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THE BATTALION
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
Tuenday, 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
request.
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-S444.
Bob Nisbet Editor-in-Chief
George Puermann Associate Editor
Keith Hubbard : Advertising Manager
Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager
Pete Tumlinson 1 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
SATURDAY’S EDITORIAL STAFF
Earle A. Shields Managing Editor
T. R. Harrison Assistant Advertising Manager
Junior Editors
Will O. Brimberry W. C. Carter Don Gabriel
Reportorial Staff
Charles Babcock, Herbert Haile, Paul Haines, Carl Van
Hook, J. J. Keith, Z. A. McReynolds, Beverly Miller, Ehrhard
Mittendorf, Jack Nelson, L. B. Tennison.
play “God Bless America” at that particular point
in the program. This was observed by the governor
who requested the number be played later on the
program. The only phases of the program absolutely
synchronized were the correct number of the guns
and the bombing planes which flew ovei’head at
exactly 12:00 noon.
It is believed that if all formal ceremonial ar
rangements were placed in care of the Adjutant
General of the State such confusion would never
occur. All social phases could be left to the many
other regularly appointed and self established
groups.
The Collegiate Review
BE MEAN was the only rule for “Meany” day set
aside by the Buchtelite, University of Akron student
newspaper, as the day for students to grouse and
gripe, the day to be mean to everybody.
The old days of custard pie movies came back
when a real meany tossed a piece of lemon meringue
pie at a co-ed . . . and hit his mark. Another co-ed
got her face washed in the snow.
One meany poured water in a co-ed’s high
rubber boots; another student got the hot-foot;
while still another man’s shoe strings were tied to
gether while he was sitting in the student building
cafeteria.
Ace High With the Corps
THE FRONT PAGE of today’s Battalion includes
an article concerning a change in tour duty regula
tions. The front pages of many Battalions in the
past few months have included stories concerning
such things as the fact that juniors and seniors
holding advanced R.O.T.C. contracts could purchase
—without a cash outlay—tickets to the Cotton Bowl
game; that a drum and bugle unit would soon start
playing for all mess formations r at Sbisa and Duncan
mess halls—thus making for more morale in the
corps; that the War Department had granted Texas
A. & M. college 100 additional advanced military
science contracts; and so on through a long list of
outstanding achievements . . . Achievements which
represent a leaning-over-backwards attitude on some
one’s part where the cadet corps is concerned.
What those stories have not told The Battalion’s
readers is the story behind each individual activity.
Nor have the stories told who was doing the lean
ing over backwards. But that makes a better story
than the several news items themselves.
Last September the college received a new com
mandant and professor of military science and tac
tics. The job is a tough one at its very best, but the
man who began his work last September had a
double-tough task. He was following in the foot
steps of a man whose work was generally recogniz-
as the best ever performed by an A. & M. com
mandant—meaning Brigadier-General George F.
Moore.
So there was a lot of head-shaking and no little
speculation concerning what sort of a commandant
Lieut.-Col. James A. Watson would make. The corps
wasn’t long in finding out.
The afternoon (last summer) that Colonel and
Mrs. Watson arrived on the campus they came
across three student janitors—perspiring, dirty from
several hours of hard work, and just a little rough
looking.
“Watson’s my name,” the colonel said and stuck
out his hand. The three cadets introduced them
selves and were in turn introduced to Mrs. Watson.
The outcome of the whole thing was that the three
students got in the Colonel’s car and took him on a
tour of the campus.
A day later the same three cadets had occasion
to be in The Battalion office and throughout their
hour-long stay they were rutted in one subject: To
wit: “Our new commandant is a swell fellow—a
regular guy!”
That’s the way The Battalion feels about the
thing. Colonel Watson is a man who has taken a
sincere interest in the corps and the college. He has
done so to the exclusion of all else. He’s a good
thing for the college to have.
And, most of all, he has the respect and co
operation of the cadet corps.
Inauguration Aftermath
IT IS THE GENERAL Concensus that inauguration
of the governor of a state should be dignified second
only to that of the president of the United States.
At Washington, all formal ceremonies for such an
occasion are placed in the hands of army officials
thru the secretary of war and the Adjutant General.
The ritual as laid down in Army Regulations is
strict and must be adhered to.
At the recent inauguration of the governor of
the state of Texas, established ceremonial forms
were almost entirely ignored and the entire program
was badly confused. The greatest cause of these
conditions was that too many persons assumed
authority and almost all instruction passed out
were in conflict.
To begin with, on the original program, the
official state song, “Texas Our Texas” was entirely
overlooked and in what should have been its place
we were treated to a most profane musical jazz
number. At the conclusion of the artillery salute,
a composition by the governor was rendered, (Beau
tiful Texas”), which altho being sentimental and
not altogether unmusical, should not have displaced
the national anthem, as vital a part of the salute
as the guns.
The national anthem was entirely overlooked
and when attention to the fact was called, a band
other than the official band was given the honor
of playing it although it was the bandmaster of
the official band who observed the oversight.
The official ceremonies were announced to
start at 12:00 noon. At 11:35 orders were given the
official band to commence playing and the governor,
staff et al, proceeded to the platform. This proved
to be a feint or preliminary and the entire per-
formance was re-enacted at 12:00 noon.
Shortly thereafter one of the many self ordain
ed bosses, chairmen or what not, announced that
the program was ahead of schedule and that one
of the bands should fill in time. This was entirely
in error as the program started the band should
Someone mixed up all the hats and coats in
the checking room while someone else was dumping
snow in all the boots.
A student was given a raw hamburger in the
cafeteria, so he took it into the kitchen and cooked
it himself. Then he refused to pay for it.
—Associated Collegiate Press
FRANK LOVING PRESENTS:
/ Heard the Preacher Say
MAN HAS ALWAYS explained the unknown by
means of the supernatural. Primitive people could
find no obvious explanation for phenomena such as
rain; thunder and lightning; the movement of the
sun, moon, and stars; or the changing seasons, and
since he could not understand these things, he got
around the dilemma by cooking up a bunch of gods
to serve as explanation. A few races even attributed
all this to one God. As our ancestors began to rea
son out the basic causes of natural wonders in terms
of familiar things, they began to draw away from
the old ideas about supernatural being. In spite of
this change, however, our race of humans has
stuck tenaciously to a belief in a supreme being.
This belief has come to be a source of inspiration
to us to live better, kinder and more useful lives,
yet we all have at times a feeling of uncertainly
about the whole thing. We find that our experience
teaches us explanations of things which we have
been brought up to associate with a supernatural
being, and worse yet, our experience demonstrates
apparently outright contradiction of things we have
been taught were axiomatic to our faith. A true
scientific proof cannot be demonstrated on either
side of the question, but one thing is certain—it
is quite impossible for science to explain everything
about anything no matter how small. There is al
ways a final curtain, beyond which we can never
see, an ultimate veil which no art or science can
pierce in its experimenting. Hence we still have our
realm of the unknown just as had the ancients—we
have merely moved the realm to a little greater dis
tance—and the only explanation for it seems to be
the supernatural one. It is quite uncxplanable and
that is in one sense synonomous with supernatural.
Our minds cannot conceive of a God possibly, but
neither can they see through the riddle of the uni
verse or of even a blade of grass. In the fact of
this, how can we afford to deny God in action if
not in word!
As the World Turns...
Nelson
BY DR. AL B. NELSON
CHARLES AUGUSTUS LINDBERGH has testified
before the foreign affairs committee of the House
of Representatives. According to the latest news
reports he believes that the United States should
not help England, believes that the United States
and England combined could not win the war, and
said “I do not want either side
to win the war”. That is the same
as saying that he does not desire
that Germany lose the war.
Constant readers of the news
dispatches will remember Lind
bergh’s reports that the German
air force could not be withstood.
England has withstood the Ger
man air might, and Greece has
held up under the highly touted
Italian planes, and military men
are beginning to ask if Lindbergh
was “deceived by German misinformation” or was
only over-enthusiastic in the Nazi cause. The Nazi’s
gave him a medal then and if he were just to hold
up U.S. aid to Britain for two or three weeks Hit
ler would probably give him another and consider
it small pay.
Davy O’Brien failed to obtain damages in Fed
eral court for the unauthorized use of his picture
in beer advertisements.
The C.I.O. leaders should also put in their ap
plication for Nazi medals, two or more additional
strikes were called this past week in important
plants working on national defense orders. The
French labor unions did the same thing and were
a major cause of the French downfall. Tactics of
this type come very near to “giving aid and comfort
to the enemy”.
A stronger Driver’s License Law for Texas is
being pushed in the Texas Legislature and is con
sidered to have a fair chance of passage. The new
measures would go a long way toward curbing
drunken or irresponsible drivers.
The most recent Gallup Poll records that two
out of every three voters favor aid to England
even at the risk of War.
BACKWASH
By
(mm fuermann
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action ar occurrence.”—Webster.
Fuermann
The Way of Things. . . .Seldom
does a day pass that the college
does not receive mail addressed to
“The University of Texas, College
Station, Texas” . . .Tact—in the
Harris County way. Meaning the
customer who
walked into a
Houston cafe, or
dered a steak and,
when it was pres
ented to him, ask
ed the waiter, “Do
you think that’ll
help me?” “Well,”
the waiter replied,
“If that doesn’t
help ya, it’ll kill
ya!” . . . Watch
for a major upheaval where three
of the college’s high student body
officials are concerned. Backwash
may be wrong on this tip, but, if
it happens, the expose will come
within 60 days and may be of
enough importance to rock the state.
It concerns capitalization on stu
dent executive positions. . . . Evi
dencing something or other where
the corps is concerned, the total
value of the items now in the Me
chanical Engineering department’s
lost and found office approximates
$178.35. . . R. L. Hobbs has a good
angle on the veterinary hospital.
It concerns the freak animjals
which have been known to occur
in dreams of one kind or another.
In the vet hospital’s reading room,
there’s a collection of animals—
all dead, of course—that no self-
respecting female in the world of
animaldom would admit being the
mother of. There’s a calf with two
complete heads and necks, and two
fully developed pairs of front legs.
Then, too, there’s another calf with
two noses and three eyes—other
wise normal.
• • •
Commercial
Maybe necessity was the mother
of an invention, but there are
three Texas Aggies who are earn
ing part of their college expenses
through a unique plan. Three sen
iors, they’re Tom Hill, Ike Jacobs,
and W. L. (Wally) Heftdon, and
shower shoes is the business they
run.
Wally first had the idea last
March. It seems that a local store
had obtained a few pair of similar
shoes from Japan, and it occured
to the three Coast Artillery men
that—if production was available
in Texas—they could become bus
iness executives over night. They
finally found a Sherman planing
mill which would make the shoes
for them. The original order was for
a thousand pair—and, to date, most
of them have been sold.
“Now we’re planning a dainty
little feminine number for our
sister school T.S.C.W.ians,” Ike
pointed out with a smile.
• • •
No Deal
Many Aggies have recently been
saving empty cigarette packages
of a certain popular brand on the
basis that the manufacturer would
buy a “seeing-eye” dog for a blind
person with the presentation of a
given number of the packages.
The company makes no such of
fer, however, and in a letter to
the writer an official explained
that “We are at a loss to under
stand how this rumor was started.”
Later in the letter he explained
the rumor wasn’t just confined to
College Station. “We have received
parallel requests from coast to
coast, and the situation has caused
the firm tremendous embarrass
ment.”
Many cadets had taken hundreds
of the packages to local confec
tionaries and drug stores, only to
be disappointed. One case, in par
ticular, is near-tragic. An Aggie
living in the old area has a blind
relative for whom the family had
long tried to obtain a seeing-eye
dog. Too expensive for the family
to handle, the cadet had eagerly
jumped at the chance to get a
dog through saving empty cigar
ette packages. When he finally
learned that no such offer was
made by the company, he had
saved 4025 packages!
Two unusual types of benefit
shows are on the movie calendar
for this week-end. The “T” Club is
having one Sunday afternoon be
fore the free show and the “Y”
Cabinet is showing “NO TIME
FOR COMEDY” at 10:30 Saturday
night, after the regular show.
The “T” club’s performance will
show the movies of the Rice and
the Fordham football games, fol
lowed by the regular free show.
Incidentally, the free show this
week is a plenty good one. The idea
of the show is more for the benefit
of the football boys than anything
else, but they’ve well earned it and
then some.
The “Y” Cabinet is doing an
unusual thing in giving its show;
not only are they having a sort of
midnight feature but they are giv
ing away prizes from the stage
before the show starts. These priz
es are donated by the local mer
chants and will be given to the
person whose ticket stub is drawn.
“NO TIME FOR COMEDY” is the
feature which will be shown.
James Stewart and Rosalind
Russell together are enough to
give this a pretty good start to
ward being a good show. Stewart
is a young country playwright who
marries Rosalind and writes com
edy for her to star in. Their home
is nearly broken up when another
women inspires him to write a se
rious play but it flops. This show
has a strong cast with all of them
good actors. Their characteriza
tions of their various positions are
standouts for good acting. They
fit well into the blank space in
the plot and put on some highbrow
dialogue.
The United States could do more
toward promoting hemisphere good
will by aiding interested South and
Central American countries in es
tablishing 4-H Club work than by
loaning money for munition or air
plane factories.
TSCW Exchange
Rifle Club Gets New Range To
Prepare For Match Against Aggies
By Dorothy Schmittgens
Editor, The Lass-0
Aggie riflers had better look to
their laurels because TSCW’s Rifle
Club is practicing in its new range
under Houston Hall every after
noon. Five new guns, a range for
off-hand shooting, and a range
long enough for six targets for
prone shooting are included in the
advantages of the new building.
Spring brings thoughts of last
year’s victory over the gallant
Aggies and plans are being made
for their entertainment on the re
turn match.
Dead week has been lowered
slowly into its grave together with
all notebooks, term themes and re
ports that were due by Thursday,
and all students are trekking to
the library for cramming, coming
back to the dorms only for meals
and to complain about their last
final or the one to come. There is
a premium at campus stores for
coffee and ammoniated “cokes”,
and dormitory windows are bright
until the wee sma’ hours.
W. P. A. Project
Grandpa’s little red schoolhouse
has faded into the limbo of the
past. In its place has come the el
ementary school with its own li
brary, workshop, workroom, and
specially equipped classrooms, such
as the new model demonstration
school and education building that
was opened for inspection Friday
night. A WPA project, the new
practice building is a $100,000 en
terprise and is directly opposite
the library on the TSCW campus.
Six badminton players from
TSCW have already qualified to
enter the second annual Inter-col
legiate and Baylor open badminton
tournament at Waco Feb. 6 and 7
where approximately 150 players
from Texas and Oklahoma will
compete.
This year the. college will be rep
resented by Daphne Suba, Mary
Dell Stewart, Henrietta Greenberg,
Gloria Suba, Laurel Jean Graham,
and Betty Jane Foust. Last year
no players represented TSCW al
though some students were spec
tators.
Maurois To Lecture
The first drama series program
following final exam week is the
appearance of Andre Maurois, his
torian, biographer, novelist, and ;
critic who will give a lecture Feb.
4 on “The Art of Living,” the sub
ject of one of his recent books. Mr.
Maurois has served his country
in two world wars. In the first
World War he was attached to the
British forces as interpreter, and
his first book is on English army
life. In the second war he was as
signed as a laison officer between
the British and French general
staffs.
WHATS SHOWING
/S/Vv
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Saturd'ay 6:45 & 8:30—
“CAPTAIN CAUTION,” fea-
turing Victor Mature, Louise
s\\p /
Platt, Leo Carrillo, Bruce Ca
bot and Robert Barrat.
Saturday 10:30-“NO TIME
FOR COMEDY,” starring
James Stewart, Rosalind
Unheard of
Russell, Genevieve Tobine,
Charlie Ruggles and Allyn
Joslyn. “Y” Cabinet benefit
VALUES
1932 Chevrolet
Monday 3:30 & 6:45—
Tudor - $66.45
“SKY MURDER,” with Wal-
1933 Plymouth
ter Pidgeon and Donald Meek.
Coupe $86.71
AT THE CAMPUS
1934 Ford
Saturday—“SEVEN SIN-'
Tudor $141.66
NERS,” featuring Marlene
1935 Plymouth
Dietrich, John Wayne, Al
bert Dekker, Broderick Craw-
Tudor $183.35
ford, Mischa Auer and Billy
Gilbert.
Over 150 Cars To
Saturday midnight, Sun-
lay, Monday—“ANGELS OV-
Pick From
ER BROADWAY,” featuring
Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rita
Bryan Motor
Hayworth and Thomas Mit-
Co.
chell.
Texas ships 90 percent of the
Bermuda onions raised in the Unit
ed States.
OPENING !
West Park Barber Shop
(Next to Madely Pharmacy)
HARRY GORZYCKI, Manager
formerly with
Y.M.C.A. Barber Shop 21 Years
MID-TERM
CASH FOR YOUR USED BOOKS
Your Every Need May Be Filled
at
YOUR STORE
BOOKS
DRAWING EOUIPMENT MILITARY APARREL
TEXT BOOKS
Bought - Sold - or Exchanged
THE EXCHANGE STORE
Dependability
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