Page 2-
THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 26, 1942
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Hechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station,
is published three times weekly, and issued Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday mornings.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1870.
Subscription rates $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.
1941 Member 1942
(Associated Golle6iate Press
EL M. Rosenthal Acting Editor
Ralph Criswell Advertising Manager
Sports Staff
Hike Haikin Sports Editor
W. F. Oxford Assistant Sports Editor
Mike Mann Senior Sports Assistant
Chick Hurst Junior Sports Editor
Circulation Staff
Gene Wilmeth Circulation Manager
F. D. Asbury Junior Assistant
Bill Huber. Joe Stalcup Circulation Assistants
Cedric Landon Senior Assistant
Photography Staff
Jack Jones Staff Photographer
Bob Crane, Ralph Stenzel Assistant Photographers
Phil Crown Assistant Photographer
Thursday Staff
Clyde C. Franklin Juinor Managing Editor
Ken Bresnen ». Junior Editor
lack Hood Junior Editor
Jack Lamberson Assistant Advertising Manager
Reporters
Calvin Brumley, Arthur L. Cox, Russell Chatham, Bill
Fox, Jack Keith, Tom Journeay, W. J. Hamilton, Nedson Kar-
bach, Tom Leland, Doug Lancaster, Charles P. McKnight, Keith
Kirk, Weinert Richardson, C. C. Scruggs, Henry H. Vollentine,
Ed Kingery. Edmund Bard, Henry Tillet, Harold Jordon, Fred
Pankey, John May, Lonnie Riley, Jack Hood.
Don't Lower Our Standards
Several Aggies are known to have hopped
freight trains recently when, because of de
creased volume of traffic, they found diffi
culty in hitch-hiking. This practice is not
only a violation of the laws of the state and
the rules of the college, it is a breach of
Aggie tradition.
For many years Aggies have been ad
mired by the motorists of Texas for their
courtesy on the road, and rides were easy
to secure. Now with the tire shortage and
fewer cars on the road, travel via the thumb
has become increasingly difficult. Asking
rides from Aggie fans is one thing; stealing
rides on trains is another.
Not only is hopping freights dangerous,
it is illegal and unbecoming an officer; cer
tainly not befitting of the A. & M. reputa
tion which has been years in the building.
Shall we permit the people of the state to
lose their respect for us, because a certain
minority among us straggles into a town
bedraggled and dirty from a long ride on the
rails ?
About That Speed-Up
Concentrated college programs designed to
turn out B. A. and B. S. degree-holders in
two and a half to three years are being in
stituted on many campuses. As an emer
gency measure, the speedup technique has
won wide acclaim. One of its phases, how
ever, has been overlooked by many com
mentators, and that is the weakened condi
tion of the student’s pocketbook.
First statistics that have come to hand
on this phase of the speedup are contained in
a family economics survey bulletin of North
western National Life Insurance company.
This bulletin points out, for instance, that
because 70 per cent of them rely heavily on
income of summer jobs to finance their
schooling, University of Minnesota men stu
dents probably will find it difficult to take
the speedup courses proposed to graduate
them before army induction.
The survey report foresees nationwide
difficulty among students at colleges adopt
ing the concentrated programs.
The Minnesota survey revealed that 51
per cent of men students earn an average
of $20 a month toward education expense
during the school year, and 70 per cent earn
an average of $200 a summer.
Nationwide figures assembled by the
company showed net summer earnings for
school expenses average $114 to $230 a stu
dent in schools reporting. The report points
out further that if students are to study 12
months a year, instead of eight or nine, they
will find expenses increased 40 to 50 per
cent a year, in addition to losing their sum
mer earnings.
As shortening of courses increases,
schools “expect heavier demands on student
loan and scholarship funds, and multiplied
problems for student employment bureaus,”
the bulletin declared.
Quotable Quotes
“In the college of tomorrow, there will be a
minimum of lecturing and quizzing of stu
dents, a maximum of discussion and quizzing
of teachers. It is as easy to get through the
eye of a needle as to acquire an education
by merely listening to lectures.”—Dr. Wil
liam P. Tolley, president of Allegheny col
lege.
* * * *
“The parable of the last ship at Wake is
America’s biggest lesson. The defenders on
the island managed to create one more plane
out of the fragments of many different mod
els and send it into the air. It was not a job
of assembling; it was one of sheer creation.
And it was done under fire. We must have
interchangeable parts for our airplanes if
we are to meet production schedules. We
must develop master tooling and master
gauges. The government must freeze designs
with all possible speed. Then production can
THE BATTALION
start off the lines at a rate unthinkable at
the present time. With the army, navy and
engineering making as many as 3,000
changes in design in a single month, minute
as these changes may be, it is disruptive of
any sound program of production. This con
dition still persists. When we can have one
model per plant and everyone from the jani
tor to the president can say ‘This is ours,’
production will flow like water from a faucet.
When the automotive industry learned that
it had to go back to master designs to meet
competition, cars became not only cheaper
but were of better quality. After this war
the average man will be able to own his own
plane if he can meet the cost of repair, which •
largely means interchangeability of parts.
The day of tailor-made airplanes should be
long past.” Thomas A. Watson, associate in
mechanic arts at the University of Califor
nia.
Man, Your Manners
PRIVATE BUCK By Clyde Lewis
By I. Sherwood
Flower Courtesies: Flowers are a lovely, gift,
suitable for many occasions, Easter, Moth
er’s Day, birthdays, in fact, there is scarcely
a suitation imaginable in which flowers are
not the most suitable as well as most beau
tiful messengers of love, friendship or sym
pathy that can be sent.
Corsages: One of the small courtesies
extended most frequently, by young men to
girls, is that of sending a corsage for a dance.
Corsages are not expected for the less for
mal dances — only the “special” ones.
(Whether you give one or not depends upon
your pocketbook).
The choice of colors and flower combi
nations rests with the man, but there is
nothing amiss about asking the girl what
color flowers she prefers—it is considered a
bit nicer to find out some other way. The
man must decide whether he wishes to make
his selection or leave it to the florist—florists
are pretty helpful in making suggestions.
It is preferable to send the corsage, if
possible, instead of taking it; the girl should
be wearing it when she greets you at the
door.
Gardenias make a lovely corsage—two
are ample, but if you want a lasting corsage
as well as a beautiful one, decide on carna
tions.
War Interpretations
sub - contract!”
BACKWASH
By
Jack Hood
"Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence."—Webster
Sob Story
: By Robert L. Freeland:
Total War and Defense
We hear much in these days of international
strife and unrest of such words as total war
and total defense. It therefore seems appro
priate in this column this week to clarify
these statements.
Total war means a complete mobiliza
tion of all people, resources and industrial
capacities of a nation to make and support
the war machine. The men in the factories
are on the front line of the battle of pro
duction and are just as important as the
men in the trenches of the front line using
their products. The entire civilian popula
tion, man, woman and child, must be trained
to work to support the fighting men in uni
form.
Modern war is a battle of production
and a battle of transportation. It is a battle
of machines. It is ruthless and fast, and
knows no distinction between civilians and
soldiers—they all die and die fast and in
large numbers. It is best expressed by the
German “Blitzkrieg,” or lightning war,
which is now a part of the vocabularies of
all languages. Its aim and purpose is to crush
the enemy completely within the shortest
possible time, culturally, economically and
politically. Then the conqueror puts the fa
cilities of the conquered to work for him.
Everyone must be ready when “Der
Tag” comes. This type of war was devised
and used in its most efficient and ruthless
form by the present day Germany, the
Wehrmacht taking one country after an
other. And we, too, must become masters
of total war and beat the originators at their
own game.
The answer to total war is total de
fense. As soon as a nation becomes involved
in a total war, unless it is well prepared for
that kind of war, it must immediately go on
a total defense basis until it is able to build
up its stock of materials and trained man
power to be able to attack and defeat the
aggressor in an offensive. At present we in
the United States are in this stage of build
ing up and defending ourselves until we are
strong enough to attack. Total defense en
tails all of the things which must be used
to make total war, full use of the entire
population, industrial, transport and manu
facturing facilities.
Rationing and restrictions must be
placed upon many if not all goods to insure
an equal distribution among all classes of
people and to conserve those things which
are needed by the armed forces. Producers
of durable and non-durable goods must be
converted to the production of things neces
sary for the defense of the country and later
for the offensive. Production must be put on
a 24 hour a day, seven days a week, twelve
months a year basis.
The best defensive is a successful at
tack. And at present the United States and
her Allies throughout the world are plan
ning on the following basis:
1942— Defense, retooling, producing.
1943— Offense; attack.
1944— Victory.
Let us hope and pray that we will be
able to stick to this schedule, but if we are
to do it we must all buckle down and forget
such things as the 40 hour week and no
work on Sundays!
Add this true story to the list of
Aggie “open road” experiences:
Two Aggies (names withheld)
were motorcycleing back to Col
lege from Houston last Sunday
night. Just on the other side of
Hempstead, the dark night began
to close in. All was well—until
they discovered they had no lights
on the machine. So they parked
it at a nearby tonk and undertook
to thumb it back to school. But
Mr. Henderson, taxes, war, and
things in general, said “No”—
rides were just not to be had.
Then a nice freight train slowed
down too much and the boys were,
at last, on their way back. They
looked out of the box car after
awhile and saw a station sign
reading “Brenham”—a little off
the beam. So they jumped off at
Giddings and started back via an
other train. This time they landed
in Hearne—end of the line. They
tried thumbing it again here, but
Lady Luck laughed—up her sleeve.
Back in the train yards they hop
ped another one just leaving. This
time Lady Luck bellowed up her
sleeve—the train traveled about
one-fourth mile and backed back
into the yard. But the boys were
hell-bent on coming back so they
tried again. This time things look
ed good—the train sped toward
College at 70 m.p.h And it sped
right through College without
losing one m.p.h.—nobody likes a
broken neck. Came the dawn and
the train arrived in Hempstead
(this town looked familiar). The
travelers went out to the tonk, got
their motorcycle, and rode back to
school in broad daylight.
Fifty-two per cent of college
students interviewed in a recent
survey said they own typewriters.
Backwashin’ Around
Captain Carl Gerlach Sory and
Patricia Johnson, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Osborn S. Johnson of
Bryan, will trod the middle-aisle
on May 16—Captain Sory is hav
ing a few mumps at the present.
. . . According to chief chow man
Hotard, each Aggie eating in the
mess halls is putting away an ex
tra dimes worth of food per day
—since the reveille order went in
to effect—and that amounts to
some 500 bucks a day on the ham-
and-egg front . . . tomorrow’s the
big day for the Singing Cadets—
they record for the Pleasuretime
Contest with a trip to N. Y. as
the bounty . . . “Knuckle-hair”
tells one about the guy, now bat
ting his head against padded
walls, that claims the Japs could
n’t have taken Java . . . after all,
he said, the Japs have always been
known as tea drinkers, and what
would they want with java?
Role of Louisiana
In Confederacy Is
Subject of New Book
BATON ROUGE, La. (AGP) —
Aspects of Louisiana’s role in the
War Between the States are fea
tured in Jefferson Davis Bragg’s
“Louisiana in the Confederacy,”
just published by the Louisiana
State university Press.
The State’s tradition of heroism
and endurance is recorded com
pletely for the first time in Mr.
Bragg’s new work. Those who
shudder at rising prices today
might consult Louisiana veterans
who remember 1863, when butter
cost $5 a pound, beans $2.50, ap
ples 50 cents each, and a subscrip
tion to the Shreveport “Semi-
Weekly News” $30 a year.
MOVIE
GVION HALL
Thursday and Friday, March 26 and 27
4:30 and 7:45
FIRST NEW TARZAN THRILL IN 2 YEARS!
S&mCWEASUIIE
...JOHNNY WEISSMULLER
MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN
BARRY FITZGERALD
PHILIP DORN
'f&CO
Directed by RICHARD THORPE
Based on character* created by Edgar Rice Burroughs
HA X '
MIU I
News
ANiAL ODDITIES iU.
Dining the Python
In far-off Malaya is found the
world’s largest snake, a snake
that kills by crushing its victims
in its powerful coils. This undis
puted ruler of the jungle is the
Reticulated Python; it is not un
usual for these heavyweights of
snakedom to reach a length of 27
feet and a body-weight of four
hundred pounds!
Before importations of these
monsters was stopped by the war,
Frank Buck, in his New York Jun
gle Camp, had the finest collec
tion of pythons in the country—
three of them were over 23 feet
in length, and one giant was a bit
shy of reaching the astounding
length of 27 feet.
A great, glass enclosed “pit”
was constructed to house these
Malayan visitors. In this pit were
erected two twelve-foot trees,
complete with branches so as to
resemble as much as possible the
jungle habitat; in the center of
the pit was a large, concrete pool
to which the snakes would retire
during the hot summer months.
As can be well-understood, these
reptiles were quite valuable, and
every precaution possible was
taken to insure their health. It
Thurs. - Fri. - Sat.
HIS
GREATEST
ROLE!
PALACE
■ PHON E 2 -8879
★
Preview II P.M.
Saturday Night Only
ABBOTT & COSTELLO
in
“RIDE ’EM
COWBOY”
★
Sunday and Monday
JOEL McCREA
in
“SULLIVAN’S
TRAVELS”
was our practice to feed and ex
amine them monthly—strange as
it sounds, these snakes could do
very well by receiving just one
meal per month. This trick of
fasting, however, should not be
tried by anyone not familiar as to
how to go about it.
In order to feed and examine the
snakes, it necessitated taking
them out bodily and stretching
them at full length on the con
crete walk. Six to eight handlers
were chosen for this job, and split-
second timing, as in football, was
necessary in order to prevent any
injuries among the men.
Cole Smith, an expert snake
handler, would enter the pit, grasp
a recumbent snake behind the
head, and before the latter knew
what was happening it would be
securely held by the men waiting
outside the pit.
Each handler would be respon
sible for his own yardage, and
(See ODDITIES, page 6)
ampus
Dial 4-1181
TODAY ONLY
“TYPHOON”
with
ROBERT PRESTON
DOROTHY LAMOUR
LYNNE OVERMAN
Also
Sport - Popeye Cartoon
Short
All-Day Benefit Math Club
of A. & M.
WALTER BRENNAN
ANNE BAXTER
DANA ANDREWS
Also
News - D. Duck Cartoon
Musical
"We’re backing them up”
Marching right along with the armed
v forces of this country are thousands of
telephone workers.
They work side by side with the Army
and Navy. Wherever the need is commu
nications, you are likely to find telephone
men and their trucks and materials.
Day and night the order is for speed
and more speed.
They wear no uniforms, these telephone
. workers, but men in uniform know how
much they are putting into the Nation’s
biggest job. They see it fi/st-hand and they
know it is first-rate.
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