Page 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 19, 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
Plssoaded CpUe6iate Press
John F. Spragins, Jr : Editor-in-Chief
Sam A. Nixon, Jr Managing Editor
REPORTERS
Clyde C. Crittenden, S. A. Wells, M. C. Kury, R. W. Simms, B. W. Cantrell, R.
G. Reese, H. A. Pate, F. D. Baca. R. M. Wren, O. J. Hbert.
An Editorial...
(It is the policy of The Bryan News to invite guest editorials from time to time.
The editorial appearing below was written for the News by President Gibb Gilchrist
and is reprinted with the permission of The Bryan News—The Editor.)
It is time for a real, heart-to-heart homefolk discus
sion about how we are getting along. Remember, this is one
man’s opinion but it is based on a sincere interest in the
advancement of Bryan, College Station, and Brazos County
as a whole.
Bryan and College Station are both good, substantial
Texas cities, peopled by real folk interested in their homes,
their churches, their cities, their county, and their state,
and willing to do their part. Are we going forward as we
should ? It seems that more aggressive, courageous, and
unified action toward a better all around community is
needed. By unified is not meant blind adherence to the ideas
of any man or group of men, but is the writer alone in the
belief that too much attention is being paid to a minute
percentage of our joint citizenship, suspected at times of
indulgence in monkey-wrench operations?
The A. & M. College is the major enterprise of this
community. It is a great institution. Barring corruption or
downright apathy or inefficiency, is it too much to ask that
every person interested in the advancement of the institu
tion get behind its objectives—as declared by those in
authority—and help achieve them? With the same excep
tions, and without implication, is it too much to ask that
our public bodies, our public officials, our newspapers,
our luncheon clubs or other semi-public or semi-official or
ganizations or groups be equally generous? There should al
ways be argument and there can be differences of opinion,
always healthy if openly expressed, but sometime, some
where along the line, somebody or some board or commisT
sion in constituted authority must say, “That is the way”.
There is no limit to what this institution can become with
wholehearted support of its declared objectives. The As
sociation of Former Students of this institution is already
pledged to these objectives.
Each community might well ignore its own sniper con
tingent, leaving the vast majority of our citizens who are
simply too busy to be mad about anything, free to go for
ward jointly toward bigger, better, and publicly-declared
objectives. The suggestion has been made previously, but
why not a county-wide committee of forward-looking men
and women in addition to existing civic organizations to
plan for greater community growth, more satisfying rela
tions, and more progress all around? Starting with the writ
er, let’s all look under our own hats.
REMARKS
THERE IS
TO YELL
RESPECT FOR
ONE THING
AND WHISTLE
A. & M.
THAT AGGIES
AND CAT CALL
IN THE
ARE NOTED
BEFORE AND
EYES OF
FOR AND
AFTER THE
OUTSIDERS
THAT IS
ACT IS
BUT SHOULD
FAIR PLAY
ONE THING
SEE TO
AND COURTEOUS
BUT TO
IT THAT
CONDUCT
YELL AND
THE PERFORMERS
TO OUTSIDERS
WHISTLE AND
ON WEDNESDAY
AND OUTSIDERS '
CATCALL
NIGHT AT
ARE WHAT
DURING THE
GUION HALL
THE PERFORMERS
ACT IS
AND ANY
AT GUION HALL
ANOTHER THING
OTHER NIGHT
ON WEDNESDAY
AND
ANYWHERE
NIGHT ARE
IT IS
WHERE AGGIES
AND THEY
NOT RIGHT
MAKE UP
EXPECT TO
AND
THE AUDIENCE
BE TREATED
THE CORPS
ARE PAID
WITH RESPECT
SHOULD NOT
THE RESPECT
WHEN THEY
LET A
TO WHICH
ARE PERFORMING
FEW INDIVIDUALS
THEY ARE
AND
LOWER THE
ENTITLED
THE BATTALION
--SAYS--
BUY
WAR
BONDS
(
BACKWASH
Backwash: “An agitation resulting from some action or occurence.”—Webster.
By the Collaborators
Is there a certain period in your
life when you feel definitely in
ferior? Do you marvel at your
stupidity after having gone to
school for six and one half weeks
and in this period having been able
to pass almost no quizzes at all?
Do you closely associate this with
lack of intelligence on your part?
Few of us do. By the way of ration
alizing, “Backwash” will now of
fer a theory which’ has been ad
vanced by mor^ learned men than
it is our privilege to be. Thusly:
Human beings are definitely lazy.
Some, more so than others. That’s
the way it is and always will be.
Aggies are human beings. Now all
you have to do is sit in your
“hole” and brag about what you
could do. So the next time you
become dejected or downhearted
about your courses, just remember
that you are just a little tired and
have been all your life and you are
not just plain dumb! In case you
derive a multitude of satisfaction
from the above dribble you can
safely say that you are not the
original mental midget, but per
haps just his first cousin.
0
Do you feel definitely run down
after having consumed vast quan
tities of alcoholic beverages? Does
a room hazy with cigarette smoke
affect your vision? Little has been
said about this subject and per
haps little should be. We feel that
Dr. Gallup should get on the ball
and investigate the cause-for some
people’s ability to be more suc
cessful “stumblebums”. After all
you might be a potential drunkard
and never know it. It probably
should be in the form of a psy
chological questionnaire. We have
questionnaires of all sorts which
enable us to determine just about
everything which is of no particu
lar importance. With this little in
strument severe mal-adjustments
could be corrected with a minimum
of effort. Then you too could be
the life of the party, or just anoth
er drunken bum in a shroud of
iniquity.
0
BATTALION
PROPAGANDA:
A man who was too stingy to
subscribe for his hometown news
paper sent his little boy to borrow
the copy taken by a neighbor. In
his haste the boy ran over a $4
stand of bees and in ten minutes
looked like a warty summer squash.
His father ran to his assistance
and, failing to notice the barbed
wire fence, ran into it, ruining a
$5 pair of trousers.
The old cow took advantage of
the gap in the fence, got into the
corn field and killed herself eat
ing green corn.
Hearing this racket his wife
ran out, upset a four-gallon churn
of cream into a basket of little
chickens, drowning' the entire
batch. In her haste she dropped a
$35 set of false teeth.
By Ruben R. Caro-Costas
Bolivia is a tropical country,
surrounded by spectacular high
mountains, dense jungles, and vir
tually uninhabited plains. Bounded
by Brazil on the North and West,
Peru and Chile on the West, and
Argentina and Paraguay on • the
South, Bolivia finds herself en
circled by five different countries
and shut away from the Pacific.
For the past hundred years Boli
via has been involved in continuous
strife with the republics surround
ing her, for a chance to get a pass
way to the Pacific and over terri
torial claims. First of these wars
was the “War of the Pacific” over
disputed boundary lines between
Chile and Peru and Bolivia. From
this three-cornered dispute which
lasted for about twenty five years,
Bolivia lost the chance of getting
an outlet to the Pacific which she
so badly needed. This was followed
by disputes with Argentina and
Brazil in regard with the well
known Chaco region. Bolivia lost
much of this region out of this
dispute. Then came the “Chaco
War” with Paraguay over the lush
land to the east. This was a region
which was for years held jointly
by tLe two countries, but with the
outcome of this war Bolivia lost it
almost entirely to Paraguay.
During those years of continuous
warfare with her neighbors, Boli
via lost many of her sons, two-
thirds of her original territory,
and her access to the Pacific.
Geographically, Bolivia can be
divided into three different regions.
The baby having been left alone,
crawled through the cream into
the parlor, ruining a brand new
$25 carpet.
During the excitement the old
est daughter ran away with the
hired man, the dog broke up two
setting hens and the calves got out
and chewed the tails off four fine
shirts on the clothes line. MORAL:
SUBSCRIBE TO THE BATT!!!
0
DID YOU KNOW?
That five years ago the Batt
ran an article about American col
lege students as to the brand of
tobacco that they preferred? Why
doesn’t someone sample public opin
ion once more and find out what
they smoke now? It might be
shown that many now smoke rag
weed, coffee, grapevines, opium,
and what have you. A small and
select group who knows someone
who has a relative working in a
cigarette factory may still smoke
“tailer made” coffin nails.
That the Aggies are to invade
TSCW campus August? So says
this week “Lass-O”.
“The Aggies will invade the
campus August 11, when the Sing
ing Cadets and the stage band
will be here for the weekend. The
Cadets and orchestra will give a
performance here on the campus
and the orchestra will play for a
dance.
Many Aggies are expected to
be here for the weekend, but stu
dents may invite other service
men and friends too. Invitations
will be sent to nearby army camps
and airfields.
The Cadets and Orchestra will
be housed in Camps during their
stay on the campus.”
Lets all see to it that there is
a sizeable contingent on hand to
take part in the festivities.
That Aggies and TessyiteS used
to write to corresponding box num
bers? This might be a good way
to get to know some women ip
Denton. It is also a good way
to get some mail.
0
WAKE UP AND LIVE
Why doesn’t the freshman class
wake up and start making plans
for a big freshman ball ? There
are certainly enough freshmen on
the campus to have a highly suc
cessful dance. The freshman ball
is probably one of the outstanding
events of the year. “Backwash”
suggests that you, the officers of
the freshman class, call a meeting
in the near future and get together
on something and contact the
Student Activities office as soon
as possible. Come on, freshmen,
talk it up and get the little girl
friend started on making her
plans to come down. How about
August 3rd with a Corps Ball the
night after?
P.S.
Did YOU see those new bath
ing suit pictures in LIFE maga
zine last week? “YEEOW!!!”
There are the jungles, and low
dry plains with typical torrid heat
in the eastern two-thirds of Boli
via. Few of her 3,500,000 people live
there. For the most part, they are
concentrated in the Altiplano, two
miles above sea level. Nowhere in
the world, except in Tibet, does
the main life of a country go on
at such great heights, and Tibet’s
plateau is much more sparsely
populated than Bolivia’s.
Mountains of Silver
The Spanish Conquistadores,
pushing down from Panama and
inland through Peru in search of
a rumored fabulous mountain of
silver, not only found it but also
found one of the oldest civilizations
in the world. They found the ruins
of a well developed communal state.
Aqueducts, moldering agricul
tural terraces, crumbling stone
roads were among the signs of a
well advanced civilization found
by the Conquistadores. This civil
ization was that of the Incas, es
tablished around the twelfth cen
tury and believed to have been
preceded by another tribe of In
dians established as early as 200
A. D. These Incas were master en
gineers and. had a telegraphic
system, but did not know the
wheel.
During the search for the fab
ulous mountains of silver which
they actually found—one of the
few instances in history that turn
ed legend into fact—the Con
quistadores founded Bolivia’s first
town, Paria, in 1535. Three years
later another group founded Char-
By Edna B. Woods
EARTH AND HIGH HEAVEN
“Montreal society is divided
roughly into three categories label
ed ‘French,’ ‘English,’ and ‘Jewish,’
and there is not much coming and
going between them, particularly
between the Jews and either of the
other groups; for although, as a
last resort, French and English
can be united under the heading
‘Gentiles,’ such an alliance merely
serves to isolate the Jews more
than ever.” Most of the story of
EARTH AND HIGH HEAVEN by
Gwethalyn Graham Brown takes
place in this setting.
Almost any book on race rela
tions attracts attention, partly be
cause international developments
have brought race problems to
the peoples’ attention and partly
because personal prejudices awaken
an interest that objective thinking
fails to do. Books of fiction with
central themes built around a race
situation are usually accepted or
rejected whole-heartedly by the
reader. Last year, Lillian Smith’s
STRANGE FRUIT was such a
Many years ago the Texas Leg
islature created an independent
school district of the A. & M. Col
lege campus—a district which con
sisted of some 3500 acres of land
and buildings valued at approxi
mately $3,500,000. However, since
the property belonged to the State
of Texas, it was not taxable; and
a school district with no taxable
property, except for a small amount
of personal property, will not
support a school. Another factor
which made it possible for the
campus people to have anything
like a modern school was the small
number of children, there being
only 30 or 40 of them on the cam
pus. Consequently, the campus
people sent their children to Bryan
to school.
In 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act
was passed by Congress appropri
ating funds for the teaching of
agriculture in public schools. A.
& M. College was designated as a
teacher-training institution, and
under authority of the act certain
funds were made available for pre
paring teachers of agriculture in
the public schools. This created
the problem of a training school
for giving prospective teachers
some practice teaching in agricul
ture. But the college had no public
school and one was needed and
must be provided.
In 1920, Dr. W. B. Bizzell, Pres
ident of the College, with Profes
sor Martin L. Hayes, head of the
Department of Vocational Teach
ing, conceived the idea of estab
lishing a school on the campus for
the purpose of meeting this need
and at the same time of meeting
the needs of the campus people
for a public school. Many problems
had to be solved before this could
be realized, more particularly that
of adequate finances and the furth
er problem of bringing together
enough children to create a satis
factory school unit. Finally,
through the efforts of Professor
Hayes, the State Board of Educa
tion was persuaded to grant rural
aid sufficient to justify the estab
lishment of the school. The college
also furnished material assistance,
and Dr. Bizzell made available
$25,000 for the construction of a
school building. (In this connec
tion it may be of interest to record
that the $25,000 had been appro
priated by the Legislature for the
construction of a new home for
the president of A. & M. College,
but this did not solve the problem
of the requisite number of children
for a satisfactory school unit.)
In order to solve the problem
of bringing together the required
number of children, Professor
Hayes conceived the idea of mak
ing the school a rural consolidated
school by taking in sufficient ter-
cas, “City of Four Names” which
was to be in turn La Plata, Chu-
quisaca, and Sucre, legal capital
of Bolivia.
With the discovery of a great
wealth of silver the Spaniards
forced the Aymaras and Quechuas,
subjects of the Incas, tp work on
those mines. Many of them died
from the pressure of the labor and
from diseases introduced by the
Spaniards. Even if they were
forced to work by the Spaniards,
(See GOOD NEIGHBORS, Page 3)
book. Its story, which was based
on Negro-White relations, was
without a doubt the most sensa
tional book of the year. While
EARTH AND HIGH HEAVEN
deals with a milder problem—that
of racial-religious distinctions—it
is a better book as far as writing
is concerned. Also a member of
the “best seller class” EARTH
AND HIGH HEAVEN is a
thoughtful, sensible story and sing
ularly interesting novel.
Erica Drake, whose name de
notes her highbrow Protestant
English background, is the favored
child and daughter of Charles
Sickert Drake (his children call
him “Charles”—which indicates the
sophistication of the story), presi
dent of the Drake Importing Com
pany. Erica departed from the or
thodox tradition in her family,
when during a low point in the
Drake financial holdings, she took
a job doing the society page of a
local paper. Even so, Erica and
her father, who is handsome, pow
erful, and highly intellectual, are
the best of friends; each thorough-
ritory adjoining the college proper
ty to afford sufficient pupils to in
sure an ideal organization — that
is, a teacher for each grade. This
fact alone created the very serious
problem of transportation—that of
getting the rural children to and
from school. When the rural dis
tricts were assured transportation
for their children, Professor Hayes
and County Superintendent Eck
Smith succeeded in getting com
mon school districts 2, 6, and 13—
all adjoining the campus—to agree
to co-operate in launching the new
school.
The problem of securing a build
ing in the summer of 1920, of se
curing teachers and transportation
for about 160 children, Was no
small one. But with about $13,000
rural aid and some $5,000 furnish
ed by the college, with the state
and county apportionment, and
the local taxes from the co-operat
ing districts, the financial side of
the undertaking seemed bright
enough. Accordingly, the school
board proceeded with the construc
tion of a building and with the pur
chase of two Oldsmobile busses for
transportation—and, fqr the rec
ord, that board was made up of
Professor Hayes, Dean E. J. Kyle,
and Professor E. J. Fermier, all
appointed by the President of the
College. A teaching staff consist
ing of the very best teachers avail
able was invited to take over.
This staff included all necessary
teachers from principal to primary
teacher, including a teacher of
home economics and one for agri
culture. The problem of organizing
a complete school program, includ
ing transportation, was dumped
into the lap of the writer. It was
his job tOyorganize the school —
a task which was undertaken on
September 28, 1920, when some 160
pupils presented themselves for
registration. The school was opened
in Guion Hall and continued to
hold its daily session there until
the new building was ready for
occupancy. The new building was
soon completed but when the
school moved from Guion Hall we
found ourselves utterly devoid of
any equipment. The principal begg
ed and borrowed from various de-
oartments of the college and in a
few weeks A. & M. Consolidated
School was on its way. It was the
plan of the original board and the
superintendent to make the school
a model of its kind—that is, no
teacher should have more than one
grade and no grade more than 35
pupils. The teachers were to be
the best obtainable. It was to be
a case in which the job sought the
teacher—not the teacher the job.
A teacher’s home, or teacherage,
was provided, and living conditions
were made as pleasant as possible.
FINE UNIFORMS
PHONE 4-4444
We not only sell polish and
brushes but we GIVE infor
mation to you on how best
to shine your own shoes.
Holick’s Boot Shop*
Good Neighbors \
BOLIVIA . . . Country with Two Capitals
:: Your City ::
BY W. L. HUGHES
Sixth of a Series
HISTORY OF A. & M. CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL: PART I
ly enjoys the company of the other.
The conflict begins when Erica
meets the thirty-three year old
lawyer, Marc Reiser, at a cock
tail party. Charles Drake on in
troduction affects a rudeness her-
toforeunrealized in his character;
possibly the action is Freudian in
origin. The story progresses simul
taneously with the heightening of
the conflict. Erica becomes the
victim of two opposing forces.
Marc, of middle-class Jewish back
ground, as well as Charles, is con
vinced that even thpugh he loves
Erica, marriage will only magnify
their problems. His reasoning is
based on a feeling of inferiority;
Charles’, is based on a feeling of
superiority.
Most of the characters are well
done. Erica, her mother, her sister-
Miriam, and Marc are real people.
Charles is so intense that the sud
den change in his character is not
anticipated and hardly justificable.
Marc’s brother David—a country
doctor—is quite intelligent and
thoroughly practical. Through him,
the author expresses herself—her
genuine, fair, and certainly ideal
istic philosophy.
EARTH AND HIGH HEAVEN
offers entertainment in a good
story, material for thought through
its conflicting ideas on a serious
theme, and a plot which reads na
turally and well, including some
very nice descriptions of the beau
tiful Canadian woods.
Khakis cleaned and pressed
Better work at
Holick Cleaners
We charge more
Air-Conditioned
Opens 1:00 P.M. — Ph. 4-1181
Thursday—Last Day
fred m*q Murray
*22,
and Color Cartoon
Friday & Saturday
Double Feature
No. 1
aket you shiver
and shudder!
JoWJJhisi^
1 A COLUMBIA PICTURE
No. 2
“BOMBARDIER”
— starring —
Pat O’Brien
Anne Shirley
also Merrie Melodies Cartoon
Sunday and Monday
Plus Cartoon and Short
Tues. - Wed. - Thurs.
L0UP0T5
WHERE YOU ALWAYS GET
A FAIR TRADE