior Sports Editor
Mike Haikin, W. F. Oxford Sports Assistants
THURSDAY’S EDITORIAL STAFF
George Fuormann Acting Managing Editor
George Woodman Assistant Advertising Manager
Junior Editors
Tom Gillis D. C. Thurman V. A. Yentzen
Reportorial Staff
Lamar Haines, John May, Z. A. McReynolds, J. D. Mehe-
gan, L. B. Tennison, Mike Speer, James F. Wright.
Humor, A Subtle Blind
FUNNY PAPERS, as some call the comic strips in
a newspaper, contain more editorial matter than
does the editorial page itself—and it has ten times
the effect.
Humor is the most subtle blind for deeper
thinking that can be found. Who was it in the days
of yore that had the most power to sway the
rulings of the king? Was it the prime minister or
the bravest knight ? Of course not. It was the court
jestfer, the king’s fool.
What is it today that has the most influence
with American thinking? It would be a close race
between the funny papers, the motion pictures, and
the radio—all primarily created for amusement.
Think of the library of slang that has flooded
the country from these sources and realize the
gigantic effect uppn our English language.
As a specific instance, observe the lowly ham
burger—by now a legitimate word in our dictionary.
What brought this lowly ham sandwich into fame—
why Wimpy in the funny papers, of course. Without
such a boost the hamburger might have passed into
eternity unnoticed.
So far not a Word has been said about these
agencies eixerting the wrong kind of influence upon
the American people. But don’t wonder for a minute
why Hitler and his “stooge” have the universal
hatred of all America. The U. S. has been pumped
full of hatred for years until today it would be an
exceptional citizen indeed that could listen to an
argument on the other side with an open mind. In
deed! Even the mention of the name or a flash of
his picture brings unanimous boos and hisses. Don’t
wonder how this mood was created among the
American people.
That- any danger could exist in these agencies
distributing propaganda for Nazi causes is a ques
tion mark. But why couldn’t they. Well, they might,
but the possibility is fairly remote. It would do no
harm to keep an eye on these organs. As long as
the power these forces exert is realized and ac
counted for, the danger can not be very great.
But do not laugh at the fellow who first picks
up the funny papers. He knows, better than you
with the editorial page, where to find the editorials.
Something To Read
BY DR. T. F. MAYO
“A Plain Story Simply Told”
This is the sub-title of one of the two or three
most interesting books in the College Library: THE
OUTLINE OF SCIENCE, by J. Arthur Thomson.
If you have ever thought that scientific reading is
necessarily a bore, this book ought to remove that
impression. It is so planned, in the first place, that
any one of its four volumes may be read by itself,
each volume, furthermore, is divided into sections,
each of which may be read independently of the
others. In other words, you can ask for the four
volumes (on a white call slip), leaf through them
in the Reading Room, then check out the volume or
volumes you prefer.
Volume I begins appropriately with The Ro
mance of the Heavens, a lucid sketch of modern
conceptions of astronomy—of the universe as a
whole. You read about the solar systems, the moun
tains of the moon, the birth and death of stars.
Also in Volume I are sections, profusely illustrated,
on evolution, the struggle for existence, the ascent
of man, evolution now going on, and “the dawn of
mind”. This excellent volume concludes with The
Foundations of the Universe, all about atoms, elec-
trans, and energy.
Among the more interesting sections in the
other volumes are Bacteria, The Making of the
arth and the Story of the Rocks, The Einstein
Theory, The Chemist As Creator, The Causes of
Weather, The Body-Machine, and The New Psy
chology.
Please don’t get the idea that you have to be
a scientist, even a budding scientist, to enjoy and
profit from these books. As a matter of fact they
are carefully devised (with lots of excellent pictures)
for the man who, without any scientific training,
yet wants what science has to offer by way of a
general view of the world we live in.
And after all, it would seem that an intelligent
denizen of that world would want to know something
about it, don’t you think?
BACKWASH
By
George ftiermam
Our position is that the kind of man who sings
while he shaves ought to whoop at the breakfast
table.
And the reason why the woman usually gets
the last word is because she has had more exper
ience in last-wording.
As the World Turns.
OPEN FORUM
Sugrareff
While on trip up-state this past week-end,
this is what I noticed. Freshmen and sophomores
arrived at the places where Aggies catch their rides
in Fort Worth and in Waco. Both juniors and se
niors were standing at each place. To my knowledge,
however, neither freshmen nor sophomores met
anyone at either town.
Maybe I am just behind the times on the way
underclassmen are supposed to conduct themselves
in such cases. In the past it has been proper for
underclassmen to meet everyone when he arrives
at the “thumbing” point.
“Must the good traditions fall with the bad?
This little incident can be remedied in short order
and without the aid of college officials. It is the
slack allowed by the seniors that brought this on.
Let’s have action!
A. H. Hamner, class ’41.
This Collegiate World
NYA students at Stout Institute, Menomonie,
Wis., have installed a short wave radio station in
their campus center.
There are ten miles of electrical wiring in the
main barracks of The Citadel, the military college
of South Carolina.
Though Millsaps College is suported by the Meth
odist Church, its Baptist Union, only denominational
organization on the campus, has a membership of
108 out of a student body of 600.
University of Cincinnati’s 10,800 students include
‘ 1 ,022 from 44 states and the District of Columbia,
11 foreign countries, Puerto Rico, Canal Zone, and
Hawaii.
Fairmont State College, Fairmont, W. Va., has
been broadcasting over the Fairmont radio station
for nearly 12 years.
Teacher education and secretarial science are the
most popular courses with freshmen at Eastern New
Mexico college.
An intercontinental highway linking the U.S.
with southernmost South America is advocated by a
University of Texas engineer, who claims the U.S.-
l anama leg can be built for $38,000,000.
—^Associated Collegiate Press
BY “COUNT” V. K. SUGAREFF
WHAT TRANSPIRED at the meeting of the Axis
partners last Monday is still in the realm of spec
ulation. Regarless of what Hitler and Mussolini have
planned for the future, it becomes increasingly
evident that the Nazi’s new order for the world
is far from realization. The Blitz
krieg which has netted the Axis
partners so many victories has
broken down. Hitler’s large vic
tories have been bought with lar
ger responsibilities. The occupied
territories are ruled by the Ges
tapo, and judging by the reports
that filter through the strict cen
sorship, the Nazis are continuously
pestered by the natives of these
territories. Rumania, likely egged
on by Russia and Turkey, is not cooperating with
the Nazis. Bulgaria, encouraged probably by Rus
sia and Turkey, has promised to fight if her neu
trality is violated by any power. With the French
army in northern Africa as a weapon, Petain of
France dares refuse all that Hitler asks.
The Albanian and African campaigns give ev
ery evidence that Italy is now (and may perman
ently remain) a liability to Hitler. So far the Greeks
have defeated the Italians. Hitler’s minister to Greece
has assured the Greek government that Germany
does not intend to attack Greece, if that assurance
means anything. In north Africa the British are
overcoming the Italians and they have begun an
advance against them in Eritrea for the protec
tion of the Suez canal. It is rumored that the tribes
men of Ethiopia are revolting, under the leadership
of Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia.
The third partner of the Axis, Jana, is in a sim
ilar predicament. The war with China has been a
stalemate for several months. A complete victory
over China now appears a remote possibility. Be
sides, the Dutch East Indies, Australia, New Zea
land, the Federated Malay States, Straits Settle
ments, (Singapore), and the possessions of the Unit
ed States in the Far East, have reached an agree
ment of cooperation should Japan attack any of
the foreign possessions in the far east. The nature
of the cooperation agreed upon has not been disclosed,
but the fact that Japan has not attempted to oc
cupy any of these possessions indicates precaution
on her part.
Then, too, Russo-Japanese relations are uncer
tain. It is said that Russia demands a big price for
joining or cooperating with the Axis powers. Russia
wants the abrogation of the Portsmouth Treaty
(1905), except the ceded half of Sakhalin Island.
This would deprive Japan of her fishing rights off
the Siberian Coast, the source of a large food supply,
and cash profits. Russia wants the cancellation of the
oil, coal, and other concessions to Japan in the
northern portion of Sakhalin Island and the demili
tarization of that zone by Japan. Russia, also,
wants demolition of all fortifications along the bor
ders of' Manchukuo and Korea (on the Siberian
side) and Outer Mongolia and a formal renuncia
tion of Japan’s aspirations to Outer Mongolia. Sup
ported by the Axis powers, Japan is not likely to con
cede so much.
But the most serious obstacle the three Axis
powers will have to overcome is the United States.
President Roosevelt in his stirring public addresses
has left no room for doubt as to what the United
States will do to preserve democratic institutions.
He gives the three Axis powers plenty to think
about.
"Backwarii: An agitation regal ting from aome action or occurrence.”—Webster.
Fuermann
A Bird’s Eye View . . . For a fair
discussion of a currently bad sit
uation, read A. H. Hamner’s letter
in today’s open forum column.
Then watch for action throughout
the corps in this connection . . .
Longhorn Editor Ele Baggett,
fast-recovering from a serious leg-
jinjury received
when he was ac
cidentally shot
during the Noel
holidays, will re
turn to college
within the next
15 days. . .Watch
for a change in
tour duty regula
tions within the
near future. The
possible change
will only effect seniors and is one
more evidence of Lieut.-Col James
A. Watson’s efforts to lean over
backwards to cooperate with the
corps. It may be some time before
anything “official’ will be announ
ced on this, but the reason behind
it seems to be Col. Watson’s be
lief that something can be substi
tuted—for seniors—which will be
less trouble to them but which, at
the same time, will serve as a
punitive measure for excess de
merits ... If you’re one of the
cadets or civilians who have won
dered about the high school girl
—usually attired in long red stock
ings—who is frequently seen
walking hour on end in this vicin
ity, she’s attractive Claudia Mor
ris, “almost 16 years-old”, and, by
her own admission, the fastest and
most extensive walker in Brazos
County . . . The lovely Fort Worth
belle who will middle-aisle with
all-conference back Marion (Duke)
Pugh Feb. 7 is Helen Braselton.
The pair have been sweethearts
since high school days and will
live in College Park ... Principal
sore spot with the cadet corps
where the recent gubernatorial
inauguration was concerned was
the radio announcer who stated
that the Ross Volunteers was a
Texas University organization.
Going whole-hog-or-none, he cap
ped that by saying, “And now
we’ll hear the Texas University
band play - - - ”. So the Aggie
band played the song.
• • •
Best-Seller
Bell Telephone crashed through
with another best-seller yesterday
with the publication of another of
their directories.
The letter “I”—missing in the
old College Station directory—fi
nally got in the telephone listing j
as C. V. Issac, vet medicine junior, |
started the ball rolling in that part
of the alphabet.
The current edition represents
an increase of two pages over the
last book, and in the race between
the Jones’ and the Smiths, the
Smiths lead two-to-one with a score
of 11 to 5.
These telephone books are rapid
ly becoming an American institu
tion. There are more copies of this
book than any other publication,
barring none. The book is rapidly
replacing the Sears-Roebuck cat
alog for versitality. It can be used
for a seat raiser (in any of the
principal cities where the book is
a couple of inches thick), paper
weight, space filler, doodling and
social purposes—friendly and
otherwise.
Not only that, but in most cities
the books contain, in addition to
telephone numbers, maps of the
localities, postal information, civic
facts, suggested ways to paint
barns, health rules and generally
serve as a sort of citified Ency
clopaedia Britannica.
Best of all—they’re free!
• • •
An ‘A’ Paper
An Aggie junior recently turned
in a required theme to his English
professor. No ordinary theme, it
was one which had been handed
down from class to class in his
military organization.
Imagine his surprise, therefore,
at receiving an ‘A’ grade on the
masterpiece and an attached note
from the prof which read: “A few
years back this was a ‘C’ paper.
Like old wine, however, it’s im
proving with age. But, by God, if
this paper shows up in my class
again it’ll get an ‘F’!”
Who is Yehudi? The question
which has tried to be answered
for so long has been given another
definition in La Gaviota of the
Corpus Christi High School. Ye
hudi is the man who makes the
rim for the rimless glasses with
the invisible lenses for the man
who wasn’t there to read between
the lines of the unwritten law.
Moviegoers who like brawls and
beer (on the screen) will find
“SEVEN SINNERS” hard to beat.
The show takes place in the honky-
tonks of the East Indies and none
of the boys back down when a
fight is in the air. Twice there are
good mob fights which leave only
one man standing and able to nav
igate under his own power.
The brawls are only a sideshow
to the main run of events. Languor
ous Marlene Dietrich has the part
of a song and dance cutie who has
been thrown out of the best night
spots in the islands. She has a
peculiar fascination for the men in
these joints, especially naval of
ficers, which means especially
John Wayne. His husky build looks
good in a navy uniform, but Diet-
rich holds the film spotlight
throughout the show so he doesn’t
do much. She just gives everybody
the run around but at a pretty
wicked pace.
There is a catchy little tune
about the navy in this show that
will probably run through your
mind for quite some time after
seeing it. There is a good support
ing cast and it is pretty good even
if Marlene does occupy most of the
film footage.
To be what we are, and to be
come what we are capable of be
coming, is the only end on life.
Science is resourceful; it could
not pry open Pullman windows,
so it air-conditioned the train.
You cannot prevent the bird’s
sorrow from flying over your
head, but you can prevent them
from building a nest in your hair.
Uncle Sam uses the Schneider
test and Index as a means of test
ing the physical fitness of pros
pective aviators.
Semi-Annual
Clearance Sale
Closes Saturday
Night
TWO MORE DAYS
TO SAVE ON
Hart, Schaffner & Marx
SUITS and TOPCOATS
Glover
LEATHER COATS
Glover WOOL COATS
DRESS SHIRTS
PAJAMAS
GLOVES
SWEATERS
Florsheim Shoes
Special Close-out Lot
$10 & $8.95 Oxfords
SALE
$5.85
Close-out on Special
Lot of
Freeman Oxfords
$5.00 and $3.95
SALE
$2.65
Bullock & Akin
... and a simple solution
When the Bell System was still very young, a prob
lem arose: How to assure—at lowest cost—a depend
able supply of telephone apparatus of high quality
and uniform standard?
As the System grew and the telephone network
became more complex, this problem of supply grew
more difficult. But it was solved this way.
Western Electric was given responsibility for manu
facturing, purchasing and distributing the equipment
needed by the telephone companies. The concentration
of these functions has resulted in keeping quality npand
costs down—to the benefit of every telephone user.
Western Electric
. . . is hack of your Bell Telephone service
■ '"‘V ■" v'. 's ‘ • ••
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