VMI Cadet. October 26, 1936

              Corps Ready For Gala
Homecoming I b e ^ . f l U L C a b c t Tommy Dorsey Is Signed
For Ring Figure
VOLUME XXX LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, TUESDAY, OCT. 26, 1936 NUMBER 6
Tommy Dorsey To
Play For Figure
Noted Band Is Signed for
Ring Figure at Thanks-giving
Hops
Played Here Before
Orchestra Features "Swing
Music" Style
Oct. 26, 1936—Tommy Dorsey and
his well known orchestra have
been signed by the 1937 Hop Com-mittee
for the annual Thanksgiv-ing
dances on November 27th and
28th.
The announcement came this
afternoon after the contracts had
been signed and necessary ar-rangements
had been made. Un-like
the committee of last year,
the band was signed as early as
possible and not on the eve of the
dances. The Committee is to b<
commended for their choice of
this popular radio and recording
band.
Appeared Here At Mid-Winters
Dorsey has appeared at VMI be-fore,
having been here two years
ago at Mid-Winter dances with his
brother Jimmy, also a leader of
wide repute, and the original Dor-sey
Brothers orchestra which Jim-my
now directs on the Bing Cros-by
air program.
Tommy Dorsey broke up with
his brother about a year ago and
started his own band. He has now
risen to the top of the orchestra
field along with the other fam-ous
bands. Dorsey features a
"swing" style of music which has
become so popular these days. This
band has become very popular
with the college set this and last
season. The sophisticated swing
is a definite dance rhythm that
pleases all.
Accomplished Leader
Dorsey has been in thd orchestra
field for many years having start-ed
out with the Scranton Sirens
1 Continued On Page 8)
Clean-Up Barracks
For Homecomings
Construction Nearly Finish-ed
as Celebration Nears
Ring Figure Band
TOMMY DORSEY
Will Meet To
Choose Favors
2nd Class Committee Works
On Plans For Ring
Figure
Construction men are working
overtime this week attempting to
' bring some semblance of order to
barracks before the influx of
Homecoming Day visitors this week
end. The courtyard is being cleared
of the assembled debris, and the
stoops themselves have all been
poured and are being cleaned up
preparatory to the painting, ex-pected
to be begun .sometime the
latter part of the week.
Outside Nearly Finished
The painting of the outside of
barracks is now more than half
completed, and by the end of the
week, it was thought that most of
the exterior would be finished. In
place of the old mottled yellow
color, visitors will see a barracks
of uniform grey appearance, real-1
izing at last the truth of the ex-pression,
"the grim, grey walls."
The outside painting is being done
with a "cold water paint," com-posed
of concrete, water and vari-ous
dyes, applied with a compress-ed
air sprayer.
In the meantime, other work-men
are gradually finishing the
various details which remain to be
done before barracks is finally
completed. All of the construc-tion
work will probably be fin-ished
next month, bringing to a
close a project which began last
March, and which has completely
changed barracks.
With the announcement of the
Thanksgiving Orchestra in to-night's
Cadet, the plans for the
Ring Figure are nearing comple-tion.
The second class is looking
forward to a nice figure and prob-ably
one of the best that has been
at the Institute for years, and are
looking for cooperation from Tom-my
Dorsey and his band.
All of the plans for the Figure
have been carried out by the Ring
Figure committee appointed by
Bill Vesey several weeks ago. The
committee consisted of the follow-ing:
' Henry Darling, Chairman,
Perry Gwaltney, Walter Roussell
and Randy Charrington. A num-ber
of favors have been selected
from which the class is to choose
the one they think the best suited
for the figure. The plan1 of the
figure itself Is very nearly com-pleted
and as soon as it is en-trely
finished the members of the
class will begin practice in the
gym. The music to be played
during the figure and while the
activities are taking place under
the arch has to be selected by the
committee and sent to the orches-tra
so there will be a thorough un-derstanding
by both parties of
what is to take place.
(Continued On Page 8)
Northern Virginia Club To
Hold Christmas Dance
October 26—Twenty-five mem-bers
of the Northern Virginia club
met tonight to make arrangements
for the club's annual Christmas
dance. The meeting was called |
by C. B. Goolrick, who explained
the purpose of the club to the
new cadets and told of the loca-tions
being considered for this j
year's dance. Representatives were;
selected from each class to form j
a committee to decide which of
the towns under consideration of-fers
the most possibilities. The
members of the committee are: C. [
B. Goolrick, first class, Fredericks-burg;
W. W. Lewis, first class, Cul-pepper;
A. M. Charrington, second
class, Warrenton; W. P. Boyer,
second class, Orange; H. A- Kerr,
third class, Middleberg; M. M. Rey-lContinued
On Pm»t 8)
Fine Attendance Is Expected To
Hear Hal Kemp At Homecomings
Best Homecoming Set In Years Is Predicted As Final Plans
For Dances Are Completed
Oct. 25—The signing of Hal
Kemp several weeks ago complet-ed
arrangements for the program
for Homecoming Dty at VMI.
Indications point to the biggest
and best day that the alumni and
cadets have ever had in Lexing-ton
for their annual event. The
opening dance will be held in '94
Hall on Friday night. A battalion
riview for the old graduates ggm
review for the old graduates will
begin the next day's festivities.
Following the military demonstra-tion
the ancient fued between the
University of Virginia and VMI
will be revived on the gridiron of
Alumni Field. During the after-noon
there will be a cross-country
meet with the University of Rich-mond
harriers taking on the ca-dets.
The usual dansant will be
held in the gym after the game
and the final dance of the Open-ing
set will close the week end's
celebration.
Expect Large Crowd
The reason for the expectations
of a large attendance is due to
the superlatively attractive pro-gram
which is being offered by
the combined agencies of alumni
and cadets. The 1937 Hop Com-mittee
has provided the music of
Hal Kemp. Having a first string
orchestra for the first dance of the
year is an innovation without a
precedent.
Squadron Squashes
Richmond Spiders
Many Go On
Annual Trip
Annual Corps Trip Is Pro-nounced
Success From
Every Angle
A.S.C.E. Meets; Infantry men
Hear Reports Capture Drill
Interesting Meeting of So-ciety
Held Before Rich-mond
Trip
Oct. 23—-Because of the excite-ment
expected in barracks tonight,
the regular bi-monthly meeting of
the VMI chapter, American So-ciety
of Civil Engineers was held
during the first class period this
morning. The meeting was called
to order by D. C. Hastings and
heard the secretary's report by A.
M. R. Charrington. J. H. Baldwin
then addressed the members with
a talk on "A Trip to the Philli-pines
by Way of the Pacific
Ocean." Baldwin, who made the
trip last summer on board the S.
S. Empress , of Britain, told of life
on shipboard and other countries
touched on the way. These were
Hawaii, China and Japan.
A report on the national student
chapter conference of the A.S.C.E.
held in Pittsburgh last week, was
read by J. N. Major, one of the V.
M. I. representatives. Major told
the results of the meeting and also
(Continued Ori Page 8)
"B" Co. Makes Fine Showing
In Initial Competitive
Drill
No Further Move Made
Toward Lighting Field
No further move has been made
as far as could be learned today,
towards the lighting of Alumni
Field for football practice, and it
was thought probable that the
idea would not be carried out for
this season. However, it seemed
possible that the group of Alumni
who are responsible for the plan
might move quickly so that the
team would be able to practice
late in the afternoon for the rest
of the season. It was also pointed
out that no move would be made
until after Homecomings, as the
crowd attending the game would
interefere with the erection of the
lights.
Only For Practice
The cost of the light has not
been made public, but the entire
sum is to be contributed by the
Alumni interested ln the plan, if it
is carried out this year. No at-tempt
will be made to have the
field lighted for actual playing
as the lights will cover only the
gridiron and will not be high
enough for kicking. However, the
plan may pave the way for future
night games, which are becoming
ever more popular throughout the
country. A great many VMI men
think that due to conditions here,
night games would prove a great
boost to attendance at VMI ath-letic
events. However, a plant
necessary for night games would
cost a great deal more than the
small lights now being proposed.
Showing precision and smartness
B Company won the monthly
competitive drill Thursday, Octo-ber
22. The infantrymen made the
excellent grade of 8.33 in their
drill, a very high grade for the
first drill of the year. The drill
was held on the parade ground
with Major Gibson, Captain Hor-ton
and Lieutenant Morton as the
judges.
Second place was won by "A"
Company with 7.88 points; "E"
Company was third with 7.73
points; "F" Company took fourth
place with 7:45 points; "D" Com-pany
was in fifth place with 7.38
points and "C" Company was
'sixth with 7.28 points.
"B" Company In Lead
"B" Company is now far in the
lead for the Garnett-Andrews cup,
gven annually to the best all-around
company at VMI. This is
the second first place they have
won within a week, as last week
they clinched first place in the
softiball race by beating "C" Co.
in a close game.
Competitive drills count a great
deal in the race for the cup given
each year to the most efficient
company, and the company which
stands the highest in the drills
throughout the year has gone a
(Continued On Page 8)
October 25—Nearly 600 weary
cadets returned to barracks, after
one of the most successful trips
the corps has undertaken in years.
A victory over the University of
Richmond and a dance at the Ho-tel
John Marshall had been the
high spot for the expedition, but
there were numerous sidelights
which had made the cadet's stay
an enjoyable one, and in return
the corps gave Richmond a fine
show.
j After detraining on Saturday, the
cadets were free until game for-mation
when they marched to the
stadium and passed in review. At
the game, they were presented
with a gold key to the city, while
various notables looked on, and be-tween
the halves, Captain Jim Far-ley
was given a bouquet by the
University Homecoming Day spon-sor.
After the game, the corps was
again free until Sunday morning
when they entrained for Lexington.
The ride itself occupied more than
seven hours.
The Corps of Cadets for a
period of over twenty-four hours
was in complete possession of the
city of Richmond. From the time
of the arrival of the excursion
train in the Main Street Station of
that city at 7:00 A. M. Saturday
until the departure of the same
train at 10:30 the following morn-ing,
the grey uniforms of the Lex-ington
cadets were to be seen
everywhere in the capital city. The
formality of the presentation of
the Key was ironical for Mayor
Bright could not" give the Corps
something that they were already
in possession of.
The trip was conducted in the
most efficient manner that a
Corps has as yet enjoyed. There
was no delay in the train schedule,
and the restrictions put on the
boys by Headquarters were so
negligible that they were hardly
noticeable.
VMI Air Attack Is Superior
As Excellent Lines
Clash
Echols Blocks Punt
Commanders Make Hit At Dance
As Crowd Celebrates Victory
With the auditorium of the John
Marshall Hotel serving as an ideal
setting, the festivities of the Corps
trip to Richmond found their cli-max
Saturday night during the
joyous hours of a "Victory Ball."
The colors of VMI, red, white and
yellow were tastefully arranged
by alternate streamers which
created a delightfully pleasing ap-pearance.
Saturday night found the VMI
Commanders, in their first ap-pearance
before the corps this
year in better form than ever and
the dancing couples exhibited their
whole-hearted enjoyment with ap-preciative
response. Cadets, alum-ni
and their friends riding on the
crest of a sweet victory over the
University of Richmond reached a
crescendo when the Commanders
rendered their version of the "V.
M. I. Spirit." The orchestra was
very capably supported by several
vocal selections by Bill Follett and
Eben Jones.
The dance was very well attend-ed
and a large number of very at-tractive
girls added their infec-tious
charms to the revelry of a
perfect evening.
The Richmond Alumni cannot
be praised too highly for
their excellent work in making
such a dance possible. Thus, with
the playing of the final melody,
the Cadets and their friends were
left with memories of a Corps
trip which cannot be easily for-gotten.
A new microphone system which
has been added to the equipment
of the orchestra proved to be ex-1
tremely satisfactory. The system
is like that used by many of the
country's leading orchestras and
amplifies clearly without destroy-ing
the natural tone of the instru-ment
or voices.
With the glittering new stands,
the white paletots and an effective
lighting system, the orchestra pres-ented
an exceedingly neat and
distinguished appearance on the
platform of the ballroom.
Game Is Uninteresting From
Spectators Viewpoint
Saturday afternoon in Richmond
and the nine thousand spectators
enjoyed a perfect football day. A
large part of them, also, enjoyed
seeing the Flying Squadron from
Lexington defeat the Spiders by a
score of 20 to 0.
Although the game was loosely
played and the two teams seemed
to.be fairly evenly matched, the
spectators received their share of
thrills as the VMI team kept the
Richmond eleven in hot water
throughout almost the entire game.
The educated toe of Andy Trze-ciak
was one of the factors in the
victory of the Big Red Team.
Entire Team Plays Well
The line of the Flying Squadron
was again in fine shape. The Spid-er
backs could gain very little or
no ground through the staunch for-wards
led by Captain Jim Farley
at guard. Al Fiedler at the other
guard position turned in a fine
performance at the tackle posi-tions
Red Echols and Woody Gray
were outstanding with the former
being one of the stars of the game
in recovering fumbles and blocking
a punt which led to the Squad-ron's
first score. At the wing
positions Dave Kane and Ray Brit-tingham
both showed up well both
on offense and defense. At cen-ter
George Brown and Dick Irby
played good ball throughout the
game. Dick Strickler and Seaton
looked good while they were in
the game at tackle, as did Bill
Shomo, Billy Holland and Hugh
Adams on the ends.
The play of the backfield was
good throughout the game. Andy
Trzeciak was a ground gainer, aad
his toe was a big factor in the vic-tory.
Wayt Clark gained consid-erable
ground for the Big Red
Team and looked good on all-around
play. "Doc" Saundeas
proved his worth as a pass >•-
ceiver by snaring passes fross
both Trzeciak and Roberson wba
entered the game just loag enough
to heave a couple of passes, the
latter going for a touchdown. Ko-var
and Taylor played good ball
at the halfback positions while
they were in there, and Jim Beard
and Joe Rosa divided the honors
at the fullback post with bolh
doing well.
First Perled
There was a strong wind blow-ing
and when Captain Farley *oa
(Continued On Puge C)
Civil Men To Make Field
Trip
First Class civil men will prob-ably
make a trip to the Fordwick
Cement plant, located about 26
miles from Lexington beyond
Goshen, if present plans are car-ried
out. The trip will last all
day, and is to be made some day
next week after the Homecoming
Hops. It was planned at first to
go this week, but it was decided
that it would be better to postpone
it until a later date.
While at the plant the men will
inspect the various processes a ad
in addition, they will visit several
old iron works in the vicinity. Hiey
will be served dinner at Fordwick.
Colonel Marr will oocompany
the cadets on the trip, which will
be in the nature of a field expedi-tion
for the civil classes.