The Battalion
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
DIAL 4-5444
ROOM 5 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
VOLUME 42
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, NOV. 12, 1942
2275
NUMBER 67
Five Blasts of Whistle
Begin Blackout Tonight
Intricate System of Communications
Will Test Effectiveness, Aid Execution
For 15 minutes tonight College Station will undergo its
first blackout. Between 8:30 and 9:00 the power house
whistle will sound five blasts signifying the start of the
blackout.
At that signal all lights will be extinguished as quickly
as possible and every form of illumination that is visible
from the air will be covered up or turned off.
All cadets are asked ot review the regulations on proper
procedure to be followed at the time of the blackout. Several
orders have been issued by the Commandant’s office per-
'"taining to duties of cadets.
Aggie Athletes
Get Write-up In
Esquire Magazine
McElroy Writes Story;
Points Out That Aggies
Return to Fame as Heros
A. & M. College and its great
athletes of the past get national
recognition this month in the Dec
ember issue of Esquire magazine in
an article written by H. B. (Mac)
McElroy, of the college publicity
staff, who also represents the
three big news services and several
Texas newspapers at College Sta
tion.
“Mac” points out that the names
of those men have disappeared
from the sports pages only to show
up on the news pages generally
under a heading saying “MacArt-
hur Decorates Heroes”. He also
says that but one man of the Nat
ional Championship football, water
polo and pistol teams of 1939 is not
on active duty but that man holds
a key position in a vital war in
dustry. All but two of that group
hold commissions in the army, navy j photographer; Bob Shuffler, and
and marines and that some of i A. C. Ebensberger, in charge of
them went down with Corregidor ; maintaining communications be-
Throughout the blackout period
two-way communication will be
maintained between the roof of the
academic building, Harry Boyer’s
office in Ross hall and one other
vantage point yet to be named.
Two-way radio communication will
be utilized providing an opportu
nity for actual use of communica
tions in the way it would be used
in case of an actual air raid.
\
All air raid wardens will report
any lights left on to the ones re
sponsible and all possible haste
should be exercised to reach the
complete state of blackout as soon
as possible.
Heading the aggregation on the
roof of the academic building actu
ally running the blackout, will be
Harry Boyer, chairman of the air
raid warden’s committee. Also
there as officials observing the
effectiveness of the blanketing will
be Colonel M. D. Welty, Presi
dent T. 0. Walton, Captain Joe E.
Davis, Dean F. C. Bolton, Mayor
Ernest Langford, and coordinator
of Civilian Defense C. C. Hedges.
Performing the technical duties
necessary to the successful execu
tion of the blackout will be several
cadets. Among them, Phil Crown,
which was commanded by Major
General George F. Moore, another
former great Aggie football
player.
Not only those men have gone
to war but the majority of the 750
living wearers of the A. & M. Coll
ege varsity “T” also are among
the more than 6500 Aggies on
active duty and that approximately
98 per cent are commissioned off
icers.
Others mentioned in the story
are Major Henry (Pelly) Dittman,
of Goose Creek, first Aggie to win
a medal in this war; Lt. Col. Jack
Milger, Houston, second in com
mand to Doolittle at Toyko; and
Ensign George Gay, also of Hous
ton, lone survivor of Torpedo
Squadron .8 at the Battle of Mid
way.
Amarillo Club Makes
Picture Today for 1st
Longhorn Appearance
The Amarillo A&M club will have
its picture made Thursday, Novem
ber 12, at 6:00 p. m. on the steps
of the Chemistry building. All club
members are urged to be on time,
although the picture will be de
layed long enough for all boys that
drill on Thursday to be present for
the picture, according to Bob
Moore, club president.
Uniform for the picture will be
boots and serge shirts for seniors,
serge shirts and wool slacks for
juniors, and wool slacks with khaki
shirts for freshmen and sopho
mores. Every boy from Amarillo
is especially urged to be present
as this is the first time the club
has ever had its picture made. All
members must bring 75 cents as
this will eliminate a meeting for
the sole purpose of collecting
money.
Distinguished Scholar,
O M Ball Passes Away
Dr. Oscar Melville Ball, 74, pro
fessor emeritus of biology, curator
of the Texas A. & M. College Mus
eum and member of the college fac
ulty since September, 1903, died at
2:00 a.m., Nov 11, after a linger
ing illness.
Born at Miami, Mo., August 25
1868, a son of William Henry and
Anne Eliza Braden Ball, Dr. Ball
became internationally known for
his teachings in biology and re
search work, mostly in the field of
paleontology. He was the author
of several books and scientific
papers on that latter subject.
tween vantage points; Kenneth C.
Bresnen, official observer and Bat
talion representative; Tom Jour-
neay, of the WTAW program staff,
and Conrad Bering, WTAW news
editor, who will be observing the
blackout from a plane high over
the campus.
An urgent request was issued to
all residents and cadets to cooper
ate to the fullest in an effort to
make this the quickest and most
effective blackout in this area.
That cannot be done without com
plete cooperation, emphasized Boy-
Opportunities For
Becoming Officers
In Navy Are Good
The opportunity for graduates
and undergraduates of colleges in
Texas to become Naval Reserve
Midshipmen and later, officers in
the Naval Reserve, are better than
ever before, according to Lieut.
Preston Moore, officer-in-charge
of the Naval Officer Procurement
Office here.
Two classifications are open to
applicants and requirements have
been relaxed to some extent, Moore
.said. Regularly enrolled, full time,
junior or senior students in ac
credited colleges or universities are
eligible for enrollment under the
program. These students must pur
sue a course leading to a degree in
engineering, bachelor 0 f science,
arts, education, philosophy, busi
ness administration, commercial
science, journalism or Laws.
Other requirements listed for the
V-7 program are: the applicant
must be a male citizen of tlm
United States, not less than is
and must not have reached his
28th birthday. College undergrad
uates must be unmarried. However
married graduates who have com
pleted all educational requirements
for Reserve Midshipmen training
are eligible for enlistment.
Acceptable applicants will be
given a 30-day indoctrination p e .
riod at a Reserve Midshipmen’s
school and while undergoing train
ing will receive uniforms, clothing
and equipment. Upon successful
completion of their training, they
will be appointed Reserve Midship
men and will receive approximate
ly three months further training
for commissions as ensigns in the
Naval Reserve.
Authorities Ask
For Special Trains
At Christmas Time
Hope to Solve Travel
Problem Soon; No Action
Yet on Holiday Extension
Formal requests for special
trains to Houston, Dallas, and San
Antonio have been made to the
Southern Pacific and Missouri
Pacific railroads for transporting
Aggies home Christmas by the
Office of the President of this
college, E. L. Angell, executive
assistant to the president, said
yesterday.
Southern Pacific has been asked
for special trains to Dallas and
Houston, and Missouri Pacific has
been asked for one to San Antonio.
No reply has been received from
either railroad as yet although they
were expected last Saturday. A
definite statement will be made
to the corps as soon as the replies
are received, said Angell.
The question of extending the
Christmas holidays from one week
to two has been discussed in acad
emic and executive circles, and
many problems must be solved be
fore any definite action can be
taken.
Federal law prohibits the run
ning of special trains, and this
has been the factor which is holding
up transportation facilities for
Aggies to and from college during
Christmas.
Movie Company Arrives Friday
Seniors Must ^Foresters
. . „ Speak at Science
Apply at Once Academy Meeting
For Orders
Reports Will Go To
Service Command For
Making- Assignments
Second year advanced military
students, seniors now enrolled in
their last semester of military sci
ence, must report to Room 18 Ross
hall, Office of Student Records, at
the first opportunity, states Staff
Sergeant Malcolm Thomas, ser
geant major.
A complete report must be made
of each cadet who will finish his
advanced course in January to be
sent to Eight Service Command as
soon as possible. From these re
ports official war department or
ders will be issued designating the
camps that graduates will be sent
to upon completing their military
training here.
The fact that the issuance of or
ders is contingent on obtaining the
necessary information from each
second year advanced military stu
dent, behooves prompt compliance
with this request, added Thomas.
Walton Predicts New Front
Is Only the Begining of Long War
In a statment to the press yes
terday afternoon, President T. O.
Walton predicted that the war can
not possibly end for at least two
and probably not for six or eight
years.
“The second front is merely a
beginning of a tremendous offens
ive and it should not be regarded
as a move to end the war in the
very near future,” states the presi
dent.
“The invasion of the American
forces was like sending in a full
team in the last period,” he said,
“and serves as means of clearing
the Mediterranean area to get sup
plies to our allies so that the
United States, England, and maybe
even France can all operate in
one big offensive against Germany
itself.”
Pays Tribute To
Aggie Dead
Earlier in the day before the
entire cadet corps assembled for
an armistice day observance on the
parade ground, President Walton
paid tribute to the ex-Aggies that
have paid the supreme sacrifice in
service to their country. He said in
part:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this
morning we pause for a brief mom
ent to do honor to A. & M. College
men who gave their lives to theii’
country and for democracy a quar
ter century ago, and to repledge
the leadership. . .of this great in
stitution in this time of our
country’s need. Again after a
quarter century A. & M. men are
being called to the colors, and we
this morning rededicate our lives
and our all in order that we may
make the contribution that mfcn
steeped in its traditions have al-
"ways made to their country’s cause.
Answer Written in Blood
“Let me remind you that a quar-
er century ago many of us thought
that the kind of thing that is hap
pening today could not ’happen
again m a civilized world, but . . .
Magazine Covers Hold
P Delivery to Corps
thf'B.T? the Nov ™ b “ Issue of
readv 1 ir m “ Kazine h »s been
diet -u f he past wee k, delay in
hold? 011 haS b6en —ed by a
up m delivery of the covers
Editor dobnHo^rS
inside ^ ati ° nal ^arette ads on the
er of tl™” 1 and outside back cov-
New Y he , ma ^ azme are printed in
shinn Tr ’ 3nd althou S h th ey were
W l- l r ° m ^ P ° int Octo-
and If hey haVG n0t yet arrived,
and efforts to trace them through
he shipping agencies have failed
Distribution will be made to the
corps within a day or two after
the covers arrive.
the world is again plunged into
an international conflict, but A. &
M. men are writing the answer to
the dictators of the world with their
own blood on every battlefield of
the globe.
“And so you and I this morning
cannot do more than to rededicate
our lives and send a word of en
couragement to those of our
fellows that are serving more than
6000 strong with the armed for
ces whenever men fight.
“We dedicate our lives again as
a faculty to this service of the
young men that come here for their
training and for whom we have
some responsibility to give to them
the type of education and train-
Football practice could
hardly remove thoughts of
those Aggies before them
who are now playing a dif
ferent game, and Coach Nor
ton had the same thoughts
as he and the team watched
yesterday’s review.
He commented aside, on the
Herb Smiths, the Dittmans,
Kimbroughs, Routts, Rob-
netts, Hunts, Rollins, De
Wares, and others symboliz
ing “greats” of the Aggie
history who now are in ser
vice, before he sent the
squad in last night.
“We had a good workout
today,” he said, “but some
how football seems unimport
ant in a school like A. & M.
today, particularly with en
couraging news coming from
the fighting fronts. I know
I’m supposed to say some-
mg about the game with
Rice on Saturday, but today
I choke up wen I wonder
"here the boys are I have
coached since I came here in
tSf are r ' ght n ° W - 1 kn »"’
that many are on the fight-
say is 0 twT 1 311 that 1 can
y is that I hope the 1942
earn will carry on for them
m Houston Saturd 2
lay.
to make
the
^X:“ 0 ^t them
gi-eat common cause W
bably have seen that th° U Pr °'
men are
said, “A. & M
glorious history "7 ^ Writin e
on every battle f Vont blood
today. °t the earth
“And so
men and to
that have joined^7 the facult y
this great’cooped! W ': h in
I bid you God sSriet u: ,:pri8e '
reverently in memory of
Z have E0ne before and let us
do honor by our deeds to those with
whom we serve. The A. & M. men
(See Walton, page 4)
to you young gentle-
those of the
with us in
Stress Importance Of
Conserving Resources;
Sessions Open to Public
Dr. Walter P. Taylor, head of the
department of Fish and Game, and
the appointed chairman of the Bio
logical Symposium, has announced
that two leading foresters in the
United States have accepted invi
tations extended by the Texas
Academy of Science to speak at the
proposed Symposium on “Conser
vation and Use of Natural Biologi
cal Resources in Time of War,”
which will be held Saturday morn
ing, November 14, in connection
with the annual meeting of the
Academy to be held at College Sta
tion.
W. E. White, director of the
Texas Forest Service, College Sta
tion, will discuss “The Forests”;
and Raymond Price, director of the
Troupe of 85 Will Begin
Six Weeks Shooting Monday
Actors to Be Housed in Dormitories With
Cadets; Whole Corps to Be Used in Picture
Universal City, Calif., Nov. 11.—The first contingent
of Producer Walter Wanger’s “We’ve Never Been Licked”
company will arrive at College Station, Friday night (Nov.
13) to prepare for the filming of Texas A. & M.’s contribu
tion to the war effort through its seven thousand officer
graduates now in the armed forces.
Due to the U. S. Army priorities over all rail and plane
transportation, Wanger is sending to Texas from Universal
his complete cast and first and second production units in
in three sections.
The first group, to arrive on the"
campus Friday night, will total
more than twenty in number, in
cluding Director John -Rawlins,
Richard Quine and Noah Beery,
Jr., who play the two male leads,
Publicity Director Byron Winstead
of Texas A. & M., Cameraman
Milton Krasner and Assistant Di
rectors Fred Frank and William
Holland.
Saturday night, forty-five more
Southwestern Forest and Range j members of the crew and cast will
Experiment Station, Tucson, Ari
zona, will consider “The Grazing
Ranges.”
Residents of Texas, whether
scientists or not, are particularly
interested in the proper conserva
tion and use of the great forests
in this state. These are now giv
ing materials for the construction
of numerous Army camps in Texas
and other states. The vital neces
sity of their proper conservation is
obvious to everybody, states Tay
lor. Similarly the grazing ranges
on which depend Texas’ livestock
industry, including cattle, sheep,
and goats, are of outstanding sig
nificance and importance in the
economic structure of the state of
Texas and in its proper support of
the war program. Both grazing
ranges and forests are of signifi
cance in connection with the con
servation of wildlife also. It is an
ticipated that all these phases will
be treated by the eminent foresters
who will be present at the meeting.
The public is invited to attend
all sessions of the Texas Academy
of Science which will be held No
vember 12, 13 and 14 at College
Station. Headquarteers will be in
the lobby of the YMCA building,
and information regarding times
and places of the numerous meet
ings which will be held on the days
in question will be available there.
Flight Engineer
Is Bomber’s Boss
The flight engineer on a heavy
bomber is an enlisted man, usually
a technical sergeant, who at cer
tain times can tell the officers on
the airplane what to do, Dr. Ever
ett W. Thatcher of Schenectady,
N. Y., declared in a General Elec
tric Science Forum address in col
laboration with the U. S. Army Air
Foi’ces.
“The flight engineer is the chap
who knows all about his ship and
is responsible for it,” Dr. Thatch
er said. “He is rightly regarded as
one of the key positions in the Air
Force.”
arrive at College Station, and,
Sunday night, the remaining forty
members of the troupe, including
Anne Gwynne, Martha O’Driscoll
and twenty-two supporting and bit
players, will check in on the cam
pus.
90 Percent of Filming on Campus
Actual shooting of the picture,
according to Wanger’s production
plans, will start Monday, Novem
ber 16, and will continue for six
weeks. Because of dim-out and set
construction restrictions on the
coast during the war’s duration,
Wanger expects to film no less
than eighty or ninety percent of
“We’ve Never Been Licked” on
Texas A. & M.’s campus. For in
teriors, in possible inclement
weather, the agricultural pavilidn
will be converted into a bugle
sound stage, large enough to con
tain three major interior sets.
As the film company is the lar
gest to move away from the coast
into the hinterland since the Unit
ed States was drawn into the glob
al war, Wanger has been confront
ed with complex problems of trans
portation and housing, all of which
have been since overcome through
the cooperation of Texas state and
civic officials and A. & M. execu
tives.
Housing Difficult
Those portraying A. & M. offb
cer cadets, including Quine, Beery,
Jr., and the remaining twenty-two
players from Hollywood, will be
billeted in the college dormitories
with the enrolled students. Others:
will be housed in College Station,
Bryan "hotels and nearby motor
courts.
Before the picture’s completion
at A. & M., Wanger will have em
ployed the entire student body of
7,000 enrollees of the college and
no less than 200 students of TSCW.
Also, Wanger will pay tribute
to all graduate officers now serv
ing their country, including the
many who have died since Decern
ber 7th, and the 17 generals from
the college who are now wearing
silver stars.
Manuscripts May Still
BeEntered inAcademy
“There are nearly two dozen men Of SciGHCG Contest
in a ground crew assigned to take
care of a heavy bomber like the .. ManU f ripts written in con i u ™
Flying Fortress or the Liberator,” ^ on wth the c °ntest presented by
Dr. Thatcher said. “There are four tb .® T ® XSS Academ y of Science may
engine mechanics, one to each en- S - ', be en ^ ered and accepted for
gine, plus about 16 apprentices. All 7 gm f Saturday if allowe
of them are under the flight engi- th ™£ h ^ of th e academy, to b
neer> ruled eligible entries. Entries are
1 . to be judged this week from th
Of course the same thing ap- collegiate division of the science
plies in a small way to the medium c i u b. The manuscripts are to be
bombers, but the heavy bombers presented by their respective au-
natura ly g ive the greatest scope thors before a critical audience who
to a fhght engineers duties.” will be the official judges.
f Hea Y. b °, mbers are 80 com P lex Prizes donated by General Mo-
that a fhght engineer aloft is an tors consist of two gold medals
f n ® cessit y>” h e continued, and cash amounting to S50.00
He is in charge ot the safe opera- These prizes will be presented to
ion o the ship in the air. If any- contestants in accordance to rank
ing goes wrong, it is the flight given the manuscripts by the
engineer who has to find out the judges.
cause, and fix it if he can during It will be necessary for the man-
fllgbt - ; uscripts to be completed or in
To be a flight engineer a man I stage of completion that will en-
has to be unusually intelligent. Dr. : able their finish by Saturday
Thatcher asserted. He is given an ; morning. Entries were originally
aptitude test to determine the ex- ' to have been turned in a week be
tent of his mechanical ability when j fore they were to be presented t
he joins the army as a recruit. 1 the academy.
Shipment of Seeds
To Russia Now May
Avoid Famine Later
Enemy Occupation, Scorched
Earth Policy Cause Soviets
Worry Over Food Problem
Declaring that the German occu
pation of most of the territory
which has produced vegetable seed,
and the scorched earth tactics of
the Russians themselves, have de
prived the Soviets of vegetable
seeds vitally needed for next year’s
crops, Francis C. Stokes, promi
nent American seedsman, today ap
pealed to every member of the seed
industry “immediately to set aside
part of their vegetable seed
stocks for shipment to Russia by
the first week in December.” .
Stokes issued this call to the in
dustry, shortly after accepting the
chairmanship of the Vegetable
Seed Campaign of Russian War
Relief, Inc., at the request of Ed
ward C. Carter, president of the
relief agency.
Serving on the committee are
five men who represent dome of
the most important seed, interests
in this country, and whose business
integrity has made them nationally
known.
Stokes, long an important to
mato seed grower, in calling upon
the seed industry to support the
campaign for vegetable seeds for
Russia said:
“Only by enabling the Russians
to produce thousands of tons of
their own food next spring, can we
be assured of their continued re
sistance to Fascist aggression.
“In my opinion, this is the great
est opportunity ever presented to
the seedsmen of America to come
quickly to the aid of a heroic ally.
The desperate urgency of the situ
ation cannot be overstated. Fur
thermore, it will be a demonstra
tion to the Russian people of our
complete oneness with them in this
struggle.
“All this will mean much for fu
ture friendship and normal rela
tions with Russia in the years to
come.”
As an assurance to seedsmen that
their contributions would not en
danger domestic seed needs, nor
disturb the Lend-Lease seed pro
gram, Stokes referred to a recent
statement by A. J. Biggio, presi
dent of the American Seed Trade
Association, to the effect that all
seed contributions made to relief
agencies were reported to the prop
er government authorities. He em
phasized that the special value of
private contributions lay in the fact
that each individual bag of seed
will be clearly marked with the
name and address of the donor and
will be a symbol of friendship be
tween the seedsmen of America
and the planters of Russia.
Chem SocVy Holds
Aimual Meeting 1
The twenty-fifth meeting of the
A. &M. Section of the American
Chemical Society will be held Jn
the Chemistry Lecture Room at
8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1942.
The usual informal dinner will be
held at the Aggieland Inn at 7:00
p.m.
W. L. Badger of the Dow Chem
ical Co., Ann Arbor, Michigan, will
speak on the subject “High Tem
perature Heat Transfer”. All in
terested are invited to attend. ,
Prof. John H. Yoe of the Uni
versity of Virginia will speak at
the December meeting on “Inor
ganic analysis with organic re
agents”.