Page Two ~ THE BATTALION, College Station (Aggieland), Texas, Tuesday, April 29, 1947:
Misled...
Dr. T. 0. Walton was a campus hero a while back. Stu
dents acclaimed him as their saviour. His “secret” files were
loaded with enough explosive evidence to blast Gilchrist and
his aides not only from the big white building, but into the
pen as well—they believed. He was the source from whom
blessings—and charges—flowed. He could do no wrong.
His disciples are beginning to fall away from him now
and slip into quiet corners to do some thinking. Some feel
that they have been duped into following a false messiah.
They are beginning to realize that he is not the man they
thought he was, and with reason.
The trek to Austin is a long one, but the largest number
of Aggies to attend an investigation hearing speeded to the
Senate chamber, forsaking their books for one night, in
order to hear Walton“blow the lid off.” They sat through
three hours of dreary testimony by Dean Bolton and the
college comptroller, earnest W. H. Holzmann. Then, at elev
en o’clock, Dr. T. 0. Walton took the stand. Spectators stood
up, crowded close to the witness stand, whispering to each
other, “This is going to be good!”
Questioning of the former college president began, with
rapier-tongued Sen. Dorsey Hardeman leading. Walton, in
the course of his testimony, leveled some serious charges
against the administration. He called it “authoritarian”. He
charged intimidation, mishandling of funds, dictatorship,
“inept” administration.
But when asked for proof of these charges, he could
furnish little. And his biggest concern was not for the stu
dent body, but for the experiment station and extension
service. • . r * t * * 4 •
Walton breezed over details of student uprisings when he
was president of A&M. He would not even label them as
uprisings. This was calculated, no doubt, to leave the im
pression that he had always had support of the student
body. Students who were here before the war, in the spring
of 1942, will dispute this.
That spring, an objectionable “new order” rule was put
out by President Walton. Meeting after meeting of the
senior class resulted. Seniors planned a strike, but were in
formed that if they carried it through, they would enter
the army immediately as privates. The Battalion was strang
ely silent during all this, but it is a well-known fact that
certain members of the staff, fearing suppression, organized
an underground publication criticizing the administration
of T. O. Walton charging him with coercion, intimidation,
etc. The leader, a junior, was apprehended and summarily
tossed out of school for expressing his views. Certain mem
bers of the Longhorn staff were severely disciplined. Was
all this forgotten?
Walton testified that no advice or counsel had passed
from his lips to the ears of students. He had, he claimed,
kept discreetly out of the whole controversy.
But now it comes to light that there is a dusky chap in
the cordwood somewhere. Delbert Shultz testified last week
that not only had he consulted Walton about criticisms of
the administration, but that Walton had actually written
three paragraphs of the famous Shultz Letter personally.
Sombody perjured himself, a serious offense, both mor
ally and legally. And it smacked of collusion when the word
ing of the prepared statement he read from the stand was
almost identical to that of the Shultz letter.
Although Walton denied it under oath, it is a known
fact in select circles that he has been meddling in the
internal affairs of the college, spreading unrest and dis
content among the faculty and students with seemingly un
founded charges about financial transactions of the college.
The rumor is now circulating around the campus that
both Walton and Clark have information which they did
not air at the investigation, but are “saying” for a grand
jury hearing. Evidently, it is a case of either cold feet, or
lack of facts in the first place.
The students are disappointed, bitterly disappointed. Dr.
Walton has been like powder in the students’ skyrocket. A
flash, a brilliant trail of light as the rocket goes up, up, up.
Then, at the height of its trajectory, when a great burst
of light is expected—pffffftttt. A dud!
Judging from correspondence between Drs. Walton and
Clark, they have been participants in a “Mutual Sympathy
Society.” As Dr. Clark fizzled worse than Walton, they
might continue to comiserate each other, but they need not
expect any more student sympathy.
The students’ case would be in a better position today
were it not for the wild charges, inspired by outsiders, toss
ed around at the outset. They have a grievance, a valid
grievance, against Gilchrist’s conduct of student relations.
A majority of the student body is opposed to him, perhaps
more for the things he has not done than for his accomplish
ed acts.
Aggies have proven before their ability to stand on their
own two feet. Dr. Walton’s help or inspiration should never
have been offered or accepted. His participation in the con
troversy has proved a hindrance rather than an aid.
A True Light...
We are a democracy, and there is only one way to get
a democracy on its feet in the matter of its individual, its
social, its municipal, its state, its national conduct, and that
is by keeping the public informed. There is not a crime,
there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a
swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.
Get these things out in the open, describe them, attack them,
ridicule them in the press and sooner or later public opinion
will sweep them away.
Joseph Pulitzer
SHOTGUNS FOR SALE!
LOVEMAN’S Department Store in Birmingham, Alabama has
scheduled its advertising on the society page of the daily Post for
years. Recently its copy featured H & R rifles. Said the ad: “Ten
to one this .22 caliber repeater rifle .... is the gun for you!”
Right alongside was an item headed, “Plans for Wedding An
nounced.”
The Battalion
The Battalion,^ official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas and the City of College Station, is published tri-weekly and circulated on
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons.
Member
Plssoaoted GpUe&iate p rG ss
Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at College Station, (Aggieland),
Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870.
Subscription rate 4.00 per school year. Advertising rates on request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., at New York City,
Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Allen Self
Vick Lindley
Charles E. Murray
J. K. B. Nelson
David M. Seligman
Paul Martin
Corps Editor
Veteran Editor
—Tuesday Associate Editor
Thursday Associate Editor
.Saturday Associate Editor
_ Sports Editor
Larry Goodwyn, Andy Matula, Jack Goodloe, Dick Baker, Earl Grant Sports Writers
Wendell McClure Advertising Manager
D. W. Springer Circulation Manager
Ferd B. English, Franklin Cleland, William Miller, Doyle Duncan,
Ben Schrader, Wm. K. Colville, Walter Lowe, Jr., Lester
B. Gray, Jr., Carl C. Krueger, Jr., Mack T. Nolen Reporters
Going Higher
Mail Rates Go Greatest Disaster in History Of
Up With Cost US Was GalvestonFlood in 1900
Of Living
By H. W. Spencer
Labor has been setting the pace
for increased wages commensu
rate rising cost of living. Among
those following the same vogue
will be the sedate Post Office
Department. In lieu of wages in
creased postal rates will be affect
ed. The 1946 postal workers’ pay
raise is more or less indirectly re
sponsible as that increment cul
minated a deficit trend in 83 out
of the last 100 years of Post
Office Department operation. In
fact the department has been los
ing about $300 million here of
late.
All kinds of postal service ex
cept first-class mail are scheduled
for a price rise. Some prices will
be raised sharply others moder
ately. Just about everyone will
notice the change as most of the
services will be altered. The in
creased rates will probably go in
to effect July 1.
★
As mentioned above, first-class
mail is expected to remain the
same, that is, 3 cents an ounce.
Current legislation will no doubt
prevent it from slipping to 2
cents an ounce on July 1, as the
law now provides.
Postal cards will be increased
to 2 cents. The 100 percent jump
is expected to bring at least $20
million in additional revenue, de
spite the portended one-third drop
in the use of postal cards. Busi
ness and church reminders via the
post card route will be curtailed.
Despite the fact that neither
the Post Office Department nor
the airlines desire increases in
air mail rates, the House Post
Office and Civil Service Com
mittee seem inclined to raise
them. This will nullify the recent
8-cent to 5-cent an ounce reduct
ion. The new rate is expected to
be 6 cents an ounce.
★
Other services will probably be
affected as follows: Special De
livery for letters is likely to be
increased from 13 cents to 20
cents; registered-mail fees will be
raised about 25 percent; insured-
mailed rates will be increased
from 3 to 5 cents for $5 f insur
ance, etc; and a money order for
$50 will cost 25 instead of the
present 18 cents.
Newspapers and magazines will
be paying more postage next year.
The new rates now are being
worked out under a complicated
formula that involves the amount
of advertising carried, the per
centage of circulation deliveered
through the mails, the service
rendered the public, and whether
a publication comes out daily,
weekly, monthly or quarterly.
Prospects are that small county
papers will get the smallest in
crease under this arrangement,
while monthly magazines with
mass circulation will be hardest
hit by increased postal rates.
Cancer Blamed
On Cosmic Rays
Cosmic rays which continually
bombard us, piercing our bodies
from head to toe at a rate of more
than twenty times per second, may
be the invisible guns that start off
cancers. This was revealed in ex
periments conducted by Dr. Frank
H. J. Figge of the Maryland Med
ical School in Baltimore. This is
the first time that cosmic rays
have been linked with cancer.
Farmers and others who live
most of their lives outdoors are
less subject to internal cancers
than persons spending most of
their lives in buildings which pro
duce cosmic rays showers and
intensify the radiation. However,
. we will not have to spend the
rest of our lives in underground
shelters to escape cancer-causing
rays. Dr. Figge suggests that
plastic material would be more pro
tective than the conventional steel
and concrete structure.
Trotter to Attend
Chicago Conference
Dr. Ide P. Trotter, Extension
director, will leave by plane to
morrow for Chicago to participate
in a conference 'called by the
Farm Foundation. Members of the
conference will consider problems
of land grant colleges in social and
economic fields.
The conference is composed of
two experiment station directors,
two state Extension directors, two
deans of agriculture, two presi
dents of land grant colleges, a
group of rural sociologists, and M.
L. Wilson, director of the Federal
Extension Service, Washington D.
C.
Enroute back to College Station,
Dr. Trotter will be met in Dallas
by Dean Joe Howell of John Tar-
leton Agricultural College and will
go with him to Stephenville to
speak at Parent’s Day Services
on Sunday, May 4.
San Antonians To
Meet Thursday at 7
Election of officers and the plan
ning of summer activity will be the
main points of the San Antonio
A. & M. Club meeting Thursday
evening at 7 p.m., according to
President Tommy John. The meet
ing will be held in Room 205, Aca
demic Building.
By Richard Alterman ^
The greatest disaster in Amer
ican history was the Galveston
flood of September 8, 1900. Be
tween 5,000 and 8,000 lives were
lost, and property damage totalled
$30,000,000. The next greatest dis
aster was the Johnstown Flood,
May 31, 1889, which took 2,229
lives.
The worst explosion in our his
tory was recorded in 1865 when
the ship Sultana carrying ex
changed Union prisoners of war
exploded- and sank seven miles
north of Memphis. Over 1400 men
lost their lives in this single blast.
The most serious fire took 1,152
lives in October, 1871, at Peshtigo,
Wisconsin. A forest fire swept the
area.
Some other major disasters are:
1906, San Francisco earthquake,
452 dead.
1903, Iroquois Theater fire, Chi
cago^ 575 dead.
1944, Hartford circus fire, 168
dead.
1926, Florida hurricanes, 327
dead.
1915, U. S. Eastland capsized in
Chicago, 812 dead.
1947, New London, Texas, school
explosion, 294 dead.
1947, O’Connor electro - plating
plant blast, Los Angeles, 15 dead.
1947, mine explosion, Centralia,
Illinois, 111 dead.
This year alone, more than thir
ty-five catrophies in the U. S. have
taken a toll of well over 1,100 lives.
This year’s death toll is running at
Printing Office,
Reclamation Bureau
Examinations Open
The Civil Service Commission
today announced examinations for
Engineers for employment in the
Bureau of Reclamation, and for
the following positions in the Gov
ernment Printing Office, Washing
ton, D. C.: Electrotyper (Finish
er and Molder); Stereotyper; Prin
ter (Monotype Keyboard Opera
tor Keyboard Operator and Slug
Machine Operator); and Photoen
graver.
The Engineer positions, paying
$3,397 to $4,902 a year, are located
in Oregon, Washington, Californ
ia, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Mon
tana, Wyoming, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, North Dakota, Ne
braska, Kansa^Gklahoina, and
Texas. Td qualitypapplicafnts ’must
have completed a professional en
gineering curriculum leading to a
bachelor’s degree in a college or
university; or they must have had
4 years of technical engineering
experience. Graduate study in en
gineering may be substituted for
2 years of the required profession
al experience. Applications must
be filled with the Executive Secre
tary, Central Board of U. S. Civil
Service Examiners, Bureau of Re
clamation, Room 230, New Cus
tomhouse Building, Denver 2, Colo
rado, not later than May 20.
For Electrotyper and Stereotyp
er positions ($1.94 an hour), ap
plicants must have completed an
apprenticeship of at least 5 years,
or they must have had 5 years of
practical experience.
Applicants for Printer positions
($1.88 an hour) must have had at
least 5 years appropriate exper
ience.
For Photoengraver positions
($2.10 an hour), applicants must
have completed an apprenticeship
of at least 6 years in the photoen
graving trade, or have had at least
6 years of practical experience.
Applicants for positions in the
Government Printing Office must
be received in the Civil Service
Commission, Washington 25, D. C.,
not later than May 13.
Further information and appli-
the Commission’s local Secretary
cation forms may be obtained from
at the Post Office.
a rate far above the average for
the last ten years.
Among the catastrophies which
took more than 300 lives during
the last decade are:
1942, Boston night club fire at
Coconut Grove, 492 dead.
1937, Ohio-Mississippi valley
floods, 360 dead.
1944, explosion of two ammuni
tion ships at Port Chicago, Cali
fornia, 322 dead.
1938, hurricane and flood along
the Atlantic coast, 682 dead.
1947, explosion of French freight
er Grandcamp loaded with ammo
nium nitrate set off a series of
blasts at Texas City, 575 dead.
These disasters alone have tak
en a toll of over 2,600 lives. The
number of persons injured has run
into the thousands, and property
valued at millions of dollars has
been destroyed.
Texas Mishaps Totaled 10,000
Deaths and $200 Million Loss
The April 16 explosion at Texas 4'
City was the second worst disas
ter ever recorded in Texas and the
second within a week. The worst
was the Galveston hurricane of
September 8-9, 1900, which killed
5,000 - 8,000 persons with a prop
erty damage estimated at $30,000,-
000, On April 9-10 a tornado
struck the panhandle leaving 132
dead with property damage run
ning into the millions.
Among the other notable Texas
tragedies was the second Galves
ton hurricane of August 17, 1915.
Some 275 inhabitants were killed
and property in the amount of
$50,000,000 was damaged.
Other were the Brazos River
flood of June 17 - July 1, 1899 and
the Brazos River flood of December
1-5, 1913. The former killed 35
with a property damage of $9,000,-
000, as compared to 180 dead and
damage amounting to $8,000,000
in the latter.
A rainstorm throughout most of
Texas on September 14, 1921 killed
224 persons with estimates of prop
erty damage as high as $17,000,000.
Another Texas hurricane at Corpus
Christi September 14, 1919, left in
its wake 284 dead and a property
damage of $20,000,000.
The aforementioned disasters
killed almost 10,000 persons with
property damage amounting to
more than $200,000,000,
Tyler Club Meets Thursday
The Tyler A. & M. Club will
meet Thursday evening at 7:15 p.
m. to discuss plans for a party at
the end of the semester, accord
ing to W. P. Patrick, president.
The meeting will be held in Room
108, Academic Building.
Model Airplane
Leaders' Short
Course Slated
The first annual short
course of model aviation lead
ers will be held on the cam
pus May 9-11, respectively,
under the direction of the Indus
trial Education Department, it
was announced Saturday. It will
be a course in organizing and ad
ministering model airplane clubs
and contests.
Cooperating agencies with the
Industrial Education Department
will be the American Legion posts
of Texas and the Institute of Air
Age Activities.
Speakers and instructors will .in
clude Dr. H. W. Barlow, dean of
engineering; Chris H. Groneman,
acting head of the Industrial Edu
cation department of A&M and
secretary of the Institute of Air
Age Activities; E. F. Burgdorf,
coordinator of A. M. A., District
8, including Texas, Oklahoma, Ar
kansas, Louisiana and New Mexi
co; R. R. Pressler, Southwest Gas
Model Association representative
and Academy of Model Aeronau
tics contest director; R. L. Barton,
vice-president and contest board
representative A. M. A. District 8.
The three-day airplane leaders’
meet will open with a welcome ad
dress by Dean H. W. Barlow at
9 a. m., May 9. C. H. Groneman
will act as master ceremonies.
The following two days will be
spent on the different phases of
model airplane development and
club organization.
Try Our Service Department
WORK GUARANTEED
TERMS IP DESIRED
VANCE MOTORS
KAISER-FRAZER DEALER
Phone 2-1605 1309 Hiway 6—S
The Atmosphere
and Hospitality
of the
OLD
SOUTH
is always to be found
— at —
HOTARD’S CAFETERIA
311 N. Main—Bryan
‘Where the art of fine cookery has not been forgotten’
Hospitality in your hands
BRYAN COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO.
Research Survey To
Be Given Sigma Xi
The Sigma Xi Club of A.&M.
will meet on Thursday evening,
May 1, at 8 p.m. in the lecture
room of the Animal Industry
Building.
The program will consist of a
survey of the research work being
conducted at A. & M. in the field
of biochemistry and nutrition. Fol
lowing brief reports from a num
ber of research leaders, the group
will be conducted on a tour through
the research laboratories in the
Animal Industries Building.
All members are urged to be
present for this program.
4 Day Service on Cleaning
and Staffing.
1 Day Service on Main
Springs and Crowns.
2 Hour Service for Crystals.
T. C. HINMAN
North Gate
BRYAN, TEXAS
WED., THURS., FRI.
and SATURDAY
RONALD REAGAN
— In —
“STALLION ROAD”
Opens 1:00 p.m. Ph. 4-1181
—. AIR CONDITIONED —
TUESDAY LAST DAY!
4 BIG DAYS
WEDNESDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY
DICK EVELYN
POWELL-KEYES
UelCOBB-Blen DREW-Hina FOCH
S. THOMS G0ME2-JOHN KEU.0SG (
Screenplay by Robert Rossen ->
Directed by ROBERT ROSSEN -•/
Opens 1:00 p.m. Daily
TUESDAY - WEDI
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