a a m e-4 D <?■ hHI—
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THE BATTALION
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 26, 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
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
Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
New York City,
Member
Associated Gr>Ue6iate 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.
Welcome Home, Coach . . .
Coach Homer Norton’s recent return to our midst has
been felt by each and every Aggie, and to him the entire
corps of cadets has extended its heartiest welcome. Scarcely
had Coach Norton’s touching and inspiring note of thanks
for the flowers reached the campus, but what he had re
joined us in Aggieland. His very presence caused a sudden
increase in football temperatures around A. & M., and im
mediately spirits and fond hopes for the forthcoming foot
ball season rose.
The whole of the corps is looking forward with the
greatest anticipation to seeing its coach “back in the sad
dle” once more. The Aggies’ chief interest is that he return
to his position in the prime of health to lead us on to a vic
torious season of football. The Twelfth Man will be here as
always to do its share of the fighting, and the corps wants
everyone, especially Coach Norton, to know that it will be
ever ready to spur the team on to victory.
So, in behalf of the entire corps, it’s WELCOME HOME
COACH NORTON!!!
A Criticism of the Aggies . . .
From time to time, A. & M.’s shortcomings, some of
which are petty and others of which are not so trivial, are
brought forth to the attention of the corps and the public
in an onrush of criticism. Usually, the source of the criti
cism is appeased by the alleviation or the complete exterm
ination when possible, of the contention. Sometimes, the
process of elimination of shortcomings is somewhat difficult
to achieve; and other times, the process progresses un
dauntedly and expeditiously.
Current among the criticism of the Aggie corps is the
overwhelming prevalence of profanity and obscene language
among the cadets of A. & M. Elaboration on the fact that
this habit has flourished here for years is unnecessary, for
we are all conscious of its existence. Fortunately for the Ag
gies, very few ladies mingle with us during the week; and
therefore, we escape much criticism on that account. A dif
ferent situation presents itself on week-ends, however, for
that is the time when we encounter women, both here at
Aggieland and off the campus. The greatest criticism reg
istered so far by friend and foe alike regards the language
of the Aggies when away from the campus. Aggies riding
the bus to Bryan, Aggies en route to Dallas and Houston
via trains, Aggies in group conversation in various cities—
all of these occur off the campus and present a vile and
appalling situation to outsiders who form their opinions of
A. & M. not from our virtues, but from our shortcomings.
Not only has the situation off the campus served as a basis
of complaint, for the semi-public places around the campus
such as the mess hall, the post office, and the eating estab
lishments, which are a continual host to women, have brought
a deluge of bad reports.
Being Aggies, our uniform serves as a target of atten
tion. Seldom do we receive credit for the good things we do,
and always do we attract criticism for the few shortcom
ings we possess. There is always someone waiting to pounce
upon us and rip us wide open with malicious attacks. When
we allow our profane language to fall upon their ears, they
have been invited by us to commence their attack. If we
want those attacks and criticisms to cease, it is up to every
one of us as individuals to curtail our obscene language.
Then there will be no basis for their criticisms. For each of
those who do not know A. & M. and its many fine virtues,
we will have an opportunity to win one more friend by our
conduct.
Since we are forever in the limelight, we can allow our
conduct to create a wonderful impression upon the public
if only we strive to eliminate a few undesirable habits such
as cursing at the wrong place and time.
WHEN GLADYS WROTETO HER
BOY FRIEND.TOE, IN THE NAVY-
HER LETTERS HAD EVERYTHING
THEY WERE JUST THE KINO OF
LETTERS TOE LIKED TO ffET- FULL
OF LOVE AND CHEERFULNESS
AND IN HER MINO, GLADYS
PICTURED ODE READING- HER
LETTERS WITH EXPRESSIONS
OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS ON
MIS FACE.
-joe NEVER RECEIVED
HER LETTERS / POSTAL
SYSTEM TO BLAME P /VOP£f
)>
((
GLADYS NEVER.NEVER,WROTE
JOE WORRY LETTERS-ONTHE
CONTRARY HER LETTERS HAD
VvARMTH AFFECTION-EVERY-
THlNfr IN THEM TO MAKE JOE GLAD
GLADYS ALWAYS POSTED TOES
LETTERS PROMPTLY AND
EVERYTHING- WAS CTUST
PERFECT EXCEPT ONE THING —
GLADYS ADDRESSED TOE'S
LETTERS LIKE THIS
III Ii— II I■ ■ 1 —— ——TPl
sSrlkv m
Toseph Jackson Tones SJe
INSTEAD OF THIS
BACKWASH
Backwash: “An agritation resulting from some action or occurence.”—Webster.
By The Collaborators
During the hot summer months,
which are very uncomfortable in
College Station and vicinity, al
most everyone tries to “beat the
heat” in some manner. A good way
to do this, especially when it
comes to eating, is to eat cool and
appetizing looking food. Perhaps
the effect is more psychological
than real, but just the same it
helps. “Backwash” wishes to ex
press the opinion of certain peo
ple that the food in the messhall
is a bit unappetizing and a little
flat.
Possibly this is due to the fact
that the food is prepared in large
quantities and then again it might
be because the menu is not changed
enough to embrace the summer
season. The salad, which is com
monly known as “rabbit”, is not
fresh and looks definitely wilted
by the time it is to be eaten. The
“bullneck”, which started out as
perfectely good meat is cut and
prepared so as to be very greasy
and slightly tough. Yes, we know
that the menu is made out so
that everyone gets a balanced diet,
and the correct number of vitamins
and such, but that doesn’t mean
we like to eat it. Maybe some in
fluential person will read this and
eat a few meals in the mess hall.
They won’t be able to appreciate
this unless they eat in the mess
hall over a period of time. Let it
not be said that we are not mind
ful of the fact that we do get plenty
to eat, while other people go hun
gry, but it seems a shame for
good food not to be presented at its
best.
0
Five hundred beautiful women—
soft, dreamy music—a starry sum
mer sky—and five hundred soft,
flowing evening gowns to show
off their occupants to the very
best advantage—an Aggie dream
come true. By name it is the Fresh
man Ball and the first formal of
the summer. And to top it off there
will be also be a dance Saturday
night—with orchestra. Maybe an
estimate of five hundred is too
conservative, for what Aggie could
resist this chance to have a date
down, unless it might be some of
the seniors and—but why go into
that? After all it is the Freshman
Ball.
Five years ago one Pat Perry, a
T. C. U. coed, wrote the following
letter to BACKWASH. “Being a
thing of many words and few
brains I couldn’t resist telling you
that there’s a lot about an Aggie
that gets a girl. I could write vol
umes on the subject of manhood
on the Brazos, but I’m afraid the
cadets would be thrown into the
last stage of epileptics trying to
figure out the point. When an Ag
gie gazes at a girl in the sex-
starved way and slings a powerful
‘line’ of bull—guaranteed to be
sure-fire stuff by a brother fresh
man—a girl knows that anything
in a skirt would bring forth the
same exultations of delight. You
fellows can’t fool us.” Speak for
yourself, Miss Perry.
0
Oh, The injustice of it all! For
two hours now we, the Collabora
tors, have been sitting here trying
to figure out something to write
about. Why don’t people do odd
and amusing things any more ?
What is the world coming to ?
Don’t crazy things happen to Ag
gies just the same as always? If
they do we certainly haven’t heard
of them. You got us beat if you
know where all the good “bull’
has escaped to.
0
The mis-adventures that can hap
pen in one week-end. It seems that
Bill Ray went to Huntsville this
weekend. To start off with, it took
him four hours to get there, and
when he finally did, he was put
out no end to find that his girl
friend was out of town. Then he
went out to the college only to
find it was between semesters and
not a female was in sight. After
sweating the personnel of the
local hashery all to, no avail he
rented a hotel room and got a
nice restful sleep. The next day
he came back to school and rushed
to the Post Office only to find a
card, mind you not a letter but a
measly pastcard, from his lady
love in Fort Worth to the effect
that she was leaving almost imme
diately for Washington to go to
work for the Navy. At the last re
port Ray was in a vile and nasty
mood and would speak to no one.
Oh well, Ray, things are tough all
over.
.Good Neighbors
Venezuela Land of Oil
By Ruben R. Caro-Costas
Venezuela lies in the northern
extreme of the continent of South
America. It is bounded on the north
and northeast by the Caribbean
Sea along a coast that extends
some 1,750 miles, on the east by
British Gnian, on the southeast
by Brazil and on the west and
southwest by Colombia.
Geographically, Venezuela can
be divided into four regions; the
Guayana highlands, the central
plains or llanos, the mountainous
region of the Andean and Coastal
ranges, and the Maracaibo low
lands. The Guayana highlands, the
largest region, comprises the
southern half of the country. They
are rich in wood and minerals. The
llanos are very low and make up
the principal grazing section of the
country. This region covers ap
proximately 100,000 square miles.
The mountainous region comprises
the principal agricultural section,
where mose of the population is
concentrated. The fourth and last
of Venezuela’s region is the coastal
region, which produces most of
Venezuela’s large petroleum pro
duction.
The Orinoco River is the only
true river system in the country.
In common with other tropical
countries, Venezuela knows but
two seasons—the rainy and the dry.
The rainy season, May through
November, is the time of torren
tial rains, when many parts of the
llanos are inundated. The atmos
phere is often hot and humid. The
dry season, which last from De
cember through April is more com
fortable. The wind, which blows
from the north, is dry and refresh
ing.
Little Venice
The Spanish Conquistadores,
by the sight of native villages
built on piles along the swampy
shores of Lake Maracaibo, were
reminded of Venice; so they called
that region “Venezuela” or Little
Venice.
Birthplace of Bolivar
Venezuela was the scene of one
of the earliest revolts against
Spain. They started their separatist
movement around 1749, and until
1813 met with failure after fail
ure. Then came the man who some
years later was to be known as the
“Great Liberator”—Simon Bolivar,
who was destined to be the great
leader o fthe independence move
ment not only of Venezuela but of
all of South America. For twelve
years this man who had dreamed
of a free and independent western
world fought against the Spanish
crown in his determination to free
not only Venezuela but all South
America from the yoke of absentee
rule. In 1823 he entered Puerto
Cabello, driving out the last rem
nants of the Spanish forces, and
the country at long last was as
sured of its freedom. Before liber
ating his homeland, Bolivar freed
Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador
and Panama. All these countries
were at that time a big state under
the name of “Greater Colombia”,
but a few years later they separated
into different countries. Simon
Bolivar gave his fortune for in
dependence and died in poyerty af
ter liberating South' America; he
is considered the greatest man ever
given by an Latin American re
public. Bolivar called for the first
inter-American conference held at
Panama in 1826 in which he called
for unity among the American
countries, but his vision of a unitel
free New World never came a
reality.
Venezuelan Industry
Venezuela is an agricultural
country with about 20% of the
total population engaged in agri
culture. Coffee is the major agri
cultural export, and is second only
to petroleum in total export. Cocoa
is another important crop grown
as well as corn and sugar. These
last crops are the most extensive
ly raised, and are consumed domes
tically practically in their entirety.
Among the many other products
are included: cotton, wheat, tobac
co, bananas, fruits, oats, potatoes
and plantains.
Minerals — especially precious
minerals—have played a leading
part in Venezuela since its be
ginning. A wide variety, scattered
over most of the country, can be
found, although relatively few are
under active development. Gold,
apart from petroleum, is the most
By Edna B. Woods
Things, like people, can be ex
tremely conspicuous by their ab
sence. When the record player and
loud speaker were taken from the
Music Room for complete over
hauling several weeks ago, we
hardly anticipated the volley of in
quiries about where it was and
when it would be back and play
able. Since the record player (in
fine condition, with several new
tone controls) has been returned
to the library, it is played almost
every hour during the day and eve
ning.
Almost 1200 classical and semi-
classical records are played in the
Music Room, where a collection of
books about music and composers
occupies a special shelf. There are
scores, biographies of composers,
stories of operas and operettas,
histories and evaluations of music
in its various forms.
FROM MADRIGAL TO MOD
ERN MUSIC; a guide to musical
styles, by Douglas Moore is a very
readable book which interprets the
great periods of music—Renais
sance, Baroque, Classic, Romantic,
and Modern. Not a history of mu
sic, this book introduces each per
iod, lists the principal composers,
and gives examples of the import
ant types of compositions charac
teristic of the period. FROM MA
DRIGAL TO MODERN MUSIC is
designed to be read with the re
cordings at hand, providing a back
ground of musical understanding.
At the same time, it is general
enough to be usable and specific
enough to furnish read information.
David Ewen, who has written
many good reference books on mu
sic and musicians, published MEN
OF POPULAR MUSIC in 1944,
which “traces the evolution of our
popular music during the last forty
years .... That evolution is told
through the careers, achievements,
aspirations and personalities of a
dozen or so men who gave our
popular music its shape and form.”
Heretofore, Mr. Ewen’s contribu
tions to the literature of music
have been concerned with serious
music; however, he approaches this
study without condescension, “but
with an evaluation of popular ex
pressions in music as a different,
but not a lower form of art.” Such
persons as Irving Berlin, W. C.
Handy, Paul Whiteman, Ferde
Grofe, George Gershwin, and Ben
ny Goodman fill the pages of MEN
OF POPULAR MUSIC.
Not at all new, but quite im
portant, is Carl Sandburg’s AMER-
Your City
BY W. L. HUGHES
Seventh of a Series
HISTORY OF A. & M. CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL: PART II.
It must be kept in mind that for
many years after its organization,
the school was not consolidated
legally. The districts pooled their
finances and children but it was
only by a gentleman’s agreement.
Rural people were reluctant to cut
loose entirely from their old school
districts. «
During the first year of the
school, 304 pupils were enrolled
with an average daily attendance
of 74%. Actual enrollment was in
excess of the census tabulation.
During its second year the school
enrolled 342 pupils with an average
daily attendance of 80%.
The greatest problem to be solved
was retardation. More than 57 %
of the children from the rui’al
schools were retarded due to the
character of the schools they had
attended. After a year or two, how
ever, this situation was eased, and
at the end of the second year the
school was put on the accredited
list with 13% units of affiliation.
Health Program Emphasized
Primary duty of any school is
to make good animals of its pu
pils. This should be the duty of
the homes in any community but
is often neglected, particularly in
the rural homes. A health survey
was made by the Red Cross nurse
for Brazos county. Of the 240
children studied, 90% were found
defective. This did not include
such diseases as malaria. During
the first year of the school it be
came necessary to provide a bed in
the principle’s office for malaria
patients, and it was used almost
daily. The school carried on a
vigorous health campaign and by
the end of the second year malaria
was almost stamped out. The child
ren were taught the relation be
tween the mosquito and the disease,
and this knowledge was carried
home with the result that greater
use was made of mosquito nets.
Progress was made in over
coming such defects as bad ton
sils, poor teeth, and malnutrition.
Each teacher made it a part of her
valuable among the minerals. The
production of petroleum has also
taken a prominent place among
Venezuelan enterprises, and Vene
zuela has risen to a leading posi
tion among the petroleum producers
of the world. She rates second
only to the United States in the
export of this product. The petro
leum furnishes the government of
Venezuela with a large income,
and provides most of the foreign
exchange.
Ports Are Important
The ports, first line of communi
cation with the outside world, play
an important part in Venezuela’s
transportation. Her 1,750-mile-long
coast contains numerous inlets and
natural harbors. The nearness of
her ports to the track of the great
stream of traffic which passes
through the Panama Canal has
made Venezuelan ports of a great
importance. La Guaira is the most
important port while Maracaibo is
by far the leading port in the* value
of its foreign and coastwise com
merce. A heavy majority of this
(See GOOD NEiGBORS, Page 3)
regular work to instruct her pu
pils in the importance of clean
teeth, clean bodies, and proper diet.
By the end of the second year the
results were very noticeable. At
tendance improved and much bet
ter progress in school was made.
Extra-Curricular Activities
The school was large enough to
set up a program of athleitcs.
Many matched games with other
schools were played and good
school spirit was created. A di’ama-
tic club was organized and much
interest was aroused in amateur
performances. These home talent
plays were given in different
parts of the county, creating a very
favorable impression and showing
what a rural school could do. In
cidentally, these performances'
brought in sufficient money to
aid in starting a good library. Al
though the school was the youngest
in the county, by the end of two
years it had more library books
than all the rest of the rural schools
of the county combined.
A parent-teachers club was or
ganized • and served to bring the
parents into closer touch with the
organization and work of the
school. The mothers aided in se
curing library books and in securing
for the school many needed im
provements.
During the first years of its
able existence the school made re-
mai’kable progress. It showed
signs of becoming the type of
school that will meet the needs of
the community. The high school
course of study was shaped to con
form to both college entrance re
quirements and to vocational life
work.
During the first years, the high
school department was called the
“Hayes High School”. There was
no graduating class the first year,
but at the end of the second year,
May, 1922, a class of six was
granted diplomas.
A Practical Curriculum
All students of the high school
were required to take English,
American history, and civics, with
other subjects elective. In the low
er grades, civics was taught inci
dentally with such work as health
and the various school activities.
Agricultural arithmetic, agricul
tural composition, as well as agri
cultural science and practice, were
taught. Traditional courses in
mathematics were offered and a
large number of students elected
to take them. One of the very
finest assets of the school was its
home economics department. Girls
were taught the essentials of home-
making in all its various aspects.
Home projects in home economics
and agriculture sought to make
instruction in these subjects as
near a life situation as possible,
and such courses as English and
mathematics were correlated with
them in every possible way.
We have Brown Rubber
Heels Any Size
Holick’s Boot Shop
ICAN SONGBAG, an outstanding
collection of 280 songs, ballads, and
ditties, brought together from all
the regions of America. The mu
sic includes not merely the airs
and melodies for each song but
complete piano accompaniments,
THE AMERICAN SONGBAG
comes from the hearts and voices
of thousands of men and women.
They made new songs, they changed
old songs, they carried songs from
place to place, they resurrected
and kept alive dying and forgotten
songs. “A big bandana bundle of
bully ballads for big boys and their
best girls,” was the comment of
one who read its table of contents.
Many of the books in the Music
Room contain the lives and works
of the great composers. MANUEL
DE FALLA AND SPANISH MU
SIC, by J. B. Trend is the story of
a composer who wrote music which
was intended to be felt. Maurice
Dumesnil’s life of CLAUDE DE
BUSSY, master of dreams, is an
enjoyable story of an exceptional
artist, exceptional also since he
became famous and received at
least partial recognition for his
art before he died. MOZART; the
man and his works, by W. J. Tur
ner is an attempt by the author
to “present a sufficiently full and
accurate account of the man re
vealed as far as possible in his
own words.” This book is carefully
done and contains a complete cata
log of Mozart’s works.
SUPERIOR
DRY CLEANING
LAUTERSTEIN’S
PHONE 4-4444
ampu\
Air-Conditioned
Opens 1:00 P.M. — Ph. 4-1181
THURSDAY LAST DAY
SSSSSRSSWRKSSBSSfBSSfcWSSBSSK
%umil COIDWYH
if; Lmighinglvpresents
•aughmtlvpr'SMts 3
UiiMt'd by DAVID SimCft • 'ZZZZu R»lea>«d tnrou a h RKO Rod* fWts Im.
Also Color Cartoon
FRIDAY and SATURDAY
Double Feature
Attraction No. 1
‘DOUBLE EXPOSURE’
starring
JEAN CHESTER
PARKER MORRIS
Attraction No. 2
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
W B,.«daJOYCtlohnn^g^^
, , Produced by SOLLKSW^^
Associate Producer and Director: KURT NEUMANN
ScrMn PUy by HANS JACOBY and MARJORY L PFAELZER
SUNDAY and MONDAY
FAYE EMERSON
RAYMOND MASSEY
“HOTEL BERLIN’
Also Color Cartoon
TUBS. - WED. - THURS.
“PRIDE OF THE
YANKEES”
— starring —
GARY COOPER