HomeMy WebLinkAbout"Texas A. & M." article
r
- +YNt"IR
Ile-
_w
ell, P111
gg n b S N yy
Will we
m
77- _V
Hi 1: 11 in if Sol
7 °armr'." ,s«•e fir' ""'?s.., ~,~,s. . eeyi s
16
•leftcrs„n Day ~s declined to be the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.
EXAS • and M.
BEFORE dawn on the morning of October 4, ear for strange noises, which was found convenient in keep-
1876, three forlorn figures groped their way about in the ins one's scalp attached to a skull instead of a wampum
inky blackness of what appeared to be a wilderness. A few belt, were all that had been necessary to enable. the home
minutes before, they had alighted from a train which had town boy to make good in the great open spaces.
made a brief pause at a little flag station and its departure The Texas A. and M. College was a gift to the state from
had left them in darkness. the United States government, proffered before the scrap
Suddenly the three-they dared not separate-bumped of the sixties. When the state finally agreed to accept it,
into another wanderer. Jefferson Davis of Confederate fame was asked to become
"Hey, there," one of the trio cried out. "We're students its first president. He declined, as they knew he would, but
looking for that college." it had been one of those never subtle rebel gestures.
"Thank God," the new voice exclaimed. "I'm the presi- Under the existing circumstances, no one understands
dent. I was looking for some students."
That morning the Agricultural and Mechanical College Final Dress Parade marks the
of Texas opened its doors for the first time. Six students M. Down the cheeks of the
enrolled. Six faculty members were on hand to instruct
them in agriculture, mechanics and military science.
The opening of the college was not an auspicious occasion.
The State of Texas was worrying with bigger problems
In 1876, when many firms in the East were celebrating then
fiftieth anniversaries, Texas was hardly dry behind the ears °b ;g-
Only four years before, the railroads had gone as far north
as Dallas, a trading post on the Trinity River. Dallas, the " e
sg q
center of the new industrial Southwest today, at the time
the A. and M. College opened its doors was the world's
largest market for buffalo meats and hides, and hunting
buffalo on the northwestern plains of the state was con- ~
sidered one of the professions.
But what Texas lacked in antiquity in 1876, it made up
for in the blood that had been shed during its travail under six flags. It is the boast of a native Texan today that this
state was never bought or sold, that its allegiances and its
independence were earned on the battle fields by the sword
and trusty muzzle-loader. Book learning had played no
part in the rise of the state. A good eye at the trigger, a
hardy constitution, a little natural agility and a woodman's _
50
By
#e
VIOLET SHORT a'
R as
~u
just why there were as many as six students ~,,i f e `
e
triculatin in the first session. But those
ma
g
first six were workers. Wearing their im- t• ~V
pressive uniforms with miles of gold braids,
and flocks of brass buttons, they went out
each week-end from the college doing mis-sionarv work for the school, telling the peo-
ple of the advantages of education. Before,
the year was over the enrolment had in-
creased to a hundred and six.
The greater number of the students were • '
enrolled in the mechanical courses because
that department had such novel and in-
tricate equipment. Besides, studying agri- _
culture was considered rather foolish since '
anyone could plow, plant seeds and pick.
cotton. Over the state, however, there was
considerable misunderstanding of that word a
"military". Parents of sons who were fit"
candidates for the penitentiary saw in the i
military clause a suggestion that discipline , lot
was one of the strong points of the college. 3~.
During those first years besides drawing
manv of the men who have been empire
builders, the college drew many of the in-
corrigibles of the state.
The Old Boys tell tales galore of the
hardships of those early days. Wild deer
roamed the campus and the yell of a puma
often disturbed study hours. During the
first session, the commandant was shocked
to see one of the sergeants of the cadet
corps, whose duty it was to bring up the Gu:on Hall, the chapel, welcomes rab-
y e his, priests, circuit riding Methodists,
rear in the march to the mess hall, suddenly sprint past the radials and conservatives alike.
whole company at high speed. Back of him was a wolf
which cold and hunger had driven to the campus in search
of food. and for many years has been the favored and favorite child
A glimpse of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of of the Texas Legislature. The aggregate buildings of the
Texas today belies its meager beginning. One has only to three other state supported institutions-Texas University,
look at the tremendous college plant to realize that it is Vest Texas Technological and the College of Industrial
Arts-do not equal in number and value those on the A.
end of four years at A. and and M. campus. When our dearest rival, the University,
senior officers tears stream. was housing many of her major departments in shacks, on
the campus of A. and 11, dormitories and administration
buildings were under construction-a partiality which even
F s x the favored college was not blinded to.
The college plant and equipment of the Texas A. and M.
Al! LIP
College is valued at nearly seven million dollars. It is the
town of College Station, Texas. During the school terms
M the population of this village approaches seven thousand,
and every person who lives there is either an employee or
a student of the college.
k
Military Walk is the Main Street of the village. Down
40
~ it the feet of cadets for more than a half century have
z~
marched to their meals; up it, they have marched to chapel.
A bugle stand, midway, announces reveille, soupy, call to
z~ classes, call from classes, taps and at times silver taps.
9 There are nearly a score of dormitories, ranging from
Pheiffer and Austin halls, which date back to the seventies
and which boast of "running wood and running water"
(freshmen run and carry both for the upper classmen), to
Puryear Hall, a recently built home for graduate students.
- Two structures house the State Chemist and his department.
Another houses the Administration [Continued on page 1141
51
114 College Humor
started off in an uncertain manner, hoping "One more," shouted the coxswain. "Now
. against hope that they would not sink in the let's catch the others." The water had
first half mile at least. smoothed out a little by this time, so they
'SCENE
It was not long before M. I. T. went under felt that they could raise the stroke with a
• • the waves, and the Wisconsin coxswain, upon reasonable amount of safety. The trouble,
discovering this, said: "Holy smoke! M. I. however, was that the other crews had no
T. has just sunk. Let the stroke down." intention of sinking and the best that the
® The beat was let down to twenty-eight per Wisconsin crew could do was to gain a few
minute. In a short while another crew sank. lengths on the Navy which was having a
"Let the stroke down-another crew has great battle with the Pennsylvania crew for
along the route of the new sunk. I think it's Syracuse," the ' coxswain third place.
shouted. The stroke went down to twenty- It was a great race in spite of the fact
O LYM P 1 A N six. that it was a disappointment to most of the
One of the members of the crew suggested crews participating. Undoubtedly some of
that they had better take it easy and figura- the crews which sank would have finished
tively sink the others and then pass them- one, two, three, if they had had better luck.
` his idea being that if all the others sank, This year it is hoped that the water will be
they could win the race. Then California better and that all the crews will have a fair
4'. went down, so the boys dropped the stroke chance.
`S to twenty-four a minute in order to insure It would not be right to leave this episode
x ~r their own security. without some mention of the Columbia crew.
They were rowing about this pace when It had an outside lane, and how they ever
i~
they passed the bridge about ten lengths be- finished, let alone win the race, is beyond the
hind the Navy. In the meantime, Cornell, ken of this writer. The only plausible an-
t which had been up among the leaders, got swer lies in the oarsmanship of the men and
into difficulties with the water and began to the very capable coaching of Richard Glen-
r e _ lose ground. Soon the Wisconsin crew dis- don, Jr. They performed a feat that should
lillor =r covered this and raised the beat so that they truly rank them among the great crews in
were just passing Cornell as the latter sank. American rowing history.
• ~~L>tl l Texas A. and M. from page 51
' offices for the Texas Agricultural Experiment who happens to make the baseball team in-
Station. Being the home and the headquar. herits the title of Whiskey. W. C. T. U.
ters for the oldest and largest Extension Serv- mamas write letters of protest against such
ice in the world, on the campus of A. and M. a fiendish custom, but today as in the years
' • there is an edifice dedicated to this work. gone by there is a Whiskey Smith on the
Until recent years there has been no definite baseball team.
plan of building on the campus and as a re- A name, too, may be inherited from broth-
' ' sult the buildings offer a bewildering array of er by brother, or from father to son. If in '82
architectural styles, ranging from the distinct- a man earned for himself the name of
ly Turkish appea ance of the Armory to the "Mule," twenty, thirty or forty years later,
near-Spanish villa type of the Assembly Hall. when his son or grandson enters the college,
As long as daylight PJA All the newer buildings, however, are of white the boy may play the violin and write son-
lasts, often later, tray- J A brick, and as College Station is located in the nets but he is known by no other name than
midst of the cotton plantations far from in- Mule. In 1887, the first of eight brothers,
elers on the new Olym- dustry, no smoke ever mars the whiteness of because of his well lined pockets, was called
pian linger raptur- its sky-line. "Dough." The eighth Dough of that family
Several years ago, a zoo at Waco found graduated from the college in 1923.
ously , over the scenic grandeur that two baby lions with the rickets and decided The hazing of freshmen is another of the
graces the electrified trail of this "Queen that the best thing to do would be to ship time honored customs of the college. Pastors
of the Rails"-656 sootless, cinderless, them to the college in order that the students from their pulpits have raged against the bar-
of veterinary medicine might experiment barism of it, irate parents have written letters
mountain miles through the very heart of upon them. The students did and the lions to the papers and wrathful legislators have
the romantic Northwest Wonderland. recovered. With the nucleus of two lions, a threatened to cut the college off without a
And on the by-ways are Yellowstone Park m
zoo, onkeys t natily alligators from the coons,deers penny boY if
ehazing nters the isn't frecurbed.
shman class expecting
through new Gallatin Gateway, the In- of the Brazos near the college and all other to be strapped, beaten, deprived of his
land Empire lakelands (Spokane), Mt, animals that are considered standard zoo "cush" at mealtimes. Now and then a student
equipment, is the mecca of many afternoon leaves school because he Fannot stand hazing,
Rainier National Park, Olympic Penin- strolls. and then, as the college must stay on the
sula, Puget Sound, Mt. Baker, cruises Also College Station boasts of one of the good side of the Legislature, there is an up-
from Seattle and Tacoma to Victoria, oldest broadcasting stations in the world. heaval. A Legislative committee calls, and
When radio was still in the laboratory stage, there is an investigation. Prexy is worried.
Vancouver and Alaska. All easily acces- from the college station WTAW a football (Believe it or not, they do refer to him as
sible . . . and offering thrills or restful game was broadcast by the dot and dash sys- Prexy.) Freshmen are quizzed individually
recreation as you prefer. tem-the first athletic contest ever sent over and collectively. In one voice they declare
the ether. that hazing does not exist at A. and M., that
All-expense tours, escorted groups or inde- The real story of the Texas Agricultural it never has existed and that the whole idea
pendent travel, at moderate cost. Low and Mechanical College cannot be written is absurd.
summer fares. Ask us to help you plan without frequent references to the past, for The Legislative committee knows when it
the school has been built and has thrived upon is whipped. It issues dire warnings and passes
your trip. Mail coupon below today. its traditions. The khaki uniform of the army another law-but what more can it do? It
is worn today instead of the cadet blue and can find no evidence. Freshmen who are too
~fe MILWAUKEE the campaign hats of a half century ago, but bruised to sit down vow that it is merely a
in spirit the school remains the same. A fall from a cavalry horse.
Electrified over the Rockies to the Sea D ^ A T cross section of the college life of 1929 would When the committee departs, Prexy loses
_i_`l_J_ti_L_ not differ materially from the same glimpse his worried look. Sophomores breathe freely
Geo. B. Haynes, Passenger Traffic Manager of the school in 1899 or in 1909. Side by side again-and proceed to lambast hell out of
The Milwaukee Road, 738 Union Station, Chicago, Ill, with the boys of '29 march the men who have the freshmen for lying to the honorable body
Send me full information about tours to ❑ Yellow- gone before. Once an A. and M. man, the of Legislators.
stone Park; 0 Inland Empire (Spokane and Lake saying goes, always an A. and M. man, and The army discipline line and the uniform of the
Region); ❑ Mt. Rainier National Park; ❑ Puget Y P
Sound Country; El Olympic Peninsula; [-1 Alaska; in some mysterious manner no man who has college are supposed to make it a democratic
❑ Black Hills. ❑ Escorted all-expense tours. ever gone through the institution is ever for- school. Boys can and do work their ways
I have...---- .days vacation and about to spend. gotten. His name becomes one of the tra- through the college, often at the thirty cents
ditions of the school. an hour which is standard wage on the cam-
Narne------------------------------------ _ In the early days of the college, a baseball pus whether it be paid for washing a car,
Address ......_..---sm_45A Player earned for himself the name of "Whis- weeding a flower bed or minding a profes-
key" Smith. Ever since that time, the Smith sor's baby. The height of ingenuity was
June, 1930 115
reached by an energetic freshman from Bas- zes and the necking tournaments play in the
trop County, Texas, who arrived at the school lives of the-students of a co-ed institution.
the fall of 1926 with eight cows. Renting a Within a few months the novelty of the situ-
pasture near the college, he peddled milk as ation wore off. I didn't have to "grab m}
a competitor of the college dairy. ankles" at the approach of an upper classman,
Fraternities are forbidden at A. and M. and but I got "rammed" for not attending clas<_e;.
yet the fraternity problem has been one of the I fought for the honor of being on the di=-
greatest which ever threatened the institution. tinguished student list. It seemed very im-
Following the war, secret societies known as portant then, but today I don't remember -
fraternities, although they bore the original whether I ever made it or not.
names of Swastikas and True Texans, were Actually my sex made little difference. I -
organized among the students. Rigid codes of was allowed to omit prescribed courses in a _ -
ethics and conduct, aimed primarily at the "bull ticks" (military science) and at the sug-
non-frat man, were adopted. gestion of the registrar I refrained from in-
For several years, the internal war in the eluding in my course of study such subjects
student body threatened destruction of what as genetics and biology, because my presence
has been known as the Aggie Spirit. As is some- in the classroom during discussions would
what unusual in most cases of that kind, both prove embarrassing to the prof and to the
sides were bitterly and equally rabid against students. Men's colleges are funny that way.
the other. The fight flourished in class poli- I was permitted, however, to pray with the PARKS Announces
tics, in school publications and in social af- rest of the boys at final pep meeting before
fairs where a fraternity man would not dance a big game, and I learned to sob aloud and as
with a girl brought by a non-frat man, or loud as any of my classmates-in the tra- A COLLEGE MEN'S
vice versa. Eventually it crept into athletics. ditional manner-when our football team
Football games were lost because the frater- went down in defeat.
nity men and the non-frats refused to do team Militarism has always been stressed at A. FLYING COURSE
work. Fighting, each to show the other at a and M. The record of the college during the
disadvantage, the team forfeited game after World War bears this statement out. When
game. war was declared in '17, six weeks before JUNE 15 to SEPT 1
Then an incoming president of the college commencement, the senior class was gradu- •
delivered a masterful blow. During the school ated into the army and many of the juniors
session, civil war would have resulted had the followed them. During the period the United
faculty intervened either way. But prior to States was in the war, forty-nine per cent of Here is your chance
the opening of the college year, when they all the graduates of the Texas A. and M. Col- _ of a lifetime to
were scattered all over the Southwest, the lege since '79 were marching under the colors. spend the most
ring-leaders of the secret societies received Its service flag, which is said to be the largest wonderful summer
notices that the Agricultural and Mechanical service flag in the world, was recently pre- _ you ever spent-and
College of Texas had planned and expected sented to the Texas Legislature for goodness , at the same time
=8
to get through the coming year without their knows what reason, over the protests of a learn toffy
- ~ Air Colley at A Parks
Amer-
Student presences. number of rival schools in the state.
Student organizations, except for scholastic Of every student, unless he has had army _ ica's largest and
or athletic reasons, are practically unknown training before entering school, is required finest civilian avi-
at A. and M. There is no glee club. There is two years of military training. Dropping ation school.
no press club of embryo writers, nor any military at the end of the sophomore year is % Parks' first un-
literary gatherings. Dramatics are confined optional, but that, as many boys protest, is nual College Men's
to one event each year-the senior play. just when it gets bearable. The junior year Flying Course starts June 15th and ends
Boys from various counties of the state bind brings chevrons and quarterly compensation September 1st. Only 150 students can be ac-
themselves together for the sole purpose of from the government-which is not without cepted. Here you will receive expert flying
being grouped together as a county club in its attractions. Infantry, artillery, cavalry, instruction under men of national reputa-
the college annual, The Longhorn. There are signal corps and aviation are the branches of tion. You will be given 28 bourn actual flying
similar state organizations, such as the Louis- the service represented. All are supplemented time, including 8 hours of solo flight and a
iana Club or the Arkansas Club. The Cos- by army training camps in the summer, and complete transport pilot's ground school
mopolitan Club comprises the foreign stu- in the aviation service, a student must spend course. This is much more than the Govern-
dents-from Mexico, China, Brazil, Russia, six months in the flying service at Belly Field ment requires to qualify for a private pi.
Egypt and India. Its membership is usually following graduation. lot's license.
You will be trained in the world's most
around two hundred. After a boy finishes his junior year, he is
Except for one military-social club which less inclined than ever to drop military. modern planes; Parks has a fleet of more
will be discussed later, organizations play no Towards the latter days of August, he scans than 30 training ships. And when you
part in the student life. The college, however the newspapers anxiously for the announce- graduate, you will be ready for the Govern-
offers facilities for almost every form of ments of the senior officers for the coming ment's private pilot tests, and will have
athletic contest. Several years ago a golf links year: lieutenants, first and shave-tails, cap- made the finest hind of start toward quali-
was added to the college equipment. Polo tains, majors and one colonel of the Cadet fication for a transport license.
is a favorite sport, as is tennis. And, although Corps. A boy can stand the blows of his Will You Be One of the 10?-
"
it never headlines, the chess team has made freshman year, the grind of the sophomore
records for a number of years. days when he is neither up nor down in the If you want the thrill that piloting a plane
The Texas A. and M. College is strictly a scholastic stage, the monotony of the junior alone can bring-if you want to go back to
man's school. That is written in the charter, year when effort seems futile, for the priv- school improved in bodg. and mind, and
but now and then there have been girls who ilege of being a senior officer. with a foundation for real earning capacity
crashed its gates. I was one who did. The greatest tribute to a man's military in aviation, send now for full details.
But back in the eighties, two girls, the Hut- ability, his scholarship, his character and parks Air College was one of the first to be
son twins, who were also daughters of a col- those attributes which are supposed to make licensed by the U. S. Dept. of Commerce
lege professor, took their degrees in civil en- a man is given to the boy who is made Col- as a fully accredited transport school.
gineering. That was tradition enough. My onel of the Cadet Corps. He wears three PARKS AIR COLLEGE
father had given years in exhaustive research diamonds on his collar, marches ahead of all
for the Experiment Station and the Extension men into the Mess Hall. He intercedes for Division of Detroit Aircraft Corporation
of the college. We lived in a dinky little the students with the faculty. He represents 69; Missouri Theatre Building
house on the campus, which had basked for the student body on all occasions. He, with
several years in the reflected spotlight because the president, greets the visiting governors. ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
little Madge Phillpots had spent the first He does the honors of the college.
years of her life in it. Madge, by the way, The colonelship, however, is the acid test
out in Hollvwood makes flickers for William of a man. In the history of the college there » COUPON « s
Fox, and the name of Phillpots has been are records that live long after everything parks Air College
changed to Bellamv. There was no good rea- else that has happened has been forgotten, 693 Missouri Theatre Bldg.
son, except the fact that the stork had erred, of the men who could not stand the taste of St. Louis, Mo.
for my not going through my father's alma success. Wherever the Old Boys get together
mater. it is recalled that a certain man committed Sof¢nd your College Men's Flying Course.
details
For three years, I was one of the cadet the unpardonable sin of letting a commission
corps of the A. and M. College. The accepted go to his head, or of bootlicking the faculty NAME
popularity of one girl with so many men and becoming its catspaw against the student Address."
played as little a part in my real college career body, or-most unpardonable-changing his City-------------------------------- State
as the gin-swigging, the secret morality quiz- allegiances and his friends and his party after
I16 College Humor
Posed by pelves are the corps dances of the college.
Jura Collyer Fhese are held on Saturday nights twice a
Fox Film Star month. They are informal, and the ratio of
r -irls to boys is usually about thirty to three
hundred. At the corps dance, the break-in
if is at its worst-or maybe its best. Real danc-
* ing is unheard of. To be having a perfectly
gorgeous time a girl must have break-ins at
Iw,
the rate of not less than ten a minute. To
- dance the length of the hall once with the
same man would spoil any girl's evening and
0
she would return home wondering what the
matter could be. It was rumored that the
girls who wore corsets got the fewest break
-
l ins, and if a girl felt that for some reason she
had not received the proper rush, provided it
was not a corset, quite likely she would at-
tend the next dance reeking in the odor of
a that remedy which smothers that insidious
thing even your best friend wouldn't men-
tion.
Five miles from College Station is the town
of Bryan which for more than half a century
has contributed largely to the social activities
of the college. Bryan girls rule for a time as
1 / the college queens, and retire as its widows.
When a Bryan girl is thirteen, perhaps some
student who has been stood-up for a date
will ask her to pinch-hit at a dance, rather
than cancel his program. From that small
THE PERFU-MIST is the nec- beginning comes a great social whirl. A new
essary accessory for your girl to dance with, she is immediately given
handbag-instantly ready to re- a rush. Some one invites her to the next
new your perfume as handily dance, and she is in the swim. At seventeen,
and often as your compact re- she has seen the freshmen she started with
news your complexion! "M graduate. When she is twenty, boys begin to
recall that their older brothers rushed her
Each filling holds a hundred gttaa when they were in school. She becomes
applications of your favorite known as one of the Old Girls-by this time,
perfume. Press, PRESTO-and of course, there are other thirteen and four-
out it floats in a delicate mist, teen-year-olds attending the dances-and she
t *6"%Y4 the correct and economical way begins to dread "getting on the shelf" socially.
to use precious extracts. All this before she is twenty-one.
Beautiful Purse and Boudoir But the girl understands it, as does her
Models to match your costume >0 +mother. The same families have furnished
';'r;`t'} ' the college belles for three generations. The
or scheme of decoration.
k✓ girl will marry eventually, and within a few
Art Metal Works, Inc., Aronson Sq., years will, like her mother before her, be
Newark, N. J. In Canada: Dominion sitting on the side-lines at the dances in mid-
Art Metal Works, Ltd., Toronto, Ont, dle-aged complacency, counting her daugh-
ter's break-ins.
"THE PERFECT PURSE-SIZE $5 and up wher-
ever perfumes or
accessories are sold EACH building on the campus
earning his spurs. Fortunately, such records into the mess hall where they are is a monument to some man who has left
are few. Usuallv the men whom the col- the the 5 penned his mark on the lives of the students.
give rural atmosphere. The dec- Perhaps the best known of all the men who
lege has honored have honored it in turn. orations are bales of hay, plows, tractors and served the college was Bernard Sbisa. For
This college shows each year a higher per- cultivators-all bona fide and in use during nearly fifty years this kindly old man, Aus-
centage of increase of agricultural students the day on the college farms. Costumes are trian by birth, had charge of the dining-hall
than any other college in the United States, in keeping. Often in addition to overalls, of the college. Sbisa Hall, the largest dining-
because Texas, in spite of the much heralded straw hats and bandannas, bare feet are in hall in the world, which serves more than
advent of industry, has always been, is now evidence. nine thousand meals daily, is his monument.
and for many years will continue to be essen- The "T" Club dance, given by the men He first came to America as steward for the
tially an agricultural state. who have lettered in athletics, is held each vainglorious Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico.
Since the beginning, the student body has spring. Invitations limit the attendance. With the fall of the Mexican Empire, he came
been called the Farmers, and practically all During the San Jacinto holidays, commem- to Texas and became steward of the college.
their college yells and songs include the phrase orating the battle that won for Texas her in- He served his school as diligently as he had
Farmers! Fight! Fight! Fight! dependence, the Ross Volunteer dances are his emperor, and his death in Cuba in 1928
Throughout the Southwest, the Agricultural held. These are the most brilliant balls held was mourned by thousands of former stu-
and Mechanical College is noted for its bril- in the Southwest, lasting for three days. dents of the college.
liant social functions. These never vary in The Ross Volunteers, who sponsor these Dean Charles Puryear is a bachelor, and
name, date or season. In the fall, the day dances, are another tradition of the college. for years it has been his custom to walk lei-
following the annual football classic-the Named for a former president, the organiza- surely around the campus each afternoon, just
Thanksgiving Day game with State Univers- tion first came into notice as a crack military at sundown. The campus children always
ity-the Thanksgiving Hop is held in honor team. The men most proficient in marching look eagerly for his approach, because he has
of the football team. Sbisa Hall, the mess and handling their rifles are enlisted. Today, been the official weighing machine of the cam-
hall, is cleared for the occasion, and thou- popularity and military ability determine pus for many years. He will hold his cane by
sands of visitors attend. whether a man is eligible for membership in its two ends, lifting a child from the ground.
Girls are imported. Often they are given this organization, and as the membership is "Forty pounds," he will announce, resum-
shelter in the houses of the faculty members limited, the blackball system flourishes. ing his walk down the street where other
of the campus, but if their numbers warrant Many of the higher officers of the cadet youngsters are intent upon watching their
it, a dormitory is vacated and turned over to corps, who have merited commissions in the weight.
them. Often in clearing a room and making army, are not considered sufficiently military For fifteen years the Texas A. and M. has
it presentable for feminine guests, the stu- to be elected to membership, while on the made and held admirable records in athletics.
dents remove the window shades and take other hand often the most popular students Probably its most notable football achieve-
them with them. A fellow, they argue, must are left out. In many instances, the absence ment was when it defeated Bo McMillan and
have some compensation for giving up his liv- of a blackball is not a tribute to the popu- his Center College team on New Year's Day
ing quarters, and a shadeless window helps. larity of a student but merely to the lack of in 1923.
Between terms, the Barnyard Dance is unpopularity. Joel Hunt, who starred in the East-West
held. Cows, pigs and chickens are brought Unique and absolutely in a class by them- game at Los Angeles, was one of the most
June, 1930 117
brilliant football players the South has ever they entered into an agreement by which one
produced. Upon his graduation, A. and M. would go one year while the other worked to
took upon itself another tradition. Sweater pay- his way through, and the following year
Number Eight, which Hunt had always worn their positions would be reversed.
on the team, was dedicated to him. There On the throw of the dice, it fell to Mr,
will never be another Number Eight on the Kirby's lot to work for a year to send his
A. and M. squad. In the history of the school partner to school. Saddling his horse, he
there have been seasons when an opposing rode over the country selling Bibles and maps.
team never crossed their goal line-and there His friend had a successful year at college, and
have been other seasons when it seemed that the following fall he planned to take over
most anv team could cross their goal line. Kirby's map business, but his sudden death
Athletics in this college, however, are deprived J. H. Kirby of his education.
merely the lengthening shadow of an indi- Recently the A. and M. College received
vidual. Of Dana N. Bible, for ten years a gift of six hundred acres of valuable timber
athletic director of the college, one of the land, the yearly proceeds of which are to go
presidents under whom he served said, "If his into a student loan fund which will enable
team had never won a game or had never any needy boy who has the urge, but not the
scored, this college could never repay him for funds, to go through college. It is the gift
what his influence as a sportsman and a of J. H. Kirby, who, although he did not
gentleman has done for the students." finish with the boys of '79, was made a mem-
Of more than thirty thousand graduates of ber of their class by vote.
this institution, it is appalling to find that it The subject of loan funds reminds me that
has given to the world no movie hero, nor several years ago Sears, Roebuck and Com-
writer, nor even a brilliant politician. The pany gave to this school a loan fund of twen-
real spotlight has singled out few of its men. ty-five thousand dollars, to be used to aid
Obscure now as he was then is C. T. Schwab agricultural students through college. So far
of Cuero, Texas, who, in his junior year in as I know, Texas A. and M. is the only in-
1924, perfected a range finder for a certain stitution that has benefited from the millions
type of gun, which was promptly taken over of this great mail order house.
by the War Department. Heading the Ex-Students Association of the
It has been said, however, that back of college today is Bill Sterling, '08, captain of
every constructive project during the past the Texas Rangers. This picturesque law en-
half century there have been one or more A. forcement squad came into being during the
and M. men. In the records of highways Indian raids, but today the mere mention of i
built, wastelands reclaimed, insect infestations them strikes terror to the criminal of Texas.
controlled, and on the cornerstones of great Where other states call out a militia, Texas
buildings, you'll find the names of A. and M. sends its Texas Rangers.
men. Under the supervision of one of them Of Captain Bill is told this story: A village
in 1928, more than a half million acres of with a riot on its hands appealed to the
farm lands in Texas were reclaimed by ter- governor for some Rangers. The committee
races. Many of the boys are working with from the rioting village were astounded when C-1
the United States Department of Agriculture only one alighted from the train. .
in their field of investigations, others are do- "Did they send only one Ranger?" the
ing cotton research work for the Texas Agri- townspeople gasped.
cultural Experiment Stations and many others "There's only one riot, isn't there?" came
are with the various Extension Services over the reply from the Ranger captain.
the United States. Final Dress Parade marked the end of four
]]Major General Dick Burleson of the U. S. years at A. and M. There is Commencement,
Army attended the A. and M. College four of course, and Final Ball, but Final Dress
years. During commencement, he indulged Parade is the last tradition of the school.
in a prank for which was expelled. He Once around the drill field before the gor FORS'
ente ered West Point, graduated, and his first ernor, the army officers, the president of the e
assignment after he entered the army was to college and the commencement guests, the
visit the Agricultural and Mechanical College, student officers-lieutenants, captains, majors
inspect it and report to the War Department and the colonel-march their men for the last
what he thought its military rating should be. time.
The welcoming committee from the faculty Then the junior officers, next year's seniors,
which met Major Burleson at the train did take charge. The departing senior officers
not wear the conventional sack-cloth and stand in a line before the reviewing stand.
ashes, but they conducted a simple little cere- As each man's company marches by, he steps
mony which ended in the presentation of his forward with a farewell salute. The seniors O
diploma. stand, hands to army caps, while their men
J. H. Kirby, millionaire lumberman of give "Eyes right!" The band plays Should
Houston, whose name was mentioned many Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot. Down the
times as a possible running mate to Al Smith cheeks of the senior officers tears stream. R
in the last election, is of the first graduating Goodbys to their classmates begin. Some of
class. In those days when the first students the boys sob audibly. They are all unashamed
were going out on missionary work for the of their emotion.
college, in a little town of Peach Tree, J. H. It is the final expression of the Aggie Spirit.
Kirby and another young man become sold The youngsters join the men who have gone
on a college education. They were both very before! They have become part of the tra-
poor and could not afford to go together, so dition.
Seventeen 4 from page 71 H
If I were seventeen, I would read Trollope, Wagner and Cosima, Elizabeth of Russia and
Thackeray, Dickens, Dumas, Balzac, Con- Elizabeth of England.
perus, Jacob Wasserman, Mrs. Wharton, all I would learn to recognize the music that
the poetry I could get, all the history I could one is apt to hear most: Shubert's Serenade,
get and all the biography. I would read Beethoven's Fifth, the New World Symphony,
Power, The Sun Also Rises, Cruel Fellowship, the Unfinished, Chopin's Funeral March, The
Serena Blandish and Vanity Fair. Volga Boat Song, Santa Lucia, What Is This 7RA
1RA
I would make it a point to read the daily Thing Called Love?
papers and to learn a little about American I would not smoke. I would take one cock-
politics, even if I hated the subject. I would tail if I were offered it at a dinner party, and
find out the names of the best modern paint- no more. I would not drink out of a bot- 7
ers, writers, critics and sculptors. I would tle. I would eat whatever food was served
read about the great love affairs of history: to me, without saying I couldn't stand this or rLo -
trade.mark is Gen- TRADE oC"7Pd MARK
Sand and Chopin, Louis and La Valliere, that. uine Orange Blossom