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DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
VOL. 40 122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, FEB. 15, 1941
Z725 NO. 51
Annual
Freshman
Ball Tonight
Seniors Invited;
Aggieland Orchestra
Will Play for Event
Highlighting the freshman so
cial calendar for the year will be
the annual freshman ball to be
held tonight in Sbisa Hall with
more" than 1,500 Aggies and their
dates expected to attend.
The Aggieland Orchestra has
been secured for the dance and
according to Ed Minnock, leader,
the program will be one of the best
that the band has ever presented.
One of the outstanding events of
the evening will be the featuring
of trumpet player Raymond To-
land, former first chair trumpet
er with Harry James and his
band. Toland, who is now head of
the musicians union in Waco, has
consented to join the band for one
night only and this will be the only
dance that he will play with the
Aggieland Orchestra.
Tickets for the dance are $1.10
each and will admit either a couple
or a single person. Over 300 tick
ets have already been sold.
The dance will start promptly
at 9 p.m. and will be over at mid
night. Freshmen may obtain per
mission for a late pass from their
company commanders. Those fresh
men without dates will be expected
to be in within an hour after the
dance.
The committees appointed by
Freshman Class President T. S.
Parker includes: John Ball, Dal
las; Robert Ledbetter, Waco, in
charge of invitations; Donald
Welch, Madil, Oklahoma; Neal
Sanders, Corpus Christi, in charge
of refreshments; Curtis Zahn,
Dallas, and Edward Carr, Hous
ton.
Dr. Brechtel
Will Present 4th
Annotated Concert
The fourth in a series of anno
tated musical concerts will be giv
en in the music room of the Cush
ing Memorial Library Monday, Feb.
17, at 7:15 p. m.
This program will be conducted
by Dr. George Brechtel of the Eng
lish department.
This is one of a series of anno
tated concerts given every Monday
night by faculty members and stu
dents who are interested in music.
These programs, which are planned
in advance, are confined to music
which is included in the Carnegie
endowment set in the library. Fac
ulty members and students are in
vited to attend these concerts which
last one hour, Dr. T. F. Mayo, li
brarian, said.
Dr. Brechtel will present the fol
lowing selections and explain them
to the audience as they are played.
1. Brahms, Academic Festival
Overture.
2. Beethoven, Symphony No. 8
(complete).
3. Prokofieff, Piano Concerto No.
3, First Movement.
The general theme of the con
cert series is “Music that I like
and why I like it.”
Dr. Mayo said, “The object of
this series is to give students an
opportunity to compare their own
musical tastes with those which
the various concerts will illus
trate.”
Robinson Announces
Longhorn Deadlines
Morton Robinson, editor of The
Longhorn, said Friday that all pic
tures of men for the military sec
tion of The Longhorn must be made
by 5 o’clock today.
These pictures include all mem
bers of regimental and battalion
staffs, organization commanders,
seconds-in-command, first ser
geants, and all junior staff mem
bers. Pictures of the junior staffs
must be group pictures of the en
tire staff.
Half of Morale Booster
Cadet Corps Now Has Music for Every Formation
As Recently Organized Drum and Bugle Corps Functions
Plans Completed for A. & M.’s
National Defense Week Observance
Civilian-Cadet Committee Pushes
Local Drive to Aid Needy Britains
The National Defense Weelrf-
events and preparations being made
pertinent significance to some of
the cadets since the receipt of the
questionaires from the War De
partment concerning a contemplat
ed one-year term of active duty
for them.
Although the questionnaire used
the term “contemplated”, many of
the students will view the proceed
ings from a more serious viewpoint
because of this probability.
Most colorful of the National De
fense Week Activities will be the
full dress mounted review to be
held by the corps of cadets at 4
p.m. Thursday, February 20. This
review will be held on the old
drill field west of Guion Hall and
will be the first one this term. It
is hoped that Gen. Gerald C. Brant,
commanding general of the Gulf
Division of the Air Service, will be
able to attend the review.
Battery D, Field Artillery, will
be motorized for the occasion and
Battery A will use the horse drawn
equipment.
The Headquarters troop of the
Cavalry will be mounted. Those
organizations to appear in the re
view mounted were selected by
the senior instructor of the reg
iment concerned.
After passing in review the units
of cadets will be marched to Kyle
Field and be seated in the north
end of the stadium for ceremon
ies in connection with the obser
vance of Defense Week. President
T. O. Walton and Lieut. Col. James
A. Watson, commandant, will ad
dress the corps and visitors on sub
jects relating to defense.
The idea for these activities
in local observance of the defense
(Continued on Page 4)
Student Service
Leader Visits Here
Claud Nelson, Atlanta, Georgia,
director of the World Student Ser
vice fund visited the A. & M.
campus Thursday and Friday in
behalf of securing financial aid
for students of countries left des
titute by the present world conflict.
The World Student Service com
mittee is engaged in securing funds
for students of such countries as
China, France, Poland, Norway.
Belgium, and the Netherlands. The
purpose of the fund is to enable
the students of these countries
to continue their education during
the conflict so that at its term
ination they may resume their for
mer place in national and interna
tional life without having too great
a gap of time to elapse.
The committee is interested in
aiding only those who have been
left destitute by the war. Only
internees in neutral countries,
prisoners of war, of which there
are 3,000,000, and refugees are
to be aided by the fund. This work
is being done in France, China, for
refugees, and to prisoners of war
in England, Canada, Germany, and
German occupied territories.
While on the campus, Mr. Nelson
addressed a meeting of members of
the Y Cabinet, Methodist Leader
ship council, and a group of stu
dent leaders at lunch yesterday.
He is making a tour of the South
west, speaking in Texas to Sam
Houston State Teachers College,
Huntsville, and the University of
Texas besides A. & M.
24 Cadets Make-Up
2 Units Which Play
Breakfast, Dinner
For the remainder of the year,
both the new and old areas will
have music provided for meal for
mations by the drum and bugle
corps and the band.
The drum and bugle corps will
play for breakfast and noon meals,
and the band will play retreat and
night formations.
The drum and bugle corps is
made up of members of the band,
based on their willingness and abil
ity to play. The two corps change
areas each week so that one will
not have to play in the same place
all the time.
The band that plays for the
new area is composed largely of
members of the concert band, while
the band at Sbisa Hall is made up
of the remainder of the band.
Arrangements for the drum and
bugle corps to play were made by
Lieut. Col. J. A. Watson, com
mandant, and funds have been pro
vided to pay the musicians. The
drum and bugle corps was organiz
ed to improve the appearance of
the cadet corps in marching to
meals, to furnish a uniform ca
dence, and to increase morale, Col.
Watson said.
The bands will play five nights
a week, Monday through Friday,
except on special week-end occa
sions when both bands will be com
bined to play at one mess hall or
the other.
Two senior instructors have been
provided to aid in the development
of the drum and bugle corps. Bob
Miller, Guy Johnson, W. U. Taylor.
R. E. Alston, H. F. Ball, N. S.
Madeley, and Lamar Haines com
pose the buglers under Ed Floor -.
Drummers in that corps are E. W.
McClendon, G. W. Ferguson, A. M.
Hinds, and R. M. Martin.
Abbot Armstrong, E. B. Chat-
(Continued on Page 4)
Bernie Cummins
Will Play Coast
Artillery Ball
Played Here Last
Year for Composite
Regiment Function
Bernie Cummins and his orches
tra has been selected by the Coast
Artillery to play for its regiment
al ball March 7.
Aggies will remember this band
as the number one band of the so
cial season last year. Cummins and
Anson Weeks led all other bands
in a poll conducted by “Back
wash” in the student body to de
termine the best band of the year.
Cummins played for the Com
posite Regiment Ball last year.
Winning first places is nothing
new to Bernie Cummins and his
band. Bemie’s band was started
on its way to be a big “name” band
when it won an audition of over
fifty bands to select an orchestra
to play for the formal opening
of the Hotel New Yorker in New
York City.
Cummins has been a success in
many of the most distinctive ho
tels and night clubs in the coun
try.
The popularity of Bernie Cum
mins lies mainly in the fact that
he believes than an orchestra should
play for the spot it happens to
be in. Personally he likes swing,
but he always tempers his music to
agree with the particular audience
he is playing for.
Arrangements for the band were
made by Harry Whitmore and Jim
my Golston, Coast Artillery jun
iors.
7 Legislators
Here Friday to
Meet With Walton
Appropriations
Committee Members
Learn College’s Needs
The me*mbers of the sub-com
mittee of the appropriations com
mittee of the Texas House of Rep
resentatives spent Thursday night
and Friday as guests of President
T. O. Walton to discuss the fin
ancial needs of the college for
the coming year.
Heading the sub-committee were
W. T. McDonald of Bryan, repre
sentative, Brazos county; and Sen
ator J. Alton York also of Bryan
and Brazos county.
Other members of the sub-com
mittee were Kirby Kelley of
Huntsville, Woodrow W. Bean of
Sierra Blanca, Mark Halsey of Lub
bock, Joe Skiles of Denton, and
E. J. Cleveland of Buda.
W. O. Reed of Dallas, chairman
of the House Appropriations com
mittee, was supposed to be here but
illness in his family kept him away.
Managing Editor
Above is Lovell Kilpatrick,
San Angelo, who was appoint
ed managing editor of The
Longhorn by the Student Pub-'’
lications Board Wednesday af
ternoon. Kilpatrick was ap
pointed to fill the vacancy
created when former manag
ing editor was elevated to the
editorship.
Grad Students
Annual Barbecue
Scheduled Today
Affair Set for
Col. Ashburn’s Ranch
Pejpinning at 4 O’clock
A barbecue-picnic will be given
for all graduate students and their
dates at Col. Ike Ashbum’S ranch
this afternoon and tonight.
John Pasco, president of the
graduate club, announced that
transportation will be provided for
all who do not have cars. Those
who wish to take advantage of this
offer should meet at Milner Hall
at 4 o’clock at which time the
party will leave for the ranch. Col.
Ashburn’s ranch is located one mile
southwest of the intersection of
College Ave. and Carson street.
Halloran Completes
Deer, Cattle Survey
Arthur Franklin Halloran, grad
uate student in the A. & M. college
department of Fish and Game, has
completed a study of deer and
cattle relationships on the Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge which
indicates a simpler method of tak
ing the annual inventory of deer
on the Refuge and the proper man
agement of both deer and cattle
on the area.
Halloran discovered that it is
possible to secure a fairly accurate
estimate of the number of deer on
the Refuge by'counting the deer
(Continued on Page 4)
Mrs. C. B. Campbell
And W. A. Becker
Are Co-Chairmen
A. & M. students and residents
of Brazos County will have an op
portunity in the near future to ma
terially aid the needy of Britain
through the recently organized
Bundles for Britain chapter of
College Station.
This local chapter was organiz
ed as a result of a drive being
sponsored by The Battalion and is
headed by Mrs. C. B. Campbell and
Cadet Colonel William A. Becker
who are acting as co-chairmen.
The objective of the chapter is
to gather, classify and prepare for
shipment all old clothes, shoes, sur
gical supplies and other materials
that the conflict in England has
necessitated.
A committee meeting was held
Thursday night in Mrs. Campbell’s
home to discuss the method of
collecting the materials and pre
paring them to be sent to the
main office in New York City.
It was decided to establish box
es in each of the dormitories for
the purpose of collecting tinfoil
since there is a vast amount of this
going to waste on the campus. The
students are requested not to roll-
the tinfoil as it must be pressed |
flat before shipment. Tinfoil is
used for a special type of bandages )
for infantile paralysis and serious
injuries as well as the production
of munitions.
Methods of collecting clothing,
shoes and medical supplies have
not been worked out yet, but will
(Continued on Page 4)
Annual Houston
Club Function
Set for Sunday
11-Piece, All-Girl
Orchestra Will Be
Feature of Party
The Houston and Harris coun
ty A. & M. club will have its an
nual cooky shower in Sbisa Hall,
Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m., President
James R. Lane said Friday.
An 11-piece all-girl orchestra
has been engaged to furnish music
for the event.
Many Houston A. & M. mothers
will make the trip to attend the
shower which will be the largest
in the history of the occasion. Lane
said.
The Houston Mothers club is
recognized over the state for its
many activities. Mrs. Joe Spiller
is president and entertainment
chairman of the chib and Mrs. L.
C. Downey is chairman of Sunday’s
event.
The officers of the Houston-
Harris county A. & M. Club are:
president, Lane; senior vice-pres
ident, C. J. Bland; junior vice
president, T. W. Grissom; treasur
er, A. C. SoRelle; secretary, Paul
Egner.
Hell-for-Leather in the World of Adventure:
West Point Cadet, Construction Boss, Railroad Builder,
Street Paver, Miner and Soldier of Fortune - Meaning Col. Watson
A Battalion Feature
He won’t talk about his age, and
it’s nip and tuck trying to get his
life history, but if hell-for-leather
adventure stories are to your lik
ing, then it’s a cinch you’ll enjoy
listening to the ups and downs of
his life story—to the zip and zoom
of his world travels.
Lieut. Col. James A. Watson is
the man I mean.
Right now he’s busy tending to
the military welfare of 6500 young
Americans (most of them Texans),
but it hasn’t always been thus.
Formerly a West Point cadet,
a construction boss, a railroad
builder, an oil driller, a street pav
er, a miner, a soldier of fortune
and a half dozen other things, his
mail now comes addressed to the
commandant of the Texas A. and
M. college.
That’s not all, either, because
he’s also the college’s professor
■f’of military science and tactics—fwhere
which is just a fancy title explain
ing that he’s head of the institu
tion’s classroom work where mil
itary science is concerned.
When he’s not in eye or earshot,
the Aggies forget about his titles
and simply call him the “Bull.”
But don’t get me wrong. The
cadets have been calling command
ants by that title since 1876. It’s
more nearly a compliment than
otherwise.
Born in Ohio and the early part
of his life spent in West Virginia,
Col. Watson was schooled at the
famed Andover academy in Mass.,
Marietta college in Ohio and the
U. S. Military academy at West
Point.
Tampico, Mexico, was his first
out-of-the-States stop after college.
Oil was the reason, and there he
stayed for two years. Pittsburgh
got the nod on the next round
Col. Watson did a
year stretch as assistant to an
uncle who was a building con
tractor.
It was just about then that the
country surrounding Alberta, Can
ada was opening up. Three years
in one place was too long—Canada
was the Colonel’s next stop.
“Don’t ask me what I did there—
I can’t remember. Anything and
everything will just about cover
it,” Col. Watson says of his Cana
dian sojourn.
Then came one of the blood and
thunder chapters of his life.
From the Alberta region Col.
Watson journeyed to Alaska where
he received work with the Gug
genheim Mining Co. as a con
struction foreman and camp sup
erintendent.
The Guggenheim Co. and a rival
organization, the Philadelphia Co.,
were fighting a near-war for the
three-4-railroad right-of-way through the"
Copper River canyon.
“That was a bloody affair,” the
Colonel mused. “There were sev
eral thousand men engaged on each
side and the two corporations had
employed adventurers and soldiers
of fortune to lead the fighting.
Most of the leaders had been of
ficers in the Boer War and the
devilish things they could think
of were something to write home
about.”
One incident in particular the
Colonel remembers well. The time
finally came when the two railroads
being built by the rival corpora
tions had to cross each other, and
the Philadelphia co. engineered an
ingenious device which halted the
Guggenheim construction work.
It seemed that the two rail
roads would cross at the base of
a hill known as Bull Hill. A few
hundred feet from the crossing the
■Philadelphia Co. securely tied an
inch-thick steel cable. The other
end of the cable was tied to a
donkey engine located half way
up Bull Hill—the Philadelphia Co.
stronghold. At the crossing, two
half-ton rails were tied to the
cable.
The result: When the donkey en
gine stretched the cable taut, the
huge rails gyrated crazily in a man
ner which would have killed any hu
mans in touching distance. More
over, the Philadelphia Co. kept
riflemen on 24-hour watch to pre
vent the cutting of the cable.
The Guggenheim Co. was stop
ped!
“The Guggenheims offered a
thousand dollars to any man who
would cut the cable,” Co. Watson
reminisced, “and for two days no
one in camp took them up on the
offer—it looked like a cinch way
(Continued on Page 4)
Advanced Flying
Quota Increased
An increase in the quota of
trainees for the advanced flying
course offered at A. & M. has
been announced by the Fort Worth
office of the Civilian Pilot Train
ing Service.
Five vacancies will exist in this
course. Any student who has com
pleted the primary course or who
has a private pilot’s license is elig
ible to take the course at A. & M.,
Howard W. Barlow, head of the
Aeronautical Engineering depart
ment said.
Additional eligibility require
ments are that an applicant must
complete by June 30, 1941 half the
credit hours required for gradu
ation.
Applicants must also be reco
mmended for the training by the
institution at which they took their
previous training.
All persons interested are asked
to report to the aeronautical en
gineering department. Applicants
need not be registered in school
at present to be eligible, Barlow
added.