DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. A M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
VOL. 40
122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 13, 1941
Z725
No. 50
Senior ROTC Cadets Receive Active Dutv Call June!
Architects Dance Is Friday Night ,1? s Review And
Ball Marks
Beginning of
1941 Social Season
Spanish-Flavored
Nations Feted As
Theme of 1941 Ball
By Tom Yannoy
Although dressed as a sleepy
Mexican peon or a horse-riding,
guitar-picking gaucho from the
pampas of the Argentine, anyone
attending the annual Architecture
Society ball Friday night will find
a fun-making, hilarious time, La-
Vere Brooks, president of the soc
iety, stated yesterday.
At this all-costume ball, formali
ties will be forgotten and all marks
of distinction are dropped, Brooks
emphasized, as an important fea
ture of the dance.
Music will be furnished from 9
to 1 o’clock in the Banquet Room
at Sbisa Hall by Ed Gerlach, a
former A. & M. architecture stu
dent, and his orchestra.
Gerlach has played for a num
ber of entertainments here in the
past two years.
The theme of the ball for this
year is to be Pan-American. Em
phasizing this, the decorations are
a new type known as colage, a
kind of decoration to be introduced
here at A. & M. for the first time.
This has been used extensively in
the East and has proved effective,
Brooks added. It consists of the
use of bits of material to repre
sent some object. The background
for the decoration will be a col
age of Carmen Miranda, Latin-
American movie star.
The ball opens A. & M.’s 1941
social season. As in the past, the
humorous costumes of the disting
uished guests will be a feature of
the dance.
Tickets to the ball may be se
cured from LaVere Brooks or Sid
Lord for $1.50. The society voted
to sell only 30 tickets other than
those for the honored guests.
The Architects’ Ball is the only
all-costume ball to be given this
year and is the oldest one spon
sored by an A. & M. engineering
society.
Plans Near
Completion for
Annual “Fish” Ball
“With the Aggieland Orchestra
already secured, and the decora
tions nearing completion, the fresh
man ball, to be held Saturday night,
Feb. 15 in Sbisa Hall, promises
to be one of the biggest events to
be held this year by the freshman
class,” President T. S. Parker said
today.
An invitation has been sent to
the freshman class of Mary Hardin-
Baylor college, a girls school at
Belton, Texas, and although no
formal reply has yet been received,
their acceptance has been assured.
This will provide dates for nearly
100 Aggie freshmen.
Although permission was asked
to use Walton Hall for the purpose
of keeping the girls, it was refus
ed by college authorities because
of the inconvenience of moving the
cadets out of the dormitories. Lodg
ing may be found in nearby private
homes, hotels and tourist camps.
Over 300 tickets have been sold
thus far.
Funeral Services Held
For Glenn E. Whitley
Funeral services were held at
2:30 p. m. Monday at the First
Methodist Church in Bowie for
Glenn Elward Whitley, son of Mr.
and Mrs. E. W. Whitley and a
freshman at A. & M.
Whitley died at a hospital in
Fort Worth Saturday night after
a brief illness.
Whitley was a mechanical engi
neering student in M Company In
fantry.
A&M Grad
Injured in
London Raid
Major R. B. Williams
Graduated in 1923
Major Robert B. Williams, grad
uate of A. & M. College in the
class of 1923, of the United States
Air Corps, was seriously injured
in a recent London bombing raid.
He was in England as an official
U. S. Army Air Corps observer.
So far as is known, he is the first
A. & M. man to be injured over
seas in the present World War.
Williams was injured from a
fragment of a one-ton bomb and
fears were expressed that he might
lose the sight of one eye. More
recent reports state that his con
dition is not serious, although it
is not known just what effect the
injury will have on his eyesight.
Williams was a charter member
of the Cadet Air Corps Unit, which
was organized at A. & M. in
1921, and has since been discon
tinued. He served as the unit’s
commanding officer as cadet ma
jor in his senior year and received
his degree in civil engineering.
Shortly after graduation he went
into the U. S. Army Air Corps
and since that time he has become
one of the best known flyers in
the service. His home was at Al
bany, Texas, where his mother
still lives.
Robinson Is
Named Longhorn
Editor-in-Chief
Lovell Kilpatrick Is
Named Managing Editor
Morton Robinson, Houston, for
mer managing editor of The Long
horn, was appointed editor-in-chief
of the publication by the Student
Publication Board at its meeting at
2 o’clock yesterday afternoon in
Colonel Ike Ashburn’s office.
Lovell Kilpatrick of San Angelo
was appointed managing editor to
fill Robinson’s vacancy.
Giesecke Speaks
At National Meet
In Kansas City
That oft-used expression, “free
as the air” may go the way of the
horse and buggy and the Maginot
Line if the present trend toward
scientific health continues, Dr. F.
E. Giesecke, president of the Amer
ican Society of Heating and Ven
tilating Engineers and professor
emeritus of heating and ventilat
ion at Texas A. & M. college, said
in his recent address in Kansas
City, Mo.
“The American people have put
great stress on obtaining the best
milk and the best meat available.
We have taken the air for grant
ed,” Dr. Giesecke said. “Now we
are coming to understand that we
must pay for the air we breathe.”
The complex civilization of to
day, its smoke, its fumes and in
dustrial odors, make air condi-
(Continued on Page 6)
Morton Robinson
This change is necessary because
former editor Ele Baggett, who was
accidentally shot in the knee dur
ing the Christmas holidays, will not
be able to return to school this
term.
“I am sincerely sorry Ele Bag
gett’s misfortune has made it im-
posible for him to return to school
for I believe he would have made
a much better editor. All I can
say is that I and my staff will
work as hard as we possibly can,”
Robinson said.
Third Film
Club Movie
Is Tonight
Two Showings
Scheduled; 8:45, 10:30
A British film, “Night Train,”
will be shown at the Campus The
ater tonight at 8:30 as the third
foreign film brought here by the
Campus Film Club, announced
Sam Zisman, chairman of the ex
ecutive committee of the club.
As at the first two presen
tations, guests and persons not
members of the club may also wit-
nes the showing.
“Night Train” is a 20th Century-
Fox release of the Gaumont-Brit-
ish production. It deals with an
English scientist in Czecho-Slo-
vakia who knows a metnod of mak
ing armor plate steel. To get him
self, his secret, and his daughter
back to England, he must fool
the German Gestapo. A good deal
of the activities of secret agents
for both England and Germany
is shown.
When the film played in New
York, the Times stated in its re
view: “like the best of the Brit
ish melodramas, the incredible
(Continued on Page 6)
Concert Band Will
Participate in Music
Festival February 22
Saturday, Feb. 22, the A. & M.
concert band will travel to Victoria,
Texas to play two concerts.
The Victoria Music Festival is
providing for the transportation of
the band to and from Victoria. The
band is one of the featured organi
zations and will give two concerts,
one in the afternoon and another
that night. Colonel R. J. Dunn
director of the band, will be one
of the judges of the festival.
This will be the first trip made
by the concert band in several
years, cadet major E. L. Wehner
said.
Water Works
Short Course to
Be Held Feb. 17-21
Approximately 250 water works,
sewage plant engineers and others
in those fields are expected to at
tend the twenty-third annual Tex
as Water Works and Sewage Short
School which will be held at Texas
A. & M. college Feb. 17-21, ac
cording to an estimate made by
Gibb Gilchrist, dean of the School
of Engineering at the college.
The school will open with a gen
eral session Monday morning, Feb.
17, but that afternoon the engi
neers will split into sections for
water superintendents, sewage
plant superintendents and labora
tory section for technicians.
Faculty for the school has been
drawn from the college staff and
engineers of renown from all parts
of the United States.
The school, an annual affair, is
held under the joint sponsorship
of the Texas Division, Southwest
Section, American Water Works
Association, Texas State Board of
Health, State Board for Vocational
Education, and Texas A. & M. col
lege.
May Be Affected by Order
Possibility of Deferment Is Remote; Watson
Says Students Must Still Pass Scholastically
In connection with members of the Reserve Officers’
Training Corps units at A. & M. and other colleges through
out the nation who anticipate graduation or completion of
the ROTC course and commission as Reserve Officers during
1941, it is contemplated by the War Department that they
will be ordered for 12-months extended active duty immed
iately upon acceptance of their reserve commissions, as an
nounced in questionaires received here from the War Depart
ment.
This means that approximately 450 senior students who now hold
advanced ROTC contracts here may be required to serve one year as
officers in their respective branch of the Army immediately following
graduation.
This may interfere with the plans of some of the seniors who had
arranged for employment to begin immediately following their grad
uation. It will now be necessary to delay the acceptance of any such
civilian jobs until after the possible year of active duty, Lieut. Col.
James A. Watson, Commandant, said.
Although there are 477 holders'"
of these advanced contracts, some
of them will not receive their com
missions this June because of in
sufficient age or not having com
pleted the summer camp period of
training required for a reserve
commission.
Questionaires as to whether any
of the students concerned might
desire deferring their period of
active duty have been given to all
senior ROTC students. They may
give the desire for further educa
tion or other reasons in their re
quest for deferment, but the power
to approve such requests rests en
tirely in the hands of the War
Department, Col. Watson stated.
“This decision of the War De
partment will in no wise mitigate
the necessity of maintaining high
standards in academic work for
the remainder of the term,” Col.
Watson, stated. “On the contrary,
it will enhance this necessity. The
obtaining of a commission will be
contingent upon a . satisfactory
completion of academic and mili
tary courses and the standards re
quired will be very high.”
The students who receive their
commission and enter active duty
as contemplated will receive pay
and allowance as second lieuten
ants of $183 per month.
It is planned to hold orientation
classes here for those who are to
be commissioned. These classes
will be conducted by experienced
officers. The subjects covered will
give the information necessary for
a newly commissioned officer to
have on joining his first command.
Whether the officers will have
any time at all between their
graduation and the beginning of
their active duty will depend upon
the information in their question-
aire and the decision of the War
Department in their individual
case.
Plans as to where any of the
prospective officers will take their
period of active duty have not been
made.
Mass Rally
Moved 2 Days
Defense Week Fete
Will Have Climax
Thursday, Feb. 20
mounted review
a highlight of the
DeMille Announces Winners
Of Longhorn’s Vanity Fair
A letter from Cecil B. deMille,ftion of The Longhorn, Robinson
Hollywood movie director, announ
cing the names of the girls whom
he selected to appear in the Van
ity Fair section of the 1941 Long
horn has been received by Morton
Robinson, Longhorn editor.
The girls whom DeMille selected
are: Faye Branson, Ann Herod,
Marian Good, Virginia Higgins,
Gerry Fussell, Floylee Hunter, Vir
ginia Lee Ledbetter, and Olga Hen
drick.
These girls were chosen by de-
Mille as the fairest of all the girls
submitted by the seniors. In all,
29 girls’ pictures were sent to de
Mille from which he selected these
8 beauties. The pictures of the
other girls will be automatically
inserted in the senior favorite sec-
said.
“I have devoted considerable
time and attention to judging the
qualifications of each candidate
and have had assist me in mak
ing the selection the noted artist,
Don Sayre Groesbeck,” deMille
stated in his letter which listed the
winners. “Each candidate is very
lovely. . . Will you please extend
my congratulations and best wish
es to the winners and to all of the
other contestants, who are fine ex
amples of young American woman
hood.”
Each girl selected will have two
pictures placed on a full page of
1941 Longhorn.
An early edition of The Battalion
will include pictures and other in
formation concerning the winners.
The Druggist's Brother Had Been Murdered the Night Before;
In the Space of Four Hours - Attractive Stenographer, Young Married
Couple, Druggist, Trucker and Businessman; That’s Hitch-Hiking
By George Fuermann
Battalion Associate Editor
You’ve probably heard it said
that America lives on the highways.
Whether or not you believe that,
it’s a cinch that the nation’s high
ways are good places to get ac
quainted with the typical Amer
ican way of things.
In the space of four hours my
roommate and I became the con
fidants of an attractive stenogra
pher, a young married couple, an
elderly druggist whose brother had
been murdered the night before, a
truck driver and his sweetheart
and an employee of a great cor
poration.
It all happened when the two of
us hitch-hiked to Austin the other
day. Not that there’s anything un
usual about that. The fact is, the
unusual thing for a Texas Aggie
to do would be to travel by any
means other than via the thumb.
+ The two of us were in front oPfpretty good “bull session.” It’s a+before our second ride came along/fthe brakes and the car skidded to
the college about 2 o’clock last
Sunday afternoon and things
started humming in a hurry when
an attractive girl came breezing
along in a ’40 Ford.
Boy, we really thought we’d hit
the jack-pot when she stopped.
Girls generally don’t stop. They
usually smile and wave at a hitch
hiking Aggie—but they don’t stop.
Well, as I say, this one did, and
we got in and followed the old
Aggie tradition of introducing our
selves. She told us her name, too,
and our trip to Austin was off to
a good start.
We knew there would be a catch
to a ride like that—and there was.
She was only going to Bryan, and
if you know anything about the
country around A. & M., you know
that Bryan is only five miles from
the college.
Even so, the three of us had a
funny thing about hitch-hiking;
people seem to confide in you when
they give you a lift like that. It
seldom fails. A hitch-hiker can gen
erally learn moi’e about the man
or woman he’s riding with in five
minutes than the next door neigh
bor can learn in as many years.
But back to the girl again, she
was one of several hundred em
ployed by the Agricultural Ad
justment Administration which has
its state headquarters at College
Station.
A stenographer, she liked her
job and particularly liked working
at A. & M.
“There are so many boys and so
few girls here,” she said. She was
right—all-the-way right!
She let us out on the Caldwell
highway and the two of us began
thumbing cars again. Business was
bad here and we waited 45 minutes
It was a young married couple
that picked us up this time—hadn’t
even been married six months we
later learned. Did you ever see an
old daguerreotype? If you have,
you’ll know what I mean when I
say that this young couple seemed
to fit perfectly into a thing like
that.
They were driving to Caldwell to
see the husband’s parents and were
taking them some flowers and a
box of cookies.
“We do this almost every Sun
day,” the girl pointed out.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen
two happier people. Roommate and
I both remarked later that a sit
uation like that was our dream of
a perfect home life.
The next ride came along in a
hurry. A ’38 Ford zipped over the
hill at about 70 miles an hour, the
tires screeched as the driver hit
a stop in front of us.
What a ride that was! The driver
was a druggist from a small town
near Caldwell and he was headed
for Waco as fast as he could go.
He seemed like a fine old gentle
man; not at all the kind of a fel
low you would normally expect to
see driving at 70 or 80 miles an
hour.
But he wasn’t exactly in a nor
mal condition.
“This is a mighty sad ride for
me,” he told us. “I received a tel
egram this morning telling me that
my brother was murdered last
night. ... I can’t understand
it. . . . Can’t understand it . . . .”
“It just isn’t right;” it seemed
as though he was almost crying
“I know that everyone has to die
sometime, but going this way seems
like taking such an unnecessary
(Continued on Page 6)
The full-dress
which will be
Defense Week Activities at A. &
M. has been postponed until Thurs
day afternoon, Feb. 20, Col. Ike
Ashburn, executive assistant to
President T. O. Walton announced
today.
The three-day period, Feb. 18, 19,
and 20, is being held as part of
America’s National Defense Week
Observance Feb. 12 to 22.
Following the review, a mass
rally of the corps and civilians will
be held in Kyle stadium to hear
brief addresses by President T.
O. Walton and Lieut. Col. James
A. Watson, commandant and pro
fessor of military science and
tactics.
Lieut. C. M. Simmang, instructor
in the Mechanical Engineering de
partment, has been named chair
man of the committee of the)
Brazos County branch of the Nat
ional Defense Week in the area.
A smoker will be held
Wednesday night, Feb. 19, in Sbisa
Hall at 7 p.m. for the near-500
members of the senior class who
are junior members of the asso
ciation and who will receive com
missions as second lieutenants fol
lowing graduation next June.
Thursday, Feb. 19, a barbecue
dinner and smoker will be held at
Colonel Ashburn’s ranch house by
the R.O.A. for all members in the
area.
Word has not been received from
the Coast Artillery Corps of Fort
Crockett at Galveston, Colonel
Ashburn said today, but the mili
tary department feels certain that
a detachment will participate in
the activities at College Station.
Each afternoon of the three-day
observance, the 216-piece A. & M.
band will play on the Sbisa Hall
area from 5:30 to 6. The program
will feature v/ilitary music and
patriotic songs.
National Defense Week has been
held for a number of years, but
the three day observance will be
the first time the college has partici
pated. The defense week activities
was instigated through members
of the cadet corps.
In selecting dates for National
Defense Week, the days 12-22 was
selected because they were the
birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and
George Washington, the first lead
ing exponents of national defense
in their days.
T Club Invites
Seniors to Dance
Inaugurating an unprecedented
plan, the annual T club dance this
year will be open to all members
of the senior class, President How
ard Shelton announced yesterday
afternoon.
Shelton added, “It is our hope
that all seniors who attend the
dance will bring dates. If this isn’t
possible, however, we want the se
niors to attend the dance anyway.”
Seniors will be assessed the reg
ular $1 charge for the dance which
will be held March 14.
No announcement has yet been
made as to the orchestra, but Shel
ton pointed out that this would
come within 15 days.
A. & M. Instructor
Completes New Text
Chris Groneman, instructor in
the department of industrial ed
ucation at Texas A. & M. college,
is the most recent member of the
college teaching staff to publish a
textbook.
His work, “General Bookbi
ing,” just off the press, is prof
ly illustrated to show the v?
steps in bookbinding. ’**.