Coast Artillery Belle
Above is Jen Sullivan, vocalist with Bernie Cummins and
his orchestra which will play for Friday night’s Coast Artillery
Regimental Ball and the corps dance Saturday night.
Special Meeting of Ex-Student’s
Board of Directors Called for Saturday
A meeting of the Board of Di-"t
rectors of the Association of For
mer Students, called by President
A. G. Bert Pfaff, also president
of the Federal Tank Company, Ty
ler, was announced yesterday by
E. E. McQmllen, Executive Secre
tary of the Association.
The Board of Directors will meet
at A. & M. Saturday afternoon
and hold regular business sessions
Saturday night and Sunday morn
ing.
The meeting was called to hear
financial reports of the previous
year; to make plans for the com
ing year and to plan for the an
nual Board of Directors’ meeting
held at commencement time.
F. JS. (Bodie) Pierce, head yell-
leader last year, is now serving as
one of the directors and will be one
of the 25 directors expected to be
here Saturday for the meeting.
Pierce is now serving on active
duty with the 23rd Infantry at
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio.
Prince Addresses
Engineering Cadets
David C. Prince, president-elect
of the A.I.E.E., addressed the stu
dent engineers of the college Tues
day emphasizing the points which
they must exercise in securing and
holding positions as engineers after
graduation."
The four points stressed in the
talk were: (1) the process of man
ufacturing, (2) psychology of en
gineering salesmanship, (3) the
job of the application engineer, and
(4) the part of industry in na
tional defense.
Among the guests present at the
meeting were Dean F. C. Bolton
who introduced the speaker; W. B.
Clayton, southwestern divisional
manager for General Electric; and
E. R. Shiels, assistant to Clayton.
Hillel Club to
Have Musical Tonight
The A. & M. Hillel club will pre
sent a program of Jewish music
Thursday, March 6, at 8:00 o’clock
in Guion Hall. The program will
portray the story of the Jewish
people through music.
Susie Michael, pianist, and her
husband, Maurice Friedman, bari
tone, will be the guest artists.
Susie Michael, of Polish and
Russian ancestry, has studied un
der Sigimond Stojowski in New
York and Victor Heinze in Chi
cago and Frances Richter of Min
neapolis.
Maurice Friedman, her husband,
is a son of a noted cantor; he
was a boy soprano in a synagogue
choir at the age of six. He has
been associated with the Belgian
concert baritone, Louis Graveure,
with Madame Guthman-Rice, Her
bert Mustard, and other vocalists.
He's No Nelson
Eddy-But He’s
Pedro the Voder!
Pedro the Voder, the machine
that talks like a man, is coming
to the A. & M. campus for a per
sonal appearance, fresh from long
runs at the New York and San
Francisco world fairs, according to
professor M. C. Hughes of the
engineering school.
The Voder will appear under the
auspices of the student branch of
the American Institute of Elec
trical Engineers of the A. & M.
engineering school.
Pedro will take part in a free
public demonstration at Guion Hall
Friday evening, March 14, at 8 o’
clock, Prof. Hughes said. The ma
chine that speaks mechanically
will be put through its paces as
part of a lecture-demonstration
on “The Artificial Creation of
Speech” by Dr. J. 0. Perrin of
New York, assistant vice-presi
dent of the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company.
While Pedro is no Nelson Eddy,
he can sing as well as talk, Prof.
Hughes said, and he can laugh,
though he has absolutely no sense
of humor. Pedro is as versatile as
a movie actor—he can speak in a
basso profundo voice, a high-pit
ched tone, or the quavering voice
of an old man.
The Voder, a coined word from
“voice operation demonstrator,”
has been one of the attractions at
the two recent world fairs, and is
a part of the telephone research
program of the Bell Telephone
Laboratories relating to future de
velopments in telephony, Prof.
Hughes stated, Pedro is made up
entirely of parts used in furnish
ing telephone service, with the ex
ception of the keys used to make
the machine talk, according to
Prof. Hughes.
Pedro will be made to perform
by a “Voderette,” the young lady
operator. She is Miss Anna Mae
Swenson of Brooklyn, New York.
During the course of the lecture,
Dr. Perrine will tell how Pedro
operates, and will discuss basic ele
ments of sound, while Miss Swen
son will demonstrate with Pedro
how these elements are combined
to make words and sentences.
Naval Examiners
To Be Here March 20
The Naval Recruiting Station at
Houston will send a board of ex
aminers to College Station March
20 for the purpose of conducting
examinations for those interested
in entering the Naval Air Corps
school at Corpus Christi.
Applicants must have complet
ed two years college work or more
and application forms may be ob
tained in room 17, Ross Hall, it
was announced yesterday.
The Battalion
VOL. 40 122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 6, 1941 Z725 NO. 59
First Ag Day Events Are Set for May 10
A&M Undergoes
Federal Inspection
April 30 and May 1
Col. Keyes Is
Inspecting Officer
The Annual Federal Inspection
of the A. & M. cadet corps will
take place on April 30 and May 1,
Capt. R. P. Lively, adjutant, an
nounced. The condition of the
corps as shown through this ins
pection will be used by the War
Department in determining the
amount of funds and equipment
which will be alloted to the college
during the following year.
The staff of officers making
the inspection will be headed by
Col. E. A. Keyes, Cavalry, Eighth
Corps Area ROTC officer. Ac
companying him will be Col. T. A.
Spencer and other officers.
“These annual inspections are
for the purpose of the War De
partment rating given the entire
unit for that year,” Capt. Lively
said. “The War Department then
allots contracts, materials, instruc
tors, and provides funds according-
to the ratings maintained by these
annual federal inspections.”
Members of the inspecting staff
will spend the mornings of Wed
nesday, April 30, and Thursday,
May 1, in the various military
theory classes asking questions of
the students and observing the
instruction. Wednesday afternoon
will be spent inspecting the drill
and practical classes. Also ins
pected will be the facilities for
instruction, stables, indoor range,
outdoor range, supply room, motor
shed, class rooms, drill field, ar
mory and other equipment.
A review for the inspecting of
ficers will be held Thursday after
noon.
Library Buys
New Books With
Beading Fund Aid
Complying with the many re
quests made by students for new
books the College Library, with the
aid of the Student General Read
ing Fund which has been made
possible by the various A. & M.
Mother’s Clubs, has purchased the
following books listed.
“Your Career in Agriculture”
by Anderson, “From Many Lands”
by Adamic, “The Fields of Para
dise” by Bates, “Mexican Frieze”
by Burbank, “Who Walk Alone”
by Burgess, “My Boyhood in Siam”
by Chandruan, “Theory and Prac
tice of Fencing” by Gastello, “I
Saw France Fall” by Chambrum,
“Mark Twain in Eruption” by
Clemens, “Dago Red” by Fante,
“The Ox-bow Incident” by Clark,
“Twenty Years After” by Dumas,
“Father and Son” by Farrell, “To
The Indies” by Forester, “Western
Union” by Grey and “Through the
Overcast” by Jordanoff.
“Westerward Ho!” by Kingsley,
“El Indio” by Lopezz y Fuentes,
“The Mixture as Before” by Mam
gham, “Tragedy in France” by
Maurois, “The Face is Familiar”
by Nash, “Anna Christie” by O’
Neil, “Oliver Wiswell” by Roberts,
“My Name is Aram” by Saro
yan, “The Strategy of Terror” by
Taylor, “Fables For Our Time” by
Thurber, “Native Son” by Wright
and “South American Excursions”
by Young.
Fitzpatrick Signs
For Cavalry Ball
Eddie Fitzpatrick and orchestra
has been contracted to play for the
annual Cavalry Regimental Ball
April 4, H. H. Brians, chairman
of the function, announced yester
day.
Fitzpatrick and his orchestra
will also play for the corps dance
the following night, Social Secre
tary Jack Nelson announced at the
same time.
Now playing at Houston’s Plan
tation, Fitzpatrick and his orches
tra are well known throughout the
South and next week will open an
engagement at the Plantation in
Dallas.
Little Southwestern^s Champ
Phil Chauvin took first place honors, as he was chosen Grand Champion Showman of the “Aggie
Little Southwestern” held Monday night. Left to right shows Fred Hale, D. D. Giles, J. S. Scofield, Rufus
Peeples and J. D. Prewit who acted as judges. Phil Chauvin is shown kneeling with the sheep.
—Staff Photo by Phil Golman
J. T. Anderson Is Elected King Cotton
Announcement
Follows Weeks of
Detailed Planning
♦
Date Set to Coincide
With Many Activities
Current That Weekend
May 10 is the date set for the
"irst annual Agricultural Day fes
tivities at A. & M., T. R. Jones,
professor in the agricultural engi
neering department, announced late
Wednesday afternoon.
The announcement followed a
long series of organization meet
ings held by a joint cadet-faculty
committee which included Graham
Purcell, Archer City; Bob Ramsey,
Uvalde; Roland Bing, Oakwood;
William Hensel, College Station;
and faculty members W. P. Davis,
fish and game department; T. W.
Leland, accounting and statistics
department; D. W. Williams, head
of the animal husbandry depart
ment, and Jones.
Committeemen stated that the
reason for setting the date of the
first show May 10 was to parallel
it with the many other activities
then in session, including the an
nual Engineering Day activities,
the Senior Ring Dance and the Par
ents’ Day activities.
Under the proposed plan, the
various departments of the agri
cultural school will prepare inde
pendent displays and exhibits which
will show the extent and activity
of that particular unit’s work.
Queen to Be Named "
Within Month; Will
Be A T.S.C.W.-ite
J. T. Anderson was elected King
Cotton for the 1941 Cotton Pageant
and Ball at a meeting of the
Agronomy society Tuesday night.
Anderson, a senior of K Com
pany Infantry from Mesquite, has
served this year as the club pres
ident, and in his capacity as King
Cotton he will be the tenth such
royal entity to reign over the af
fair.
Also elected at the meeting were
Gene Wilmeth of Ebony as junior
business manager and Howard
Brians of El Paso as junior social
secretary for the society.
' A queen of the affair to reign
with Anderson will be chosen from
the student body of T.S.C.W., it
was announced by Anderson. Two
candidates from each of the four
classes will be selected and a com
mittee from the Agronomy society
will journey to Denton to make the
selection. The remaining seven
girls will act as maids of honor
and will be presented with her as
the immediate court of the queen.
The selection of a director for
the May 2 extravaganza was an
nounced at the same meeting. Mrs.
Manning Smith is to direct the
Cotton Pageant and will supervise
arrangements for the Style Show
to be presented this year by Sang
er Brothers of Dallas.
Other officers of the society in
charge of arrangements for the
Cotton Pageant and Ball are John
Robinson and J. D. Pinson, bus
iness manager and social secretary
respectively.
This annual affair is planned
and managed by students and is
an event of state-wide importance.
The proceeds, as is the custom and
the original and basic purpose, will
go to send winners of the spring
cotton contest on an extensive
tour. In the past winners have
tripped to Europe and to Canada.
Last year it was planned to jour
ney to South America, but it was
decided to tour the southern states
of this nation instead.
Humbert Addresses
Meeting in Arizona
Dr. E. P. Humbert was a prin
cipal speaker at a meeting of the
Arizona Crop Improvement Asso
ciation which met in Phoenix, Ari
zona last Friday. The topic which
Dr. Humbert discussed at the ban-
quest Friday night was “Plant
Breeding in a Changing World.”
“The program of partially con
trolled agriculture that we are in
now,” Humbert said, “makes it
necessary that we have new crops.
J. B. Thomas,
Aggie-Ex, Heads
Electric Company
Julian B. Thomas,^graduate of
the class of 1911, was recently
elected president of the Texas
Electric Service after having been
vice president and general man
ager of the company for many
years.
Thomas has been with the firm
since 1929 when it was formed to
provide electric service for Fort
Worth, Wichita Falls, and other
cities in West Texas.
One of the most widely known
A. & M. men, Thomas received his
degree in mechanical engineering
and was valedictorian of his class.
Thomas, as a former president
of the Association of Former Stu
dents, played a leading part in
•the development of the gift of the
McFarlin Farms into the McFar-
lin Memorial Student Loan Fund.
He is an active member of the
Fort Worth A. & M. Club and is
a major in the Coast Artillery Re
serve, U.S.A.
Farmer-Aid
Policies Talked
At Meet Here
Broad agricultural policies which
will help Texas farm and ranch
families in the time of peace or
preparedness were under consid
eration by members of the State
Land Use Planning Committee.
The chairman, Director H. H.
Williamson of the college exten
sion service, brought the commit
tee up to date on subsequent de
velopment of agricultural policies
since the committee’s last meet
ing held in Mineral Wells as the
two-day meeting opened.- Later
the committee and host of
visiting agricultural workers heard
K. J. Nicholson of the Bureau of
Agricultural Economics, Washing
ton, D. C., in an address on “Ag
ricultural Outlook in Relation to
National Defense.”
Sub-committees on education,
planning action, health and nutri
tion, marketing and marketing of
surplus commodities, land tenure,
(Continued on Page 4)
“In the future,” Purcell pointed
out, “it is hoped that Ag Day
will draw together all of the major
agricultural shows held through
out the year.”
Purcell was referring to the an
nual rodeo, horticulture show, Cot
ton Ball and many other parallel
events which come up in the agri
cultural school each college year.
Although plans are still in the
embryo stage, complete details will
be published within the next 30
days, committeemen said.
Benefit Picture
For Consolidated
To Show Thursday
“Pride and Prejudice” will be the
feature picture shown at the Cam
pus theater Thursday, for the bene
fit of the Mother’s Club of Con
solidated grade and high school
athletic fund.
Through courtesy of owner Ben
Ferguson and Assistant Manager
Charles Tigner of the Campus
theater, the entire day’s proceeds
will be apportioned for use of the
Mother’s Club in the interests of
equipment for Consolidated school
athletic teams.
Annual Coast Artillery Regimental Ball, Featuring
Bernie Cummins and His Orchestra, Set for Friday Night
Bernie Cummins’ theme song,
“Dark Eyes,” will open his pro
gram Friday night when he swings
out for the Coast Artillery Reg
iment in Sbisa Hall for their an
nual ball.
Cummins was voted the best
band to play on the campus during
the social season last year accord
ing to the Backwash poll.
While on the campus he will see
the Aggie football team which he
picked to win the conference title
during each of the past two years.
Such sports forecasting is one of
his hobbies since he had to stop
playing the game in his school days
because of an ihjury.
Accompanying Bernie on his trip
here will be his singing, guitar
playing brother, Walter Cummins.
They participated in sports events
together during his undergrad days
at St. Vincent’s and they have
stuck together throughout their
musical career.
The big break which led the band
to fame came when he played the
New York Biltmore for three
years. This led to his selection to
open the Hotel New Yorker and
started his climb to the top.
Jeri Sullivan is to be the song
stress with the band.
The Coast Artillery Ball is given
Bernie Cummins
in honor of the seniors of the
regiment.
The decorations for the dance
will include the band stand draped
in heavy maroon and white ma
terial. The center section will have
•the maroon draw curtain pulled up
to show a large built-up replica of
the Coast Artillery insignia.
The programs for the dance con
tain a history of the Coast Artil
lery Regiment here at the college.
They are made of colorless cellu
loid wrapped around a ridged sil-
verfoil metal insert. The regiment
al insignia is printed in red on the
celluloid.
Silver bracelets with a pendant
Coast Artillery ornament will be
the favors given to dates attend
ing the ball.
By arrangements with the Cav
alry regiment, the first six ramps
of Puryear Hall will be vacated by
cadets by 1 p. m. Friday for the
accommodation of dates and friends
attending the ball. Guests will be
admitted to the hall at 3 o’clock.
Escorts will be held responsible by
the Commandant’s office to see
that the girls are in by 2:00 a.m.
both Friday and Saturday nights.
The juniors who have made the
arrangements for the dance are:
Jimmy Goldston, Beverly Byrd,
Tom Gillis, Robert Frost, Jimmy
Rivenbark, Dow Wynn, Henry Rol
lins, Ransom Kenny, Raymond
Read, Harry Whitmore, and Don
Gabriel.