The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 27, 1951, Image 2
Page 4 Y, St Fourth solidated of the Club at in the 1VI The g ities an the city elected 1 as Colli Monday Internal Georg was in Johnsto: Ivy, ch£ ities. 1 Marti councilr class), one’s fi of the t plaininj govern! is plan charact of 16 r tually Beco of the added said.” greatei explair Battalion Editorials Page 2 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1951 Confederate President Coke Tried to Get Jefferson Davis just Vanilla? TYPICAL room at A&M is pretty bare at the first of the year. In order to make it more than just four walls and a small niche to study, the student has to inject some of his personality into it. This is also true of an education. Just an education a student receives in the classroom is pretty bare. Something has to be added to give it a “well-rounded look.” Trimmings for an education are found in the extra curricular activities available for every student. There are at least two organizations that are set up to handle this need for a complete education, the Memorial Student Center and the Office of Student Activities. In the Center are found hobby shops, cultural groups, and other such clubs or committees. And the officials of the Center say they will set up an organization for any group of students who want to organize. The second big organization is the Office of Student Activities. Under this office come Student Publications, Golf Course, Academic Clubs, Hometown Clubs and student entertainment—just to mention a few of the departments. The organization is set up—all it takes is you to get in and take part. (Richard Coke had moved into the Governorship of Texas just after the end of the Civil War. He served at this post through two terms which saw the re writing of the Texas constitution and the founding of A&M. While still in the governor’s seat, he was elected to the United States Senate where he served virtually unopposed for 18 years, but, 1 undoubtedly one of the greatest things he did was in the pushing of the founding of the A&M Col lege of Texas. This is the sixth and final issue of a six part story written, by the Director of Information for the A&M Sys tem, R Henderson Shuffler.— The Editor.) The most lasting contribution of Richard Coke to the state he loved and served so well was the estab lishment of its first tax-supported institution of higher education, The Agricultural and Mechanical Col lege of Texas. Certainly it was a project close to his heart and one to which he devoted much of his time and thought during his days as Governor. Can’t Match Polka-Dots k FTER CONDUCTING an extensive survey, a list has been iV compiled of the best reasons for failure to erect mail boxes in College Station. In a personal interview with Mrs. Persnickety the fol lowing explanation was received: “Oh, my goodness, I have tried, really I have, but I can’t find a mail box which will blend with the color of my house.” The house was painted with polka-dots on a black background. Another lady related, “Well, we have an awfully small house, and mail boxes come in such large sizes.” The following story was told by Mrs. Economy-Wise: “My husband and I haven’t much income. We bought our house recently and may be forced to sell it soon. Therefore, we can’t afford to drive nails into the walls.” One family told how they hated birds. “We receive our mail at the postoffice,” the spokesman related “I just know if we put up a mail box, some nasty little bird is going to raise its young on our porch.” And so the stories went. Little people, thinking up big reasons for being lazy. He not only fostered the legisla tion which made possible the open ing of the College and served as the president of its board of di rectors during the formative per iod when the first faculty was be ing selected and the rules for its operation worked out; Coke went even further, formulating a clear- cut educational philosophy for the school and giving it the fundamen tal character on which it has grown and prospered. The provisions of the Morrill land-grant act had been accepted by the Texas Legislature short ly after the close of the Civil War, in 1866, and in 1871 the carpetbag ger administration of Governor Davis had passed an act “estab lishing the Agricultural and Me chanical College,” but little real progress had been made toward getting the school opened and oper ating until Richard Coke became governor. Land Grant Schools lations and selecting the first fac ulty. On May 10th of 1875 the beloved Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederacy, visited Texas to make the opening address at the Sixth Texas State Fair in Houston, after which he made a tour of other major cities, including Dal las and Austin. President Davis was tremendously popular through out the South and particularly in. Texas. He was respected nationally as well, it is indicated by the Gal veston News of March 20, 1875, which quotes the Washington, D. C., Chronicle as proposing his name for the Democratic nomina tion for President of the United States. When President Davis visited Austin he was, of course, enter tained by Governor Coke, who was at the time deeply engrossed in plans and problems of the College he hoped to establish in Texas. Both Interested In Education It is not known whether Coke discussed the proposed A&M Col lege with Davis or not, although it it highly probable, since both of them were seriously interested in education. At any rate, is is a mat ter of record that when the board of directors for the college met in Bryan on June 1st, Governor Coke presented the name of Jefferson Davis for the presidency of the college and was authorized to of fer the position to him. The Board intended at this time to have everything in readiness for the opening of the college in October of 1875. With President Davis, at its head, the institution could easily attract a distinguished faculty and it could be expected that the leading families of the en tire South would clamor to enroll their sons under the tutelage of the former President of the Confed eracy. Richard Coke, as usual, had laid his plans well. He believed Texas deserved the best in educa tion facilities and was determined to see that she got it. Letter—Coke to Davis would enable me to co-operate with you in the organization of a system for the instruction of the youth of our country, in the two important branches to which the colleges at Bryan are to be special ly devoted. I cannot too fully thank you for the generous confidence mani fested in offering me the presi dency of those colleges, and it is but a fair return that I should cordially confess that you have overrated my ability and in the* consciousness that I could not sat isfactorily perform the duties of the office, decline to accept it. As soon as my private affairs will permit, I hope to revisit Texas at more leisure than when last among you, and will be glad then to confer with you on the subject of an educational system for Tex as; and as a volunteer, to render such service as my small acquire ments and shattered constitution may allow. With best wishes for the di rectors personally and for your self specially, I am, with renewed expression of thankfulness, re spectfully and truly. Your friend Jefferson Davis Coke Failed HIS IVORY TOWER In his message to the Legislature on January 12, 1875, Governor Coke recounted the previous acceptance of the provisions of the land grant act and enactment of laws author izing establishment of the college. He told of the receipt of 180,000 acres of land strip from the federal government, sold in 1871 at 87 cents an acre, to establish the school’s endowment. This money had been invested in 7% gold fron tier bonds with a face value of $174,000, and was drawing inter est which could be used for the school’s operation. Submitting to the Legislature the report of the commission which had been named to supervise con struction of the college and be responsible for its finances, the governor said: “It appears from this report that the college edifice (Old Main) is rapidly approaching completion, and that in order to complete it fully an additional appropriatiion of seven thousand dollars is ne cessary. These commissioners ask an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars to erect a board ing hall (later to be named Gath- right Hall), twenty-one thousand dollars to erect three professor’s dwellings, and five thousand dol lars to' lay off fence and grounds, make walks, plant trees and erect a barn. On June 14, Governor Coke wrote the following letter from his exe cutive office at Austin: Hon. Jefferson Davis, Memphis, Tenn. My Dear Sir: fff&&&/<? The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions "Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman" The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texes, is published by students five times a week during the regular school year. During the summer terms, The Battalion is published four times a week, and during examination and vacation periods, twice a week. Days of publication are Monday through Friday for the regular school year, Tuesday through Friday during the summer terms, and Tuesday and Thursday during vacation and examination periods. Subscrip tion rates $6.00 per year or $.50 per month. Advertising rates furnished on request. Entered as second-class (natter at Post Office at College Staton, Texas, under the Act of Con gress of March 3, 1870. Member of The Associated Press Represented nationally by National Advertising Service Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los An geles, and San Francisco. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other matter (herein are also reserved. JOHN WHITMORE Editor Joel Austin Managing Editor Bill Streich News Editor Frank Davis City Editor Allen Pengelly Assistant News Editor Bob Selleck Sports News Editor William Dickens Feature Editor T. H. Baker, E. R. Briggs, A1 Bruton, Norman Campbell, Mickey Cannon, Monte Curry, Dan Dawson. Bob Fagley, Benny Holub, Howard Hough. Jon Kinslow, Bryan Spencer, Ide Trotter, John Robards, Carol Vance, Edgar Watkins, Berthold Weller, Jerry Wizig. Raymond York News and Feature Writers Bob Cullen, Jack Brandt Cartoonists Frank Scott Quarterback Club Director Jim Jenson., Photographer Pat LeBlanc. Hugh Phillips. F. T. Scott, Chuck Neighbors, Gus Becker, Joe Blanchette, Ed Holder Sports News Writers John Lancaster Chief Photo Engraver Russel Hagens Advertising Manager Robert Haynie Advertising Representative Recommend Appropriations “I respectuflly recommend that these appropriations be made as suggested in this report, being sat isfied that they are absolutely es sential and that the appropriation heretofore made is being econo mically and honestly administered. The college edifice is estimated to have capacity for six hundred students, and from a personal vis it to and examination of the work I can testify that it is exceeding ly well built, of the best material, and is a solid and most imposing and handsome structure, modeled with fine taste, and with inter ior arrangements and divisions ad mirably suiting it for the purposes for which it is built. “It is a four-story building, made of brick, on a foundation of hard limestone, and covered with slate, is seventy-eight feet wide by one hundred feet long. It is beautiful ly located (on the site now occupi ed by the domed Academic Build ing) in sight of the Central Rail road, and about four miles from Bryan. “I hope it will please your hon orable bodies to make the neces sary appropriations to complete and put in condition for active op erations this, the first State in stitution of learning in Texas .... The money already expended there must be supplemented with the appropriations suggested to utilize it, and I have no hesitation in say ing that the entire cost of all the building and grounds is a judicious expenditure, in that it furnishes the means of supplying immediate ly in Texas the great want of an institution of learning of the high est grade.” Appropriations Made The appropriations were made and at Coke’s insistence further provisions for the operation of the College were included in the Con stitution of the State, which was adopted the following year. As Governor Coke was named ex-offi cio president of the College board of directors, and took the lead in setting up the first rules and regu- At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, held June 1st, at Bryan, in Brazos Coun ty, near which the college is locat ed, it was unanimously resolved, that the Presidency of the College be tendered to yourself, with a sal ary of four thousand dollars per annum, with residence properly furnished, and as much land at tached as might be desired for yards,, garden, etc. As President of the Board, I was instructed to communicate im mediately with you, present the of fer, and urge its acceptance. I now perform that most pleasing duty, as the representative, not only of the Board of Directors of the Ag ricultural and Mechanical College of Texas but in behalf of the State of Texas and all her people ask that you come and live with and be one of us, and make your home and resting place, after a long and eventful public service, among a people who will never cease to love and honor you. Nor are we entirely unselfish in making this request. We desire to build up the Agricultural and Mechanical College, an institution which shall be a prominent fea ture in the educational system of the great State which founds it, and worthy of her pride and foster ing care, and we know of no liv ing man whose name and efforts can do so much as yours toward accomplishing that purpose. The duties to be performed by the President of the College have not been defined, and will not be until you are heard from, and, should you accept, as we trust you will, your wishes will be consulted in fixing them. It it hardly necessary for me to assure you that it gives me great pleasure, personally, to be the medium through which this communication is made. Hoping to hear from you at your convenience, I am Most respectfull and truly yours Richard Coke Governor of Texas and ex-officio President, Board of Directors, Ag ricultural and Mechanical College. Answer—Davis To Coke Thus, Coke failed in one of his plans for the college which by now had become one of his principal in terests. If he had been able to per suade Jefferson Davis to head the new institutiion, this great man’s personal prestige and strong lead ership would have given the in fant college a tremendous advan tage in, its early years and would have precluded many of its early disappointments and failures.” Jefferson Davis, as President of the college, would have made it from the start a popular and re spected project, just as the presi dency of Lawrence Sullivan Ross was to make it in the 1890’s. The Davis refusal and some de lays in building postponed the opening of the college for a year. It was not until the summer of 1876 that faculty, headed by Tho mas S. Gathright, had been em ployed and the final date for open ing the school could be set. To Open Oct. 4 In a meeting of the college board at Austin from July 15th to 25th, the long preparations were com pleted and the date set for open ing at October 4, providing that the College should be formally opened by an address from the Governor. According to a special telegram to the Galveston News from its correspondent in Bryan, published on October 5, 1876, only two of the college director, Governor Coke and Major Davis, were present for the opening day ceremonies, along with the faculty of six, a crowd of three or four hundred citizens and “not more than 50 cadets”. At two o’clock in the afternoon Governor Coke made his address, a carefully thought-out master piece in which he stated clearly the purpose for which the college was created and the needs it was expected to serve in the years to come. This address in its entirety has been recently republished by the WELCOME Qtld an Davis replied as follows: Memphis, Tenn. July 8, 1875. His Excellency Governor Coke: My Dear Sir: With sincere gratitude I acknow ledge the honor tendered me by the Directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, as set forth in your letter of the 14th ult. No occupation would be more ac ceptable to me than that which UKoAA, (Ml! The Exchange Store “Serving Texas Aggies” College and will not be duplicated here. The keystone of the philoso phy which prompted those early Texans to establish the college and which has given the school its basic character since, was express ed in these words from the Gov ernor’s address: “It has been the aim of the board, especially in fixing the rates of tuition and the expenses of students, to bring down to the lowest possible figure the cost of an education which shall be at the same time thorough, liberal and practical. Texas is preparing to embrace and be worthy of the great destiny which the big years of future have in store for her.” Gov. Richard Coke launched the A&M College with a clear under standing of its worthwhile mission and a foundation for the strength and character to perform that mis sion. Many of the virtues which we claim for this school, its demo cracy; its respect for industry, in tegrity and courage; its strong patriotic flavor, and finally, the thoroughness, liberality and prac ticality of its educational offerings, can be traced back to this one great Texan, who dreamed the dreams of such a school, and laid the careful plans to make those dreams come true. Richard Coke was the father of the A&M College of Texas and it is a relationship of which all sons of the college can well be proud. Shared Powerful Secret The ponderous young man and the spirited youngster who- graced the rough-cut puncheon floor of the Waco House veranda that hot afternoon in 1850 held between them a powerful secret which no one except the Fates could share. Between them they were destined to create and nurture through its hazardous infancy a mighty insti tution which we enjoy and benefit from more than a hundred years later. Despite the difference in their ages, these two were life-long friends. They fought together in the Civil War; each enjoyed the affection, respect and highest of fice of their state. Each in his own time and way served greatly the purposes of the A&M College, and each left on this school a last ing mark of his personality and accomplishment. It is a strange coincidence that the same sorrow, ing Texans who buried ’“Dick" Coke at Waco in May of 1897 were gathered at the same cemetery only eight months later, in January of 1898, for the last rites of "Little Sul”. • GROCERY SPECIALS • —MRS. TUCKER’S—3 LB. CARTON Shortening 85c TALL CAN—PINK BEAUTY Pink Salmon ....... 57c 2 CANS—BITS O’ SEA Grated Tuna 59c 46-OZ. CAN—TEXAS GOLD Pink Grapefruit Juice . 22c 2—303 CANS MUSSELMAN’S Apple Sauce 29c 2—2 Zi CANS HAPPY HOST Elberta Peaches 61c 14-OZ. BOTTLE—LIBBY’S Tomato Catsup 21c 2—8-OZ. CANS HUNT’S Tomato Sauce 17c 2—303 CANS KIMBELL’S Green Limas 43c 2—NO. 2 CANS MOON ROSE Whole Beans . . . 2 CANS—NIBLETS Whole Kernel Corn . . 35c 2—303 CANS TRELLIS Tender Peas 29c • FROZEN FOODS • — PICTSWEET SPECIAL — 12-OZ. PKG. Broccoli 27c 12-OZ. PKG. l ord Hook Limas . . . 27c • MARKET TALL KORN—SLICED Bacon lb. 49c SHORT CUT—NO BONE Ham Slices lb. 79c Ham Hocks lb. 25c PEN FED—TENDER VEAL Loin Steak lb. 93c Porter House Steak, lb. 83c ARMOUR’S—CLOVERBLOOM Cheese . . 2 lb. carton 89c PRODUCE FIRM, RIPE Tomatoes . . . . . etn. 17c FIRM, CRISP Lettuce .... 2 heads 19c HOME GROWN BABY Yellow Squash . 2 lbs. 27c CALIFORNIA Tokay Grapes . . 2 lbs. 27c MISSOURI DELICIOUS Apples . 2 lbs. 25c Specials for Friday & Saturday — Sept. 28th & 29th Charlie's Food Market North Gate — WE DELIVER College Station T! teacl spea LI’L ABNER A Walking Menu By A1 Capp *26, ’41 Classes To Hold Reunion More than 100 Aggie-exes of the classes ’26 and ’41 will attend a fall reunion on the campus Oct. 26 and 27. Fifty-five graduates of the ’26 class and 65 graduates of the ’41 class have mailed in their appli cations for reservations. Ninety- five of this number are bringing their wives. The activities of the reunion will include a reserved section at the A&M-Baylor game.