Page 2-
-TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 30, 1943
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Texas A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station,
is published three times weekly, and issued Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday mornings.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870
Subscription rates $3 per school year. Advertising rates
upon request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service,
Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and
San Francisco.
Office, Room 6, Administration Building. Telephone 4-6444.
1942 Member 1943
Associated Co!!^6iate Press
T-Tnim « n Editor-in-Chief
Jack Keith ::ZZ.rZZ:Z..... "-.-•Associate Editor
Dan ell E. Griffin Staff Photographer
Sports Staff
Hank Avery Sports Editor
Bill Jarnagin l Junior Editor
John Stout Senior Sports Assistant
Thomas Boog Sports Assistant
Horace Bays Sports Writer
Ruben R. Caro Costas Sports Writer
Circulation Staff
Joe Stalcup ....._ Circulation Manager
Kenneth Varvel Senior Assistant
Bill Trodlier — Junior Assistant
Jimmy Marks, T. L. Johnson .Assistants
Advertising Staff
Haskell Lindley Advertising Manager
Ed Schlenker Assistant Advertising Manager
Buck Martib Thursday Asst. Advertising Manager
Tuesday’s Staff
Harry Magrane. Feature Writer
Nelson Karbach. Managing Editor
Eugene Robards Reporter
A Letter...
March 27, 1943
Editor,
The Battalion.
Dear Sir:
I am giving you below the excerpt from
a letter I have received from the mother
of one of our graduates, which she has lifted
from a letter her son wrote to her. I thought
you might want to publish this excerpt:
“Have passed through another week
end, and to my surprise, am none the
worse for it. Well, not much, anyway.
This week was mathematics and, evi
dently, I did o.k. Those that didn’t left
this afternoon. College graduates who
majored in mathematics were among
those failing the course. And to think
I was worried because, in A.&M. stand
ards, I was relatively weak in math.
Thirty out of the 180 candidates of my
battery were sent out. At that rate we
won’t last long. I understand that this
battery was exceptionally high in the
class. The other batteries lost more than
we did. Maybe it was because of the
large number of ROTC students we
have. Not all from A.&M. Some from
Georgia Tech and Univ. of San Francis
co. We of A.&M. are getting much bet
ter reports on Military than are the
graduates of other ROTC colleges. Dr.
Walton would love that if he knew. So
should all Texans.”
Sincerely yours,
T. 0. WALTON,
President.
ACP
In 1950 the liberal arts college must
have maintained the right to keep the word
‘liberal’ in its designation. This means the
right to toss away what may have become
useless and to add meanwhile whatever else
has become ‘liberalizing’ in the education
of the youth for a democracy after the end
of the war.”—W. Prewitt Eding, national
president of the William Jewell Alumni asso
ciation, takes a peek into education’s future.
* * *
“The colleges must and will do their part
to win the war, but they also have a part
in the larger strategy of war and peace
which they alone can play. They must con
serve knowledge, teach the truth in more
than contemporary perspective, promote the
development of the individuals who com
prise society and will shape its decisions.”
—^President Paul Havens of Wilson College
calls upon American colleges and universities
to maintain their faith in liberal education.
Something to Read
By Dr. T F. Mayo
This column today is given over to the treat
ment of light reading in a light manner,
light reading being almost anything which
is not concerned with either fighting the
war or winning the peace.
Mr. James Thurber, mocker of woman
kind, lover of dogs, is now in his forties.
For two years he has been almost totally
blind and his eyes are the subject of re
peated painful operations. In that his special
brand of biting humor has continued to em
bellish the New Yorker magazine in the form
of short stories and Thurber drawings. Re
cently collected is a group of Thurber pieces
(pieces for want of something better to call
them) entitled My World—and Welcome To
It. The collection is as varied as Mr. Thur-
ber’s world or anyone’s world. It begins with
“What Do They Mean It Was Brillig,” a
story about Mr. Thurber’s colored maid, Del
la, who finds reeves in the yard and makes
cretonnes for Mr. Thurber’s soup. Mr. Thur
ber in turn spends many wild hours decipher
ing Della’s aboriginal language.
There is an enthralling study of Willie
Stevens, so-called moronic suspect in the
famous Hall-Mills murder trial of 1936. Wil
lie outsmarted the lawyers, the jury, and
the public.
There is a lovingly devoted history of a
black French poodle Mr. Thurber once owned.
There are sketches about men and
sketches about women and about how they
try to live together.
Mr. Thurber. in the tradition of many
intelligent humorists, has a mind haunted
by dark shadows. Those shadows lurk in
his funniest stories; often they take over
completely and plunge the reader into the
world of extreme neuroses, as in the story
of the suicide who lies awake in a country
house listening to a whi-poor-will. But, then,
the Thurber drawings, of which there are
many in My World—And Welcome To It,
amuse at first glance and on a second drive
home quite a wallop for those who care to
stay and take it. Mr. Thurber, at no point,
hints that his world is simple or kind. In
his own words, “I suppose I should have been
more saintly—but then, I don’t saint very
easily.”
Small Town South is written by Sam
Byrd, the talented young actor of Tobacco
Road and Of Mice and Men. Sam Byrd went
home in the spring to discover that a small
town south is well furnished with which the
characters of Mr. Erskine Caldwell has cele
brated, only more so; “Old Man Cowan,”
says one of Sam’s friends, “makes Jeeter
look like a dancing master.” Sam not only
found the Lesters and child brides, crooks,
big and little, and all the misfits of small
town life, but he found, too, the kindliness
of the town, the memories of a happy child
hood kept alive in places and friends, and
that comfortable talent of people in small
towns south: loafing and studying the mind.
My Rambles is another link in the his
tory of our Texas ancestors who used the
convenient phrase, “Gone to Texas,” as a
sufficient explanation to the curious. Solo
mon Alexander Wright tells of a good, early
Texas life spent in the Big Thicket hunting
for big game, fishing, riding, and swapping
yarns around the camp fire.
An excellent collection of short stories
from Latin America has been added to the
Browsing Room fiction shelf. It takes its
title from the longest story, Fiesta in No
vember. The stories are all good; their wide
variety gives us an insight into Latin Amer
ica which we have not had in more stereo
typed literature from there.
Emerson P. Schmidt, associate professor
of economics at the University of Minne
sota, has left for Washington to serve as an
economist for the National Association of
Manufacturers.
The Associated Women students of Wash
ington State college are recommending that
each co-ed add three hours of voluntary
gymnasium work a week to her regular pro
gram.
In all, about 100 scholarships are avail
able for freshmen who will enter N. J. C.
next fall.
Drama in Bonds
College playwrights now can give their tal
ents a workout on the subject of the human
drama behind a war bond purchase.
, The Treasury is running a playwriting
contest on that theme—open to any student
of any college or university. Scripts will be
judged by drama department heads, with
the winning entry of each school going to
to Washington for a national runoff.
Comes-the-Peace-Note
The job of putting a war-groggy world back
op its feet already is getting serious atten
tion from U. S. Colleges. As last time, the
task will argely be in civilian hands and qual
ified personnel will have a rare opportunity
for valuable service.
A recent survey showed at least 17
schools are offering training for civilians
expecting to do post-war relief and rehabil
itation work abroad. They include Harvard,
Yale, Princeton, Minnesota, Smith, Oberlin,
Columbia, Michigan, NYU, Haverford, Ken
yon, Barnard, Temple, LOT, Iowa, Yassar
and Antioch.
English I, Prof. H. L. Ickes
Secretary of Interior Ickes is not one to swal
low his irritations in private. If something
annoys him, he lets people know about it. A
year ago, for example, he issued a memo
lecturing Interior employees on the use of the
comma. A few months ago, he threatened to
fire stenographers who wasted paper.
Now he’s cracked down on a favorite
Washington word—directive. He recently
saw a document using the offensive word
five times, he said. He wanted no more of
it. What he didn’t say, however, was that
the noisome document announced sweeping
powers over the fish production phase of the
food program had been turned over to Har
old L. Ickes.
In Dutch high schools and universities, the
“resurrection” is featured by an impending
purge of students who persist in thinking
they can “undisturbedly choose sides against
National Socialism, against the occupying
power.” The wholesale purge, according to
Anton Mussert, Nazi puppet leader of the
Netherlands, will strike at student “agi
tators, saboteurs and henchmen of the gen
tlemen of London and Washington.”
-THE BATTALION-
PRIVATE BUCK By Clyde Lewis
^Covj&ovjn on
Campus ‘Distractions
JBy ^Uom Qcnx%ne.a.y
“I tell you I’m NOT singing, Colonel Those are cricker
you hear!”
* BACKWASH ★
“CAN By” 'MAC BAN E
“Backwash: An agitation resulting from soma action or occurrence” — Webstar
One Year Ago Today .
The first contingent of 200 naval
enlisted men arrived here this
morning from Houston and Dallas
at 9:53 and 12:10 o'clock, to re
ceive the four months course in
elementary radio work. A corps
review will be held at 2 o’clock in
honor of the navy men and as a
practice review for Parent’s day
on April 5.
Showing real
I slugging power
I for the first time
I this season, the
.Texas Aggies
-olasted out 18 hits
to defeat the
»Southern Meth-
I odist Mustangs
19-5 yesterday
I afternoon in Dal
las.
Guion Hall had
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
in “Strike Up the Band” with the
Campus theatre presenting “No
Hands On the Clock” with Chester
Morris and Jean Parker.
The “eagle” paid off to those
juniors and seniors with contracts
to the tune of $22.50 and all con
cerned were very, very happy.
Magrane
Sweepings ...
Back in those good old pre-war
days at Aggieland the story was
told of the group of “wet-heads”
who, upon growing tired of Ho-
tard’s daily fare, sent a fish out
for something fresh. When the
freshman returned he had ten
quarts of whiskey and a loaf of
bread. In unison the sophomores
howled indignantly:
“What in hell are we going to
do with all that bread?”
***
Aggie: “Of course, I'll be liberal
with my money after we’re mar
ried, darling. I’ll spend it on you
as fast as I can make it. Now,
what else do you want to know?”
Modern Gal: “How fast do you
make it?”
***
In China, the people have the
right ideas. They sit on the floor
at the beginning of the party, in
stead of at the end.
**•
The end of a beautiful friend
ship comes when a neighbor at
tempts to repay the borrowing ef
a 24-point can of fruit with a six-
point can of soup.
***
Father loves mother
Mother loves other men
Mother lies in the grave
Father in the pen.
**»
The officers were having diffi
culty in getting correct salutes
from the men. Lecture followed
lecture, but apparently to no avail.
A negro private met a captain one
morning and greeted him with
“Howdy, Boss.”
Followed a long tirade from the
captain on the proper way to sa
lute.
The buck private listened in si
lence, scratched his head and final
ly said, “Lawsy, boss, if Ah’d
thought you was goin’ to get so
mad about it, Ah wouldn’t of spoke
to you a-talL”
Soon after the freshman had
been enrolled at A. & M. he sent
this letter home:
“Dear Dad: Gue$$ what I need
mo$t of all? That i$ correct. Plea$e
$end it $oon. Be$t wi$he$. Your
$on, John.”
“Dear John: “Nothing ever hap
pens here and there is practically
NO business. I have a NOtion that
the bank will call my NOte. Write
me aNOther letter soon, but NOw
I have to say goodbye. Best wishes
from your dad.”
***
A young mother came to the
door of the nursery and saw her
husband standing over the baby’s
crib. Silently she watched him as
he stood looking down at the sleep
ing infant. In his face she read
rapture, doubt, admiration, ecsta
sy, incredulity, wonder. Deeply
touched and with her eyes glisten
ing, she tiptoed, slipped her arms
around him.
“A penny for your thoughts,” she
said tenderly.
Startled into consciousness he
blurted: “For the life of me I
don’t see how anybody can make
a crib like that for $3.49.
***
When you think the world’s against
you
And you’re feeling sad and blue,
Feel not sorry for yourself, friend;
Pity those who live with you.
By Nelson Karbach
Today through Saturday at Guion
Hall is “Journey for Margaret”
with Robert Young, Laraine Day
and Margaret O’Brien. Put this
picture on your must list.
The story concerns a war cor
respondent, Robert Young, and his
wife, Laraine Day who are cover
ing the blitz in London. Miss Day
is expecting an addition to the
family when she is injured by a
bomb explosion and loses her child.
This causes a severe psychological
reaction and she returns to her
home back in the United States.
Meanwhile, Hubby Robert Young
stays on in London. One of his
assignments takes him to a school
for small children who have been
shell shocked by the blitz. While
visiting the school, a boy and a
girl become attached to him. There
are several good scenes when Rob
ert Young plays papa to them.
Robert Young decides to take
them back to America and adopt
them as his own children in order
to take the place of the unborn
child. There are difficulties in get
ting plane reservations but the
problem is solved when they are
taken aboard as baggage.
You will long remember the act
ing of little Margaret O’Brien as
Margaret. Her portrayal of a shell
shocked baby is nothing short of
excellent.
Scenes of the blitz on London
seem so realistic that you will try
to duck bomb fragments.
The Lowdown: Don’t miss it. An
excellent picture that you will long
remember.
Columbia pulled a lemon when it
produced “Atlantic Convoy,” start
ing today at the Campus. The play
ers are John Beal, Virginia Field,
and Bruce Bennett who would have
done better by staying home the
day the picture was made. It is one
of these second-rate spy pictures
where the audience can tell what
is going to happen about ten min
utes before it takes place.
John Beal is a meteorologist at
one of the Army’s North Atlantic
patrol bases in Iceland. An SOS
comes from a sinking ship and
Beal goes along with the rescue
plane. A nurse and several children
are found floating on a raft. While
making the landing, the pilot is
hurt and the landing gear is dam
aged. Beal suddenly learns how to
fly so he takes the survivors back
to the base.
One of the rescued children be
comes seriously ill and needs serum
which is on one of the ships in a
convoy. A local spy ring gets wind
of what is going on and calls in
one of Hitler’s submarines to do
a little dirty work. Of course, Beal
is suspected and it is found that
he is a desertei 4 from the Marines.
Beal gets captured by the spies
but manages to warn the Army
and the submarine is destroyed and
the spies captured. In the end it
turns out that Beal really isn’t
such a bad fellow after all so the-
nurse marries him.
You’ve seen the same plot a
hundred times before. There are a
few shots of sinking ships but
you’ve already seen them in the
news reels. It’s one of those pic
tures to see when you have nothing
better to do.
The Lowdown: Take your girl
along to see this picture. You can
at least keep yourself occupied.
Radcliffe college is offering two
$500 fellowships for training
courses in personnel administra
tion.
Who’s Who for 1942-43 lists
31,692 men and women noted in
American life. Of these, 22,302 are
college graduates and 5,622 are
members of Phi Beta Kappa.
The Harvard university depart
ment of fine arts is offering a spe
cial six-week evening course in in
dustrial and civil camouflage.
Victory Signs...
There have been many changes
around Aggieland this past year,
but I doubt if any have affected
the minds of the average Aggie
quite like the activation of the
ERC’s.
Around 12:30 yesterday after
noon several bus loads of the cav
alry ERC’s rolled into place in
front of the commandant’s office.
To see a bunch of cavalrymen whom
you’ve spent many hours on horse
back with wearing long G. I. pants
and plastic helmets, with a haircut
that defies all attempts at good
looks, is quite a shock. Perhaps it
was only my imagination, but I
seemed to sense a change in some
thing more than the mere appear
ance of these troops. Every com
mand issued seemed to have a snap
to it that was never present before.
Even though tired from the long
bus ride and the rigorous three
days of uniform fitting, drilling,
and “shots” they went through,
these men acted like seasoned sol
diers who could take anything that
was given for them to do. Lots of
questionable changes have been
made around here since last year,
but I feel this is one which will
profit Uncle Sam immeasurably and
keep the spirit of the corps at a
INVEST IN VICTORY I
Our boys can take the War to
the enemy, if we back them up with
ships and tanks and guns! But
that takes money!
Help your Government to put the
tools of war into the hands of our
soldiers by purchasing War Sav
ings Bonds and Stamps. And re
member . . . just one Bond cant
lick the Axis any more than just
one gun! It takes millions of Amer
icans buying War Savings Bonds
and Stamps every pay day!
Bonds cost $18.75 and up . . .
and they pay you back one-third
more in only 10 years 1 Stamps cost
100, 250, and up . . . soon total
the price of a Bond if bought regu
larly.
Help our boys on the fighting
fronts wherever they may be! Buy
War Savings Bonds as an invest
ment for yourself and your country.
new height.
Campus Pick Ups ...
We thought someone had broken
a leg at last Friday’s P.E. class
from the huge crowd gathered
around someone. On closer exam
ination, however, we discovered it
to be Bill Andrews of C Inf., one
of the first ERC’s to be seen back
on the campus in G-I issues. The
“bull” was going along fast and
deep for quite some time until the
old roll call broke up the “confer
ence.” Boy, aren’t those fatigues
classy looking, though? Oh yeah!
***
Well, I guess we’ve seen every
thing now! First boots were taken
away as a senior distinction, and
now we saw none other than one
of the local colored boys of Bryan
strutting around in a pair, as cocky
as any two-diamond man could
have done. Shades of old Aggie
land!
Phone 4-1168
TODAY - WEDNESDAY
“JOURNEY FOR
MARGARET"
Starring
ROBERT YOUNG
LORRAINE DAY
Also
Merrie Melody
“TALE OF TWO KITTIES”
News — Short
THURSDAY - FRIDAY
“Always in My
Heart”
ampin
TODAY
4-1181
WEDNESDAY
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