Ot
V
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
ROOM 5 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
VOLUME 42
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS TUESDAY MORNING SEPT. 8, 1942
2275
NUMBER 42
News Analyst Kaltenborn Slated for Town Hall
Pre-Season Ticket Sales
Begin Today for Seniors
Deficient Students Not
Allowed Early Registration
Students in Good "
Standing May Pay
Fees Next Monday
For students currently enrolled,
registration for the next semestet
will begin at 1 o’clock Friday,
September 18, and continue until
5 o’clock, September 19, H. L.
Heaton, acting registrar, announc
ed Monday.
All students now enrolled and
who were in good academic stand
ing at the time of the premiminary
report, July 31, will be allowed to
register at the times shown be
low. Assignment cards will be re
leased to graduate and undergrad
uate students from the Assembly
Hall.
Friday, September 18, 1 to 4—
All students who were classified
seniors the first semester.
' Saturday, September 19, 7 to 8
—All students whose surnames be
gin with T, TJ, Y, W, X, Y, Z.
8 to 9—All students whose sur
names begin with A, B.
9 to 10—All students whose sur
names begin with B, S.
10 to 11—All students whose
suranmes begin with C, D, E, F.
11 to 12—All students whose
surnames begin with M, N, 0, P,
Q.
1 to 2—AH students whose sur
names begin with G, H, I.
2 to 3—All students whose sur
names begin with J, K, L.
3 to 5—All students who were
unable to register at their regular
scheduled time.
Friday, September 25, 8 to 5—
All new students will register.
Monday, September 28—Old re
turning students and students
granted registration permission by
Deans and Executive Committee.
Students in good academic stand
ing at the time of the preliminary
report may pay all fees and re
serve a room in the Commandant’s
office beginning at noon, Septem
ber 14. All fees must Toe paid and
registration completed in the Com
mandant’s office by 5 o’clock;, Sep
tember 19, to be assured of a good
dormitory room.
All students who are not in good
academic standing will not be al
lowed to pay fees before Septem
ber 28 and they will be unable to
register until they have received
the approval of their Dean. Stu
dents should not go to their Dean
for permits to register early. Their
parent will be advised of their
status during the week of Septem
ber 21-26, Registrar Heaton said.
Contracts Awarded
For Work on Bryan
Air Corps School
Nine Organizations Get
Contracts Varying From
$50,000 to Over Million
Awards have been made to nine
different construction firms for ten
works of construction for the war
project in Brazos county, it was
announced yesterday by Colonel
L. H. Hewitt, district engineer for
the Galveston district, Corps of En
gineers, U. S. Army.
The awards of the construction
were made to the following com
panies buildings to Carvel Con
struction Company, and L Buchan
an, San Antonio; hospital build
ings to Younger Engineering Com
pany, San Antonio; electrical dis
tribution to Eugene Ashe Electric
Company, Houston; utilities to Wil
liams and Whittle and Williams
and Boughton, DaHas; water Con
struction Company, Houston; street
and grading to Globe Construction
Company, Houston; street surfac
ing to O’ Neal Construction Com
pany, Dallas; runways, aprons and
drainage to Austin Road Company,
Dallas; gasoline storage to Wood
Engineering and Construction Com
pany, Waco.
Amounts of the awards varied
from less than $50,090 for some
items to more than $1,000,000 for
others. Work on these projects is
expected immediately, and will be
under the direction of Captain G.
A. Youngs, Corps of Engineers,
U. S. Army, officer in charge of
the project.
Propeller Blasts Do
Damage to feunways
It’s neither drouth nor flood nor
hail nor gophers that causes the
most trouble for men who preserve
the billiard-table smoothness of
Randolph Field’s grassy runways.
Major Roy P. Ward, post opera
tions officer who supervises care of
the Randolph landing areas, plus
eight outlying emergency fields,
today disclosed that blasts of wind
from propellers of taxiing planes
do the most damage. The propeller
blasts virtually blow the ground
out from under the grass roots,
Major Ward said, creating deep
rough holes.
Town Hall 1942-43 Program
Swing Band
October 2
H. V. Kaltenborn
- October 31
Alec Templeton
- November 19
General Platoff’s Don Cossacks -
December 1
Nancy Swinford
January 5
Graff Ballet
February 9
Jessica Dragonette
March 2
Singing Cadets
March 15
Houston Symphony Orchestra
April 6
Swing Band
May 8
Trumpeter Takes Spotlight
In Kapers Cowtown Review
Saturday’s Kadet Kapers featur
ed an unusual treat for all the
Aggies who attended. Fort Worth’s
home talent was the hit of the
show with a gala presentation of
singing, dancing, and other musi
cal numbers. Mrs. Dorothy Brant,
program director for the Fort
Worth City Recreation Depart
ment, was responsible for the
show.
The Kapers opened with a cow
girl chorus with real, live, female
girls—a rarity of the first order
Academic Council
Disapproves Plea
To Finish Early
Petition allowing all graduating
seniors to miss the last week of
the current semester was disap
proved by the Academic. Council
in a meeting held yesterday.
Because of the speed-up pro
gram the school already has in
effect, it was decided by the Aca
demic Council yesterday that the
graduating seniors would remain
until 12 noon Friday 18 as was
before scheduled. With the 16
week semester in progress, it was
decided that the school year was
as short as it could possibly be
made, announced Dean F. C. Bolt
on. The seniors grades could not
possibly be turned in in time to
allow them to leave school at the
end of this week, Bolton concluded,
and therefore the seniors will re
main until noon Friday, September
18.
The underclassmen will be ex
cused at 5 o’clock of the same day.
for the Kadet Kapers. Nancy Mc-
Elroy, Betty McElroy, Jackie
Clardy, Jerry Christopher, Patsy
Stuckey, Betty Armstrong, and
Nancy Bell Webster, all of Fort
Worth, were the dancers. Following
this, came a novel dance entitled
a “Trip Around the World” given
by Carmen and Jimmy Hinds,
with folk dances of various coun
tries.
The old Assembly Hall rocked
with cheers, when Nancy Bell
Webster nearly drew a house-full
out of their seats with her rendi-
j tion of “Baby Me,” slightly on the
warmer side. A popular presenta
tion of a medley of favorite’ blues
songs and “Deep in The Heart of
Texas” were nicely vocalized in
three part close harmony by Jackie
Clardy, Jerry Christopher, and
Billye Reese, which was unani
mously admitted to be very easy
on the ears, and not bad for the
eyes either.
However, the act which really
brought down the house, was the
smallest, youngest, and hottest
trumpet player ever to hit this
institution. Mickey Carter, with
the trumpet almost as long as
the artist, jived out in fine style
on ‘Sugar Blues,” “Bugle Call
Rag,” and the “Boogie Woogie
Bugle Boy.” It’s hard to believe
that so much music could have
been emitted from such a small
source.
Rounding out the show, were
dances and songs by Carmen
Hinds, Betty Armstrong, Beverly
Jane Hansen and Nancy McElroy.
The show was ended with all the
performers participating in a
“military finale” which brought to
a close one of the most successful
Kadet Kapers of the year, Director
Dick Jenkins stated.
Orders Will Be Taken
Until Noon Monday; $1
Down Payment Is Required
The material of which the Senior
Ring Dance Favors are to be made
will be frozen as of October 1, by
orders of the War Production
Board.
In order to get the favors for
the Senior Ring dance a definite
number must be known as soon as
possible. Orders will be taken at
the Corps Headquarters office in
Ross Hall from tomorrow through
noon September 14, D. R. Suther
land, president of the senior class
announced. A $1 down payment
will be made.
Sutherland stated that positively
no extension will be added to the
time limit. Seniors who do not
place their orders within the pre
scribed period will not be able to
obtain favors at any cost.
Deadline Extended
For Vanity Fair,
Senior Favorites
The deadline for the submission
of Senior Favorites and Vanity
Fair pictures to the Longhorn has
been extended until September 28,
John Longley, Longhorn editor an
nounced Monday. Reservations for
club pictures must be made by
October 1.
For the Vanity Fair, three pic
tures must be submitted: an 8 x 10
inch full length, formal dress; a
5x7 inch full length sport or
street dress; and a 5 x 7 inch close
up. The Senior Favorite pictures
must be 5 x 7 inch close ups. AH
pictures must be glossy prints.
The charges will be $3 for the
Vanity Fair pictures, which in
cludes a free photograph placed
in the Senior Favorites section.
The fee for the Senior pictures
will be $1.50.
Hospital Resumes
Blood Testing Work
Dr. George Potter, chairman of
the local Blood Service Committee,
announced today that the college
hospital is again taking blood type
tests.
He urges all juniors, sophomores,
and freshmen, as well as anyone
else who will be in this community
for sometime, to drop by the hos
pital and have this test made.
Life in Newspaper Game Is Most Unpredicatable
Winstead Scoops JJ orld on Capture of Harry PonzL
Noted Swindler of 1927, as He Fled From Justice
By John Holman
Harry Ponzi was one of the most
“big-time” racketeers the ultra
conservation city of Boston, Mas
sachusetts, ever had. He was an'
Italian by birth, and had noted the
difference in value of Italian ‘lira’
on the foreign money exchanges in
Rome and New York.
Taking in some friends in Rome
and New York, Ponzi worked out
a system whereby he could ex
change an American dollar in
Rome for several times the value
in lira that he could get in New
York, so he sent American money
to Italy, had it changed for Lira,
brought them back to New York
and changed them into American
money at a several hundred per
cent profit.
Hundreds of Bostonians made
four and five hundred dollars off
each hundred invested in Ponzi’s
organization, and the point of it
was Harry Ponzi’s business was
as legal as the President’s.
But that was right where he
slipped. Had he kept his business
sense, he woruld have kept up his
perfectly legal business, and pro
bably died a millionaire at the
age of 95. But, like all get-rich-
quick-schemers, he let the sudden
influx in business go to his head.
People all over New England had
heard of Ponzi’s company, and
his office was flooded daily by
bags upon bags of mail containing
money of every amount from
dimes up to thousands of dollars.
Not more than three months
after he first started his exchange
business he was taking in several
hundred thousand dollars per
month.
This went to his head and he
figured out a scheme whereby he
could take the money paid him by
his Pennsylvania clients, pay di
vidends to his Boston clients, then
induce them to turn the money
(and more) back in for re-invest
ment, with which he would then
pay the Philadephians a dividend
with the same inducement.
In that way, Harry Ponzi eli
minated his foreign exchange al
together, and was soaking away
hundreds of thousands of dollars
for himself.
In 1927, however, the FBI step
ped in, investigated Ponzi, and ar
rested him, causing one of the
biggest scandals in the history of
Boston. Ponzi posted a $100,000
cash bond and was released from
jail. When his hearing came up,
Mr. Ponzi had disappeared, and
all efforts of the police and FBI
to locate him failed.
One day about three months
later, a head-guard in the Houston
dock area was sitting at his gate
watching an Italian tramp docking
for a load of cotton. When the
sailors filed out the gate going
down the street to a cafe, the
guard thought he recognized one
of the seamen as Harry Ponzi.
The guard, George Lacy, called
the Houston Press’ managing edi
tor, Webb Artz and asked him to
rush out there with all available
pictures of Ponzi. When he got
there, Ponzi was still in the cafe,
but when the seamen filed back in,
unknown to the Italian, they pos-
tively identified him as the mis
sing swindler.
As the Houston Press is an after
noon paper, the editor asked Lacy
not to say anything about the
story, allow the boat to go on to
Port Arthur, then make the arrest
there just in time for the Press
to scoop the town and country on
Ponzi’s arrest.
When the two men got to Port
Arthur, the boat had already come
and gone, headed for New Orleans
before clearing for Italy. They
hopped on the train and beat the
boat to New Orleans, where Lacy,
as a Houston deputy-constable,
arrested Ponzi.
G. Byron Winstead was sitting in
the Houston sheriff’s office when
Lacy phoned from New Orleans
wanting to know if he had the
authority to bring Ponzi back
across the state l}ne. New Orleans
police nor the FBI knew anything
about the discovery and capture,
Lacy and Press Managing-Editor
Artz being the only ones in the
know.
Because the deputy in the sher
iff’s office in Houston replied,
“No you haven’t the authority,
but he’s your prisoner, isn’t he?”
Winstead knew something hot was
in the offing. The deputy wouldn’t
give out with a word though.
There was a little store room
with an extension' telephone in it
just behind the sheriff’s desk, so
when no one was looking, G. Byron
hid himself in there near the ex
tension phone.
Late that night, the phone again
rang, and Lacy gave the sheriff a
detailed account of what all had
happened since first discovering
the run-away Italian, and added
that they were leaving on the-;next
train with Ponzi for Houston. Artz
had been so excited when he dashed
out of the Press offiee, he hadn’t
notified a soul what was up, and
since then had been so busy chas
ing Ponzi he still hadn’t given the
Press not even an inkling that he
had a big story. However, when
he and Lacy climbed onto that
train with Ponzi in New Orleans,
he thought the afternoon Press
would have the biggest scoop in
Newspaper history. Little did he
know that G. Byron Winstead, the
Houston Post’s snoop artist, was
beating him in his own backyard
at his own game.
When the train arrived in Hous
ton, and Artz, Lacy, and Ponzi
got off, a battery of Post photo
graphers suddenly appeared pop
ping flash bulbs right and left! The
Post already had an extra edition
all made up, and the story already
written, and were only waiting on
the pictures to start the presses
rolling.
Thus within an hour after the
train pulled into Houston, the Post
had the story on the street, com
plete with pictures of Press-Editor
Artz, Guard Lacy, and Harry Pon
zi, notorious Boston swindler.
(See WINSTEAD, Page 4)
Regular Students Tickets at $2 Includes
Ten Outstanding Entertainment Features
In an unprecedented move to give old students first
choice in obtaining seats for what is expected to be a pre
season sell-out for the Town Hall series, Town Hall Manager
John Lawrence today announced that tickets for the com
ing season will go on sale at one o’clock this afternoon at the
Student Activities office. Any tickets that are left over
when the incoming freshmen register later this month, will
be released at the time of registration. Preliminary Town
Hall ticket sales will end Friday, September 11 at 5 o’clock.
Special tickets have been printed for the present senior
class which will sell for $1.25 and"
admit them to the five attractions
featured during the coming semes
ter. These will be the only tickets
on sale today. Regular student
tickets which will go on sale to
morrow and continue through the
week are priced at $2 and will ad
mit the holders to all ten perfor
mances which are booked for the
two 1942-43 semesters. Reserved
seats at $4 will also go on sale at
9:00 a.m. tomorrow.
1,350 seats are available for stu
dents according to figures releas
ed by Lawrence.
Main attraction of the year will
be H. V. Kaltenborn, ace news
commenator for N. B. C. Kalten
born, top flight analyst' in his
field, is one of the most expensive
artists ever to appear at A. & M.
Town Hall was able to obtain his
services only through expert fi
nancial manipulation. Kaltenborn
appeared last year in Houston
where he held an audience capti
vated for over two hours discuss
ing current world affairs.
Alec Templeton, blind pianist,
and one of the greatest musicians
of all time according to the most
prominent critics, will also high
light the first semester perfor
mances. Possessing a keen wit and
a deep understanding of human
nature, Templeton raises his per
formances out of the ordinary into
the artistic by intermingling hum
or and pathos in his musical in
terpretations and original com
positions. '
Also booked for the new series
are Jessica Dragonette, America’s
beloved soprano, the General Plat-
off Don Cossack chorus, the Graff
Ballet, Houston Symphony orches
tra, Nancy Swinford, the Singing
Cadets, and swing band to open
the series and another to close it
next May.
Nimitz Urges That
Parents Use V-Mail
For Service Sons
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz,
Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific
Fleet, has issued an appeal to fam
ilies of service personnel to use
the new, fast V-Mail system for
correspondence from the Mainland
to forces afloat and afield.
Pacific Fleet V-Mail authorities
pointed out that speed, privacy
and economy should make use of
this microfilm service attractive
to the armed forces.
Whereas regular airmail from
the Hawaiian area to Pacific Coast
points often takes many days—
even going by convoy whep mails
are unusually congested—V-Mail
to these same cities average only
four days. V-Mail for East Coast
points takes only six days from the
time of posting to arrival at its
addressed destination.
In the Fleet, mail clerks have
been supplied with special V-Mail
forms. Letters written on these
blanks and posted for censorship
are not read again until they reach
the addresses.
Hawaiian area V-Mail is photo
graphed on 16-millimeter micro
film spools in Honolulu. These
rolls, two of which contain as
many letters as on ordinary mail-
pounch, go to the Mainland by
the FIRST AVAILABLE air
transportation. They rate highest
priority; they go immediately.
By fast mail train, completed
V-Mail is then sped to recipients,
who get 4-by-5 1 /k inch enlarge
ments of the tiny negatives in of
ficial envelopes—without charge.
Mainlanders corresponding with
(See NIMITZ, Page 4)
Scout-O-Rama Will
Be Held Friday To
Exhibit War Work
25 Cent Ticket Will
Include 10 Cent War
Savings Stamp as Change
Boy Scouts, Scouters, Cubs and
Cubbers of Brazos, Burleson and
Robertson Counties will present
the first annual Scout-O-Rama in
the Animal Husbandry Pavilion
Friday night at 8:15 o’clock. Tick
ets for the event may be purchased
from any Bryan or College Station
Boy Scout and are priced at 25
cents and 10 cents of which will
be returned to the purchaser at
the door in the form of a war
savings stamp.
Purpose of the Scout-O-Rama Is
to show to the public the part the
Boy Scouts of Aermica are play
ing in the present world conflict.
Events will include a practice air
raid and blackout drill, an emer
gency service obstacle race, emer
gency first aid demonstrations and
camping and pioneering projects.
Music for the show will be furnish
ed by part of the Aggie band un
der the direction of R. J. Drmii^
The various events will be direct
ed by the following: Grand Entry,
W. L. Penberthy; Cub even, W.
R. Horsley; emergency obstacle
race, Billy Howell; induction of
new scouts since June 1, Jack J.
Keith, Scout Exective of the Sam
Houston Area Council; emergency
first aid, Roy Donahue and Camp
ing and Pioneering, Newton Pil
cher.
About 400 Scouts and Cubs are
expected to take part in the events.
According to Carol Holt, Field Ex
ecutive for this district, it will be
one of the biggest Scout shows
ever put on in this area.
Activities Committee
Allots Funds for Use
By Campus Groups
A. & M. Student Activities Com
mittee held a meeting yesterday
to discuss the allotment of funds
to various organizations on the
campus.
The funds to be available to the
clubs are as follows: Aggie Model
Airplane Club, $50; Institute of
Aeronautical Sciences, $30; So
ciety of Automotive , Engineers,
$50; College Camera Club, $60;
A.S.M.E., $60; Fencing Team
$25; Press Club, $100; Singing
Cadets, $100; Spanish Club, $25;
Kream and Kow Klub, $75; Pistol
Team, $75; Rifle Team, $75.
Aviation Cadet Waits
For Chance to Pay Off
United Army Air Force Wings
and the chance for combat duty
against the Japs won’t come..any
too soon for Aviation Cadet Rich
ard S. Whitelaw of Saugus, Calif.,
new in basic flight training at
Randolph Field, Texas.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Cadet Whitelaw
was a member of the U. S. Ma
rines, Air Group 21, stationed at
Ewa Field, near Pearl Harbor.
Several men in his outfit, includ
ing some of his best friends, were
killed when Jap airman swooped
low and machine-gunned the field
and barracks.
Cadet Whitelaw would love to
repay the compliment, the sooner
the better.