Volume 48
Battalion
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COLLEGE
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, TUESDAY, MARCH 8,1949
Number 138
DR. HARRY C. RAMSOWER, retired Extension Director of Ohio State University, addressed
a Bi-Monthly Conference of the A&M Extension Service here Friday.
Also shown are DR. R. D. LEWIS, left, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station- and F.
R. JONES, right, head of the Agricultural Engineering Department. *
“Those Little White Lies”
Kid, Wife Market Soars As
Income TaxDeadlin eNea rs
DOT MANGRUM, TSCW sophomore, was elected Queen of the
15th Annual Cotton Ball and Pageant which will be held here April 29.
So Near and Yet • . .
By DAVE COSLETT
Americans all over the nation
are pausing to seriously consider
what they owe their country. Pa
triotism? No—income tax.
Once again Uncle Sam is beck
oning with that familiar finger,
but this time the gesture signifies
a want of money instead of men.
The March 15th deadline is al
most here signifying that time of
year when only the government
and aspirin manufacturers get
rich.
j Every wage earner is again fac
ed with the problem of what and
^what does not constitute an ex
emption. Income tax experts are
beginning to crop up on the pages
"of even The Hobo News to assist
the digit-dizzy tax payer.
The NEA Idea Service has
come up with a new kind of
form to replace the famous 1040.
Instead of being a statement of
the riches acquired by the wage-
earners, this sheet is a compiled
list of an individuals deficits
and allows deductions for con
tributions paid to “one armed
bandits,” better poker players,”
and “Mother - in - Law’s brother
Jake.”
No one, however, has stopped to
lend any assistance to that most
ixtreme of oddities, an Aggie fac-
?d with paying an income tax. No
?ne considered that an Aggie ever
made enough money to match pen
nies let alone pay an income tax.
Such characters do exist,
though, and they have as much
right to beat the government out
of just as much money as do
human beings. Here, therefore,
are some suggestions to these
woe-begone individuals.
There are only thi-ee ways to
keep from paying an income tax—
don’t earn enough money, get mar
ried, or fail to file a return. Fail
ing to earn enough money seems
to be a favorite with Aggies, and
many locaT citizens have employed
this device quite expertly. This of
fers no solution to the problem of
the man who inadvently amas
sed a trifling fortune of more than
$600 last year, for the simple rea
son that he has already missed
his golden opportunity.
The second alternative, acquiring
a wife, boils down to a case of
choosing the worst of two evils—
you don’t get the money either
way. This drastic step is not reco-
mended for many reasons, the most
Commencement
Schedule Given
The following is the Commence
ment calendar as announced hy W.
E. Street, chairman of the com
mencement committee.
Friday, June 3, 10 a. in. Bacca
laureate Sermon.
Friday, June 3, 1 p. m. Com
missioning of Officers.
Friday, June 3, 2:30-4:30 p. m.
President’s reception.
Friday, June 3, 6 p. m. Com
mencement.
Friday, June 3, 9 p. m. Final
Ball.
Saturday, June 4, 9:30 a. m.
Corps review.
Street suggested that all seniors
clip this schedule out of The Bat
talion and keep it for future ref-
important being that the deadline
for tax-dodging matrimony has
already passed.
Failing to file a return has
some definite advantages. Not
only will the eliminate paying a
tax for last year, but it will give
you a 10-year respite from wor
rying over such trivial matters.
(The Kansas Chamber of Com
merce claims that the climate
around Leavenworth is indeed
invigorating.)
For those who still insist on
paying an income tax, some de
ductions might come in handy. In
addition to the standard list is
sued by the collectors of internal
revenue, there are a few dodges
that are reserved to local students.
Recurrent payments to outfit
funds might easily be brought un
der the heading of charitable con
tributions. What groups could be
more needy than some of the local
organizations.
Slip-stick wizards could com
pute the value of all the cush
lost to diners at the adjoining
table and enter the sum under
the “acts of God” clause.
Recent letters to the editor hint
that many Aggies could claim non
payment under numerous lost
through theft items. The word
theft has been expanded lately, it
seems, to cover fields formerly
covered by excessive payment and
us ary.
It’s debatable as to whether the
mess-hall canines could be legally
called dependents, but it’s worth a
try.
Aggie’s best bet on deductions,
however, comes in the bad debt
department. Figure those out and
the government will owe you
money.
Plane Crashes Inches Short
Of Easterwood Landing Field
Nature Boy, Too
By FRANK CUSHING
Two Fort Worth fliers dropped
in for a short stay at Easterwood
Airport Sunday. The gentlemen
really had no intentions of pay
ing a call there but a broken oil
line forced a quick change in their
plans.
As they returned from a Gal
veston weekend, the two occupants
of the Cesna 120 had an unfortu
nate accident. Their plane started
to vibrate severely as oil, from the
broken line, started to spurt around
the engine.
The pilot, A. J. Meyers, Jr., shut
off the motor at an elevation of
3000 feet and prepared to find a
landing spot. As the ship glided
down, Meyers and his passenger
J. R. Vetter—also of Fort Worth,
had difficulty ascertaining the po
sition necessary for them to set
down at Easterwood.
“The visibility was bad,” said
Meyers, “It was around 6 p. m.
The sky was getting hazy as
the sun receded and dusk ap
proached.”
Their small craft barely skipped
the sinkholes and depressions
bounding the South West corner.
Yards short of the runway, the
plane hit and bounced across the
uneven ground.
The landing gear folded immed
iately under the terrific pressure.
This caused one wing of the mono
plane to drop and the right tip dug
into the ground. The Cessna did a
complete flip.
The two occupartts crawled out
Dr. Thomas if. Hamilton, Statistics
Sage, Has An Interesting Background
of their inverted plane virtually
unhurt. Only minor scratches and
bruises evidenced the wild ride
Meyers and Vetter were subjected
to.
Surveying the situation, the two
men had the opportunity to alter
nately curse and chortle over their
luck. Naturally they were thank
ful to have escaped so lightly.
However, the right to gripe was
their’s too.
The wide, safe landing strip
of Easterwood was close to
their plane’s final resting place.
The fliers couldn’t help but ex
press their regret that the plane
lacked the last bit of momentum
that would have made the dif
ference.
Meyers mournfully resorted to
a standard but apropos cliche to
summarized the situation. “A miss
is as good as a mile.”
Color Stereo Film
To Be Shown in ‘Y’
Something unusual in sound film
three dimensions in color, will be
shown in the YMCA Chapel Tues
day night and Wednesday, accord
ing to Fred Benson of the Civil
Engineering Department.
The film, “Highway USA”, is a
collection of 105 pictures of ‘choice’
highway scenes in the United
States. Although originally ob
tained for the benefit of the mem
bers of the annual Short Course in
Highway Engineering, the showing-
will be open to the public Wednes
day.
The projection of the illusion of
depth on a screen is not new, but
the projection of colored pictures
in depth is one of the latest de
velopments in stereo photography.
At times the illusion is so real that
objects appear to project into the
By BUDDY LUCE
Soldier, statesman, scholar, and
statistician, Dr. Thomas R. Ham
ilton of the Business and Account
ing Department has lived a life
fraught with the dangers of sun
spot theories, cyclical variations
and compound correlations.
Dr. Hamilton was born back
yonder in 1896 in Okolona, Missis
sippi, a little town named after
the Indians. His father was a coun
ty official and the young “statics”
mentor finished high school in the
vicinity of his birthplace.
Since young Tom’s father
thought Mississippi State was
nothing but a hell-raiser’s school,
he urged the boy to go out of
state for his college career. This
was what caused Dr. Hamilton to
start his college work at Wash
ington and Lee University in Lex
ington, Virginia. He spent four
years there and graduated with a
degree in English.
With an appetite for further
learning, Hamilton entered the
Wharton School of Finance and
Commerce at the University of
Pennsylvania for one year of
graduate work. From there he went
to Columbia University School of
Business where he completed the
requirements for his M.A. and Ph.
D. degrees in two years.
World War I saw Thomas R.
doing his stay in the U. S. Army.
He considers the battle of Camp
Pike, Arkansas, his most signifi
cant victory in that war, mainly
because he managed to live through
it.
His soldiering taken care of, Dr.
Hamilton proceeded on his road to
recognition and gained experience
rapidly in several fields. He served
as principal of the high school in
Charleston, Arkansas, to gain his
teaching experience.
Soon associated with the De
partment of State, Hamilton was
for one year the American Vice-
Consul at Rouen, France. Then
he spent nine years in Washing
ton with the Department of State
and the Department of Agricul
ture as an economist and statis
tician.
Although all roads once led to
Rome, Dr. Hamilton’s road veered
sharply in 1929 and dead-ended at
A&M, where he assumed the
duties of assistant professor of
statistics.
Dr. Hamilton authored three
publications of the Texas Experi
ment Station on the sheep, wool,
and mohair industry. He has done
summer work as research econo
mist on the staffs of the Farm
Credit Administration, Texas Agri
cultural Experiment Station, and
the National Industrial Conference
Board of New York City.
The “Mouse,” so nicknamed by
business students for his quiet,
unobtrusive ways and crepe rub
ber shoes, holds perhaps the most
orderly and attentive classes on
the campus. He has been com
mended time and again by pro
fessors and students alike for his
teaching methods and policies on
cheating. He teaches statistics,
pi-ice analysis, and business cycles.
Thoroughness is one of his by-
(See HAMILTON, Page 6)
Because of an expected large
attendance the film will be shown
to the public Wednesday at 9, 10,
and 11 a. m., and 12:45, 2 and 3
p. m., Benson said.
Overfy Will Head
East Texas Club
James Overly, junior mechanical
engineering student from Long
view, was elected president of the
East Texas Club last Thursday.
Plans were discussed concerning
the organization of an East Texas
A&M Mothers’ Club. A duchess to
represent the club at the Cotton
Ball will be chosen from photo
graphs submitted by members.
Smith Will Address
Agronomists Today
Harris P. Smith, professor of
agricultural engineering at the
Experiment Station, will address
the Agronomy Society tonight at
7:30 in the Animal Industries Lec-
ture Room.
Smith will show slides and give
a brief resume of mechanized pro
duction of cotton, according to
Blakely Smith, chairman of the
program committee of the Agro
nomy Society.
DR. T. R. HAMILTON, professor in the business department,
has had one of the most colorful careers of any member of the
teaching staff. He now divides his teaching duties between Statis
tics and Business Cycles.
BOB SMITH and DOT MANGRUM, King and Queen of Cotton, are flanked by 16 Dukes and
Duchesses of the Royal Court of Cotton. The Court will be presented at (he Cotton Ball and Pageant,
April 29.
Roosevelt Will Discuss
Near East In Guion Hall
Kermit Roosevelt—traveler, writer and lecturer—will speak to the Great Issues class
on “The Near East” in Guion tomorrow evening at eight.
The talk will be open to all interested persons, Dr. R. S. Gammon, history department
said.
Grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ker-
Freshmen to Hold
Annual Ball
Night
The Freshman Class will hold its
annual ball Saturday night at 8
in Sbisa Hall, Ralph Rowen, class
president, announced today.
“All Seniors with their dates
are invited to attend,” Rowen said.
Seniors and freshmen on the
campus may get their tickets at
the Student Activities office in
Room 209, Goodwin Hall for $2.50.
Music will be furnished by the
Aggieland Orchestra, and the
dance is scheduled to last until 12.
Knapp to Address
Poultry men Today
Ben Knapp, head of the Dairy
and Poultry Division of Swift and
Company of Chicago, will be the
principal speaker at the Poultry
Science Club meeting tonight at
7:30 in Room 312 of the Agricul
ture Building, Robert Mayfield,
president of the club, announced
today.
In addition to the speech, Knapp
will show two movies of special
interest to poultry husbandry and
dairy husbandry majors, Mayfield
said.
Freshman poultry husbandry
majors from the Annex along with
members of the Kream and Kow
Klub will be guests at the meet
ing.
KERMIT ROOSEVELT will
address the Great Issues Class
in Guion Hall, Wednesday night.
The meeting is open to the pub
lic.
Shreveport Aggies
To Select Duchess
The Shreveport A&M Club will
select a duchess to the Cotton Ball
at its meeting at 7:30 tonight in
Room 106, Academic Building,
Ralph Segall, acting president of
the club, has announced.
Officers for the semester will
also be elected during the meeting,
Segall said.
He asked all members to be
present so that equal representa
tion could be had. The meeting will
be over at 8:15, he added.
■funit crossed the Andes with his
parents at the age of six weeks
and by the time he was 3, he had
crossed the Atlantic twice.
Roosevelt attended school at
Buckley, Groton, and Harvard.
He finished Harvard with hon
ors in three years, graduating
in 1937.
After graduation he taught in
the Harvard History Department
for two years before going td' flie
California Institute of Technology
to teach and do research.
During the war, Roosevelt ser
ved under General “Wild Bill”
Donovan. Later he served as spe
cial assistant to Dean Acheson in
the State Department. While in
the Army, he spent most .of his
time in the Near East and Italy.
In 1947, Roosevelt made what
he called an “interview tour” of
the Middle East. His article,
“Will The Arabs Fight?” was
written as a result of his ob
servations and conversations
with various leaders on the tour.
Roosevelt’s chief interests are
writing, traveling, history, and
flying. His love for travel took
him through most of the European
countries during his summer vaca
tions while in college.
In 1943 while working for the
State Department in Egypt, Roose
velt first became acquainted with
the Palestine problem. He is plan
ning another trip to the Middle
East this summer which will in
clude a visit to Turkey.
Those who heard Randolph
Churchill speak on “Europe To
day,” last week will recall that
he touched on the Near East prob
lem only mildly, Dr. Gammon said.
Hearing Roosevelt’s talk should be
enlightening.
No, this is not another view of the work on the Student Memorial Center, and neither is it a
picture of the construction on the College Station State Bank Building. It’s not even another “So You
Know A&M” picture.
It does show a stage in the building of the new bandshell at the Grove.