The Battalion
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
DIAL 4-5444
ROOM 5 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. - VOLUME 42
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, DEC. 12, 1942
2275
NUMBER 78
Kyle Field Scene to be Filmed Today, Sunday
18-Year Olds Must Register Today
H
First Vacant
PeriodCadets
Must Sign Up
Booths Open From
9 Until 6 in Rotunda
Of Academic Bldg
All men who became eigh
teen in July and August of
this year must register with
the Selective Service System
during the week commencing
Friday, December 11, and
ending Thursday, December
17, 1942.
Registration of all cadets
will take place in the rotun
da of the Academic building
from 9 until 6. Students may
have their registration cards
sent to their local home hoards
if they desire.
This will complete the registra
tion of the first of the several
groups of eighteen-year-olds who
will be registered throughout the
month of December. Those who
reached eighteen during Septem
ber and October must register dur
ing the week of December 18 to 24,
both inclusive; and those becoming
eighteen during November and
December must register during the
period commencing December 26
an ending December 31, both in
clusive.
Men who become eighteen on
or after January 1, 1943, must
register with their local boards on
the day they attain that age.
All registrants are urged to
make every effort to register with
their own local boards, although
any registrant who is unavoid
ably away from his home during
the period designated for his reg
istration may register at the local
board office most convenient. Any
persons who must register away
from home is warned to be careful
to specify his home address on
Line 2 of his registration card so
that his card may be forwarded
to his own local board.
A registrant who has more than
one place of residence may choose
which one he wants recorded as
his place of residence, but in mak
ing the choice he designates the
local board which will always
have jurisdiction over him.
Registrants are also warned to
give their correct addresses, where
different from the home address,
so that official communications
will reach them without delay.
If any person is in doubt as
(See REGISTRATION, Page 4)
Famed Singing Cadets of Aggieland on Tour of Houston and Vicinity
Entire Corps To Be Used;
GovernorComingTomorrow
Fried Chicken for Lunch Today; Barbecue
On Menu for Sunday; Finish in Sight Now
All day today and tomorrow the corps, faculty, and res
idents of College Station will sit in Kyle Field while the cere
mony of the dead hero being posthumously awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor is being filmed. Sunday Gov
ernor Coke R. Stevenson will be on hand to appear in the
scene. i
If the weather permits the satisfactory shooting of this
scene, either Saturday or Sunday, the majority of the movie
outfit will leave College Station for California Tuesday. This
will wind things iip as far as the- 1
Houstonians Presses Visit
mii * • Cam P Hood Tank
ToHear Aggie Destroyers Thurs
Songsters
Singing Cadets To
Appear Before Army
Men; Return Monday
The Singing Cadets and Director
Richard Jenkins left early yester
day morning for Camp Wallace
and the Houston area on a singing
tour of that section;
Included in the weekend schedule
was a program last night at Camp
Wallace where the Singing Cadets
sang before several thousand en
listed men and officers of the coast
artillery there at Hitchcock, Texas.
Sunday night at the evening
service in the First Methodist
Church, where Dr. Paul W. Quil-
lian, recent speaker on the A. & M.
campus during Religious Emphasis
Week, is pastor, the Singing Ca
dets will give a program before a
large congregation of Houstonians.
Monday noon the Aggies will be
the guests of the Salesmanship
Club of Houston, and will sing at
the Salesmanship Club luncheon
scheduled for that day.
At a concert given by the Hous
ton Symphony Orchestra Monday
night at the Coliseum, the Singing
(See SINGING CADETS, Page 4)
Make Two Appearances
Before Men; Tanks in Action
For Wanger Starlets
Misses Anne Gwynne and Martha
O’Driscoll were the guests Thurs
day of General A. D. Bruce, ex-
Aggie commander of America’s
only tank destroyer school, at Camp
Hood, near Killeen, Texas.
While at the camp, they were
shown every phase of the school’s
training program and saw tanks,
tank destroyers, machine guns, and
every other type of equipment dem
onstrated.
They made two appearances on
the stage for the enlisted men and
made an informal appearance at
the Officer’s Club.
Take Heed Girls!
You Can’t Wear
His Wings Anymore
Frank Wood, ’41, Gets
Air Corps Silver Bar
Silver bars were the “order of
the day” for a number of flight
instructors at Brooks Field recent
ly. Selected for promotion because
of their skill and ability to pass on
to students their knowledge of
scientific flying were some thirty-
odd pilots, many of whom won
their own wings at Brooks.
Included in this group of officers
receiving their First Lieutenant’s
bars was Lt. Frank M. Wood, Jr.,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank M.
Wood of 1211 South David Street,
San Angelo.
Famed "Birth of Nation" Film
To Be Shown at Library Tonight
The Birth of a Nation, the movie
which changed the whole course
of the entertainment world and
which, in fact, ushered in the mo
tion picture as we know it today,
will enjoy a revival at the Library
tonight at 7:15. Those who come
too late to get seats at the first
show will find plenty of room at
the second show at 8:45. The re
vival of The Birth of a Nation
has been continuous since the pic
ture’s first showing at the Astor
Theatre on March 6, 1915. At its
first night people not only sat
but stood in the isles. Seats sold
for two dollars, and the house was
sold out for two hundred and
eighty performances. The very fact
that the tickets sold for two dol
lars was a revolution, since movie
goers had been used, up to that
time, to ten and fifteen cent
movies, one or two reel thrillers
shown at the nickelodeons spot
ting the country. The Birth of a
Nation ran for twelve reels. It was
an epic in the manner of Gone TV ith
the Wind, and today many first-
rate critics, allowing for the un
developed methods of that time,
declared it to be superior to G.
W. T. W.
The man who conceived this
movie, who directed it, and who, in
a sense, wrote its scenario, was
David Wark Griffith. He was a
young, would-be writer, a director
of hundreds of the one and two
reel thrillers. Always in the back
of his mind was the idea of mak
ing such a movie as The Birth of
a Nation, so when in 1914 his at-
Corpus Mothers Club
To Give Dance 22nd
The Corpus Christi A. & M.
Mothers’ Club will honor all Ag
gies from that vicinity with a din
ner-dance at the Corpus Christi
^ MCA Tuesday night, December
22, at 8 p. m.
As the dance is to be formal, ca
dets are to wear uniforms, tuxedos,
or civilian business suits. All boys
planning on attending the dance
are asked by the club to let the in
vitation committee know as soon
as possible, said Mrs.' John B.
Hardwicke of the club.
tention was called to the novel by
Thomas Dixon called “The Clans
man,” he decided to risk every
thing for his idea and make a
movie based on the book. His faith
was well founded, for The Birth of
a Nation has made over sixteen
million dollars; it has earned larg
er profits than any movie before
or since.
The movie was made under the
most adverse financial circum
stances. When Griffith was not
directing he was passing the hat.
Lillian Gish, the leading lady, and
her sister, Dorothy, offered Grif
fith their total bank account of
three hundred dollars, but he re
fused it, knowing that it was all
they had. There were no set de
signers. When Griffith wanted a
Southern mansion or a villiage
street, his tobacco-chewing stage
carpenter did the job. There were
no wardrobe mistresses or hair
dressers or maids. Lillian Gish’s
mother made many of her cos
tumes, and she came every day
laden with parcels and bags. There
were no electricians, no script girl,
(See FILMS, Page 4)
Well, girls, it was fun while it
lasted.
If you are one of the “girls
back home” for some aviation
cadet or lieutenant and are wear
ing his wings as a symbol of
something or the other, then don’t.
According to LL Col. Leo Schle-
gel, air force officer at the North
American Aviation plant at Fair
fax Field anyone wearing official
Army or Navy insignia as costume
jewelry is liable to a $250 fine,
a six-month jail sentence, or both.
Costume jewelry is not barred,
according to military authorities,
but genuine insignia is definitely
out. Too bad, girls, it had to be
you.
Saunders Offers
Better Yearbook
If Elected Editor
Longhorn Candidates Sees
Book As Memorable Record
Of Senior Year Here
Harry Saunders, candidate for
the editorship of the 1944 Long
horn seeks his office in the stu
dent election Tuesday on the Jun
ior ballot. His statement in behalf
of his candidacy is as follows:
“I can’t offer Dorsey, Gypsy
Rose Lee, or Harry James as some
of the other candidates are so
confidently doing but I can say
that there will be a Longhorn for
the Class of 44, and believe it or
not, on time. With the 1943 Long
horn practically gone to press I
fully realize the responsibility that
the editor of the Longhorn carries
and can assure you that the year
book of the Class of ’44 won’t be
a humor magazine or resemble a
Sears and Roebuck catalogue, or
will you want to use it for the
same purpose.
“Personally, I want my own
Longhorn to be a memorable rec
ord of my four years at Aggieland
—four years I’ll never forget. I
think you look at it about the
same way. I want my Longhorn to
be a book I can laugh at when I
feel like laughing, yet one that
will make me want to cry when
I feel like crying. It should be more
than just so many pages of pic
tures between two pieces of card
board, and if I am elected I cer
tainly will do everything possible
to make the 1944 Longhorn a book
you and I can be proud of—one
the class as a whole can be proud
of, and a goal for future Longhorn
editors to aim at.”
Ex-English Prof
Wins Praise for
Saving US Money
Lt Ernest Spahr Army’s
Super-Reclamation Expert
At Camp Campbell, Ky
Saving the government several
thousand dollars a month is a job
to be proud of, but it’s all in the
day’s work to Lt. Ernest K. Spahr,
head of reclamation work at Camp
Campbell, Ky.
In the three-month period start
ing September 8, 1942, when the
camp reclamation shop was opened,
it has saved over $3,000 for the
Army Quartermaster Corps by re
pairing and tailoring footwear,
clothing, tent materials, and the
thousand and one items that go
into equiping and sheltering Army
men. Each month that sum is grow
ing, as more and more material
comes in for reclamation.
Buttons are sewed on, seams re
stitched, and holes patched expert
ly by civilian workers. Over 12,500
items of clothing were repaired in
this way during the first two
months of operation—the clothing
section didn’t get under way until
the first of October.
Enlisted men don’t pay a cent
for these services. The government
allows the department a given
amount on each item equal to one-
half the cost of replacing it. To
have replaced the material re
claimed in these three months the
(See LT. SPAHR, Page 4)
San Antonio Mothers
Add to Library Fund
“The San Antonio Mothers’ Club
has given a generous donation to
the Student General Reading Fund,
and we would like to thank them
for it,” said T. F. Mayo, librarian.
college is concerned'.
Also to be shot Saturday is the
famous “T”, the Aggie band, and
what might be a football game.
At noon, a lunch of fried chick
en with all of the trimmings will
be served, and tomorrow a bar
becue lunch will be on hand.
G. Byron Winstead, director of
publicity, urged that everyone that
possibly can be on hand to assist
the directors and cameramen in
finishing up their work here.
“We want the extension service
people, the faculty, Bryan people
—in fact, anyone and everyone
that can possibly attend, to be
there this morning,” said Win
stead. /
When informed that the stu
dents, the faculty and people of
the community would be asked to
give up their normal relaxation on
Sunday and participate in the
movie activities at Kyle Field,
President Walton said that he
knew that everybody would give
their fullest cooperation in the
effort to get the movie taking
completed so that we might have
next week for real college work
without interruptions.
He said that the College author
ities felt honored that the com
pany should select A.&M. and the
Aggies for the picture that would
show to the world the typical
young American and his environ
ment, but that he had not antic
ipated so much loss of time. The
only recompense that the College
and the students will receive from
the time that the picture making
has required will be the publicity
that the College will receive. We
believe that the picture will bring
Aggieland before the world in a
favorable light and that both the
College and the students will re
ceive increased recognition as the
result.
President Walton took occasion
to squelch rumors that have been
prevalent on the campus. He stat
ed that neither the College or any
body connected with it received
any pay from the movie company
and that the faculty had no in
tention of reducing the Christmas
holidays below the week stated
in the catalogue because of the
time that had been missed from
classes.
Louis Buck
FilesForYell
Leader Post
Arnold Disqualified;
Bob Latimer Files
For Engineer Editor
Only two additional names were
filed for the post of junior yell
leader after the student election
committee had extended the dead
line until yesterday afternoon at
4 o’clock.
Louis Buck and J. Barto Arnold
brought petitions and filed, but
Arnold was disqualified for not
having been on the campus for the
required number of consecutive se
mesters.
The addition of Buck to the list
of candidates for the yell leader
job brings the total to five, Dan
Kuykendall, Joe Pettit, Gorden
Brin, and Johnny Zummo having
filed previously.
They will be weeded out and the
two winners will be elected along
with the Longhorn Editor, Social
Secretary of the Senior Class, Town
Hall manager, Junior representa
tive on the student activities com
mittee, at the general election
Tuesday.
John Holman has already been
awarded the editorship of the Bat
talion by the withdrawal of his two
opponents, Doug Lancaster and
Nelson Karbach.
Bob Latimer filed for the editor
ship of the Engineer’s magazine.
No one has as yet filed for the
Agriculturist’s and applications will
be accepted until Tuesday.
Claude Nathan Wins
Naval Air Commission
Claude C. Nathan, Jr., son of
Mrs. Nina Belle Campbell, Paris,
Texas, has hurdled the last obstacle
between him and a chance to join
the fleet for duty against the ene
mies of the United States.
Speaking of Rumor, Somebody
Got This One Printed Last Year
Editor’s Note: The following
story, or “fable” appeared in
the May, 1941, issue of Flying
and Popular Aviation under the
Gulf Oil Company’s Birdmen’s
Perch with the title “This
Month’s Whopper.” It was writ
ten by a member of the Bat
talion staff, and was addressed
to Major A1 Williams, famed
aviator.
Dear Major:
I am, along with 6344 more boys,
very grateful to the makers of
that good Gulf aviation gasoline,
for the splendid way in which they
have pushed height education
ahead here at Texas A.&M. Yes,
it has really rushed things up for
us, or at least it did a couple
of days. It isn’t too long a story,
so here goes.
About the 20th of December,
last year, the manager of the col
lege airport had his underground
tanks filled with G. A. G. By the
3rd of January, the tanks were
empty and the dealer was called
out to refill them. Unfortunately
(or should I say fortunately) the
dealer was out of town and sent
his helper, a little Negro boy. The
boy had put only two or three gal
lons into the tanks when he de
cided to light his “rolled-the-
minute-before” cigarette, which he
promptly did. Well, it’s the same
old story of the lighted match.
It landed right in the middle of
the gasoline! The tank, boy, and
three gallons went sky high!
The surprised, but unhurt boy
landed close to Dallas in a farm
er’s silo; the tank was found near
Tom Marshall, ’41, Is
Air Corps Captain
Less than a year ago Tom Mar
shall, class of ’41, was a second
lieutenant in the Army of the
United States. Now, at the age of
23, he’s a captain and shooting up.
Captain Marshall, until recently
supply officer at Perrin Field’s
sub-depot, is leaving on the 14th of
this month to start flight training.
He’s already served as an officer
in the cavalry, the armored forces
and the air forces.
San Antonio; but the gaso]
a cloud above the campus!
The next day the weathe
ed off bad and the ceiling
absolutely zero. The cloud o
line settled upon the camp
bees upon the comb. Nighl
Everyone opened their wine
let in the wonderful, fresl
ai r. By the next morning,
thing and everyone was th<
ly saturated with a dilute s
of powerful 85 octane aviati
©line.
Believe it or not, what lit
w e had breathed was so p>
that it gave us the enerj
push to finish a whole i
school work, take final exai
register for the next sen
all in the space of 48 hou
Thank goodness, you didn
your gas a mite stronger,
an hour later the effect ha
off! Naturally, we had t
of the semester off, thanks
brand of juiceoline.
That’s why 6344 Texas
appreciate your famous i
And by the way, that Neg
is now shining shoes for a