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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1942)
FOOTBALL PRACTICE STARTS AT 2:45 P M TODAY * * ★ ★★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ (See Story on page 3) DIAL 4-5444 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF Thp Rnttalinn DIAL 4-5444 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION JL JL-JLJU §* £ CjE* £ £ f 1 COLLEGE STATION ROOM 5 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. - VOLUME 42 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, SEPT. 5, 1942 2275 NUMBER 41 Plans Are Complete For A&M’s Largest Enrollment One Week Required to Set Dormitories In Order for SchooFs 1,400 New Men Complete plans for handling a record-breaking student body for A. & M. were announced today by E. L. Angell, as sistant to the president. GM students who have not been in school this semester, but who plan to return for the Fall semester should reserve their rooms by mail immediately, and not report to the college before Sunday, September 27. Fall Fiscal Fees Reduced By 60 Cents Total Term Payment Amounts to $149.05 After New Tax Rule Fiscal lees “for the fall semester ’have been reduced 60 cents from the amount .previously announced in the school catalogue and in Thursday’s Battalion. The reduc tion was made possible by a recent , ruling which makes blanket ath letic tax fees exempt from taxa-i tion. With'this reduction the total fees Tor mext semester will be $149.03>, which includes the voluntary stu- <deitt; activity if ee of $12.40. Of this amount, $6.00 is the athletic fee,j enabling coupon book holders ito :sae mil [games played on the cam pus, and $6.40 is the activity feei ifor dhe .19,43 Longhorn, and the Battalion rnewspaper and magazine from September, 1942, to June 1943. According to W. H. Holzmam, comptroller of the college, the ifirst iinstallment will be $82.65 for regular students. Semester fees for (day fstudents will total $42.90 if the student activity fee is paid. ■ One week’s time will he required for college authorities to set dorm itories in order for the record- breaking enrollment expected, and living quarters Will not be avail able on the campus for any but the new crop of freshmen students during the week of September 20- 27, it was announced. To date approximately 1,400 new freshman students have been ac cepted for entrance, and these will he required to spend the week of September 21-27 on the campus, when a special program of oriten- tation will be 'given them. The new freshmen may arrive as early as 1 p.m. Sunday, Septem ber 20, and 'Obtain dormitory ac commodations. Parents- who bring their sons tto school will be ab^e to interview college officials Sun day afternoon, September 20, and return home. It is 'the purpose of the Fresh man Wedk program to allow the new (students sufficient time on the (canypus tto become familiar with the daily routine of students and the ilocation of all of the buildings prior to actual class- work. Those who arrive early enough Sunday afternoon. September 20, will be given physical examinations and assigned to dormitory rooms. 'On Monday they will continue with physical examinations and will be issued army uniforms, pay fees and be welcomed by President T. ©. Walton. By Wednesday morning every new student will have discarded <See MEW TERM, Page 4) Captain Pelly Dittman Visits Here After Fighting in China and Australia Captain Pelly Dittman, I the attack. A Jap came down to class of ’39, was a visitor on get him ’ fired and missed ’ then u-. £ , -i did a loop almost on the ground to the campus for two and one plmt lead fa the back 8 of the half hours yesterday. On his way to Topeka, Kansas, Capt. Dittman has fought in China, the Phillipines, Java, Austra lia, and most other South |Pacific islands. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for blazing a ^ new bomber trail across the in ne ver do it again, but I stood American boy’s head. A “clean” uniform was one that had been worn but a week or two. “Australians are really swell people, just like everybody else. They run when bombs start falling (the same as you or I do. Once I was on top of a building in Manila. Pacific, he was a star Aggie half-back on the national championship team of 1939. “I saw General Moore the night before the Japs hit Corregidor,” he said, “and I don’t think there is any doubt but what he and Gen. Wainwright are both prisoners now. General Moore was really a swell guy to the Aggies in the Phillipines. He used to come after us in his great big Brack, and ride us around the post. We were really bigshots to be tiding around in that great big ear with a gen eral.” “About six hours after 1 talked to Gen. Moore latt Dec. 28, we rode a barge bark over to Bataan, and from there a boat took us off the peninsula.'” “1 never wanted to take another boat trip, and I still don’t like them. Put me on the ground or in the air, but not on the water. On our trip fomm Bataan, \we -saw a four-motored Nip boat swinging around fixing to let us have it. My friend and I saw what he was fixing to do, so we hit for our cabin. I thought 2 was fast, but that old boy beat me that day. Our cabin window was the only one left unbroken in the boat. One bomb “neaiUy” hit us, almost tore the boat up. IRivets were flying every which way, :and we were really hugging the floor.” When (asked if tthe Jap were good flyers, he Just grinned and said, “They can see just as good as anybody.” He etifaed (one case where the Japs attack ,a field at which he was stationed. A Curtis P-40 started taking off to break up there and watched the Nips at tack the town. They flew in at about 20,000 feet, (and you asked about them being good flyers) they flew over in perfect forma tion, in a heavy barrage of anti- (aircraft fire which was falling aobut a mile behind them and sev- pn or eigth thousand feet below. They didn’t waste a bomb. One bomb, however, did hit about block away from us, and I thought the world had come to an end. Capt. Dittman is a Flying Fort ress pilot, and has seen much ac tion during his "tours” in the douth Pacific. John Taylor Promoted At Field Artillery Replacement Center John R. Taylor, Jr., sou of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, formerly of 2414 Prairie Street, Dallas, was promot ed this week to the rank of Captain in the Field Artillery Replace ment Training center of Fort Sill. Captain Taylor, who has been on active duty since Sept. 3, 1941 is a gradute of A. and M. In the Class of 1935. Before being called to active duty he was an engineer on the staff of the Texas State Highway department. Since coming tq active service Captain Taylor has been stationed at the Replacement center there and for several months was Ath letic and Recreation officer of the 8th Training regiment. The Texas officer is now Adjutant for the 8th Training Regiment of the Replce- ment center. Who Could Believe a Thing like This? Breathtaking Are the Experiences Told By Director of College Publicity Dept (Note: 05hin is the beginning of * oeries of news stones about a good newspaper man. Xhere ia one on the campna.) By John Holman “There’s a man behind that col umn with a gun?’ The Prohibi tion Agent (dropped to his knees, and turned around firing as a bullet whizzed over has head. When the taxi-driver-bootlegger saw he had missed, he threw down his gun and surrendered.” No, that isn’t an excerpt from a ten-cent detective magazine, but a real life experience of G. Byron Winstead, director of information for the college. More about the bootlegger later, so right now let’s take a look at this man who has done everything from snoop on the F. B. I. to go fishing in his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes with no bait and catch a $75,000 narco tic gang in action. George Byron Winstead was born in Houston, September 1, 1901. He attended Houston Heights High School, graduating from there in June of 1918. From there he came to A. & M., where he was in school taking engineering during the 1918 -19 school year. Deciding that he just wasn’t cut out for engineering, Winstead went to Texas university because his chosen field, journa lism, wasn’t taught here. From T. U. he went to Southwestern uni versity where he graduated in 1922. As a cub reporter at $15 a week qn the Houston Post’s courthouse run, he disrupted Associated Press’ entire southern wire schedule one night just to give a Houston court house employee a“cut by cut” de scription of his daughter’s apendec- tomy from a Chicago hospital. From the Post, he went to the Houston Cbromidle, then took out for the wheat fields of Kansas to work for the Wichita Eagle. He tells about what he calls the best job of reporting he has ever seen while he was a meporter on the Winstead Wichita Eagle. The tale goes some thing like this: One night four men in an auto mobile robbed an ice-house in Aug usta, about 30 miles from Wichita. While they were making their get away, a motorcyle cop with another cop in his sidecar, stopped the men just out of curiousity. Then bandits thought they were comcered, and when the cop from the sidecar walked around to the driver, one of the men shot him dead. The other cop, still on the motorcycle started shooting too. O&e of the men, in the back seat, got out and started running. The cop dropped him. About that time, the car’s driver slammed it in gear and took off, the cop pumping lead after him. In the outskirts of Wichita, he hit a telephone pole—dead from bullet wounds. The car was wreck ed in front of a vacant lot full of high weeds. That accounted for two of the four men. Winstead and his reporter-partner searched the whole neighborhool but found no trace. Winstead went back to the office, and wrote up the story. About that time the phone rang, the police had found a third man shot through both legs, lying in a mud hole in the weeds with two .45s in his hands. The partner talked to him when they brought him to. He had said that Winstead and his partner nearly stepped on him, and he was just fixing to let them have it when they went away. The buddy told the police that a fourth man had escaped, but they knew he wasn’t out of Wichita. About a week later, a 12 year old grocery boy sold the man some groceries. He had recognized him from pictures in the Wichita Eagle. Following him, he then went to the police and led them to a vacant house. The little boy was in the front seat of the police car when it pulled up in front of the house. The bandit had seen the cops post a man in the rear, so knowing he was trapped, he came out the front door with both guns blazing. The little boy was shot one time thru both legs, but one shot wass all the. criminal had time to fire. A detec tive planted three hunks of lead in his face the moment he stepped out the door. From the Eagle, Winstead went to work for United Press in New York, finally coming back to Hous ton in October, 1930. It was here that the episode with the bootleg ger took place. Bell hops in a leading downtown hotel were bootlegging liquor in an unethical manner. A taxi- driver brought it to the basement where the bell hops picked it up. On New Year’s Eve, 1923, the De partment of Justice raided the place, and found the head bell hop in the basement with the liqu or. He acted so nervous, the of ficers and Reporter Winstead felt there was someone else in the room and as they looked around, Win stead saw him. It was then he cried,” There’s a rpan behind that column with a gun!” The officer thought G. Byron had saved his life, and did him many a good turn after that. When the wife of the Treasurer of the Klu Klux Klan ran off from New Orleans with another man and the KKK’s funds, they came to Houston where they were picked up by the Department of Justice. They weren’t putting out information, but because Winstead had saved the life of the chief agent, he didn’t give him away when Winstead hid in a closet across the hall from D. of J. of fice. Although he couldn’t tell him anything, nothing kept him from having the couple retell their com plete confession beside the door for G. Byron’s benefit. Naturally, Win stead’s paper scooped the town. Coming to Aggieland as publici ty director in September, 1938, Winstead has done a wonderful job of directing public relations (See WINSTEAD, Page 4) Torres-Waters’ Engineering Farmers Hold Urcnestra i lavs * i/^ii j* m At Sophomore Bail Annual Celebration Tonight Organization Features Kit Reid, Trumpeter; Albino Torres Pianist At the last minute the Sopho more Class engaged Torres-Waters’ orchestra for the Sophomore Ball, held last night in the shelter of Sbisa hall. The class first planned on having Frances Beasley’s or chestra for the dance but found at almost the last minute that they would not be able to secure this orchestra and immediately started looking elsewhere. j Jack Orrick, class president of the sophomores, stated that the dance held last night was highly successful considering the trouble encountered in signing for music and the uncertain weather of the past week. Bandwagon Bound Aggieland Orchestra Furnishes Music for Overall Clad Lads Tonight the annual Barnyard Frolic will be held in The Grove from 9 until 12 with music by Curley Brient and the Aggieland orchestra. » Prizes will be given for the corniest costume at the dance, and all must have on some sort of a costume (overalls, coveralls, or what have you) to be admitted to the affair. Sponsored by the Ag Engineers and put on by the Stu dent Activities office, the dance is considered by many as the outstanding entertainment feature of the summer season. The Grove will be gaily decorat ed with hay, corn, and farm im plements, and those attending the dance are asked by the sponsors to dress accordingly. Adeline Koffman, featured fem inine vocalist with the Aggieland, will be featured in the vocal spot light, and Jerry Sullivan will sing featured ballads. Buck Weirus, crooner-drummer, will sing novel ties with Adeline. Wangerffill Arrive Here Next Friday Torres-Waters is a staff orches tra playing over KTRH, Houston, their home city. The two leaders of the orchestra Albino Torres and Lou Waters play with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and their featured trumpet artist, Kit Reid lends his talent to that or ganization. Torres plays piano for the or chestra and is a piano teacher in Houston. Waters is the drummer in the organization. Kit Reid has played with several big name orchestras and has a standing offer to play with these when he so desires but prefers to spend most of his time in Hous ton. He owns the Texas Music Company there. Russel Brient, leader of the Ag- gieland orchestra (arid better known around A. & M. as “Cur ley”), first became interested in the orchestra business much like most other band leaders—when he was just a young kid. He was asked to play his accordian in a little school orchestra when he was twelve years old. The little band was composed of nine kids, all about like Russel, and had a huge library of four tunes. How ever, those four must have been good, at least Brient and his friends thought so, because they never hesitated to answer “yes” when asked to play before some civic meeting or any kind of a party. The juvenile orchestra had no rhythm section outside of a piano and drums, so Curley decided to drop the accordian in favor of a The Aggieland will appear on the Fitch Summer Band Wagon in Dallas September 13, and a pre view of their Band Wagon program will possibly be given the corps tonight. “They may be non-reg as a jer sey cow, but if you haven’t got any tall yallar shoes with button tops, ragged overalls with just one strap . . . then feller, you had better start hustling, because they will be uniform of the evening for those dancing at the Barnyard Frolic,” said a recent Batt article. Bobby Stephens also encourages everyone to get just any old ragg ed flour sack, and come on out for a gala evening of fun and frolicing. second-handed bass he had made up his mind to learn to play. He taught himself to play the bull fiddle, and so helped the band by doing so they made him the out fit’s leader. Russel Brient had an orchestra, therefore, long before he ever knew there was such a thing as shampoo. Members of a local Port Arthur, Masonic Temple were planning on having a dance about that time, and asked Curley and his band to play for them. Although they still knew but four tunes, they accepted the invitation and after playing their four tunes through once, they asked if they could go home. They had played everything they knew. The audience wouldn’t listen to their pleas about bedtime, though, and four times the four numbers (See BRIENT, Page 4) Anne Gwynne Star In Wanger Production, “Texas A & M” Walter Wanger, noted Holly wood producer, will arrive on the campus at 7:45, Friday evening, September 11, according to a tele gram received late yesterday af ternoon by G. Bryon Winstead, publicity director. Although Wanger wishes to come to Aggieland without a royal wel come, a reception similar to that given Norman Raine is being plan ned. He will finish business details, with the college authorities and work on the Universal Studio— Walter Wanger production now tit led “Texas A. & M.” will begin immediately. Anne Gwynne, former Texas; girl and now a rising young star on the Universal lot, has been se lected to play the feminine lead in the story, with Dick Foran, for merly of singing-cowboy fame, playing one of the male leads. No release has as yet been re ceived concerning the story itself but Raine himself assured everyone during his visit here that there will be plenty of girls. WN McClain Selected As Naval Air Trainee William Nugent McClain, Jr. of Groveton, Texas has been selected for training as a Naval Aviation cadet and will be ordered to active^ duty shortly. He attended A. & M. for l 1 /^. years taking Agricultural adminis tration and was a member of B Company Infantry. Russell Brient Begins Band With But 4 Tunes and Rises to National Spot Something New Something Different! Come One Come All! Chorous Girls Hit Here Tonight When Kadet Kaper Show Starts By John Holman Chorus girls at A. & M.? Don't laugh brother, because that is ex actly what Kadet Kapers emcee Richard (alias Pop, Tuffy, or Le roy) Jenkins has in store for you tonight about 7:15 in the Assembly hall.. And don’t get me wrong, either, these are not dolled up he- men in grass skirts, but really beau tiful, (gorgeous in fact), girls from the big city of Fort Worth. Such a bevy of imported talent has never before hit the Aggie cam pus, and before going to Kadet Kapers tonight take warning, stay in your seat, ’cause those winsome women from Cow Town really put on a show. Under the able direction of Miss Dorothy Brandt, program director of the Fort Worth City Recrea tion Program, the gals will give out with more hulu hulu than Captain Bligh ever found in Tahi ti. On top of shaking a wicked hip to the beat of a savage tom tom, the chorus also specializes hi military dances, ahd talk about be ing non-reg, those girls can make any general go beneath his dignity. About two shakes behind the chorus will be one of the best bo ogie-woogie bands ever to come in on a downbeat, and boogie-woogie means that good old, low down, eight to the bar kind. Featured along with the band will be the hottest trumpet this side of the Mason-Dixon line since the outbreak of the Civil War! His name is an entertainment secret, but if you really like that old-fash ioned, hard down, trumpet blues, then drop around tonight an get a couple of ears full. Take it from one who knows, this boy is ready! Not to be buried beneath such a galaxy of stars is one of the best pianos yet heard in these parts. Miss Thelma Lindsey, who hails from Eagle Lake, Texas, has con sented to sit in for Freddie Nelson, and so she will tickle the ivories and you to death. If by then you aren’t rolling in your seat with jive and joy, then there’s a mixed quartet on hand to roll away your blues with such novelty little ditties as “What to Do When You Don’t Have Any thing Else To Do When You Are Double Dating!” (Whew!) Or must it be said again? Special songs have been selected by Jenkins for the usual pre-pro gram sing-song and according to Dick, there will be plenty of fuit at the expense of your friends when', he up and surprises everyone with, a special contest for those in the-, audience. Cigars, cigarettes, perhaps a quarter or two, and more laughs; than you can imagine will also be: around about then to give you a liveable, laughable hour and a half. So all you guys bring all your gals, or come with your buddy if you haven’t got a gal, and put those old Barnyard Frolic overalls on a little early and drag it out to the Assembly hall come 7:15 to night.