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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1945)
DIAL 4-5444 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION Texas A&M The B College alion BI-WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER TEXAS A. & M. DEEP IN AGGIELAND VOLUME 44 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 5, 1945 NUMBER 54 Rufus Peeples Speaks at Faculty Dinner for Emloyees of 25 Years “Your team work, your loyalty* to each other and to your duties have made the A. & M. College of Texas the great school that it is today,” Rufus R. Peeples, pres ident of the Texas A. & M. Former Students Association and recent appointee to the school’s board of directors, told 21 College employ ees who were honored Thursday night, December 21, with a testi monial dinner in Sbisa Hall for having completed 25 years of service to the institution. This was the eighth consecutive dinner held at Christmas time and made a total of 113 employees who have been given this recogni tion. At the seven past dinners canes turned in the College shops were presented. This year a model service pin appropriately inscribed and colored was adopted and pre sented by the Association of For mer Students. Similar pins will be given the other employees hon ored at previous dinners. Over 500 A. & M. College employ ees and residents of the Bryan- College Station area were present to witness receipt of service pins by Mrs. Dora R. Barnes, W. P. Barrett, F. B. Brown, Mrs. Lilia G. Brown, C. W. Crawford, P. B. Dunkle, Miss Bess Edwards, R. K. Fletcher, Mrs. Leitha Harrison, A. B. Jolley, Dr. L. G. Jones, Dr. A. A. Lenert, Mrs. Lea Etta Lusk, L. J. McCall, Miss Myrtle Murray, T. L. Ogier, R. M. Sherwood, H. P. Smith, A. L. Smith, Miss Helen H. Swift and Waldo H. Walker. Due to absence in Army service. D. W. Williams’ name was not called among the other 21 honored. His pin will be presented upon his re turn at war’s end. Money and fine buildings do not make an institution great, but real folks, such kind of folks as “have each rounded out a quarter of a century of service for the A. & M. College of Texas,” President Gibb Gilchrist declared in giving a Christmas message to the faculty and staff. Nowhere else are such (See SPEAKER Page 3) Student Employment All students who wish part- time employment during the term, February 12, to June 1, 1945, are urged to file an appli cation renewal with the Place ment Office immediately. Also, those students who have not filed applications but desire employ ment, should file with us an ap plication at this time. Renewals and applications will be accepted beginning Friday, January 5, 1945, through February 1, 1945, said W. R. Horsley of the Stu dent Placement Office. DuPont Consultant Talks On Plastics The magic of chemical research, which is saving lives in war, will save time and energy for home makers and make everyday living more pleasant in the years ahead, Miss Gertrude Dieken of Wilming ton, Del. yesterday told members of the A. and M. College Exten sion Service staff and a number of visitors. The speaker, who is home eco nomics consultant for E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co., will spend a few days on the A. and M. campus confering with Extension and research workers and faculty members. In the post war years words like neoprene, lucite, and aerosol will become household words like ray on, nylon, and cellophane, the speaker indicated. She showed numerous samples of nylon, stat ing that 12 years were required to bring nylon from the laboratory to the public. Nylon hose, for ex ample, were dangled before the public eye only a short time before the war, and no nylon for women’s hose has been manufactured since February, 1942. One item of interest was a sec tion of a nylon tow rope used' in (See DuPONT, Page 3) Sixty-One Degrees To Be Given On February 2nd Formal Commencement Ceremony To Be Held; Sermon To Be Feb. 2 Names of 61 men who will re ceive advanced or baccalaureate degrees at the end of the current semester, February 2, have been announced by H. L. Heaton, acting registrar. These will make a total of 2019 degrees that have been presented by the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas since the declaration of war and the adoption by the College of the educational speed-up program. Formal commencement exer cises, the first since May 26, will be held, according to an announce ment by Dr. G. W. Adriance, chair man of the Committee on Com mencement Exercises. It is planned to have the Baccalaureate Sermon Convocation the morning of Feb. 2, and the presentation of diplo mas that night. Speakers for these programs will be announced later. Five of the candidates will re ceive master’s degrees, one a mas ter of education and four as mas ter of science. Of the 56 bachelor degrees to be conferred, 15 are in the School of Agriculture, 4 in the School of Arts and Sciences, 7 in the School of Engineering, and 30 in the School of Veterinary Med icine. John U. Nelson, Long Beach, Calif., is to receive the degree of Master of Education in Agricul tural Education; Master of Science degrees are to be conferred upon: V. O. Bonnichsen, College Station, in Chemical Engineering; E. H. Brock, College Station, in Sanitary Engineering; C. E. Choate, Pharr, in Poultry Husbandry, and Jacinto Rivera Perez, Mayaguez, P. R., in Genetics. Baccalaureate graduates are: SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE— In Agricultural Administration: J. R. Bone, Houston; C. E. Brumley, Hereford; H. L. Bullock, Bryan. In Agricultural Education: G. J. (See DEGREES, page 4) Lillian Ferguson Smooths Rough Spots With Homey Letters For Overseas Aggies Miss Lillian Ferguson By Calvin Brumley She is writing 146 service men overseas. She not only writes them but she carries on a regular correspondence with each of these 146 men and in addition writes to numerous boys in the armed services who are still in the United States. Miss Lillian Ferguson has been with the Dairy Husbandry Department at Texas A. & M. since 1922 and it was with reluctance that she moved into C. N. Shep- ardson’s office to be secretary to the new Dean of Agriculture for she h%l promised the boys when they left that the “Doors will be open and the light will be in the window when you come back.” While working in the Dairy Husbandry Department Miss Fer guson kept more or less in touch with the boys who graduated from that department but it was not until the war that she began corresponding with them regular ly- Perhaps Miss Ferguson holds some sort of record for correspond ence with fighting men overseas but if she does not she is cer tainly near the top. Her desk draw er in which she keeps unanswer ed letters is filled constantly be cause as fast as she answers them others come in. One thing that makes Miss Fer guson’s correspondence so amaz ing is that she does not write anything resembling a form let ter to the men overseas but adds a personal homey touch to each one. Miss Ferguson laughingly ad mits that they, the boys that write to her, “Spill all their troubles because they think that I know all the answers. Seriously, she has helped more than one Aggie over a rough spot while he was in school and is now helping others over and through rougher spots all over the world where ever they are fighting Japs or Germans. In her office Miss Ferguson has a desk which is reserved for over- 4: sjc Hs ♦ seas mail. It is a large desk with a glass top and under the glass there are rows and rows of pic tures of service men, their wives, and their children. She knows each one and about each she has in her memory a personal story. One picture was particularly in teresting. It is of an army man standing on a flat Pacific atoll beside a sign post. This in itself is not interesting but the picture arouses interest because it has a small hole near the center where a cen sor cut out part of the writing on the sign. During the last two months Miss Ferguson has been getting Christ mas cards from the boys overseas. Many of them are unusual and some are quite simple and a few are crude but she loves them all because they are from her boys. At first Miss Ferguson was un able to decide upon suitable Christ mas cards to send the boys but finally she persuaded all the staff & cgc $ members of the Dairy Husbandry Department to pose for a group picture which she sent as a Christmas greeting to her adopted fighting sons. Since she and her boss, C. N. Shepardson, new Dean of Agricul ture at A. & M., have moved to a bigger job Miss Ferguson said that she did not believe that she would be able to keep in touch with all the boys that graduate from the School of Agriculture but that she wants them to feel just as welcome in the new offices as the Dairy Husbandry majors always felt in her old department. Miss Ferguson is a dainty lady who attended Baylor University before she came to A. & M. in January of 1922. Although her secretarial duties occupy most of her time she still finds the min utes necessary to write the letters from home that help so much to break the monotony and loneliness of the civilians in soldier suits overseas. Eakin Named New Brazos Farm Head L. C. Eakin, former county agent for Burleson county, has been named superintendent of the Bra zos bottoms plantation acquired by the Texas A. & M. College from Seth Mooring and associates. He will also head the Farm Service Department set up in 1934 to man age labor operations on the various tracts of farm lands owned or operated by departments in the School of Agriculture. Eakin was raised on a farm near Moody and received a B. S. degree in Agriculture from the Texas A. & M. College in 1936. For a time he was vocational agriculture teacher at Woodson, then went with the Extension Service as as sistant county agent in Waller and Wharton counties. For the past two and one half year he has been county agent for Burleson county in which the former Mooring plan tation is located. “I knew Eakin well while he was a student here,” Dean Shepardson said, “as he worked in the Dairy Department all four years. I have also kept up with him and his work in the nine years he has been engaged in agricultural work. I feel we are fortunate in getting him with us as I have full confi dence in his judgment and depend ability in carrying out the plans of the College board of directors through the School of Agriculture.” Extension Service Publications Head Dies Here Sunday Samuel Cooke Hoyle, who had been editor of Extension Service publications for many years, died at 5 a.m. Sunday. He passed away at his home at 308 Sterling in Bryan, having been ill for some time. Bom in the Sweetwater Valley, McMinn county, Tennessee, on June 10, 1871, after primary edu cation he attended Buchanan’s Military Academy; in his young manhood he moved with his fam ily to Atlanta, Ga., where he worked for Hem’y Grady on the Atlanta Constitution. He graduat ed from Emory University near Atlanta in 1895. He was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. Later Mr. Hoyle came to Texas and was connected with the Dor sey Printing Co. at Dallas. In June, 1898, he was married to Miss (See EXTENSION, Page 4) Veterans , Federal Employment Adviser Is Appointed For those service persons, both men and women who are serving in the Armed Forces, and who have already been discharged, the Civil Service Commission has stationed in each Regional and Branch Regi onal Office throughout the nation a Veterans’ Federal Employment Representative, Mr. Thomas W. Saling has been assigned this work in the Tenth U. S. Civil Serv ice Regional Office, Dallas, and it is his re sponsibility to assist re- turn-ing veterans in finding their way into the Federal Service. In the Branch Regional Office, New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Tom B. Elliot has a similar position and is available to veterans for infor mation concerning their rights and privileges with respect to employ ment in the Federal Civil Service. The Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944 is the law which insures that veterans, their widows and wives, will receive preferential consider ation. Disabled veterans are ac corded the highest preference with regard to employment in the Fed eral Service while all other vet erans receive augmented ratings on their applications for employ ment. A particularly important work which these Veterans’ Federal Em ployment Representatives do is to see that returning veterans are re employed in the Federal job they held before entering the Armed Services, if they so desire, or if that job is not available, in a pos ition of equal pay, seniority, and status, with such promotions as they would have received if they had remained on the job. H. R. Knickerbocker, War Reporter, To Miss Town Hall Because Of Wounds Texas Wildlife Federation Elects Officers Here Henry W. Flagg, Galveston Ex-Mayor, Is President Reactivation of the Texas Wild life Federation was accomplished at a meeting of game and fish officials of the State and of the Texas A&M College' with promi nent land owners and conservation ists held recently at College Sta tion. Temporary officers elected included Henry W. Flagg, former mayor of Galveston, president, and Dr. Walter P. Taylor, leader, Tex as Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, College Station, secretary. All organizations and individuals interested in better conservation of the fish and game life of Texas will be invited to a general meet ing to be held in Fort Worth, March 9-10. The following parties have been appointed a committee to make all plans for the State-wide meeting: Grady Hill, president, West Texas Game and Fish association, San Angelo; Ben G. Oneal, president, North Texas Fish and Game as sociation, Wichita Falls; Wiley Stewart, Fort Worth Press. Fort Worth; H. F. Spreen, president, Fort Worth Anglers club, Fort Worth; Orval W. Shore, president, Possum Kingdom Game and Fish association, Mineral Wells, and Dr. C. A. Stevenson, Scott and White clinic, Temple. The work being done by their respective organizations for the sportsmen and the wildlife inter ests of the State were discussed be fore the College Station meeting by Will J. Tucker, executive sec retary, Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission; Dr. W. B. Davis, acting head, A&M’s Depart ment of Instruction in Fish and Game; R. E. Callender, game man agement specialist, Texas Exten sion Service, and Dr. Walter P. Taylor. A&M Economist Takes 0PA Job Tyrus R. Timm, economist in farm management for the A. and M. College Extension Service, has accepted appointment as Agricul tural Relations Advisor to the Of fice of Price Administration, Wash ington, effective January 15. In making the announcement, Director Ide P. Trotter said that A. and M. College had granted Timm a leave of absence for one year to accept the position ten dered by Administrator Chester Bowles. He will succeed H. H. Wil liamson, former director of the Texas Extension Service, who has served as Agricultural Relations Advisor to OPO for more than a year. Williamson will become as sistant director of the National Extension Service, U. S. Depart ment of Agriculture. “While we regret losing the services of Mr. Timm temporarily,” Director Trotter said, “we feel that Texas and its Extension Service are honored to have him selected to continue and expand this im portant work pioneered by Mr. Williamson. Mr. Timm served the OPA as agricultural economist from March until November of last year, and is one of the coun- (See A. & M., Page 3) Press Club Meeting Next Monday Night Dick Goad has called a meeting of the A. & M. Press Club for next Monday night at 7:15. All members of the Longhorn staff and Battalion staff are asked to be present. Plans will be made for a party at the end of the se mester. The secretary requests that all members please pay their dues at this meeting in order to balance the books. H. R. Knickerbocker Rufus Peeples Is New Member Of College Directors Rufus R. Peeples, ’28, of Tehua- cana, president oft he Association of Former Students, was appointed on the Board of Directors of the A. & M. College by Governor Coke Stevenson on December 13. He will fill the unexpired term of John C. Burnes, ’04, Ft. Worth, who resign ed from the Board because of the press of his personal affairs. The term to which Peeples was ap pointed expires in 1947. Peeples manages the large Bluff Valley Farm at Tehuacana, where he and his family and his mother make their home. He was born and reared on the farm and has been active in its operation since the death of his father while Peeples was a small boy. The ranch opera- (See PEEPLES, Page 4) Wimpfen Boy, News Stand Robber, In Abilene Theft Jan C. Wimpfen, juvenile picked up in Houston on charge of rob bery of a newsstand at Texas A. and M. College and released in custody to his mother, was arrest ed in Abilene Sunday for being connected with a car robbery. A car of Captain Ben Click was stol en from in front of the A. B. Syp- tak home in Bryan. Some time after Wimpfen was located in Houston and while he was in charge of Bryan police, he was hauled to and from the court house in a city police car. About ten days after that the police were advised that he had hid some money under the rear seat cushion and investigation disclosed that $49 in currency had been tucked away. The money is believed by police to be part of the proceeds of the College newsstand burglary. By D. L. Mitchell Christmas holidays bring with them financial troubles which usu ally leave the majority broke. Traveling expenses also bring a strain on our pocket books so by the time a student gets back on the campus he is generally low on cash. Sometimes students need ready cash for some emergency which arises and they do not know where they may secure such funds. On April 16, 1943, William K. Davis of the class of 1916 donat ed a five dollar bill for the pur pose of starting a loan fund to be used by the students of Texas A. & M. College. The five bucks he donated has since been multiplied many times. Since the fund was started nearly $900 has been loaned and all but $4.00 has been return ed. This fund has appropriately been named the Davis Buck Fund and is open to any student who needs some cash. Mr. J. Gaber of Houston started the Ernestine Gaber Loan Fund in memory of his mother. This Date of Appearance Changed to April 10 H. R. Knickerbocker, noted war correspondent and lecturer, Pulit zer prize winner and former Tex as A. & M. College student,, who was scheduled to appear here on the Town Hall program Jan. 11, is in a hospital in Belgium and will be unable to fill this date, his agents have wired the Student Activities office. Instead, the Town Hall program has accepted an al ternate date tentatively set for April 10. What is the loss at the moment to Town Hall patrons from Brazos county will be their gain in the long run as Mr. Knickerbocker is thus in the path of the great I German offensive now under way on the Western front. When he re- . turns to this country he will have first hand knowledge which he will analyze in his inimitable man ner. The next Town Hall program will be on Jan. 26 and will feature Leonard Warren, popular young baritone who has enjoyed out standing successes in the four . greatest opera houses in the West- i era Hemisphere—the Metropolitan, ! San Francisco, Colon in Buenos i Aires and Teatra Municipal in : Rio de Janiero. Other programs for the cur rent season will include Paul Dra per, the world’s supreme tap-dancer and Larry Adler, equally great in his field of the harmonica, both appearing Feb. 12; the A Capella Choir of North Texas State Teach ers College of Denton, one of the ! most dramatic and colorful organi zations in the Southwest, Feb. 27; Rise Stevens, star of opera and films, last seen in this section with Bing Crosby in “Going My Way,” who will be present March 10. After the Knickerbocker pro gram on April 10, Town Hall will have its finale for this season with the Singing Cadets of Aggie- land, comprising 100 male voices and considered one of the finest glee clubs in the Southwest. Their i repertoire will include popular, classical and semi-classical music, together with the traditional songs of Aggieland. Boy Scouts to Make Monthly Collection Boy Scouts of College Station will collect paper between the hours of 8 and 11 o’clock Saturday morning, January 6, according to L. G. Jones, paper drive chair man. Residents who are willing to save their paper from Christmas packages are requested to tie the paper in bundles with string in two directions and leave the paper in front of the house on the curb by 8 o’clock Saturday morning so that the scouts who get around early will have a chance to get it. fund is likewise open to all needy students and offers small tempo rary loans without interest. Since its foundation hundreds of loans have been made and all the bor rowers have repaid them. Mrs. Es ter Taubenhaus, adviser of the Hil- lel Club, has been the supervisor of the fund for several years but she has recently turned the man agement over to the Placement Office. These two funds offer the stu dents ready cash on the asking so if you need some ready cash for some emergency that must be met don’t hesitate to see Mr. W. R. Horsley of the Student Placement Office in the Administration build ing. No questions will be asked and no time limit set for the returning of the money. No interest is charged but the fund can only grow by contributions which are made by the borrowers or by any one who thinks the fund is worth while. The next time you need some ready cash see Mr. Horsley and say, “Lend me a Davis Buck.” Student Loan Funds To Aid Cure Of u After Xmas Blues”