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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1946)
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 10, 1946 THE BATTALION Page 3 Town Hall Calendar Features 12 Programs Mona Paulee, Mezzo-Soprano Will Appear on Town Hall After only three seasons as an ai’tist of the Metropolitan Opera Association, lovely Mezzo-Soprano Mona Paulee, appearing on Town Hall, November 22, has become one of the most valuable members of that famous company. Born in Alberta, Canada, Miss Paulee’s family moved to Portland, Oregon when she was four years old. In Portland, Mona attended school, took piano lessons and led the life of any other small girl of comfortably established parents—until she was ten. And then, her father purchased a moving picture theatre and Mona became the best informed child in Portland on Hol lywood’s output of the late twen ties. In the pre-talkie days some slides of current hits were flashed on the screen for the audience to sing. The public x#as reluctant but 10-year-old Mona was not. Stand ing in the darkness of the pit next to the organist she sang lustily and to this day can run through the sentimental lyrics of former fav orites like “Charmaine” and “Diane” without missing a word. Mona’s family was unim pressed with her talents as a singer and she herself did not con sider her voice seriously—singing was simply something that she enjoyed doing . . . until one night when with some of her ’teen-age friends, she attended a picture show in another Portland theatre. The manager, to enliven the even ing, was sponsoring an amateur singing contest with a prize of ten (See PAULEE, Page 4) Mona Paulee Donald Dickson is One of America’s Popular Baritones Donald Dickson, sensational young Ameiican baritone, will ap pear on the Town Hall program, February 20. Music has been liis whole life and today Dickson name is syn onymous with the very best. Sen sational and versatile are two adjectives which there can be no doubt as being his. Married at seventeen, a father at eighteen, he made his debut as symphony soloist at nineteen, his first network broadcast at twenty- one, his first transcontinental con- Donald Dickson cert tour at twenty-three and his Metropolitan Opera debut at twen ty-five. Last spring at thirty-one Mr. Dickson made his screen debut in Samuel Goldwyn’s technicolor production “Up in Arms”. As versatile as any performer before the public he has sung the melodies of Jei’ome Eern and “Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesel- len” of Mahler with symphony; in opera the tried and true dra matic role of Rigoletto and the modern title role of Garrick in its world premiere. On radio Mr. Dick son has sung everything from Pag- liacci to boogie-woogie. In the amazingly brief period of his career, Donald Dickson has be come one of the most popular at tractions today. MAYBE YOU NEED A PIANO LESSON When you look inside a piano you see a harp shaped metal plate on which the strings are strung. Even in a spinet it ordinarily weighs well over 100 pounds. “Too heavy!” thought Winter & Company, who make pianos. (If you’ve ever moved a piano, youTl agree.) “Let’s have Alcoa make an aluminum plate.” So, Winter’s piano designers and Alcoa en gineers put their combined experiences together to develop an aluminum plate. First, a strong aluminum alloy had to be found because the strings put an 18-ton pull on the plate. A special alloy was produced, but... As the strings don’t pull in the same direc tion or with the same force, in time the plate would creep, cause distortion, and the strings get out of tune. Alcoa engineers found a way to tell exactly where and how great the strains were . . . figured out how to balance the stresses and then stabilize the plate by an Alcoa-developed heat- treating process. The result: The first successful aluminum piano plate, weighing only 45 pounds instead of 125, with tone quality enhanced. That piano plate offers this lesson for young engineers to remember when they step from college into industry: Take a look at aluminum —with Alcoa engineers at your side—when you want strength with lightness in anything you are designing. Ideas click when men with imagination plus engineering—“Imagineering” as we like to call it at Alcoa—work with this versatile metal and with the greatest fund of aluminum knowledge in the world—Alcoa’s. Aluminum Company of America, Gulf Build ing, Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania. mrst in ALUMINUM Patricia Travers, Famous Violinist, Town Hall Feature for Jaunary 28 Patricia Travers, outstanding violinist who will appear on Town Hall January 28, has been soloist with practically all of the major symphony orchestras in this country. Miss Travers has given recitals from coast to coast in innumerable cities. Besides her concert and orchestral activities, Miss Travers spent eight weeks in Hollywood when she made her first moving picture for Paramount entitled: “There’s Magic in Music”. She has played for service men at the New York Stage Door Town Hall Presents Dr. Franz Polgar, Famous Hypnotist Dr. Franz J. Polgar was the surprise star of the 1945 Town Hall program. Dr. Polgar, who is a world fam ous hypnotist, mental telepathists and memory feat exponent, returns to Town Hall on January 15 by popular request. His “Miracles of the Mind” show has won him a reputation as one of the most perplexing personal ities of our time. His performances are always the subject of much discussion and controversy. Spec- tators with the “show me” atti tude marvel at Dr. Polgar’s per formances. Give Dr. Polgar a book or a magazine for a few minutes to look over and he will repeat it ver batim seconds later. Those who saw Polgar in 1945 will not miss seeing him again and those who are fortunate enough to see him perform in Jan. will never forget it. Town Hall tickets are still available for students for the 1946- 47 school year at the Student Ac tivities Office in the Administra tion Building, from the first ser geants in ROTC units or through the house masters in veterans’ dormitories. Whittemore-Lowe, Duo-Pianists, Will Appear November 6 Two ex-GIs with no reconversion problem are Arthur Whittemore and Jack Lowe, gifted young duo- pianists, who will be heard at the November 6 Town Hall program. Released from the Navy after three and a half years’ service on January 6, Whittemore and Lowe spent the next three weeks arrang ing and recording for Victor eight numbers for the first album ever to be made by two pianos with or chestra of danceable music; then they embarked on a concert tour. Young and personable, Whitte- Whittemore and Lowe more and Lowe have a bobby-sox following that a Sinatra might envy. But it is not only with the younger feminine element that the duo-pianists are a success. During their Navy period, in addition to their regular blue jacket duties, they gave more than 500 concerts before half a million service per sonnel here and in the Pacific—at one time they played 241 perfor mances in more than 40 Army, Navy and Marine hospitals in 88 days, a concert record that may stand for all time. The first Navy men to entertain officially in the Pacific, they were credited with being the most popular artists wearing the uniform of their serv ice, are about to receive a certi- (See PIANISTS, Page 4) Canteen, at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and at many local bases and hospitals while on tour. In the last two successive seasons, the violinist has appeared seven times with the Philadelphia Or chestra, one appearance being a radio broadcast. Miss Travers was born in All wood, Clifton, New Jersey. She started the study of violin at the age of four. For three years she worked with Jacques Gordon of the Gordon String Quartet, and then with Hans Letz of the Juillard Graduate School of Music in New York. Her first public concert was at the age of six at Music Mountain, Connecticut. At nine her formal de but on the Ford Sunday Evening Hour with the Detroit Symphony established Miss Travers as an ar tist of the highest rank. At ten she appeared with the New York Philharmonic Symphony for the first time. Miss Patricia Travers New Plastic Resists Heat, Acids, Electricity "Teflon/' Product of Group Research, is Solving Diffi cult Problems in Radar, Television and Industry A group of Du Pont research men were looking for a new refrigerant of a particular type. These men found what they were after; but, as so often has been the case, they found some thing more—this time an industrial plastic whose unique qualities make it invaluable in many fields. During the study, the chemist in charge proposed a route to the syn thesis of HCF 2 CF 2 C1 via tetrafluoro- ethylene, CF 2 =CF 2 . In working with the latter, a chemically reactive gas boiling at -76.3C./760 mm., it was learned that it polymerized to form a resin having unusual properties. After evaluation by organic and physical chemists, physicists and electrical experts, a suitable process for the difficult manufacture of this product was worked out by the chem ists in collaboration with chemical and mechanical engineers. Structure and Properties "Teflon” is made by polymerizing gaseous tetrofluoroethylene to give a solid, granular polymer: Controlled at this one panel is all the equipment for producing the polymer from which is made "Teflon.” F F F F C-C-C-C ... F F F F The fluorine atoms in the molecule impart exceptional properties of re sistance to heat and chemicals. "Teflon” has unusual heat resist ance. Having no true melting point, "Teflon” decomposes slowly to give the gaseous monomer and a few other gaseous fluorine derivatives at around 400°C. Under certain condi tions small amounts of fluorine-con taining gases have been observed at temperatures above 230°C. Because of its heat resistance, gaskets and wire insulation for jet engines are now made of this plastic. It is also used in aircraft ignition systems near sparkplugs and in high-temperature heating systems. The chemical resistance of "Tef lon” is such that it withstands the attack of all materials except molten alkali metals. Boiling in acid (aqua regia, hydrofluoric acid or fuming nitric acid) will not change its weight More facts about Du PonT—Listen to “Cavalcade of America," Mondays, 7 P.M. CST, on NBC or properties. For this reason it may have wide use in such applications as tubing and piping for chemical plants and acid-distillation equipment. Because the dielectric loss factor is extremely low, even at frequencies up to 3000 megacycles, it is an ex cellent insulating material for cur rents of ultra-high frequency. Its heat-resisting and aging qualities suggest immediate uses as a dielectric in coaxial cables for color television, and in radar and power fields. Forms of "Teflon" Available By use of special techniques the new plastic can be extruded as rods, tubes or wire coating. In general, its extrusion rates are low in compari son to other thermoplastics because of its resistance to softening. More facts about "Teflon” are in Du Pont Plastics Technical Service Bulletin No. 13. Send your request to 2521 Nemours Bldg. Wilmington 98, Del. "Teflon” is one of the many products which represent the work and skill of Du Pont men, who, work ing as a team, contribute toward a better America for you and all of us. Questions College Men ask about working with Du Pont "WILL I STAY IN ONE FIELD AT DU PONT?" The first position of a new man at Du Pont is based on his expressed prefer ence and an estimate of his aptitudes and abilities. Subsequent work may be in the same or other fields, as openings present themselves in research, production or sales divisions. Keynote of Du Pont per sonnel policy is promotion from within on a competitive merit basis. L y R EG.U.S.PAT.OfE f BETTER THINGS FOR BETTER LIVING ... THROUGH CHEMISTRY E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO. (INC.) WILMINCTON 98, DELAWARE