OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY Of
COLLEGE STATION
DIAL 4-5444
Texas A&M
The B
College
alion
ROOM 5, ADMINISTRATION BLDG. — VOLUME 42 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 1943
ERC Activation Ordered Indefinitely Postponed
Aggie-Ex Commands
Company That Helps
Wipe Out Axis Outfit
Capt. Alfred H. McCutcheon,
Aggie-ex of 1938, commanded one
of the reconaissance companys in a
brazen charge upon a fortified
Italian pass on the Tunisian front
which netted eighty-four prisoners
and resulted in the capture of the
enemy’s guns and vehicles, accord
ing to an article appearing recent
ly in The Dallas Morning News.
An entire Black Shirt company was
dislodged from the pass in the ac
tion by but three American pla
toons.
The platoon commanded by Lt.
John Souther of Gainesville, Ga.,
first spotted the Italians, who were
guarding the pass twelve miles
west of Gafsa, and immediately
opened fire with a 75-millimeter
assault gun. When the other two
platoons had entered the fire, Sou
ther’s platoon charged in scout
(See AGGIE-EX, page 4)
Aggieland Plays
For Second Corps
Dance Saturday
Number One or Tuxedo
Is Regulation Uniform
For Dance Brauchle States
Large attendance is expected
Saturday night when Jack Mc
Gregor’s new Aggieland orchestra
returns to play for the second
Corps Dance of the social season
in Sbisa from 8:30 until 11:30.
Since word has been passed
around by those who attended the
first dance, two weeks ago, that
this new Aggieland is definately
in the groove, interest in the Corps
Dance has been growing and it is
expected that many couples will
be on hand ot dance to the music
of the Aggieland.
Number one uniform or a tux
will be reg for the underclassmen
while the seniors may wear either
number one or a civilian suit.
The usual script of $1.10 will be
charged for the dance.
“Kadet Kapers of 1943” Opens At
Assembly Hall This Saturday at 7 PM
Kadet Kapers of 1943 will be
presented for the first time this
week-end, when Richard Jenkins
opens the show Saturday night at
7 o’clock in the Assembly Hall.
Featured on the show will be a
quartet of girls from Houston, who
will sing and dance.
Other features of the program
will be the Aggies’ own “Men of
Note”—four Aggie voices blended
into a sweet and swing quartet.
Those in the quartet are Burl Er-
• - — 1 •• • i
US-Born Jap Gets
Army Commission
Abilene — Receiving his gold
bars along with 400-odd other new
second lieutenants this week was
Fred Ineo Kosaka, 26, an Ameri
can-born Japanese.
He was the first of his race to
be graduated from the Medical Ad
ministration Corps officer candi
date school at Camp Barkeley.
4
vin, Bob Shytles, Tony Sorensen,
and Jenkins.
A contest will be held to deter
mine what branch of the service,
Aggies, Navy, Marines, or Air
Corps, has the fastest “shifters”
—and prizes will be awarded the
winners.
“We are going to try to make
this year’s Kadet Kapers bigger
and better than ever,” said Jen
kins, “and we promise you that if
you come to this first one, you’ll
be at all of them.
“The main problem we have is
getting bashful, but talented, Ag
gies or servicemen on the campus
to volunteer their talent for the
show, and I wish anyone able to
‘perform’ in any way and who
would like to be in the show some
Saturday night would drop me a
card in care of the Student Activi
ties office, telling me where I could
get in touch with you.”
WAACs Arrival at Tessieland
Dotted With Usual Army Delays
From the TSCW Lass-O
We met a troop train.
At the unearthly hour of five,
four half-asleep Lass-0 reporters
trudged through mud puddles and
dark streets to the depot. Hour of
arival for the WAAC group was
given as 5:15 a. m.—we arrived at
5:14 and 59 seconds.
First wait: the auxiliaries were
still asleep on the train and didn't
even start showing their heads and
khaki uniforms until 6:10 a. m.
Of course, administrative officers
began appearing around 5:30 a. m.
until a majority of WAAC officers
and several army officers were
there. The first to arrive were near
ly as sleepy as the reporters, but
later arrivals seemed wider awake.
When they did start unloading,
auxiliaries piled out of the train
like beans out of a torn cellophane
bag. Each carried small personal
baggage which she stacked in a
pile to be carried to the barracks
later, while the baggage car was
Marine Commanding
General Compliments
Longhorn on ’43 Book
Brig. General Robert L. Denig,
commanding officer of the Marine
Corps, in a letter received by John
B. Longley, editor of the 1943
Longhorn, highly praised the ’43
edition of the Longhorn dedicated
to the heroes of the World War II
by describing it as a splendid pub
lication.
General Denig expressed his ap
preciation for the way the Marine
Corps’ part in the war was repre
sented by the pictorial features
concerning the work of Lt. Col.
James P. S. Devereaux and Major
Paul A. Brown.
unloaded. We were unable to ob
tain any direct quotas from train
ees. They were well-trained and
would not talk without permission
from their lieutenant.
Second wait: a ten minute break
was given each platoon. Then they
lined up in columns of two to
await marching orders. While they
waited they sang their marching
song as is the custom each time
they enter a new post. All this in
the bright light of one feeble plat
form bulb, the glare from the loco
motive fire-box, and the brake-
man’s lantern.
Company Commander Mildred
M. Barrett counted off detail, or
dered formation of columns of four,
and marched them off with all the
“Hup, hup” of military precision.
Third wait: just in time to back
light the first detail marching was
the headlight of a freight locomo
tive. Consisting of — (censored)
cars; it took—(ditto) minutes for
the freight to pass. Then the other
three platoons repeated the per
formance of the first detail and
marched off through the still black
streets to Capps Hall.
One of the WAAC officers took
pity on the hardened (but not to
this early rising) journalists and
gave us a lift back to the campus.
Fourth wait: over doughnuts and
coffee at Mac’s we waited till the
sound of marching women warned
us the first detail was approaching
Lowry for breakfast.
“Com-m-pany halt! Column of
two’s from the right, march!”
These orders were welcome words
to the auxiliaries for they were
marching orders to breakfast.
Getting the hint, we about faced
and headed for our own dorms and
breakfast. We had met a troop
train.
M/ss Lillian Hutchens, The Aggies' Choice
Lillian Hutchens
TSCW senior,
Chosen Aggie nominee
for the
University of Texas
Round-Up
by a group of
seniors who journeyed
to
Denton,
is pictured to the left.
Lillian
avows that horseback
riding comes first
in her preferred list
of sports,
with
tennis and swimming
coming in as
close runners up.
Miss Hutchens
was a duchess
to the
Cotton Ball
last year
and is among the
Redbud princesses
from whom a
Redbud queen
will be chosen
March 13.
Esquire’s Varga To Select Vanity Fair
Noted Portrayer of *
Feminine Curves Is
Judge of Texas Verve
A. Varga, who is rapidly gain
ing fame and popularity for his
paintings and photographic work
in Esquire^ has accepted the invi
tation to judge the entries sent in
for the Vanity Fair section of the
1944 Longhorn, Marvin McMillan,
Longhorn editor, announced today.
In a letter to McMillan, Varga
said that it would be a pleasure
to serve as judge since the “Texas
girls handsomely deserve their re
putation for verve and charm.”
Following is the letter received
by McMillan:
Dear Marvin McMillan:
It’ll be a pleasure to look over
the photographs of your beauties,
for Texas girls handsomely deserve
their reputation for verve and
charm.
Send the pictures along any
time you are ready, and tell me
what procedure you wish me to
follow.
Cordially yours,
A. Varga
Varga, whose annual Esquire
calendar is as apt to be' found in
the average college student’s room
as text books, served as a similar
judge for the 1941 Maryland Uni
versities annual, The Terrapin, and
is considered one of the outstand
ing critics of the fairer sex.
(Editor’s Note: What does
“verve” mean?)
The Singing Cadets will have
their pieture made at 5 this af
ternoon on the steps of Guion
Hall.
Mond^j Vanity Fair
Absolute Deadline;
Entry'Fee Set at $3
Vanity Fair pictures must be
turned in at the Student Activities
office before 5 p. m. Monday,
March 15, states Marvin McMillan.
This is necessary as these pictures
must be sent to Chicago to be
judged and sent back in time to
meet the publisher’s deadline. The
entry fee of $3 must be paid at
this time.
All military staff pictures must
be made before Saturday if they
are to appear in the Longhorn.
This includes all company, bat
talion, and regimental command
ers, their staffs, and all first ser
geants and seconds in command.
McMillan also urges that anyone
having snapshots for the Aggieland
(See DEADLINE, page 4)
Call Not Expected More
April 5; No Reason Given
Colonel Welty Advises Corps To “Get
Down To Work and Quit This Speculating’’
Indefinite postponement of the Army Specialized Train
ing program and the activation of contract juniors and sen
iors in the ERC was announced late yesterday afternoon by
Colonel M. D. Welty, commandant, after being notified of
the action by the War Department. E. L. Angell, executive
Marion Coulter
Elected President
Sophomore Class
Other Officers Newton,
McWilliams, McKenzie
Hayes, Sutherland, Dickie
Marion Coulter, E-Engineers,
and from San Antonio, was elected
president of the sophomore class
last night in Assembly hall. Car
ter Newton, G-CAC, from Rock
dale, was elected vice-president.
C. E. McWilliams, C-CAC and
last year’s president of the Fresh
man class, was elected class sec
retary. Porky McKenzie, A-CAC
was elected treasurer; and Kent
Hayes, HQ-Sig, became class his
torian. Tom Sutherland and El-
leck Dickie were elected class rep
resentatives.
Customary to Freshman and
Sophomore elections, there was a
considerable amount of “railroad
ing”, or “hat-cord” electing. Moon
Mullins, Jack Keith, and Gus
Boesch presided over the meeting
and urged eelctions to be conducted
on merit basis, not on military or
ganization.
Nominated for presidency were
Marion Colton, Albert Orsinger,
Bill Jarnagin, Tom Sutherland, B.
J. Terrell, and Ned Hearn.
Bill Cowser ran McWilliams a
close race for Secretary, and Kent
Hayes almost tied Porky McKenzie
for Treasurer.
Benny’s Fiddle
Sells for Million
New York.—Julius Klorfein, a
cigar manufacturer, was the owner
of Comedian Jack Benny’s famed
“Love in Bloom” violin after pledg
ing to buy $1,000,000 worth of
war bonds.
Klorfein was the highest bidder
for the violin at a war bond rally
in Gimbel * Brothers department
store.
the activation is probably postponed
until after April 5, and that for
military reasons, no explanation of
the delay can be made at this time.
According to Col. Welty, “insti
gation of the ASTP and the ac
tivation of juniors and seniors has
been indefinitely postponed. No
reason was given for the postpon-
ment, and my advice ot the corps
is that they get down to work and
quit speculating.”
No further definite information
could be obtained from the Eighth
Service Command, so the Cadet
Corps is again advised by all Col
lege officials to quit worrying
about the call, and settle down to
work.
Until indefinitely postponed, in
duction of the ERC contract men
would have taken place when the
ASTP was inaugurated on the
campus. This was expected to have
taken place early this week, then
late this week or early next
week, and is now indefinitely post
poned.
When called, juniors and seniors
were to be sent to reception cen
ters for “processing,” after which
they would return to A. & M. for
the remainder of the semester. At
the end of the semester, seniors
would be sent to their respective
branch Officer Candidates schools,
while juniors would have been sent
to basic training centers then to
OCS.
Better Way to Bet,
But You’re Longer
Finding a Winner
The gatekeeper at a famous race
track took $1,200—his life savings
—out of the bank to help his
nephew through an eastern college.
When asked how he could afford
that gesture, he smiled sheepishly.
“Day in and day out,” he explained,
“I watch thousands of men bet on
horses and lose their shirts. The
way I figure it, a fellow might
stand a chance to make a killing
if he bets on a human being.”
Next Week's Town Hall Artist...
Pianist Jose Iturbi Is Unable to Learn Enough Music
By Jack Metcalf
Jose Iturbi, the great pianist
who appears here on Town Hall
Wednesday, March 17, at 8 p. m.
in Guion Hall, is never satisfied.
It is not enough for this tempera
mental Spaniard that he is a pian
ist, harpsichordist, conductor. There
is always more in music that he
wants to know. One season, for in
stance, he took his first lessons on
the French horn from a member
of the New York Philharmonic-
Symphony Orchestra. He likes to
expatiate on the need for knowing
the “pratique.” Theory is fine, he
knows the theory, but, he says,
“If I don’t know how to do it my
self, how can I be the boss? How
can I conduct?”
Born in Valencia in 1895, Iturbi
was one of four children. The Itur
bi family, some three generations
back, had come from the Basque
country and the name in Basque
means “two fountains.” Iturbi there
worked for a local gas company
and tuned pianos on the side. He
used to take little Jose when the
latter was only four, on his tuning
jobs. Iturbi has respected the art
of the tuner ever since and every
tuner respects him. He knows the
piano inside out, the tuners say.
In fact, he is so technical about
his pianos that the Baldwin Piano
Company sends his own special tun
er on tour with him.
At seven Jose not only supported
himself but was resolved to help
his struggling family. His first
steady job was in Valencia’s first
motion picture house. He played
incessantly from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.
There was^jio time off for meals
and Jose’s father fed the boy as he
played. The pay was 1^4 pesetas a
day. Often, too, he played at neigh
borhood balls after the “lumiere”
from 2 to 6 a.m. Then he got 5
pesetas a party. Mornings the
sleepy but determined youngster
would give lessons at the local
Singakademie, practicing the piano
and accompanying and coaching the
singers on the side.
Iturbi has not forgotten his
youthful struggles to get a musi
cal education. He recalls that when
he was nine he was able to study
for only three months in Barcelona
with Joaquin Malats, a friend of
Albeniz ahd Granados (for whom
“Iberia” was written) because he
had to return to Valencia to take
a job at the Cafe de la Paz as well
as begin giving lessons. Equally
vivid are his memories of the
friendly journalist who dunned Va
lencia until 1,400 pesetas were vot
ed for his trip to Paris; the first
two nights and days in Paris with
only twenty cents, the money hav
ing been given to his family; the
LONGHORN NOTICES
Senior Favorites
Cost: $1.50, 5x7 glossy print (close up). Deadline:
March 15.
Vanity Fair
Cost: $3.00. 5x7 glossy print (close up). 8x10 glos
sy print (full length with evening dress.) Deadline:
March 15.
Military Staff Pictures—Deadline, March 13.
Club Pictures—Deadline, March 20.
Organization Snapshots—Deadline, March 20.
Notes
Aggieland can make no 5x7 copies of portraits due
to film shortage.
attempt to sleep on park benches,! youngster of talent.
the gendarmes who made him move
on; the eating of five croissants
when he could pay for only one;
finally, the tearful pleading for a
chance to play before the Conserva
tory jury after the official letter
Town Haller
had gone astray; the creation ef a
special scholarship for him. Re
membering these things, Iturbi is
willing to extend a hand to any
Playing in cafes at night, study
ing at the Conservatory during the
day! A hard life but, in the end,
Jose Iturbi was graduated with
first honors. The struggle, how
ever, was not yet over. There were
lean years before his luck turned.
It happened in Zurich where at the
Hotel Baur-au-Lac he was engaged
to play in the cafe. The telephone
rang. It was the president of the
Conservatory of Geneva who of
fered him a position as head of
the piano faculty, a post Liszt once
had held. He stayed there for foai?
years and then embarked on his
own career. He was a success from
the start and has been one ever
since.
Iturbi loves America and spends
most of his time here now. He has
always had a passion for anything
mechanical. Formerly it was auto
mobiles and he often drove from
concert date to concert date, some
times beating train time. Now he
prefers to travel in his own plane.
An expert driver, a private pflet,
an instinctive mechanic, an ama
teur boxer, he has little of the
average pianist's sole preoccupa
tion with the piano. But he takes
his music very seriously, so seri
ously that he doesn’t like te talk
too much about it.
Despite this name and fame, he
(See PIANIST, page 4)