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THE BATTALION
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
■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
4-5444.
1940 Member 1941
Associated Colle6iate Press
Bob Nisbet Editor-in-Chief
George Fuermann , Associate Editor
Keith Hubbard Advertising Manager
Tom Vannoy Editorial Assistant
Pete Tumlinson Staff Artist
J. B. Pierce, Phil Levine Proof Readers
Sports Department
Hub Johnson Sports Editor
Bob Myers Assistant Sports Editor
Mike Haikin, Jack Hollimon,
W. F. Oxford , Junior Sports Editors
Circulation Department
Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager
W. G. Hauger, E. D. Wilmeth .... Assistant Circulation Managers
F. D. Asbury, E. S. Henard Circulation Assistants
Photography Department
Phil Golman Photographic Editor
G. W. Brown, John Carpenter, Joe Golman,
Jack Jones Assistant Photographers
THURSDAY’S EDITORIAL STAFF
George Fuermann 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.
Shavetails for a Year
TWELVE MONTHS active duty immediately upon
graduation! That is quite a blow to seniors ex
pecting to fill jobs at the end of the current sem
ester. It means that these seniors will have to mark
time for a year or, to put it differently, take time
out from their life plans to serve for a year in
the army. “Take time out” is an appropriate
phrase, because in the form the seniors are now
filling out there is no indication that these
boys who are going into active duty have any
chance of continuing in the army.
This much can be said of the new orders. It is
at least comforting to know one way or another
what is about to happen. Hitting in the dark and
planning in advance for other things with active
duty hanging imminent is much worse than know
ing even being called.
And the fact that the active duty is coming
immediately after completion of the advanced course
has the advantage of fixing things whereby the
June graduates will have facts to present their
respective employers instead of vague supposit
ions.
It will also have the advantage of giving them
their year of active duty immediately and not at
some other time, which unplanned for, might not
be at all convenient with respect to a job.
There is only this question to be raised about
the situation. What assurance can we as Reserve
Commissioned Second Lieutenants have that our
term of active duty will not be extended indefinite
ly once we are in. Rightly enough, the form calls
for twelve months’ active duty, but can we' bank on
that?
Another question will be upon what grounds or
what consideration will be used as a basis for de-
ferrment. Will students be permitted to complete
their college education in case they do not grad
uate or in case they desire to do graduate work?
These and other questions can only be answered by
the War Department and will probably be ans
wered for individual cases and not in general terms.
Before it can be said that college graduates
with reserve commissions are beefing about active
duty when other not-so-fortunate individuals of
the same age are now serving the same time as
conscripts or draftees and living the lives of en
listed men, let us add that there can be no dis
senting comment from A. & M. on the necessity
for serving the country. A. & M. men are more
than glad to do their share and are willing to make
endless sacrifices in case these sacrifices are
needed.
For some boys a year’s active duty will be
a welcome blessing and in any case, A. & M. boys
have no cause for crying. Think how much worse
things could be or could get.
Uncle Sam, please tell us Aggies what it is you
want done and when and where (we do not even
bother at this stage of the game to ask why) be
fore you give us the word “go”.
What Now for France?
EFFECTIVENESS of General Charles de Gaulle’s
Free French forces in aiding the British in their
African successes, continued rumblings from Vichey
and P^ris, and the growing belief in well-informed
circles that Marshal Retain and Reichsfuehrer Hitler
are heading for a showdown, have served to focus
attention once more on the situation in which con
quered France finds herself. Undergraduate students
of foreign affairs in the United States feel that
France’s role is still destined to be important, de
spite the fact that Petain’s regime has virtually no
alternative to complete collaboration with the con
querors.
At Iowa State college, the Daily Student waxes
skeptical in calling attention to Petain’s recent as
sertion that France is a soverign nation, vested
with the duty of defending her soil, extinguishing
divergences of opinion and reducing dissidences of
the colonies. “According to the French official,”
continues the Student, “an agreement was made
for the two countries (France and Germany) to
collaborate in rebuilding a crippled France. Hitler
‘forced one to no dictate; no pressure,’ Petain said.
Maybe so,” observes the Iowa publication, “but
somehow it just doesn’t ring true. The stigma of
^rlitler’s propagandists methods seems to taint Pe-
I Jn’s every word. It is hard to believe that Hitler
V«^Vt shape the rebuilding of France as he wants
“Twt
Collet® University Daily Kansan joins in the view
.he French government, totalitarian since its
cs with Germany, has little choice but to
to whatever terms may be offered by the
Axis in peace negotiations, regardless of the conse
quences—chief of which would probably be a decla
ration of war on Great Britain. And a declaration
of war on its traditional ally would precipitate a
breach of diplomatic contact with the United States
and South American nations which Petain considers
essential to France’s welfare in regard to hoped-for
and much-needed food supplies.”
It is pointed out by the Cornell Daily Sun that
“with France unwillingly, or otherwise, lining up
with the Axis powers, the question of her colonies
has come back into the news. President Roosevelt
is reported to have warned the Vichy government
that further signs of military co-operation between
Germany and France may result in this country
seizing Martinique and French Guiana. But there
are other elements in our affairs with France.
Most important, there is Dakar, in French West
Africa, a port which an offened France might turn
over to Germany. This base on the South Atlantic,
some 1,800 miles from Brazil, in event of an Axis
victory would be a seat of operations for any attempt
at penetration of this hemisphere. It is, of course,
out of the question for our navy to go over to
Africa and occupy every potential ‘enemy’ point
of operations. Nevertheless, the fact remains that
the president will have to consider the role of
Dakar, in any decision which will determine future
relations with France.” Thus, while formal United
States friendship for France continues, the con
census of collegiate editorial thought is that Ger
many will tighten its iron grip on France and that
the prostrate Vichy government will be forced to
assume a key role in Hitler’s attempt at world rev
olution.
—Associated Collegiate Press
Something To Read
BY DR. T. F. MAYO
American Publishing Trends
A RECENT SURVEY in The Publisher’s Weekly
shows that in 1940, less than half as many books
on Philosophy and Ethics were published in the
United States as in 1920. This, however, was the
only class of books which did not increase. Games
and Sports jumped 202%; Education, 214%; Bus
iness 139-%; Biography, 127%; Sociology and Eco
nomics, 121%; Fine Arts, 122%; Science, 113%;
Agriculture, 107%; Music, 101%; Technical books,
73%; Philology, 63%; Poetry and Drama, 62%;
History, 58%; Fiction, 54'%.
Eyery man may interpret these figures in his
own fashion. To your writer, it is disheartening to
note that America is absorbing fewer and fewer
books of philosophy and ethics. It makes him wonder
if the schools and colleges are producing or even
trying to produce good and thoughtful human beings,
equipped and habituated to seeing life steadily and
seeing it whole. He wonders also, however, whether
other types of literature (such as drama, biography,
and fiction) do not nowadays contain more “philo
sophy and ethics” than they used to. If this is true,
then the drop in the number of books specifically in
this field need not be quite so alarming.
As the World Turns.
BY “COUNT” V. K. SUGAREFF
LABOR STRIKES retard the National Defense Pro
gram. Organized and often unorganized laborers
go on strike as a last resort to obtain higher wages.
Other demands of labor, such as better working con
ditions and shorter working days, have been se
cured either by state or national legislation. Labor
has made great progress in the last
generation. There was a time when
economists thought that poverty was
nomal and that their own law of
wages (subsistence wages) was a
natural law. It was nature’s respon
sibility to care for the laborers. Then
came the theory that industry is
responsible for labor and a series
of laws were passed to protect the
laborers, namely, the child labor
Sugareff law, the workmen’s compensation
act, and others. We have entered a new stage in the
status of labor. In 1936 the Democratic Party plat
form stated, “We hold this truth to be self-evident—
that the government in a modern civilization has cer
tain inescapable obligations to its citizens, among
which are: (1) Protection of the family and home;
(2) Establishment of democracy of opportunity for
all the people; (3) Aid to those overtaken by dis
aster.” The present administration has accepted
the “inescapable obligation” in regard to labor. The
Wagner Relations Act, the Wages and Hours Act,
and the Social Security Act tend to strengthen la
bor’s position as an important factor in our eco
nomic life. Even the injunction has been brushed
aside as a corrective measure against striking la
borers. Forty-eight million wage-earners, many of
them voters, are worth catering to if one wants to
win an election. During an industrial pick-up strikes
are a normal condition, but during the present crisis
strikes should be, and can be, minimized. Efforts
are already under way to improve labor-employer
relations.
Our Diplomatic Front Is Active. President Roose
velt broke another precedent and went out into
Chesapeake Bay to welcome Lord Halifax, Britain’s
new envoy. It was a friendly gesture by our chief
executive to the English people. Such diplomatic
acts on the part of responsible officials often def
initely influence the relationships of nations. What
President Roosevelt can not do in person he does
through personal emisarries. Col. William Donovan
(“Wild Bill” Donovan) is now somewhere in the
Near East. Has been with the British forces on the
African front, and has, also, visited the Balkan
capitals and had interviews with the leading states
men there. He is likely conveying messages to these
people to the effect that the U. S. will aid England
with all possible speed. Harry Hopkins is in London
to find out the most effective ways by which we
can help England. Lanchlin Currie is in China and
has conferred with Chiang Kai-shek concerning
economic aid to China in her war against Japan. A
word of warning or encouragement here and there
may forestall or even prevent military action.
Diplomacy is our first line of national defense.
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For light musical comedy, go to
see “IRENE,” the benefit show
for the Accounting Society at the
Assembly Hall Friday. It has a
gay lilting swing and some good
technicolor shots which puts it up
as a good, light-hearted musical.
Anna Neagle, the red-headed
British actress, has the part of
Irene. As a society clothes model,
she is forced to wear an old Alice
Blue gown of hers to an upper-
crust party. The producers wisely
ran into a technicolor sequence to
get the gorgeous appearance of
her red hair and the Alice Blue
gown and she really wows them.
Anna is just a slender little wisp
of a girl and she does a smooth
dipping dance number to the tune
of “Alice Blue Gown.” The tune
is repeated throughout the show in
several different moods from swing
to dreamy waltz.
Another catchy little musical se
lection the title tune “Irene.” You
will probably find yourself coming
out of the show whistling one or
the other of these little musical
numbers.
Ray Milland, long a leading man
for Dorothy Lamour, has the lead
ing male role. He owns the store
that Anna models for but that is
barely enough to help him win her
away from Alan Marshall in the
nick of time. Little Anna is easily
qnd justifiably the main character
in this light musical comedy.
The third foreign film under the
sponsorship of the Campus Film
Club is showing at the Campus
Theater at 8:30 tonight. This time
it is a British film, “NIGHT
TRAIN.” There is a little bit of
propaganda mixed into this one
which is a running spy story in
front of a war background. The
British handle the situation with
a suspense that is almost madden
ing.
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Thursday 3:30 & 6:45—
“YOU’LL FIND OUT,” fea
turing Kay Kyser, Peter
Lorre, Boris Karloff, Dennis
O’Keefe and Helen Parrish.
Friday 3:30 & 6:45—
“IRENE,” starring Anna
Neagle, Ray Milland, Roland
Young, Alan Marshall, May
Robson and Billie Burke.
Benefit of the Accounting
Society.
AT THE CAMPUS
Thursday—“KID NIGHT
ENGALE,” with John Payne,
Jane Wyman, Walter Catlett
and Ed Brophy.
Thursday 8:30—“NIGHT
TRAIN,” featuring Margaret
Lockwood, Rex Harrison,
Paul von Hernreid and Mau
rice Oster.
Friday, Saturday—“HUD
SON BAY,” starring Paul
Muni, Gene Tierney and
Laird Cregar.
Did You Know This
Campus Was Under
Lots of Water Once
There was a day when the pres
ent sites of Denton, Temple, San
Antonio and Del Rio were coastal
areas, cooled by breezes from the
Gulf of Mexico. The campus, then,
was covered by water and was not
ready to rise by silt deposits from
the gulf for 150 million years.
A large geological map of Texas,
which shows the influence of water
on the state, has been placed on
display at the museum and is in
tended to show the different kinds
of rocks and something of their
distribution over a given area. This
has been done by the use of color,
the darker colors indicating older
and the lighten colors indicating
the more recent series of rock
formations. This map of the geol
ogy of Texas is based on more re
cent information. The name and
color are given in explanatory col
umns. The distribution of these
formations is plotted on the map.
-THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1941
50,000 Additional
Hitch-Hikers , Cards
Available at YMCA
Copying an idea from Eastern
colleges, the Y.M.C.A. has print
ed more than fifty thousand ad
ditional hitch-hikers’ “Thank You”
cards to be carried by Aggies and to
be given to the driver of each car in
which he rides. The Y.M.C.A. print
ed similar cards last year.
These small maroon and white
cards are about 2x3 inches in
size. On one side they contain a
small note of thanks and consid
eration and on the other side a
blank space for the Aggie to fill
in his name and address in case the
driver ever passes through College
Station.
“The cards may be secured, free
of charge, from the desks at either
the old or new Y.M.C.A.,” assis
tant secretary J. Gordon Gay said
yesterday.
You may return books
bought from
LOUPOT’S
if you don’t need them,
one week after purchase.
The sustained excitement will get
on your nerves as the plot chase's
from Czecho-Slovakia to England
to Germany to Switzerland behind
a scientist who knows how to make
a new type of steel plate.
There is spying and counter-
spying but the suspense itself is
suspended for a time while two
English gentlemen stop in the tens
est moments to discuss the most
unimportant trivialities.
The prim and pretty British hero
ine of this film is not entirely un
familiar to American audiences;
she is saucy Margaret Lockwood.
Through some blundering on her
part, the suspense of the show is
heightened, and beauty in distress
is always interesting.
Attention
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MUSICAL MEANDERINGS
1 I
*
By Murray Evans
If somebody should happen to
ask me, point-blank, what I think
about feminine vocalists in gen
eral, I would say it in one word,
“Putrid!” Then I would hedge a
bit and make discourse something
like the following:
“Of course there are some ex
ceptions that almost convert me.
Now you take Maxine Sullivan,
for instance. She’s black, but her
voice has quality that ranks sec
ond to none. So I would place her
first among lady sparrows. Say,
do you remember when she out-
sang Dorothey LaMour all over the
ring in “St. Louis Blues”? You
don’t? Well, when she started sing
ing, the show got quiet, and she
held everybody spell-bound until
the last note. She did it only be
cause of her singing, too, because
after all she is a Negro and not
especially a voluptuous one at that.
Now, if I were pinned to it, I
would describe her vocals in two
words, plaintive and wistful.
Next to Maxine I’m bound to
place luscious Alice Faye among
my exceptions; else my conscience
would bother me nights. She has
a generous, soft mouth that always
looks like a Cupid’s heart, and the
way she forms words with it makes
you envy Tony Martin to his low
est vest button. Her diction is
something over which to marvel,
and her voice is low, vibrant and
rich. But she has beauty to help
put her songs over, beauty which
soars far above the common Fanny
Fry prettiness. She can put more
affection into one look than any
femme, besides youre ‘one and on
ly,’ of course. Of a certainty. (Em
phasized, to keep from getting in
hot water.)
To say it all in a few words,
Faye’s vocals are magnetic, and
appealing to the eye as well as to
the ear.
But these two be exceptions.
Think, if you will, of Marlene
Dietrich, Sigrid Gurie, Claudette
Colbert as they struggle through a
musical score so pathetically, and
then agree with me that the mill-
run of women vocalists are just
not up to par.”
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teach for the \
TELEPHONE
Phi Beta Kappa key lost several
years ago by Harry M. Hubble,
professor of Greek at Yale, was
found the other day behind a book
in the West Haven town clerk’s
office.
No matter what line of
business you go into after
graduation, you’ll find the telephone a powerful aid.
If you’re in the selling end, the telephone will help
you to save time, cover more prospects more frequently,
increase sales and decrease selling costs.
If your work has to do with purchasing, distribution,
production, administration or collections, the telephone
will help you to get things done faster at low cost.
Bell System service is so valuable to business because
it meets so many varying needs.
WHY NOT GIVE THE FAMILY A RING TONIGHT?
LONG DISTANCE RATES TO MOST POINTS ARE
LOWEST AFTER 7 P. M. ANY NIGHT—ALL DAY SUNDAY.
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