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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
YOL. 40
122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 20, 1941
Z725
NO. 53
Inclement Weather Frowns on Review and Mass Rally
4th Annual
Sophomore
Ball Friday
Sophs and Seniors
Asked to Attend
Function in Uniform
A colorful ceremony in which
regimental colors and American
flags will be presented is to be
the highlight of the fourth annual
Sophomore Ball Friday night, Bill
Bryant, class president, announced
yesterday.
The massing of these flags will
be brought in the center door un
der regular color guard and be
marched to the bahd stand between
lines of cadets while the cadets
stand at attention without salut
ing. The flags will be deposited
in the holders on the stand and will
remain there during the remainder
of the dance.
This ceremony will be held in
connection with the observance of
National Defense Week on the
campus. Photographers and report
ers from life magazine will be
present to record the event.
“Please cooperate and all wear
uniforms to the dance because
Life magazine will cover the event
and be taking pictures,” Bryant
asked the sophomores. After inter
mission those who wish may change
into tuxedos, he added. Cadet Colo
nel William A. Becker asked sen
iors who attend the dance to wear
dress uniform and boots for the
same reason.
Over one hundred girls from
TSCW are to arrive as guests
the Aggie Sophomore class Fri
day afternoon. Ed Gordon has
beeij in charge of the date bureau
for making these arrangements
in cooperation with Grace Riddell,
president of the TSCW sophomore
class.
To accommodate the girls, the
first four ramps of Law Hall will
be vacated by 3 p.m. Friday. Those
wishing to reserve one of the rooms
may do so at the commandant’s
office after 8 a.m. Thursday. A fee
of 35 cents per night will be charg
ed for the payment of the maids
keeping the halls. Girls who stay
in the dormitory must be in by
2 a.m. both Friday and Saturday
mornings and escorts will be held
strictly responsible for compliance
with this requirement, it was an
nounced from the commandant’s
office.
Ed Gerlach and his orchestra will
play for the ball, which will be
held in Sbisa Hall from 9 til 1.
Sophomores who failed to buy tic
kets before the dance may do so at
the door for $1.10. A regular
Corps dance will be held Satur-
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Cadets inTrainihs
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NATIONAL DEFENSE TRAINING has been a
number one course in the curriculum of the Texas
A. & M. college since its establishment in 1876.
Since then 4,600 cadets have received reserve com
missions, 450 more coming up in June. More than
1000 are now taking the advanced military training
in seven branches of the service. In the current
national emergency a department of aeronautical
engineering, basic and advanced CAA flying in
struction, defense courses in engineering, enlarged
airport facilities and cooperation with the national
defense program are important adjuncts of A. & M.’s
activities.
—Photos by Howard, Berry,
Courtesy Texas Capital News Service
Brig. Gen. Brant Will Be
Review’s Honored Guest
Life Magazine, Newsreel Photographers,
Other News Agencies Here to Cover Event
Brig. Gen. Gerald C. Brant, commanding general of the
Gulf division of the U. S. Air corps and commandant of Ran
dolph Field, will be the honor guest of the full-dress mounted
review of the 6500-member cadet corps beginning this af
ternoon at 4 o’clock.
The continuation of inclement weather current at press
time Wednesday night will cause the review and other func
tions set for today to be postponed till Friday afternoon, it
was determined at a meeting of A. & M.’s National Defense
Week committee late Wednesday afternoon.
Newsreel photographers, representatives and photographers of
Life magazine and other news agencies began arriving Wednesday
night to relay the important event to the nation.
Climaxing three days of military exhibitions as A. & M.’s part in
National Defense Week celebrations, the review is the first of the
1940-41 long session.
Throughout the review, 40 planes from the advanced training
school at Brooks Field, Texas will fly overhead in mass formation if
the rainy weather lets up.
Following the review, the cadet corps and expected 4500 civilians
will gather in Kyle stadium to hear brief national defense addresses by
A. & M.’s president T. O. Walton and Lieut. Col. James A. Watson,
commandant and professor of military science and tactics.
The Texas and Brazos county*
ANTl-AIRCRAF.T
Organization of Student Aid Fund Completed at
Second Meeting; Fund Is Now Ready to Go into Action
Saddle and
Sirloin Club
Adds 96 Members
With 92 old members participat
ing, the initiation of 96 new mem
bers into the Saddle and Sirloin
Club was held Monday night Feb.
17 in the Animal Husbandry pavil-
lion.
Before the initiation was admin
istered, a meeting was held in
the Animal Industries lecture room
where each candidate was intro
duced and welcomed into the club
by President Graham Purcell, Ar
cher City. Plans were also dis
cussed for the coming Aggie Little
Southwestern livestock show and
the Cattleman’s Ball, both to be
sponsored by the Saddle, and Sir
loin Club.
After the welcome and intro
duction, the candidates were taken
to the Animal Husbandry pavilion
day night.
I where the initiation was held.
Tigner, Hall Named
Theater Assistants
Ben S. Ferguson, owner and man
ager of the Campus Theatre, has
announced that Charles Tigner,
formerly of Dallas, and H. L. Hall,
College Station, will serve as as
sistant managers of the theatre' in
the future.
Tigner and Hall replace C. E.
Lewis who recently moved to Cali
fornia.
“All business pertaining to the
theatre such as benefit shows and
other matters may be discussed
with either of these two men,” Fer
guson said.
Hall has been connected with
the Campus Theatre since it was
opened nearly a year ago. He was
formerly a projection room opera
tor.
Ferguson also announced a new
policy of benefit shows to begin
soon. Clubs interested should con
tact him or one of his assis
tant (managers, he said.
Ex-Student Will
Address AlChE
George Armistead Jr., former A.
& M. student and now a prominent
chemical process engineer, will be
on the campus Thursday to address
the student branch of the Amer
ican Institute of Chemical Engi
neers.
Armistead was formerly
connected with the Process Man
agement Corporation of New York
City, an organization which deals
with patents concerning oil refin
ing and refinery gas utilization.
Since leaving New York he has
been engaged by the Republic Oil
Co. to aid in the designing of the
plant which they recently con
structed in Houston.
The process engineering in which
Armistead has been engaged
has brought him in direct contact
with one of the newest fields for
research in the oil industry.
Unusual? Huh-Uh--Graduating Seniors Were Faced
With A Parallel Situation During Hectic Days of 1917
By Tom Gillis
The turbulent foreign situation
and the contemplated term of ac-
tice service for graduating seniors
which was announced by the War
Department questionnaires threw
an unusual shadow across the mil
itary aspects of Texas A. & M.
College. But the shadow is not
entirely unfamiliar or unparalled
for those who are acquainted with
the long history of the institu
tion. It will not be the first time
that A. & M. has given military
aid to our country in time of
emergency.
It happened in 1917 too. The
situation during that first World
War was a little different, but A.
& M. did more than its share in
providing officers and men for the
armed forces. This fact is per
manently commemorated by the
star-studded flag which now hangs
in the rotunda of the Academic
Building, which was presented to
the college by an act of congress.
There was a senior class here
twenty-four years ago too; it had
only 138 members, but it was every
■bit as ready to face the
which confronted it. There was no
ROTC training then; it was just
military training and was required
of all students during the full four
years. All students were instructed
in infantry except for a group of
senior privates who manned a
small field piece. The uniform worn
was the tight-necked blouse of ca
det grey.
But on April 6, 1917, congress
declared that a state of war ex
isted between the United States
and the Central Powers.
Throughout the remainder of
April some of the seniors, by
groups of twos and threes, resign
ed from the college to join up and
fight; however, most of these went
into the navy or the marines.
A short time after the declara
tion it was announced that a mil
itary camp would be opened at
Leon Springs, Tex., for the train
ing of officers. The entire senior
class applied for admission to this
camp for training in different
branches of the service and they
moved en masse to the training
problems-f-center about the second week in-
May. Except for a few physical
rejections, the group completed the
90-day training period and was
sent overseas. The rejections left
about 12 or 15 seniors on the cam
pus.
“The seniors who were well up
in their work scholastically and
seemed to have a good chance of
graduating were declared graduat
ed, but some of the students who
were behind in more than a few
subjects were not conceded grad
uation, and to this day have not
been granted a diploma by the
college,” explained George A. Long,
member of the class and now
auditor of the Branch College of
fice.
In June, when the time for reg
ular graduation arrived, Dr. W.
B. Bizzell, then president of the
college, journeyed to Leon Springs,
where he made a graduation ad
dress and presented diplomas to
those who had been granted them.
The few seniors who remained on
•the campus simply went by the
registrar’s office and picked up
their diplomas.
It was not until 20 years later
that this class had any real grad
uation exercises. In 1937, at their
twentieth reunion, they were in
vited by the class of that year to
attend their ceremonies as a group
and share the formalities of the
program with them. The class ac
cepted, and 85 per cent of the
members attended and were thus
formally “graduated”.
After serving during the war,
the men were offered three alter
natives as concerned their further
military services for the govern
ment. These choices were: (1) im
mediate and complete separation
from the armed forces, (2) separ
ation and the acceptance of a re
serve commission, or (3) active
regular commissions to be granted
to a limited number on a test
basis. Thirteen members of the
class are still in the army, most
of them with the rank of lieuten
ant colonel.
* Committees Make
Reports; Gillis
Elected Secretary
The Student Aid Fund Commit
tee completed its rules of procedure
at its second meeting Tuesday af
ternoon and elected Tom Gillis,
sergeant-major of the corps, to
fill the newly created job of sec
retary of the committee.
The rules for the operation of
the committee include arrange
ments for raising funds and their
use in aiding Aggies. Besides pro
viding for sending suitable expres
sions of sympathy to the families
of Aggies who die while enrolled
in the college, the rules stated the
method of using the funds in cases
of merited need.
Emphasis was placed on the fact
that the Student Aid Fund work
will in no way be charity. Cadets
who benefit from the use of the
fund will be asked to sign a non
interest bearing, no-maturity-date
note for the amount received.
Dan A. Russell, head of the
rural sociology department and ex
ecutive-secretary of the committee,
stated, “This does not mean that
a student will be continually re
minded of the obligation after he
leaves college. He will be sent a
reminder of the service on the date
which he anticipates he will be able
to repay the fund so that it may
be loaned again to some other
Aggie who needs it. If he is still
unable to repay the fund, no more
will be said. It is strictly on honor
obligation,” he concluded.
Chairman George Fuermann pre
sided at the meeting. On a motion
of E. L. Angell, manager of student
publications, the office of secre
tary was created and Gillis elected
to fill it. The duties will be to
record the proceedings of the meet
ings as distinguished from the du
ties of the executive-secretary who
is responsible for the fund and
keeping permanent records of the
obligations and benefits rendered
by the fund.
Charles Tigner, co-manager of
the Campus Theater, appeared be
fore the committee and offered the
facilities of his theater for a ben
efit show, the proceeds to go to
the Aid Fund. The offer was ac
cepted and Skeen Staley, J. H.
Focke and Gillis were appointed
to make arrangements for the
showing.
branches of the Reserve Officers
Association has cooperated with
the corps in the three-day observ
ance.
Wednesday night the R.O.A. en
tertained 525 members of the se
nior class who are junior members
of the organization and who will
receive commissions as second
lieutenants following graduation
next June.
“The meeting was of particular
significance to these men,” Lieut.
C. M. Simmang, chairman of the
meeting and an instructor in the
A. & M. mechanical engineering
department, said, “because of the
recent announcement by the War
Department that all graduating
seniors in the Reserve Officers
Training Corps will be called for
active duty early in June.”
Civilians who attend the Kyle
Stadium function following the
review are asked to sit in the sec
tion adjacent to ramp E, com
mittee chairman Col. Ike Ash-
burn said Wednesday afternoon.
The review, which college offi
cials predict will be witnessed by
the largest crowd ever to see an
A. & M. review with the exception
of the annual Final Reviews each
June, was originally scheduled to
be held Feb. 18 but was postponed
two days so as to climax the De
fense Week events.
“Although National Defense
Week has been celebrated national
ly Feb. 12 to 22 for the past sev
eral years, ■ this marks the first
time that A. & M. has taken an
impox-tant part in the exercises,”
committee Chairman Col. Ike Ash-
burn, executive assistant to Pres
ident Walton, said.
The cadet-faculty committee
guiding the three-day observance
includes, besides Col. Ashburn as
chairman, Maj. E. J. Howell, for
mer state president of the R. O. A.
Hereford Auction
Set for Feb. 25
An auction sale of registered
hereford cattle will be held by the
Mid-South Texas Hereford Asso
ciation in the A. & M. stock judg
ing pavillion Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.
Fifty one of the best cattle in
this area have been consigned to
this auction and Earl Gartin of
Greensburgh, Indiana, will be the
auctioneer.
A round-table meeting, discussing
methods of advertising and sell
ing pure bred cattle will be held
in the lecture room of the Animal
Industries building Feb. 24 at
7:30 p.m. The meeting will be led
by Frank Farley, Kansas City, of
the “Hereford Journal”; O. E. Pet
erson, Fort Worth, of “The Cattle
man”; and • Earl Gartin, Greens
burgh, Indiana, auctioneer.
The Mid-South Texas Hereford
Association, organized at A. & M.
last summer, is made up of breed
ers from eight or ten counties
in this section of Texas.
and registrar of the college; Lieut.
R. L. Elkins, president of the lo
cal chapter of the R. O. A.; and
Lieut. Joe E. Davis, assistant com
mandant, all of College Station;
and cadets W. A. Becker, Kauf
man, cadet colonel; Tom B. Rich
ey, San Antonio, senior class pres
ident; Paul G. Haines Jr., Bryan,
cadet lieutenant-colonel and exec
utive officer of the corps, Bob
Nisbet, Bryan, editor of The Bat
talion; George Fuermann, Houston,
Battalion associate editor; and E.
L. Wehner, Del Rio, cadet major
of the band.
Highway Engineers
From Nine States
Meet Here Feb. 24
Economists and highway engi
neers will meet at Texas A. & M.
college, February 24-28, for a con
ference on highway economics
which is to be conducted under the
joint sponsorship of the School of
Engineering at the college, the
Highway Research Board of the
Division of Engineering and In
dustrial Research, National Re->
search, National Research Coun
cil, Dean Gibb Gilchrist has an
nounced.
Dean Gilchrist explained that
the conference is mainly for ad
ministrators and engineers engag
ed in planning, building and main
tenance programs who have prob
lems based for a solution upon fun
damental principals of 1 economics.
During 1940 the Highway Re
search Board cooperated in the
holding of a similar conference at
Iowa State college, ames, Iowa,
and owing to the response at that
conference the School of Engineer
ing at Texas A. & M. offered its
services to the board with the re
sult that the forthcoming confer
ence has been arranged.
Co-directors of the conference
will be Dean Gilchrist and Roy
W. Crum, director of the High
way Research Board, Washington,
D. C.
1941 Freshman Ball
Makes $461 Profit
“With nearly 500 paid admis
sions, the freshman class cleared
$461.66 at their annual Fish Ball
held last Saturday night Feb. 15
in Sbisa Hall,” Freshman Class
President T. S. Parker said today.
The total ticket sales and gate
receipts amounted to $748.10, but
from this was deducted $286.44 for
expenses which were listed as fol
lows: orchestra, $150; use of Sbisa
Hall, $92.86; $40.60 for govern
ment revenue tax; and $2.68 for
decorations. This is an increase of
over eighty dollars compared to
the net amount taken in by the
freshman class of last year.
Invitations have been extended
to members of the highway de
partments of nine states, Dean Gil
christ said.