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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1950)
Thursday, November 9,1950 THE BATTALION Page 3 Sully’ Molds Corps Character; Adds Wisdom In War Commandants Of Fast Six Profs (Continued from Page 1) got favorable notice, musicians,” too. First Corps Commander I be expansion of enrollment at A&M continued into the new cen tury and, by 1905, the corps of cadeta reached regimental size. Cadet M. S. Church received the appointment as cadet major to be- *eome the first corps commander in the history of the college. Church -later became a prominent Dallas lawyer, and a president of the For mer Student’s Association. He was principal speaker at the ’50 Aggie Muster Day program at Aggieland. With enrollment increase came added emphasis on a problem which has always plagued A&M—lack of sufficient housing. Overcrowded „ conditions caused the rather odd description given by President Rob ert T. Milner in his first official report for the year 1909-10. Acres of Tents The new administrator referred to a campus “unlike that of any other educational institution in the world. Covering an area of about ten acres are stretched 243 tents, in which are lodged 486 cadets. There are more students in tents than were enrolled in the College $ 1906.” The Corps was already the lar gest student body under military discipline in the world. It outdis tanced West Point by some 600 cadets. ; Military instruction during the first ten years of the present cen tury was separate for juniors and Seniors. Seniors were reported spending one hour of theory each week of the', fall semester studying Napoleon’s campaigns in Italy and shearing talks on bases of operation, outposts, marches, cavalry screens and tactics. „ Juniors devoted three hours a week during the fall term tp a study of school of the soldier, com pany and battalion, drill, guard manual and firing regulations. Three Drill Days Drills were held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through out the year and inspections and dress parade were included on the regular routine. Student body discipline through out the period was reported as be ing good, And the Military Depart ment was generally credited with having improved more than any department on the campus. Additional training equipment was also procured. Included were nbw rifles and 10 horses to be used in Artillery drill. The horses were borrowed from the Animal Husban dry Department. Probably worthy of notice is the Jactj more stress was being placed on utilizing military training at A&M as a step toward an Army career. Students that graduated in 1912 were given a chance to take the competitive examination for commissions as regular second lieu tenants and serve in the organiza tion of “the Nature Troops” in the Philippine Islands. Rank Increase Prestige of the corps command er was increasing rank-wise, too. He was- stepped up to a lieutenant colonel in 1908 and to a full col onel in 1911. O'. E. Sandford is credited as first to hold the for mer rank. H. M. Pool has prior claim on being a full cadet colonel. The early teens of the century found the military department con tinuing to hold a tenth place among iclleges in the nation where it had been ranked 10 years previously. International developments at the ’lime were forming the die from which the first proof of A&M’s military prowess was to be cast. World War I was in the offing. Back at Aggieland, college offi- .ials had applied for the establish ment at the school, of a senior unit, of the newly formed Reserve Officers Training Corps. The school received the designation on October 19, 1916. The school by that time boasted 1,242 students. The corps was two regiments strong in addition to a band. Eight enlisted men were as sisting the commandant. Military engineering was being taught at the school and was reportedly of fered at no other college in the South. In view of the world situation in 1917, the college placed all it’s facilities at the disposal of the gov ernment for training purposes. And when the country finally entered the conflict, A&M men were swift to answer their first major call to battle. The story, of the senior clss that resigned en masse to enlist at Camp Leon Springs has become legendary as has the faculty’s granting of diplomas under a tree near the Texas camp. Good Soldiers The war offered those who had fostered the military aspects of the college to at last take stock on the soldiers they had produced. They were not disappointed. Fifty-two Aggies did not return from the French battlefield, but left their records in the hands of fellow students who did return, themselves boasting praiseworthy records. A report written in 1918 showed more than 49 per cent of all Ag gie-exes to that time were in the military services. Of 1,472 grad uates, 668 were commissioned of ficers. The 555 under graduates who received commissions brought the total to 1,233 Aggie-Ex offi cers. Included were two brigadier gen erals, seven colonels, 12 Lt. colonels, 52 majors, 173 captains, 456 first lieutenants and 530 second lieu tenants. Military Strides With the war over and the add ed impetus of ROTC, A&M began to take vast military strides. A military barracks, the artillery horse barns and three gun sheds were built for the M S Depart ment. Infantry, Artillery and Signal Corps, units had been authorized by 1920 and that year a Cavalry unit was added. The school received the “Distinguished” Military rating for the eleventh consecutive year. The ensuing 10 years found the military at A&M on a continual in crease. The school, too, was grow ing. It was during this period the corps went from the cadet grey uniform to the standard army dress —with usual Aggie modifications. Tops at Camp Aggie units were consistently tops in the summer camps being held in the early twenties. By 1923 the Infantry unit had expanded to nine companies, the Artillery unit had expanded to three batteries, the Cavalry squad- ron maintained its two troops, the Signal Corps had remained two companies strong with an additional flight of Air Service (at that time attached to the Signal Corps). The formation of the Engineer unit in 1929 replaced the Air Ser vice, dropped that year. The school entered its fifteenth consecutive year as a Distinguished Military College in 1925 and an in creasing number of cadets took ad vantage of the regular commissions offered because of the rating. Rifle Team A rifle team that had been plac ing high in competition since its beginning took top place in the National Intercollegiate Matches in 1930. The team also placed second the Hearst National Matches for five man teams. The following year the team again took first and second respectively in the two meets. By 1936 the Chemical Warfare Service was added to the corps which was still expanding rapidly. The Coast Artillery Corps had been added in 1935 and already number ed four companies. Early in the ’30’s the office of commandant was separated from that of PMS&T on the grounds that each was a full-time job in itself. The jobs were merged again in 1938 when Lt. Col. George F. Moore took over the corps of cadets. Gen. G. F. Moore and Students The late General Moore, who later distinguished himself on Cor- regidor, had once been a member of the student body he now led. His term of command set a new high in good relationships between the Corps Commanders A. D. Martin 1905 M. S. Church 1906 E. C. Arnold 1907 W. G. Moore 1908 R. H. Standifer 1909 D. M. Shearer 1910 A. L. Ward 1911 Herbert M. Pool 1912 T. G. Huth 1913 R. E. Baylor 1914 V. V. Parr 1915 E. N. Hogue 1916 T. F. Keasler 1917 Jack Shelton 1918 H. C. Knickerbocker 1919 D. W. Howell 1920 W. T. Burns 1921 Bonner H. Barnes 1922 P. C. Franke 1923 John C. Mayfield 1924 H. L. Roberts 1925 F. M. Stubbs 1926 W. M. Pinson 1927 R. L. Edgar 1928 L. N. Bourland 1929 W. P. Patton 1930 J. H. Taylor 1931 F. E. Bortle 1932 A. C. Moser Jr. 1933 J. W. Aston 1934 G. V. Holmes 1935 D. C. McHaney 1936 E. D. Button 1937 Louis E. Lee 1938 A. D. Justice 1939 David Thrift 1940 Durward B. Varner 1941 W. A. Becker 1942 Tom S. Gillis 1943 Walter W. Cardwell Jr. 1944 John M. Mullins 1945 George Strickhausen III, Robert L. Butchofsky 1946 Eli F. Baker, Charles R. West 1947 Edward B. Brandt, Jr. 1948 William L. Brown 1949 Robert S. McClure 1950 Doyle Avant , 1951 A. D. Martin commandant and the corps. The coming of a new decade found the corps a full size military unit complete in almost every re spect. It shaped up into one full-sized regiment of Infantry, one equally full Field Artillery regiment, a regiment of Engineers, a Cavalry regiment, and a composite regiment with a Signal Corps battalion and a Chemical Corps battalion. The most recent ten-year period in the college history had. barely begun before A&M men were again put to the test of battle. This con flict was destined to be a long and bloody one. And the sons of Ag gieland were again prepared to up hold the honorable traditions set by their forebearers of some 25 years hence. Aggies in Battle Again A&M’s outstanding role on every battlefield as well as at home shone brilliantly. This struggle found 20,000 exes under arms, 14,000 of them commissioned offi cers. And 29 Aggies reached the rank of general officer. The deeds of these men have been often retold. Many of them are found throughout the pages of this issue of The Battalion. But no amount of retelling can dull the lustre that keeps them in their rightful place foremost in our nations military history. But not all the glory was won on the field of battle. As in World War I, Texas’ oldest college again gave of its vast facilities to the training of warriors and the minds behind them. Veterans Return Nor did the contribution of A&M end with the signing of the sur render. Men trained and hardened-f in buttle came home looking for an education for peace. Many of them sought this education at A&M —some for the first time, some in taking up where a war had inter rupted them. The training of new leaders in battle, however, was not neglected. Gradually the military life at A&M began its return to the peak at which it had been preceding World War II. New guidons were standing out in the line of march. The Quarter master Corps had been added dur ing the war. Soon to follow were the Air Force, the Transportation Cqrps^ and the Army Security Agency. New Units Shine In 1876 A&M Curricula Offered Three Choices Worthy of notice is the fact that two of the youngest units within the corps have made outstanding strides in their infant years. The Air Force literally zoomed to the largest unit on the Campus and the ASA took top military ranking in its first year. Thus the corps stands today— 4,000 strong representing 12 of the major branches of the ser vices, ready in another time of cri sis to match its men against any the world over. Yet, as always in the history of the college, those potential follow ers of proven warriors seek as their ultimate aim at A&M, education in the ways of peace. And that will always be their aim. Col. H. L. Boatner 1876-78 Maj. R. P. W. Morris 1878-83 Capt. Geo. T. Olmsted 1883- 84 1st Lt. C. V. Crane 1884- 86 Lt. John S. Mallory 1886-90 Lt. Guy Carleton 1890- 91 Lt. William S. Scott 1891- 95 Lt. Ben C. Morse 1895-99 Lt. Geo. T. Bartlett 1899-02 Col. J. C. Edmonds 1902-04 Capt. F. P. Avery 1904-08 Capt. H. H. Sargent 1908-12 Capt. Andrew Mose 1912- 13 Capt. C. L. Fenton 1913- 15 1st Lt. L. G. Brown 1915-17 2nd Lt. J. R. Hill 1917- 18 Capt. C. H. Muller 1918- 19 Col. C. J. Crane 1919- 21 Col. C. H. Muller 1921-23 Maj. L. R. Dougherty 1923-25 Col C. C. Todd 1925-27 Lt. Col F. H. Turner 1927-32 Lt. Col. C. J. Nelson 1932-37 Col, E. R. Enery 1937- 38 Col. C. R. Lewis 1938- 40 Col. G. F. Moore 1940-42 Lt. Col. J. A. Watson 1942-46 Col. M. 1). Welty 1946-48 Col. G. S. Meloy 1948 Col. H. L. Boatner ’08 News Notes Show CE Tops April 15, 1908—Of the 592 living graduates of the A&M College of Texas, 163 took the courses in Ag riculture or in Horticulture; 222 took the course in Civil Engineer ing; 130 in Mchanical Engineer ing; 19 in Electrical Engineering; 5 in Textile Engineering and 3 in Architectural Engineering. Three hundred and eight of these men are now following the professions for which they were especially ed ucated. By WAYNE DAVIS A&M has come a long way since the establishment of the College, and no little progress has be^n made in the curricula offered. Believe it or not, when the school opened, there were only three courses being taught—Agriculture, Mechanics and Engineering, and Languages and Literature. The faculty, and their subjects, consisted of President Thomas S. Gathright, professor of mental and moral philosophy and belles let- tres; Alexander Hogg, professor of pure mathematics; R. P. W. Morris, professor of applied mathematics, mechanics, and military tactics; | John T. Hand, professor of ancient languages and literature; C. P. B. | Martin, professor of practical agri- | culture chemistry and natural sci ences; and William A. Banks, pro fessor of modern languages and literature. The Professor of Agriculture, as it happened, was a minister of the gospel; it was his job to teach the entire Agriculture course, which was confined to the fourth year of college and included “Agricultural Science, embracing Chemistry, Farm-Til lage, Horticultural Aboriculture and Care of Stock.” Sound like fun? The undergraduate, or regular, courses in those primitive days were based upon rather elementary April 22, 1908—There are fifty- three members of the present sen ior class who are candidates for degrees in June. entrance requirements and were only three years in length. In 1884, in an effort to strength en the courses, provision wa3 made for a year of post-graduate work to lead to the degree of Bachelor of Science for agriculture majors and made possible sufficient spec ialization in the mechanics course so that the student in that course could earn either a degree of civil engineer or mechanical engineer. In the next year the agricultural post-graduate degree became Bach elor of Scientific Agriculture, while the B.S. degree was reserved for agricultural chemists. In 1888 the length of the regu lar courses was increased to four years, a BS or a BSA degree was awarding to those completing work in Agriculture or allied sciences, and the degrees in the Mechanics courses became the Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Bachelor of Mechanical En gineering. 'the Master of Science degree was awarded to those completing post-graduate work. The year 1903 marked the adop tion of the uniform degree of Bach elor of Science upon completion of the undergraduate courses. It also marked the inauguration of a wider variety of offerings for the students of the College. In agri culture, students could take an option in Animal Husbandry. In 1911 the Agricultural Department was broken up into the departments President Roosevelt Visit Caused Bombshell Furor A furor had been created at The whole day’s events were so A&M. The President of the Uni- fast and furious that when it was ted States was coming! There was all over, all most persons on the hustle and bustle around the cam- campus could say was “Roosevelt pus; statewide publicity had been had been here.” arranged, and plans for the most ft u t he was not the only famous elaborate ceremonies had been raa „ to make a stop at Aggieland. drawn up. That was on May 11, Admiral Richard Byrd, the explorer 37. Roosevelt was going to make a speech. His train arrived about one o’clock that afternoon. A 21-gun salute greeted his appearance, the first time in the history of the Col- and discoverer of the South Pole made the trip. Rosebud Blondell, a “Tessie,” was at many of the A&M dances in the twenties. She’s now Joan Blondell. . ^ , , , Ann Sheridan came. Winston Pge that such a thing had been chun-Mihs; son, Randolph, spoke on the campus also at a Great Issue’s session. And Kermit Roosevelt did the same thing. Hollywood moved to the campus in ’41 when “We’ve Never Been Licked” was filmed. Many enter tainers from all over the world done. He was taken immediately to the parade grounds, where the Corps awaited in preparation for a review. The President inspect- , ed the Corps; afterwards, he was taken on a tour of the campus. Later he was driven to Kyle have been brought to Town Hall. Field where thousands of residents But Roosevelt’s short afternoon of Brazos _ County and the State visit—in its entirety about four- awaited his appearance and ad- hours long—was the all-time bomb- >dress. shell of campus excitement. A&M Buildings Named For Helpers of College Jan. 22, 1908—For a long time it has been the policy of the Agri cultural and Mechanical College of Texas to perpetuate the names of men most prominently connected with the progress of the institution by naming the student dormitories after them. Gathright Hall, Aus tin Hall, Pfeuffer Hall, Ross Hall, and Foster Hall owe their names to this practice. The name of the new dormitory . . . (which will pro vide quarters for 150 cadets) . . . is to be known as Goodwin Hall. See the NEW 1951 LEGAL HOLIDAY Roya 1 Portable Typewriters Saturday, November 11, 1950 being a Legal Holiday, in observance of Armistice Day, the undersigned will observe that date as a Legal Holiday and not be At The open for business. First National Bank Bryan Business Machine Co. City National Bank SALES — SERVICE — RENTALS — SUPPLIES First State Bank & Trust Co. 209 N. Main St. Bryan, Texas College Station State Bank Dial 2-1328 Bryan Building and Loan Ass’n Recruiting Duties Go to Commandant May 3, 1917 Captain C. H. Mueller, com mandant at the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College received Monday an appointment as recruit- : ng officer for the United States Army. He wants all the available able- bodied men who desire to do so to join the reserve officers train ing corps which is to begin train ing May 15 and continue work un til some time in August. of Agronomy and Dairy Husban dry. In 1923, the Department of Poultry Husbandry branched off from Animal Husbandry. In 1914, the department of agri cultural engineering was founded from the agronomy department, and in 1923, the department of genetics Avas developed from the same source. In 1927 thfe depart ment of landscape art branched off from the department of horti culture. The department of textile en gineering was opened in 1903, and the next year found electrical engineering on the college curri culum. Architectural engineering was first offered in 1906, and chemical engineering was opened in 1909. Other major developments oc curred in 1916 and 1919, when the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and of Rural Sociology were found ed. In 1923 the several courses of ed uca tion—agricu 1 tu ra I, i ndustrial, and rural education—were brought together in the School of Voca tional Teaching; in 1925 the cour ses in history, mathematics, mili tary science, modern language, physical education and physics— were combined under the School of Arts and Sciences. The Graduate School was organ ized in 1924. And in addition to these regu lar courses, the college frequent ly offers short non-college cour ses ranging in length from two !o ten, weeks, and in some cases extending to two years. While these courses have aided in the development of the college, after they have served their pur pose or some other agency has been established to take over their functions, they have been discon tinued. At the present the only course of less than the standard four years is that in cotton marketing and classing, and even that is based on regular college entrance require ments and functions primarily as pari of a four-year course. Where the Football Crowd Meets for FOOD & FUN JOHN HARRIS . . the Hottest Piano Player in Dallas! DELICIOUS & CHARCOAL BROIL STEAKS (] a i n ’ s HITCHIN’ POST 2504 W. Davis Near Hampton FDR’s visit—four hours of history Happy Birthday To THE TEXAS AGGIES “Your South Gate Friend” PARK CLEANERS R. D. COOK, ’49 DONNA COOK QUALITY is the thing that counts What do you think of when you think of a man? . . . You think first of his per sonal qualities. And the job that the A&M College of Texas has done is outstan ding, for Aggies are known everywhere for their out standing work and leadership. We wish to extend our heart iest best wishes to the college and to President Harrington for many more progressive years. And as we want quality in men, so do we want quality in other things. First of all we seek this quality and next we seek economy. So if you want to get both of these at one time, come by Pruitt’s Fabric Shop at South Gate. Here you will find just the thing that you have been looking for — quality and economy. P 'PI//7TS /wfy SHOP SOUTH SIDE COLLEGE STATION More than Words Wire Flowers for Any Occasion FLOWERS BY WIRE ARE JUST THE THING - AND THEY’RE REASONABLE Next to Campus Theatre Phone 4-1212 Do you realize how cheap it is to wire flowers? For $3.00 plus cost of the wire you can send them anywhere .... SEE US TODAY!