The Battalion
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
DIAL 4-5444
ROOM 5 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
VOLUME 42
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, OCT. 15, 1942
2275
NUMBER 55
Southwestern Journalists Will Register Tonight
Artillerymen Revel Friday Night
Upperclassmen Wear Wools
With Khaki Shirts, Ties
Exhibition in Psychics
Weekend Mess Is Moved Up to 6:15
To Allow Time to Clear Sbisa for Dance
Friday night all will be revelry when the Field Artillery
Regiment swings out to music provided by “The Idol of the
Airlanes,” Jan Garber and his orchestra, at the annual Field
Artillery regimental ball from 9 ’til 1 in Sbisa Hall.
The FA Maestro started out his musical career as a
classical violinist and when still in his teens started playing
"with the Philadelphia Symphony
Orchestra. During the first world
war he organized a 57 piece band,
and finally worked around to one
of the smoothest dance bands in
the business.
Wearing a uniform is compul
sory for admittance to the ball,
states Travis Parker, in charge of
arrangements! Seniors may wear
either cloth belt or Sam Browne,
while juniors must wear Sam
Browne with the number one uni
form. Khaki ties and khaki shirts
will be worn instead of black ties
and white shirts with the number
one uniform for the upperclass
men.
Frogs, freshmen, and sophomores
will wear the winter number two
uniform, wool slacks with khaki
shirt and black tie.
Evening retreat formation and
mess will be moved up ot 6:15 foi
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as
usual to allow the dance to get
started at the scheduled' time.
Backster Shows
Hypnotic Skill
Before RS Club
Meeting in Animal
Industries Lecture Room
Will Be Open to Public
Hypnosis, clairvoyance, and men
tal telepathy will be demonstrated
tonight at a meeting of the Sociol
ogy club in the Animal Industries
Room. The demonstration will be
conducted by G. C. Backster, soph
omore in Machine Gun troop, Cav
alry.
Blackster is well known on the
campus for his performances in
which he renders his subject the
sei’vant of his own will and causes
him to perform various feats while
under >a hypnotic spdll. During the
past summer, the operator has car
ried on an intensive study of the
techniques and methods of psychi
cal research on the west coast.
The meeting will be open to the
general public, and all who are in
terested are cordially invited to
attend. There will be a short busi
ness meeting of the club after the
demonstration.
Stenographers And
Typists Will Get
Another Chance
A new examination in Louisiana
and Texas, as well as Washington,
D. C., was announced today by Col
lege Station secretary, local Board
of U. S. Civil Service examiners.
The positions to be filled are
junior stenographer, $1,440 a
year; senior stenographer, $1,620;
junior typist, $1,260; and senior
typist (Washington only), $1,-
440.
Applicants for the Washington,
D. C., positions must be at feast
17% years old. Dictation must be
taken at the rate of 80 words per
minute to qualify for the junior
stenographer position, and typists
must be able to type at least 35
to 40 corect words per min
ute.
The field examination for Louis
iana and Texas is open to both men
and women, with 16 years as the
. . *
minimum.
Applications are not desired from
any person engaged in war work,
unless the position for which they
are applying will employ higher
skills than their former position.
Full information and applications
forms for the examining may be
obtained from Sec. Local U. S.
Civil Service Board, College Sta
tion.
Swift Contest Essays
Must Be in October 27
Those students who are prepar
ing essays for the Swift Medal Es
say contest should have their en
tries into the Animal Husbandry
department not later than October
27.
Winner of the contest will be
awarded an all-expense-paid trip
to Chicago where he will attend
without cost Swift’s packing-house
school, where he will study the
Buy a Stamp; Help
Win the War; Hear The
Idol of the Airlanes
Say, pal, want in on a real deal?
Okay ? i
Then here it is. How would you
like to swap two-bits for about
$200.00 worth of the best music
alive and still get your two-bits
back? Still okay? Well, just drop
your lit’ ole’ self around ’bout
Sbisa way come 8 o’clock Friday
night and wrap your floppin’ ears
around some of Garber’s jazz.
. All out for the war, fellers! If
the idol of the airlanes can donate
two hundred, then ole’ Army’s sho’
got two-bits!
Forest Fires Cut
Down War Output
Fire, the proverbial enemy of
Texas forests, is facing an all-out
blitz attack. The initial blow will
be delivered on October 1, which
marks the beginning of a nation
wide wartime forest fire preven
tion campaign. The Texas A. & M.
College Forest Service and Ex
tension Service, the U. S. Forest
Service and all other public and
private forest fire control agencies
will adopt the technique of modern
warfare by coordinating their sep
arate energies into a solid front
for a knockout blow, aimed at cut
ting down the losses from woods
fires.
War Movie of Navy
In Action to Be Shown
In Chem Lect Room
War movies of famous U. S.
naval battles will be shown in the
Chemistry lecture room beginning
at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night. Major
Leslie B. Dufton, M. C., British
Consulate will speak in conjunction
with the films and talk on the prog
ress of the allies, the Anglo-Amer
ican relation, and peace after the
war.
Sergeant Hetrick
Is Made Lieutenant
Staff Sergeant E. C. Hetrick
received a promotion to the rank
of second lieutenant on October 12.
Suspended between two
chairs, the rigid body of
one of G. C. Backster’s hyp
notic subjects remains mo
tionless and shows no no
ticeable effort in perform
ing a feat which
scious man cannot accomp
lish. On the left, the op
erator is shown in action.
Svengali Had Nothing On
Mystic Backster, Clairvoyant
By W. Spencer Jarnagin
Maybe you think hypnotism and
mental telepathy are a lot of bunk,
but A. & M. has a student who can
mystify anyone. He is G. C. Back
ster, or Bill as the boys call him,
a sophomore in C Troop, Cavalry.
Backster has demonstrated his
strange powers before Kadet Ka-
pers, home-town clubs, psychology
classes, professors and students.
When Backster came here last Jan
uary, he really stirred up the cav
alry dorms with his mystic won
ders. Many times he walked into
his room to find it crowded with
waiting boys who wanted to see
him hypnotize someone.
Last Sunday afternoon Backster
put on a special demonstration for
the sake of this Battalion reporter.
Your reporter went to interview'
him with the idea of discovering
the falacies in his art; but when
he left, he was thoroughly con
vinced of his powers. He said, “A
person would be awful gullible to
believe in hypnotism and telepathy
without seeing it done with his
own eyes.”
Backster asked one of the boys
in the hall to be his subject, then
we found an unoccupied room,
where a “set-up” was impossible.
The subject, Freshman Roger Wil
liams, stood relaxed in the middle
of the room, with Bill Backster
three feet in front of him. Backster
looked him straight in the eye,
slowly waved his hands very close
to his face for a silent half a min
ute, then said in a soft voice,
“You’re getting tired and sleepy
. . . your eyelids are weighted
down . . . they’re closing tight
(See BACKSTER, Page 4)
Thirteen Colleges Will Be
Represented at Meet Here
Major Crown Makes Keynote Address
In Sbisa at 8:15; Congress Ends Saturday
Tonight the sixteenth annual meeting of the Southwestern
western Journalism Congress and the Southwestern Students’
Press club will get under way with the registration of local
and visiting delegates from thirteen Southwestern colleges
and universities in the lobby of the old Y.M.C.A.
Representatives of the faculty, and student journalists
from Baylor, Hardin-Simmons, Louisiana State University,
Mary-Hardin Baylor, Oklahoma A. & M., Southern Methodist
University, Texas Christian University, Texas State College
for Women, Texas Technological College, Tulane, Oklahoma
University, and Texas University, will be the guests of fac
ulty members and students of
Collegiate Who’s
Who Selections
Made Last Night
Twenty-One Aggies Are
Chosen on Basis of Grades,
Activity and Leadership
Final selections of cadets to ap
pear in Who’s Who Among Stu
dents in American Colleges and
Universities were made last night
from a preliminary list turned in
by the regimental commanders and
the cadet colonel. This list was con
sulted by the faculty members and
the Student Activity Office, ^ and
from it the twenty-one students
selected were: Walter Cardwell, Jr.;
W. G. Galloway; Steve C. Kaffer;
O. A. Nance, Jr.; Gene Caperton;
Raymond Terrell; George Driskell;
Earl Hartman; William Bever; Dan
R. Sutherland; John Longley; D. B.
Gofer, Jr.; W. H. Chalmers; Jack
B. Miller; W. R. Sibley; Bobby
Stephens; Bland Harrison; J. C.
Denney; James McAllister; Tom
mie Bolling; Sid Smith.
These outstanding Aggies were
selected on Leadership, student
activity, popularity, and scholar
ship. Their names and a summary
of their achievements in college
will appear in a book consulted by
America’s leading personnel mana
gers.
According to the publishers of
the book, the purpose is two-fold:
first, to serve as an outstanding
honor in which a deserving stu
dent, after displaying merit in col
lege and accomplishing his goals,
would be given recognition without
having to pay some fee; second, to
establish a reference volume of
authoritative information on the
great body of America’s leading
college students.
The publishers further 'stated
that membership in Who’s Who
Among Students is the appropriate
climax of a student’s college ca
reer, summing up the honors, scho
lastic or social, that he has attain
ed. The book has therefore become
an index to America’s ideal lead-
A. & M., during the two-day
congress.
Program for the meet consists
of the following:
Thursday, 4 to 7—Registration.
Thursday, 8:15 p.m.—Banquet,
Sbisa Hall.
Opening address—Dr. John
Ashton, president of the
Congress.
Toastmaster—Dr. J. P. Ab
bott, A. & M. English de
partment.
Then following the address of
welcome by Dr. T. O. Walton, pres
ident of the college, and singing
Speaker
Bottle Breakage
Lessens Amount Of
Pop Drunk at Game
100 Cases Destroyed
At Tech Game; Refills
Alloted on Bottle Returns
Soda-pop bottle breakage in the
stands this year on Kyle Field has
been several times what it was
last year, according to E. W. Hook
er, secretary of the athletic coun
cil.
During the Texas Tech-Aggie
game, over one hundred cases of
cocoa-cola and soda water bottles
were broken, which amounts to
about 20 per cent of the total bot
tles issued the Athletic office by
the various bottling companies for
each game.
“Normal breakage is about five
per cent, and considering that we
haye about 600 cases out during
each game, even that is more than
is necessary,” said Hooker. “Most
of the breakage is in the Aggie
sections, and is for the most part
unnecessary. With the war limit
ing transportation and coca-colas
rationed, we are able to get only
as many drinks each week as we
have bottles to return. Previously
we have been getting 600 cases, bub,
as over 100 were broken Saturday
before last, we will not be able
to have that number for the T.C.U.
game.
“We are asking everyone attend
ing the contests and buying cold
drinks to be more careful about-,
dropping and kicking empty bot
tles. Kyle Field is concrete and
they break very easily. If the pres
ent rate of breakage persists, we~
will be unable to get cold drinks
before the present season is over,”'
finishd .Hooker.
major J. M Crown
address will be delivered by Major
James E. Crown, editor of the New
Orleans States.
Friday, 10 a.m. to 12—Sectional
meetings—lectures and discussions
grouped into sections for newspa
per writers, magazine writers,
yearbook editors, and advertising
managers.
Friday afternoon all groups will
meet together for a discussion to
be led by Harold Halsell, of the
(See JOURNALISM, Page 4)
Broken Nose
In Sucessful
Jan Organized 56
Piece Regimental
Band in World War
By Bill Murphy
One reason that Jan Gai-ber, who
plays here Friday night for the
annual Field Artillery Ball, is so
attentive to the customers is that
failing to pay attention once cost
him a broken nose.
While Jan was a violin student
at the Coombs Conservatory in
Philadelphia, he secured the covet
ed position of bat boy with his
idols, the Philadelphia Athletics.
Finally he was given a chance to
demonstrate his ability by being
promoted to catcher on a semi-
professional team. When his big
chance came, Jan just couldn’t re
sist turning around to look at the
crowd. When he came to he was
from Baseball Bat Results
Musical Career for Garber
JAN GARBER
phony Orchestra, but World War
I, which had just begun, soon put
a kink in these plans
56 pieces.
After a long and successful ca
reer he abandoned it for the op-
Like so many young boys of his I it<J one _ soft> sweet music and
lying in the dressing-room with a | age, Jan joined the A.E.F. and was | the title, “Idol of the Airlanes.”
broken nose. Thus ended his career ! one of the first to reach foreign This was the style he had been
in baseball. i soil. One of his superiors, while striving for these many years. Ole’
Was Once Soloist
With Philadelphia
Symphony Orchestra
wei’e coming in rapid succession;
followed by such famous radio
Marvin Pearson, ’41
Dies in Plane Crash
Second Lieutenant Marvin M.
Pearson, Jr., class of ’41, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin M. Pearsbri,
Sr., Tyler, was killed when his
fighter plane fell about five miles
south of St. Petersburg, Fla., Tues
day.
Witnesses said they saw the pilot
bail out of his plane as it fell. His
body was later found some distance
from the wrecked plane, the para
chute trailing behind the body.
The public relations office at
Drew Field, Tampa, said in making
the announcement that Lieutenant
Pearson was attached to the Sara
sota field.
Pearson left A. & M. in January
of ’42 to join the Air Corps. At
the time he left he was a first
lieutenant, second in command of
C Battery, Coast Artillery, tie was
President of the Tyler A. & M.
Club, a distinguished student, and
served as a student grader in the
History department.
Revised Schedule for
Freshman Singing
Cadets Is Announced
A new schedule for Frog Singing
Cadets, has been announced by
Richard Jenkins, director of the
shows as the Yeastfoam program, g r0 up. Jenkins states that the Ca
dets will meet Monday and Thurs
day at 6 p. m. and Tuesday at 8
p. m. in the Assembly Hall.
All men who signed up for this
Bums & Allen and many other
equally well known broadcasts.
Movie talent scouts were also hot
on his trail and finally secured his I
services for countless numbers of | dub during Freshman week are
asked to see Jenkins at the Assem
bly Hall any afternoon whether or
not the student plans to continue
with the club, so that a correct
roll can be formed.
Following this major setback in | looking over Garber’s previous his- Lady Luck was finally Beginning
The lieutenant will actually be I his life, Jan now turned all of his tory, noticed that he had been with to show her bright shining face
sworn in as an officer on October i attentions to his violin and was re-1 the Philadelphia Symphony and on Jan, for now such engagements
marketing and processing of pack- j 19, states Lt. Col. A. J. Bennett, | warded by being made featured immediately ordered Rookie Garber as the Cocoanut Grove in Los An-
ing house products. | Adjutant. j soloist with the Philadelphia Sym-1 to organize a regimental band of J geles and the Hotel New Yorker
screen shorts.
Also believing that “variety is
the spice of life” Jan picks his
musicians not only for their musi
cal abilities but also because of
their versatility. Take for instance
his trumpet player and clown,
Fritz Heilbron. Fritz, who hails
from Tonawanda, N. Y., is an art
ist in that he can make people
laugh and forget their cares when
they have not the slightest desire
to do so. His specialties include
mimicing female as well as male
singers, with the aid of wigs and a
falsetto voice, and singing “scat”
songs, as only he can sing them.
New Coast Artillery
Officer is Capt Stein
Captain Frank P. Stein arrived
on the campus Tuesday, newly as
signed to duty here as instructor
of Coast Artillery Military Science,
states Lt. Col A. J. Bennett, Ad
jutant. ’
Capt. Stein, formerly was sta
in the vocal department we find j tioned at Camp Wallace, although
(See GARBER, Page 4) ; his home is in California.