PAGE 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 22, 1943
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
'"“xas A. & M. COLLEGE
fhe Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station,
la 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 8, 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 5. Administration Building. Telephone 4-6444.
1942 Member 1943
Pissocioted Colle6icrte Press
Sylvester Boone ...
THURSDAY'S STAFF
Henry Tillett
John H. Kelly ....
Business Manager
Conrad B. Cone ...
Business Manager
LeValle Wolf
Reporter
Robert Orrick
Reporter
Claude Stone
Reporter
Jacob R. Morgan
Fred Mangel, Jr. .
Jack E. Turner ..
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Columnist
Archie Broodo
Bryan A Ross
Columnist
Harold Borofsky
Columnist
John H. Wirtz ....
Circulation Manager
Maurice Zerr
Circulation Manager
D. W. May
Editorial Advisor
The following staff members use names other than their
own when writing their columns:
Sylvester Boone ..: Daniel
Harold Borofsky Blotto
* ARMY ENGINEERS STAFF
Bradley ....
bich
Ed Babicl
D. K. ■ Springwater
Bill Martin
M. J. Kaff
K. ,W. Parsons
Editor
Associate
Associate
Associate
Associate
Associate
ACTD STAFF
Alvin B. Cooler Editor-and-Chief
Jack E. Shaw Managing Editor
Fred J. Rosenthal Associate Editor
Alan E. Goldsmith ..... ... Associate Editor
Jas. H. Kizziar .... Squadron One Editor
Joseph E. natt Squadron Two Editor
George A. Martin Squadron Three Editor
Bill Peters Squadron Five Editor
Mid-semester Holidays . . .
The least expected happened the other
day when the executive committee came out
of conference and offered the corps a litle
vacation of over three days to give us a
chance to rest before the final round of the
semester comes up. Mid-semester holidays
are rare around this campus, this having
been the first time such an occasion has hap
pened. The committee decided upon these
holidays because there had to be a break
in the monotony of a long summer of school
and a lot of the Aggies would not have a
chance to get home if the army called be
fore the semester was up.
When the committee decided upon giv
ing these holidays, they set the time limits
far enough apart to give every Aggie a
chance to get away from the campus and go
home or some other place for some relaxa
tion. The holidays begin at noon on Friday
and will last until midnight on Monday. The
corps is expected to give its fullest co
operation in receiving these few days, and
stay until the last hour. The corps will be
taking an unfair advantage of the commit
tee if they do leave early, and a real Ag
gie would not show such discourtesy. Re
member that the corps is lucky to be get
ting any time off between semesters.
Justification . . .
Waves of allied bombers this week
swarmed over the “eternal city” of Rome
and specially trained America birdmen drop
ped hundreds of tons of bombs on military
objectives, including rail and aviation in
stallations in that city. Prior to the bombing
raids, leaflets were dropped over 'certain
portions of the city warning population and
advising why those certain sections were
considered military objectives. Airmen were
given large scale maps and photographs of
the area showing locations of the Vatican
City, churches, ruins of the old Roman cul
ture, all of which were clearly marked:
“Must on no account be damaged.”
No sooner than the news of the bomb
ing of Rome reached this country than the
hue and cry was raised about the destruc
tion of a holy city, the damaging of the
remanents of an ancient culture and the
bombing of a city long considered a shrine
of religion.
Rome, for all its religious and cultural
background, is the capital city of one of our
Axis enemies—it is a commercial city from
which emanates armanants for the destruc
tion of Allied soldiers—it is a potential fac
tor in supplying the opposing armies of
the continental invasion of Europe. With
typical American consideration and sense
of fair-play, not a one of the religious and
cultural shrines of Rome will be damaged,
but it would be foolish to leave the city
intact to feed death and destruction to the
advancing armies of the Allied cause.
The eventuality of the bombing of Rome
was not considered when the Axis poured
havoc and carnage from the skies on the
Open Forum
The Battalion has space in each issue
of the paper for an Open Forum which can
be written by anyone close to the college on
any subject. Anyone desiring to write in this
column may do so if he signs his name to it
and either drops it by 52 Milner, sends it
through the campus mail to the Battalion,
or brings it down to the Battalion office. The
only requirement is that it must be signed.
It is the wish of the staff that the Open
Forum column be used often.
Letters in the past have come in to be
printed, but due to the lack of a name, they
had to be destroyed. Such letters signed, “An
Aggie second semester freshmen” written
on Calvary stationery, can not be printed.
Be sure to have your name on all of letters
for the Open Forum column.
Man, Your Manners
By 1. Sherwood
Setting the table: Please don’t skip this
just because you happen to think that table
setting belongs in a woman’s province; no
man—single or married—need be ashamed
of knowing how to set a table, toss up a
salad, or prepare his favorite dish. In these
days of the servantless home, you can be a
lot of help—when you are home on leave—
if you know the proper table technique, and
lend a hand when necessary.
Simple table settings are in line with
our present day living but the more attrac
tive they are the more enjoyable the meal;
eating should be a pleasant thing with a
wide range of social possibilities; to ask
another to eat with you^ is a gesture of
friendliness—even the sharing of lowly ham
burgers.
Whatever the meal the forks are put on
the left side of the plate (cock-tail forks an
exception) the knives and spoons on the
right, the pieces you need first being farth
est from the plate, the others in the same
order. The bread-and-butter plate, if used,
is placed just in front of the forks with the
bread-and-butter knife across it, the handle
to the right. .
Napkins may be placed on the plates,
or if there is to be food on the plates when
you sit down—as there would be in a serv
antless home—put the napkins at the left
of the plates just beyond the forks. A salt
and pepper for each two plates is enough.
A water glass is placed just in front of
the knife. Fruit makes an attractive cen
terpiece as well as an adible one.
Something to Read
By Hazel Adams
FIESTA IN NOVEMBER
Some years ago an Englishman lived in
South America, loved it, and wrote a haunt-
ingly beautiful book about called Green
Mansions, and another, which was the idyl
lic tale of a traveler on horseback, called The
Purple Land. With them as measuring rods,
I read Fiesta in November, a collection of
stories and novels by Natin American writ
ers, published this year. Eleven Latin Amer
ican countries are represented with eighteen
tales, four of which are really short novels.
No attempt has been made to impress
the obvious with a showy collection of in
ternationally famous writers. Many of these
writers are young and struggling; all but
two of them are living and writing today. But
a great satisfaction comes to the reader on
closing this book, for here he has found
again that certain quality which he discov
ered in the books of Hudson, a quality so in
dividual and yet so convincing that fye knows
it belongs alone to South American life.
What are the qualities which stamp these
stories as belonging to each other? For one
thing, in all of them we have a sense of
foreboding, of brooding tragedy. The pretty,
ardent Lydia in “Sea of the Dead” waiting
for her husband to return from the storm
ridden sea reminds us of those fatalistic, sad
eyed women in famous stories of Britanny
fishermen.
The stories have a poetic quality, not
only in their prose but in the attitude of their
characters toward life and its events. There
is poetic understanding between the old man
and the child in “Rain” as they talk to each
other. There is poetry even in the sorry
philosophy of that aimless rogue, Pito Perez,
in the “The Futile Life of Pito Perez”.
And above all events and all emotions,
controlling them both and therefore the lives
of the people involved, there are the ele
ments: the wind, the rain, the lack of rain,
the sea, the hard dry land—these are the
things outside the understanding and control
of these people.
To me the finest story in the book is a
short novel from which the collection takes
its title, “Fiesta in November”. It is the only
one in the book dealing with wealthy people
and having for its setting a drawing room.
It is also the only one which has a breath of
social consciousness. Underneath the splendid
and luxurious exterior of the house and its
appointments are the evils at the root of the
useless lives of the characters of the story
and of the society which they represent.
The author, Eduardo Mallea, has em
ployed a device long used by writers and
painters, that of the story within the story.
Here, it is the simply told, stark tragedy
of what is happening in the world today.
A group of N^zi hoodlums come to the door
of a poor, young poet while he is eating his
bread. They march him through dark alleys,
stand him against *a wall and shoot many
bullets into his body.
It is significant that this story, “Fiesta
in November”, has come out of Argentina,
and that its author is young and—possessed
of an outstanding talent. His is the new
voice of Latin America; it is to be hoped that
it will be the dominant one.
“open city” of Manila; for when civilian
areas of London were considered military ob
jectives while women and children huddled
in dumb terror in subways and cellars; for
when hospital ships were considered fair
game for carrier-based planes and sea-mar
auders. No religious or cultural shrines were
considered in these—but innocent human
lives were!
So with the war brought close to home,
with the carnage and blood-shed garnered
from gory battlefields from every corner of
the world laid at its own doorstep—the Axis
has suddenly become the protector of things
holy and cultural!
(j BRANDINGS
by DANIEL
Having people speak to you
when you walk around on the camp
us makes a person feel better all
day and then some. Everyone is
speaking now, and there seems
to be a better spirit in all the peo
ple you pass. Favorable comments
have been coming in about the
treatment that is being received
by the men who are sent here in
the various branches of the- ser
vice. I met one Sunday who said,
“I still can’t get over the way you
Aggies are so friendly. Every
where you go you can find some
one sticking his hand out and
wanting to meet you.” Keep it up
Aggies, and I like the way you
service men are responding with
the return of courtesy. Thanks.
Tomorrow is the beginning of an
unexpected three (and more) day
vacation. The executive committee
surprised the whole corps when
this was announced so now it is
up to the corps to accept the holi
days without taking an unfair ad
vantage of the committee. The
time limits or from noon on Fri
day to midnight on Monday should
allow everyone plenty of time to
do something. There probably
won’t be any more mid-semester
holidays if the Corps- does violate
the principles of war-time Aggie-
land. What do you say, men?
Shall we wait until the gun goes
off at noon on Friday?
J2oojcLoojn on .
Qampus distractions
By Ben Fortson
The guns of the submarines are
sounding in the Campus today,
tomorrow, and Saturday, when
Tyrone Power goes on a raid in
20th Century Fox’s CRASH DIVE.
This is the type of entertain
ment everyone likes. It is a roman
tic war picture that will have you
gripping the sides of your seat
with excotement. Power (now a
Marine Private) falls in love with
the favorite girl of his command
ing officer, Dana Andrews, and
proposes without knowing of this
near-alliance. In spite of the strain
ed situation they stage a battle
with an enemy Q-ship and blow a
German base into the sea. Anne
Baxter, as talented as she is love
ly, playes the feminine lead and
very capably. James Gleason and
Dame May Whitty are also co-
stars of the drama.
The Lowdown: Too bad you won’t
be here to see it twice.
At Guion Hall today and to
morrow is GRAND CENTRAL
MURDER, a mystery that will
keep you guessing ’til the exciting
end.
The show stars Van Heflin, as the
sleuth, Patricia Dane as a show
girl, and Cecilia Parker. In the
plot of the story, Miss Dane has
gotten her hooks into an eligible
young bachelor, worth no less than
7,000,000 and has taken him away
from his socialite fiancee. Any
way, Pat is killed by someone
you’d never expect, but Heflin
finally unravels the plot. The pret
ty dances is murdered in her pri
vate car in Grand Central Station,
which explains where the title
comes from.
The Lowdown: Good mystery
entertainment you’ll enjoy.
PALACE
■T PHONE 2-8879
Thursday - Friday - Saturday
“BATAAN”
— starring —
Robert Taylor
— with —
George Murphy
Desi Arnez
Preview Saturday Night
11 P. M.
“MISSION TO
MOSCOW”
— with —
Walter Huston
Ann Harding
Fish Tales
By Bryan A. Ross
Well fellows, the holidays aren’t
very far off now. And it’s just as
I said before, it’s really gonna be
an Aggie week-end. No passes are
now needed to go home, and just
about every Aggie will be going
home the 23rd.
Down in Dorm. 14 there has been
much talk about our coming holi
days. Many will hit the road and
thumb, some will have those
scarce automoblie rides, and others
will take that ole “Sunbeam”. By
the way, anybody going to Fort
Worth or Dallas and has an extra
c.c. of room in his or her car (pre
ferably “her”) will please contact
room 226 of Dorm. No. 14.
( r atnm s
Dial 4-1181
Open at 1 p. m.
Air Conditioned
By Refrigeration
Today, Friday & Saturday
TYRONE POWER
CRASH DM
in Stirring TECHNICOLORI
— with —
Anne Baxter
Dana Andrews
James Gleason
— also —
Cartoon “Plenty Below Zero’
Short and News
SATURDAY PREVIEW
SUNDAY and MONDAY
— also —
Del Courtney and Orchestra
Musical - Short - News
But let’s leave the subject of
“freedom” and go to sports. Those
baseball queers of ours are on the
march again. One of the most ter
rible drubbings of the current in
tramural season was hoisted upon
“H” company frogs last Tuesday
(See FISH TALES, Page 4)
LOUPOT’S
Where You Always Get
a Fair Trade
Phone 4—1168
i a s d S° y n s 9c & 20c
Tax Included
Box Office Opens 1 p. m.
Closes 7:30
Thursday and Friday
“GRAND CENTRAL
MURDER”
Van Heflin and Sam Levine
Saturday Only
with Bela Legosi
“NIGHT MONSTER”
—also—
“ONE DANGEROUS
NIGHT”
with Warren Wililam
On the Stage
Saturday and Sunday
SHEETZ & CO.
Magicians
Mystifying and Lavish
Entertainment
Sunday and Monday
“HIGH SIERRA”
— with —
Humphrey Bogart
Ida Lupino
Tuesday and Wednesday
“UNDERGROUND
AGENT”
ARMY ENGINEERS
Editor’s Nook
Looks like the only solution to
the laundry problem will be to
adopt the Aggie method and have
the “A’s to L’s” get their laundry
on one day and the “M’s to Z’s”
get their laundry on another. The
present system is fast getting
balled up with the GIs spending
much valuable time waiting in
line.
The picture “Fighting Engi
neers” caused much comment. Es
pecially that remark about the En
gineers being the first to the battle
line and the last to leave. This
scribe is curious ... do the Japs
always reveal their machine gun
nest with a flag prominently dis
played ? If so can’t understand
why we are having so much diffi
culty with the little yellow mon
keys at Munda and the ’canal . . .
Perhaps the Hollywood Japs don’t
know any better. Wonder also if
the Engineers always use landing
barges to cross a river. Must be
quite a task dragging them through
the Jungle. Fact remains that the
best pictures of this war are being
produced by the Army under the
Signal Corps and not in Hollywood.
Mother Sweatt is soon to have a
rival. Dorm one’s mascot appears
to become a mother soon and we
are making book on the number
of kittens in her litter.
Thank you W. R. Suda and right
back at you—a red and white gar
denia those being the Engineers
colors.
We are still waiting for some
of you GIs to come forward and
do a bit of reporting for the Army
Engineer. One article or column a
week is all that is necessary ot
get you on the staff and we assure
you it isn’t as hard as you might
think.
The new boys are learning the
ways of ATSP 3800 just as we did
the hard way. We found, after sev
eral experiments, that it was much
easier to fall out for policing with
the whole company than it was to
fall out and police alone.
The CO also has a solution for
not falling out on the double when
assembly is sounded. Merely con
finement for the company over a
week end: We fell out in less than
a minute every time after that epi
sode.
Unfortunately our officers have
SYMPATHY SLIPS
—By CORNELL
People keep blaming me for
bringing that cat home the other
night. Let’s get this thing straight.
That cat brought me home and I
appreciate it very much.
What has happened to all those
writers of last term? Springwater,
Martin, Parsohs et al, are pretty
quiet these days. You fellows up
on the top two floors of Dorm No.
1 are pretty quiet also. Let’s get
together and do a bit of writing.
Thanks to the powers that be,
who got our coke machine back.
Seems good to be able to drop in
a coin and get returns again, if we
only had a coin.
Wish some of these slip stick
artists would get together and
figure out an air conditioning sys
tem for the whole State of Texas.
Lately it has been as hot as that
place some of us will go if we
don’t mend our ways. Some of our
ways need more of a complete
salvage job than just mending.
COMMENT
—By PAT BLANFORD
When I first came to Aggieland,
I had my “Old Lady” and A. and
M. graduate, class of ’37. Pvt.
Clyde T. Norman. All his friends
here at A. & M. and they include
Aggies and Engineers will be glad
to hear that he is now Lt. Nor
man. I know that all the boys go
along with me when I say, “Con
gratulations and the best of every
thing Clyde, SIR.”
While passing out bouquets
how about a red and white garden
ia to the ladies of the K. C. Hall
in Bryan. There’s always a cool
drink, music and a smile for any
GFI who happens in.
gone through the mill as EM and
know all the angles. Also all the
solutions.
One of the Basic Engineering GIs
was absent from PT. Capt. Heister
found him rseting in his room. He
explained that it was much too
warm for PT.
We admire his judgment as a
weather commentator but we feel
that he is a very poor judge of
CO’s.
CREDIT WHERE DUE DEPT.
Thanks to Lt. Jors and the Colonel
we GI’s are again back on our
coke diet.
TOP HICK
—By BRAD
It was a night similar to this.
A, lovely summer night with a
suggestion of a Harvest moon
peering over the horizon. Not that
they thought much of summer
nights nor of Harvest moons. The
23rd Inf. of the 2nd Div. were
much too tired to think of any
thing. They had been moving up
for several days. Up to the front,
and already the big guns could be
heard in the distance. Not much
time to listen though. It was more
important that they move up. The
morrow was the big push. The
push that was to drive the Huns
back to Berlin. The push that was
to win the war. They knew that
they were fixing to make a drive.
They knew that a lot of their
buddies would be hurt. But, each
knew that he would not be hurt.
No hero stuff. No heroes here.
Just a bunch of damn good fight
ing mep. . Men who only knew
enough to go forward, for that
was the way to victory.
The private knew that he was
no hero. Never gave it a thought
in fact. Probably never gave a
thought whether or not he was a
damn good fighting man. He
merely knew that he was moving
up. Fixin’ to make a drive. Fixin’
to do the job that he had been
trained to do. Get hurt? Well, folks
do get hurt in wars, I imagine.
But there was a job to do. And
twenty five years ago this week
Fred Swan, Private, U. S. Army
was up there doing his job. Did
his job right well, 'till a shell
brought him down. Didn’t keep him
down though. He was up in time
for the march to Berlin. He had a
job to do and no mere bullet was
going to keep it undone.
Today it is First Sergeant Fred
Swan, and he is still doing his
job. Still serving his Uncle Sam
uel. Makes us GIs in the 1st ST.
Co. sort of proud he is our top-
kick. May we never be under a
lesser man.
A man’s own good breeding is
the best security against other peo
ple’s ill manners.
If the power to do hard work is
not talent, it is the best possible
substitute for it.
JUST AN M. E.
—By M. KAFF
We’re all back now, in fact all
were on time—Bradley’s back too
—how could you have known ? “His
name was on the first page under
a picture, he wrote an article, and
he was referred to by the Navy,”
you say! Guess I missed all that!
Never before heard of an editor
hiring a publicity agent. But then
no-one ever said Brad was an Edi
tor. To us in Spence Hall, he’s just
orderly for that very new Cadeft
Lieutenant Bishop, is roommate.
Congrats Paul—you deserved some
recognition long ago. But Editor
H. P. is certainly sporting some
lovely looking sparklers these days
and doesn’t pass up any chance to
put on that silly grin and let you
see the handiwork of the San
Antonio drillers.
The Furloughs were great and
over only to soon. The men crowd
ed so much into them though, that
spirits are still comparatively high
even after 10 days of the new se
mester are over. Speaking of this
semester—it’s Mechanix, Infernal
Combustion machines, and Ther-
modamatics that are now the lead
ing Block-Head Busters. Only 63
more school- days in this term
though. ^
The new Officers all appear to
be pretty much on the ball, and we
think it was indeed a wise move
drafting Jack Jordan as Cadet
C. 0.
We had a system B. F. (Before
furlough) whereby mail was de
livered to the individual rooms
once a day, but that wasn’t good.
So one of our Happy Little Morons
wrote a letter to the authorities
and now everything is fixed. We
stand in the hot sun half an hour
or so each day waiting for the
same mail that we used to find on
our desks when we returned from
classes. Smart boys we are!
Can’t be stopped from thinking
out loud, even if I can’t say it /or
fear of the powers that be. But Fm
still wondering why we aren’t
permitted to remove our fatigue
jackets when drilling, and our ties
between Reveille and Retreat. The
sun in Texas sure takes its toll of
energy and persipration from the
Army as well as from the other.
‘Bye Now!