Page 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 3, 1945
The Battalion
STUDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Office, Room 5, Administration Building. Telephone 4-5444
Texas A. & M. College
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas and the City of College Station is published weekly, and circulated on Thursday
afternoon.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870.
Subscription rate $3.00 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.
Member
Pbsocided Gr>Ue6»ate Press
Dick Goad - Editor-in-Chief
Ed Wendt Sport Editor
L. H. Calahan Feature Editor
R. F. Huston Sports Writer
F. B. DeLafosse Sports Writer
R. L. Bynes Intramural Editor
Dick Dillingham N....N Intramural Writer
J. B. Clark Staff Photographer
G. K. Dugan Circulation Manager
Reporters: J. L. Everett,
New Hope For Lagging Sports Here ...
At a meeting of the Brazos County Aggie Exes Club
held last winter, Football Coach Homer Norton made the
statement that A. & M. athletic teams would take back
water from no other college after the war, regardless of the
sport. That this statement was made in all earnestness was
proved recently by the addition of three new coaches to the
college athletic department. Johnnie Frankie, whose Milby
High cage team went to the semifinals in the state tourna
ment this year, was hired as basketball coach, Frank Ander
son, Aggie track tutor from 1920 to 1935, was named to take
over the track team once again in September, and Bochy
Koch, former Baylor grid great, was added to the staff as
football line coach.
All three men are widely known and highly respected
in their individual fields. It is expected that their addition
will bring about a much better record in certain sports here
which have shamed the athletic record of A. & M. thus far.
Hheretofore only football players had any possibilities
of obtaining an athletic scholarship to A. & M., thereby forc
ing outstanding state basketball, track and baseball per
formers to enroll in the liberal University of Texas or some
other institution. Thus, interest in these sports has lagged
here and the College has continued to be the laughing stock
of the conference in these activities.
It is hoped that the addition of this veteran coaching
trio can be interpreted such that intense interest will be
developed in these previously lagging sports and they will
occupy their rightful position in an institution of this size.
We Shall Take Our Place . . .
Now that the war in Europe is in its final bloody phases
once again war weary people the world over are rejoicing
and preparing for a normal peacetime life. But, despite the
proximity of a successful finish to the war the cessation of
organized hostilities will not end the conflict. A national
emergency does not end with the hauling down of the last
enemy war flags. The world will, at that critical moment of I
armistice, be poised on the brink of riotous conflagrations,
economic disorders and social upheavals. Boiling, heaving
Europe will provide many a terrible scene of violence and
destruction before its many factions can be harnessed to the
giant tasks which lie ahead of them. At the present time
the conquered peoples of Europe are little but slaves and
slaves cannot be freed without violence; and there are so
many slaves.
Aggie Muster at William Beaumont Hospital
Battle wounds and training in
juries brought six Texas Aggies
together for an Aggie reunion in
the wards of William Beaumont
General Hospital in El Paso where
they are patients.
They dusted off stories of old
Aggieland and mingled them with
stories direct from the fronts. Their
meeting place was the bed of 2nd
Lt. William Brown, Batesville Ag
gie, who left the campus in 1939.
Lieutenant Brown entertained
his Aggie pals with his wounded
foot suspended in the air in trac
tion. He holds the Silver Star
for action overseas. He served in
England, France and Germany
with the 95th Infantry Division.
Last Nov. 27, German gunners
stopped his advance with a burp
gun which wounded him in the
right leg.
Second Lieut. Leslie R. Here
ford, Ag. Education, '43, of Lo-
meta, tucked his wounded arm un
der his Army bathrobe and shuffled
from the neighboring ward to at
tend his 1945 Aggie muster. Last,
year, Lt. Hereford joined other Ag
gies in Southern England for the
Aggie Muster.
He was injured his second day in
combat by fragmentation from a
shell in Normandy. He was platoon
leader with the 90th Infantry Div
ision. Lt. Hereford went overseas
Easter Sunday, 1944.
First Lieut. Alfred H. Walker,
Animal Husbandry, ’36, represented
the Air Forces at the hospital re
union. He was captured when his
B-24 was shot down over Munich,
Germany on his fifth mission.
He was a prisdner of the Nazis
until his liberation and return to
the States Feb. 5. Flames from
his crashed plane hospitalized him.
The Dallas Ex-Aggie Chapter
had a strong edge at the hospital
reunion. Two Dallas Aggies joined
the circle ringed around the bed.
They were Major James W.
Smith, Architecture, '42, who spent
seven months overseas in the Ord
nance attached to the 7th Army,
and Second Lieut. Paul H. Rosa
mond, Agronomy, ’43, who, spent
six months in the ETO with the
80th Infantry Division.
Major Smith was injured in
France, Jan. 11. Lieutenant Rosa
mond came to William Beaumont,
one of the Army’s largest hospitals,
in March.
Capt. L. O. Weatherbee, Animal
Husbandry, '41, from Del Rio,
represented the class of ’41 in the
reunion. He was injured in training
with the Infantry. He entered the
Army shortly after his graduation
from A&M.
Across the row of beds, another
Aggie lay unable to join the re
union. He was 1st. Lieut. Homer
Lemburg, Animal Husbandry ’37
from Mason. He was wheeled from
the operating room shortly after
the Aggie reunion started.
Lieutenant Lemberg spent 22
months overseas with the 32nd In
fantry on Attu, the Marshalls, and
on Leyte. He was wounded on Leyte
last October.
Capt. Maylor Lass, class of ’37
from Bellville, was unable to make
either the bedside reunion or the
downtown Muster. Both his legs
were in casts from a training in
jury.
1st. Lieut. Jack S. Hart, class
of ’41 from Jasper, planned to
make the downtown reunion if his
broken foot wouldn’t pain too
much. He was injured in the crash
of a four-motored bomber Jan. 18.
He is a B-29 pilot.
Other Aggie'patients at William
Beaumont who were able to leave
their beds attended the Aggie
Muster in El Pa&o. Some were on
crutches. Some limped with their
feet encased in casts. Others had
their arms in slings and casts. Still,
the Aggies mustered.
Thus far our efforts to recreate a balanced order of
conditions has met with little success and when the tre
mendous powers are set loose by the crushing of organized
opposition our attempts will indeed seem utterly puny. Never
before in all history will so few men be called upon to do so
much in so many places at once, or so rapidly. They will wish
they had had the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of a
saint. These men will be called upon to set right a society
long gone astray. They will need to be technical, men, for
there will be much to rebuild. The old Europe will be gone.
The new Europe will be built by these men.
The plans for the postwar orders and systems will have
to be formulated. The entire economic framework will have
to be readjusted and the work will call for extensively train
ed men capable of handling the transportation and distribu-
,tion of the essentials of life to people who have known little
but poverty and scarcity since the invasion of Poland and
Pearl Harbor. Work must be provided for all men capable
of working so as to re-establish the social organization as
soon as possible and give them the opportunity to supply
their own needs. Where no social organization before existed
all the physical fundamentals for social living must be pro
vided. It should be a far more gratifying task than was the
initial destruction of whatever these people possessed.
As we have learned already there will need to be judges,
for there will be so many vital decisions to be made. Trust
worthiness has disappeared in countries under domination
and who will there be but these leaders to determine the
proper organization and political setup for every town, vil
lage and hamlet shaken by war and revolt? Our leadership
must provide the necessary co-operation from these people
who could not be beaten into submission by our enemies.
If the civilian population will not accept them, the respon
sible ones will have to be chosen to represent us.
They will need to be soldiers for there will be conflicts
and uprisings for many years yet. Men who have killed for
more than five years will not become docile under the control
of our armies. They have the viciousness of hate instilled in
them. Their cities have been bombed—their families have been
murdered in cold blood. They cannot and will not forgive
quickly or easily. A proud man never forgets. They will fight
among themselves in battles that may be as fierce as any seen
in this war. These battles will not resemble the organized
conflicts that will close the war, they will be the vicious,
treacherous street fights that must follow the breakdown of
organization and order.
We here in America must realize our responsibilities
and duties to make this world safe for law and order, that
decent, righteous men will have the opportunity to enjoy
their life as they should. The war in Europe is yet to be fin
ished but the day is not far when we must spare no efforts
or energy in restoring a just and true world. Although stu
dents now, we will represent the hopes and prayers of all
decent, God-fearing people in a few years. We must prepare
ourselves for this day and we must prepare ourselves fully
if their hopes and prayers are to be realized. But, prepared
or not, we will take our place. We must be prepared!
Man, Your Manners
By I. Sherwood
In asking a girl for a date a man
should state what he has in mind
for the particular evening in ques
tion. This gives the girl a chance
to decide whether she wishes to ac
cept, and to know how she is ex
pected to dress. She may have seen
the movie that the man has in
mind or she may not have an
evening gown formal enough for
the dance he plans to take her to.
When a man calls for his girl,
he should go to the door and ask
for her. He should never sit in his
car and blow the horn. Neither
should keep the other waiting, but
on the other hand the man should
not arrive ahead of time. When he
comes the girl should be ready to
go. If he has not met her family,
she should greet him at the door,
then introduce him. Whenever pos
sible he should call for her at her
home, but if that is not convenient,
an inconspicuous meeting place
should be selected. No gentleman
would think of asking a lady to
meet him on a crowded street
corner.
When the evening is over the
man should return her to her door
—wartime exceptions to this rule
permit the serviceman to take a
bus back to camp and the girl
a taxi home.
Rj^g^f)G6l€9 INI •ACTION..
TIGHTIN’ TEXAS BOGIES'
CLASS OF 1945
Lt.' Arthur L. Cox has been as
signed to a post overseas. Lt. Wil
liam P. Ridding has been assigned
to a veteran Liberator Bombard
ment squadron as a pilot. He is
stationed in Italy. Lt. Robert S.
Winters has gone overseas. Lt.
Fred C. Seals recently arrived in
the ETO and received a brief
orientation at a United States
Strategic Air Force station in
England. The course is designed to
help him adjust himself to the
life in a combat zone. Pvt. Arthur
C. Padilla has gone overseas. S.
L.. Inzer is with the Humble Oil
and Refining Company at Randado,
Texas, and reports liking his work
very much. Lt. Hugh P. Shovlin is
reported to be somewhere over
seas. Cpl. Nick Sabanovitch is
somewhere in Burma. Lt. Eric W.
McCabe reports that he is seeing
plenty of China and India. Lt.
Jules P. Sarran, Jr., is now in
Germany and reports running
across several other Aggies in that
vicinity. Lt. Donald J. Engelking
has been assigned to Camp Hood,
Texas. Lt. O. M. Wilkinson, Jr.,
is in Italy and reports Lt. Ray N.
Pritchett flying P-47’s in France.
D. H. Daugherty has been slightly
wounded in France. Lt. U. C. Ster-
quell is inthe paratroopers. Lt. E.
J. Yacek is serving with ,the 7th
Army somewhere in France. Lt. J.
E. Westbrook reports running
across plenty of ’45 men. Lt. James
P. Owings is somewhere in Ger
many. Lt. George A. Boyd is pilot
of a B-24 somewhere in the Pacific.
Pfc. Vernon R. Schuchart is in
Germany and has seen plenty of
action. He reports S/Sgt. L. J.
Wilson, ’44, in the same company.
CLASS OF 1946
William E. “Red” Berry is in
the Army. Albert C. Houtz, A/C,
is in the Navy V-12 unit at Texas
University. Daniel J. Scherer re
cently received his commission as
an Ensign in the Navy. He reports
By Edna B. Woods
According to the dictionary, geo
graphy is “the science which des
cribes the surface of the earth
with its various peoples, animals,
and natural products.”
Generally speaking, until a few
years ago geography was a dull,
tedious subject, initiated into the
curriculum at about the third-grade
level. Four years of the monotony
of memorizing the names of cap
itals and rivers culminated in the
seventh grade, when its qualities
for inspiring boredom reached an
all time peak. The ridiculously large
textbook of the seventh grade,
foreboding in appaarance, was
heavy and inconvenient to carry
around. There were a few people,
even under those circumstances,
who became fascinated with the
subject, but there weren’t many.
With the beginning of the war,
with air lines operating in every
possible direction, and with Tom,
Dick, and Harry traveling for Un
cle Sam, we suddenly wanted to
know where “our boys” were go
ing and what they were doing. So
the study of geography came in
to its own, and if ever again it
becomes outmoded or if it lapses
into its old, drab character, educa
tion is regressing and the teachers
of geography are not human.
Van Loon’s Geography (1932) be
gins like this, “If everybody in
this world of ours were six feet
tall and a foot and a half wide
and a foot thick . . . then the whole
of the human race . . . could be
packed into a box measuring half
a mile in each direction.” And in
the same beginning chapter, Van
Loon says, “We are all of us fel
low-passengers on.the same planet
and the weal and woe of everybody
else means the weal and woe of our
selves!” Of course, that doesn’t
sound like the orthodox geography
(the seventh-grade text-book), for
Mr. Van Loon’s geography isn’t
that at all. Mr. Van Loon wrote
it because a friend pointed out the
ineffectiveness of grammar school
geography and requested that he
cover the same subject in a logical
and useful book. Ten years later,
Mr. Van Loon fulfilled the request.
His geography, which he not only
wrote, but also illustrated, partly
in color, is a fascinating story of
the earth in 525 pages (ordinary
book size), including a page of
facts and a very useful index. “His
tory is the fourth Dimension of
Geography. It gives it both time
and meaning.” Van Loon’s Geo
graphy encompasses all four di
mensions. He discusses people,
planets—their habits and manners,
maps, geographical divisions; then
he discusses the continents and
the countries, the islands and the
empires that compose the world.
Van Loon’s Geography, though not
new, is neither complicated nor
difficult to understand. It is in
teresting, easy reading, and is the
first book recommended to you, if
you have an interest in the sub
ject or if you’d like to have one.
New World Horizons; geography
for the air age (1942), edited by
Chester H. Lawrence, with maps
by Ray Ramsey, is colorful and
cpndensed, resembling a picture
book in appearance. According to
the editor, New World Horizons is
a geography for the millions, be-
ause it is brief and can be read
through in an hour or so, and be
cause its maps which are original
and unique suggest the point that
the narrative wants to make with
a minimum of detail and with lots
of color. Only one or two pages
of discussion accompanies at map
of each country. Look at New
World Horizons especially for its
maps; they are beautiful and
graphic.
The War in Maps (1943), by
Francis Brown, with maps by
Emil Hei-lin and Vaughn Gray,
contains 78 maps of the war with
their interpretations. Emphasis is
placed on military strategy. Most
of the maps are reprints from the
New York Times; however, some
of them have been revised, and
others have been drawn especially
for this volume. Prefaced with a
chapter called, “A Backdrop to
War,” some of the most interest
ing of these black and white maps
are, “The Strategic North Pacific”,
“Battle of the ' Atlantic, 1942”,
others who received their commis
sions are Robert A. Brown. Alfred
H. Plyer, Willie Roof, and Wood-
son E. Dryden. Pfc. George D.
Everett is now stationed at Camp
Howze, Texas. F/O George M.
Callihan is on a B-25 in New
Guinea. Pvt. Richard O. Thomas,
USMC, is in the experimental sec
tion for amphibian tractors at
Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif.
“The Allied Blockade”, and “Amer
ican Contingents Abroad.” The
War in Maps has been edited once,
and probably a final edition will
be a compltete summary of the war
in maps.
The Geography of the Peace
(1944), by Nicholas John Spyk-
man, was edited after the author’s
death by Helen R. Nichol.
Mr. Spykman, a professor of
International Relations at Yale
University, was one of few Ameri
cans who realized before 1938, that
to overlook the geographic factor
was to ignore one of the most
important sources of light on the
subject of security. In that year,
he published a series of articles on
This week-end we are holding
our Intramural Swimming Meet at
the P. L. Downs, Jr., Natatorium.
The meet will be well worth seeing
because the con-
testants will be
' ' fPl su PP or ted by
* > their loyal or-
• : Jl g an i za tions in the
! ||| stands.
; Swimming has
come a long way
p\’' V W j it this school. Un-
IIfiBSe " -Mo a sma ^ pool iu
“Y” where the
Penberthy bowling - alleys
are now located. In 1932 the P. L.
Downs, Jr., Natatorium, the finest
in the South, was completed as the
result of the efforts of the man
whose name it bears. We imme
diately started swimming classes
in the P. E. program and were
represented by a team in the con
ference. However, it was not until
1934 when Mr. Arthur Adamson
One of the better movies that
have recently shown at the Campus
Theater is “Mrs. Parkington”, a
story based on the novel of the
same title by Louis Bromfield. As
usual with movies based on novels
“Mrs. Parkington” does not come
up to its namesake. Specifically the
production falls short in the por
trayal of character. One of the most
convincing characters in the novel,
Lady Nora Ebbsworth, is reduced
in the play from an interesting
English adventures to a Holly
wood snob. And Jack, son of
Amory, is another character typed
in the movie and individualized in
the novel.
But the principals, Major and
Mrs. Parkington, adequately repre
sent Bromfield’s characters. The
story of their life together starts
in a Western mining town of the
1870’s, where Susie Graham (Miss
Greer Garson) works as a maid
in her mother’s boarding house.
When the New York multimillion
aire, Major Parkington (Mr. Wal
ter Pidgeon,) comes along, Susie
is won in a whirlwind courtship
and whisked off to the East. In
New York, with the aid of his ex
mistress, the Duchess, the Major
converts his wife into a fashion
able society woman. This change is
accompanied by a usual movie
stunt of showing the .actress’ un-
petticoated charms in the fitting
room of a fashionable dressmaker.
Before long the Major turns his at
tention to an English beauty, but
the determined Mrs. Parkington,
with the aid of the Prince of
Wales, wins him back. We see no
more of the Major.
Another part of the story con
cerns Mrs. Parkington’s grand
children and great grandchildren
living in 1938. These generations
fail to live up to the independence
and dash of Major and Mrs. Park
ington. Instead they become dis
gusting, fashionable snobs—all but
the great granddaughter, Janie.
With Mrs. Parkington’s blessing,
Janie wins an ambitious young
man contemptuous of the Parking
ton wealth. Finally Mrs. Parking
ton gives up her wealth to save a
spineless grandson who has em
bezzled from his firm the good
round sum of $31,000,000.
The story is presented in flash
backs. Through the use of these
flashbacks, the action frequently,
and usually with adequate transi
tions, changes from 1938 to various
years in the late nineteenth cen
tury. Some of the shifts seemed
forced.
What idea appears in the play
rests upon an attempt to balance
the vigor of Major Parkington
and his world with the unsocial
uninspired modern generation,
the relation of geography to war.
His analysis in The Geography of
War includes chapters on: “Map
ping the world,” “The position of
the Western Hemisphere,” “The
political map of Europe,” and “The
strategy of security.” The result
is a very strong case for the ac
tive participation of the United
States in World affairs. The Geo
graphy of the Peace shows isola
tionism as the policy of wishers,
not thinkers. It is a well written,
carefully edited study; it can be
read easily and with complete un
derstanding.
An Intelligent American’s Guide
to the Peace (1945), edited and in-
See BOOKS, Page 6
came to us that ‘business really
picked up”.
Art registered as a special stu
dent, took a near normal schedule,
taught P. E. classes, coached the
swimming team and got his degree
in 1939. He got his Master’s in
January, 1944. His team tied for
the conference championship last
year and won the championship
this year.
Through his interest in swim
ming and untiring efforts he has
developed at our school a swim
ming program that ranks second
to none. Many of our students now
in service owe their lives to the
fact that Art Adamson taught
them to swim. The “Duck”, as we
affectionately call him, gets as
much kick out of teaching a boy
how to swim and be a good water
man as he does in having a champ
ion.
To me he is the shining example
of what can be done in the promo
tion of an activity by an indivi
dual who is genuinely interested.
young people who lack the initia
tive even to hold the family for
tune together. Walter Pidgeon and
Greer Garson do their usual com
petent acting, getting much out of
the material before them.
.. .The Woman in the Window is a
murder picture, but it is in no
sense one of the ordinary “who don-
nit” mystery thrillers. For one
thing there is no attempt to con
ceal the identity of murderer since
the audience sees the man when
he commits the crime. The main
purpose of the movie is to study
the thoughts and actions of the
murderer as he attempts to avoid
detection. The result is some very
good dramatic acting on the part
of Edward G. Robinson and Joan
Bennett, and such suspense that
the movie-goer feels that he is act
ually living the story.
The story starts off slowly in
troducing the characters, the set
ting, and the situation. With the
murder the story moves into high
gear and continues to accelerate
until the skilful climax comes at
the last of the picture.
Professor Richard Wanley, play
ed by Edward G. Robinson, is first
seen with his wife and children
leaving him to take a trip. After
ward as he is going to his club
to meet his two best friends, a
doctor and the assistant district
attorney, played by Raymond Mas
sey, he sees a portrait of a very
beautiful woman in a window near
his club. With his friends the con
versation centers around this
woman and their desire to meet
her.
While looking at the picture
again later that night, Professor
Wanley suddenly becomes aware
that the woman whose portrait he
is admiring is standing beside
him. Seeking adventure, and per
haps something more, he accom
panies the woman to her apart
ment, literally to see her etchings.
Just when he and the woman, play
ed by Joan Bennett, are getting
quite friendly, her regular boy
friend walks in. In the battle that
follows, Wanley kills the man in
self-defense.
Wanley realizes that his posi
tion as a teacher of psychology,
his home, everything would be lost
to him if the facts became known,
and the girl is panicky with fear
of going to jail; so they decide to
dispose of the body to clear them
selves. That is when the story
really begins.
In spite of their efforts to be
calm and thorough in the matter,
they make almost every conceivable
blunder. Moreover when the police
begin their search for the killer,
Wanley’s friend, the assistance dis-
(See STUDENT REVIEW, Page 6)
PENNY’S SERENADE
By W. L. Penberthy
: Student Reviews: