VMI Cadet. November 9, 1942

              She I t l t 3 U € u k t
of
The Virginia Military Institute
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE CORPS OF CADETS
Founder's Day
This is the Founder's Day issue of The VMI Cadet.
On Wednesday. November 11, 1942, VMI will celebrate
i t s one hundred and third anniversary. The body of
Colonel Claudius Crozet, first president of the Hoard of
Visitors, will be moved from Richmond to here in Lex-ington
with proper ceremonies on Wednesday.
Wednesday also marks the twenty-fourth anni-versary
of the signing of the Armistice of World War
One. The part played by the Institute in that war con-stitutes
a brilliant portion of VMI's long history.
VOLUME XXXVI—Z-778 LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, NOVEMBER 9, 1942 NUMBER 8
The Third Great Test
(AN EDITORIAL)
For one hundred and three years the Virginia Mili-tary
Institute has undergone a continual evolution. It
has experienced ups and downs, but it has always been
on a forward march in the eyes of the American public.
Someone has said that the Battle of New Market
marks the beginning of VMI's greatness. We defy that
statement. A great school, like a great city, is not made
. i n one day. May 15, 1864, may have been the most glor-ious
day in VMI history, but the standards and ideals
which brought about that glory had their beginning
twenty-five years before when twenty-three young Vir-ginians
became the VMI Corps of Cadets on November
11, 1839.
The War Between the States was VMI's first great
test. It made the grade. Then a half century later the
Institute found the state and the country it represented
entering into what was then the most terrifying war that
history had known.
Nineteen hundred and seventeen had come, and VMI
was facing its second big test. When the historical pages
of 1917-1918 had been written, was the Institute still to
be looked upon as one of the outstanding institutions of
the nations? Were VMI alumni to prove to the world that
their school was still one of which all decent people could
be proud? It took but a short time for actual events to
answer these questions. Although VMI had graduated
but 1,051 men during the thirty years preceding the war,
it gave 1,830 fully trained men to the armed forces alone
—the equivalent of about 32 per cent of the officers in
the regular army at the outbreak of the war.
The second big test ended on the same day that the
Institute celebrated its seventy-ninth Founders Day, No-vember
11, 1918. VMI had passed again. A new genera-tion
had seen VMI standards put to practical use, and all
peoples were prone to sit up and take notice.
Then came the infamous treaty of Versailles. America
washed its hands of European affairs and came home to
live an idealistic life of eternal peace. Before the Virginia
Military Institute lay a generation of peace and growth
—but only a generation.
On November 1, 1939, the Institute held a celebration
. which was symbolic of one hundred years of greatness
just as the English Jubilee of 1887 was symbolic of Great
Britain's greatness during the fifty-year reign of Victoria.
The positions held by our alumni throughout the world
and the message from President Roosevelt on that day
told the world that VMI, at the close of one hundred
years, still maintained its greatness.
Little did we dream that day as the President spoke
that the German war machine was rapidly creating the
third great test for VMI. Now that three years have
passed, we find our school in the very midst of its third
supreme trial. Will it, as in 1864 and in 1918, pass its test
with a grade of which we and our country can be proud?
When this most terrible of wars has passed, will VMI
stand as high as ever?
Nothing can be said against the part the Institute has
played in the war thus far. Yet the end is far from near.
VMI's third great test has hardly begun. The outcome
depends not only on Generals Marshall, Peyton, Gerow,
Upshur, Handy, Burruss and hundreds of other VMI
alumni. It depends just as strongly on you of the corps—
you by whom the standards of the Institute can be more
currently judged. You are the men who will determine
the outcome of this third great test. You, too, will be
writing the annals of VMI history.
This war in which we find ourselves today is not just
another war. Nor is it just another test for the Institute.
This is by far the greatest of all wars and VMI faces by
far the greatest of its trials. Let us not be mislead, how-ever.
Winning the war does not mean that VMI has
passed its test. We face a crisis within a crisis.
When this third test will end no one can say. But we
must make certain that whenever the end comes VMI
will be able to hold its head as high as it did at the close
of the other two tests.
Is VMI slipping? Only the outcome of this test will
tell. The world is watching and waiting. Will the Insti-tute
pass? It must.
Thanksgiving Issue of The Turn-Out
To Contain Many Interesting Features
Never before in the history of
"The T u r n - O u t " has it enjoyed such
a wide demand as forecasted for the
Ring Figure Issue. Priorities being
such as they are today it is impera-t
i v e that all cadets desiring extra
copies try to place their order very
soon. This issue which is always so
popular will appear just prior to the
dances.
In its compilation the magazine
has a wider selection of feature
a r t i c l e s and humor which should
invite much interest. The cover
which embraces a very novel idea,
together with the sketches of the
Ring Figure leaders, should be very
popular with everyone. At the same
time a pictorial review will fea-t
u r e a cadet and his date on a typi-cal
hop weekend. Likewise with a
fine selection of cartoons and ap-p
r o p r i a t e wit this issue should be
one of the most entertaining to
date.
A short short story by R. C. G.
Sorenson, an excellent sports story
by Bill Romm f e a t u r i n g the player
of the year, combined with excel-lent
articles by Ethan Stroud, Mac
Brantly, Nick A r d a n, Peyton
Thompson, and the a r t i s t ry of Wah-l
e r t complete the copy of the finest
of college magazines. Having been
ranked among the 10 best collegiate
publications in the country last
year "The Turn-Out" is anxious to
r e t a i n that coveted award and evi-dence
points toward that conclu-sion
already.
Five Furlough Plans
Sent Board of Visitors
By Superintendent
McClure Asks
For Interview
On Wednesday
Bill McClure, president of the
first class, told a Cadet reporter
F r i d a y afternoon that he had sub-m
i t t e d the corp's newest Christmas
Furlough proposal to the Superin-tendent.
If accepted, this p l a n means
t h a t the corps will give up three
holidays (Lee's birthday, January
19; Washington's birthday, Febru-a
r y 22; and the Saturday morning
of Easter Hops, April 11) in order
for the furlough to begin at noon
on Saturday, December 19, instead
of the following Wednesday, De-cember
23. Under this plan, the f u r -
lough would terminate as original-ly
scheduled, on J a n u a r y 3.
General Kilbourne has submitted
this new plan (beginning on Dfc-cember
19 and ending on January
3) to the Board of Visitors along
w i t h the four other plans listed in
last week's Cadet:
(1) No change in schedule, each
cadet arranging his own transpor-tation
and taking the chance of
failure.
(2) Advancing the date of depar-t
u r e to December 17th and return-ing
December 27 or 28.
(3) Holding the furlough till af-t
e r the mid-winter exams.
(4) Having no furlough and ad-vancing
Finals accordingly.
(5 New plan) Advancing date of
d e p a r t u r e to December 19, giving
up three holidays during the sec-ond
semester, and returning on
J a n u a r y 3.
Superintendent's Suggestions
In a memorandum to the Board
of Visitor s t h e Superintendent
pointed out that ha felt it would
be a credit to the Institute to adopt
plan (4). "Opposed to this," Gen-eral
Kilbourne continued, "are the
f a c t s that, as stated, it would de-prive
parents and cadets of a
Christmas together which may be
t h e last for many, and the practical
consideration that t h e r e will be two
holidays and probably other dis-tractions
preventing much applica-tion
to studies during the holiday
season."
Next to plan (4), the Superin-tendent
suggested plan (5 - New
plan) to the Board of Visitors.
Board Convenes
requested by the Superintendent to
Members of the Board have been
r e v i ew the five proposals and to
send him their vote. However, sev-eral
of the members will attend the
ceremony for r e - i n t e r n m e n t of Col-onel
Crozet at noon, November 11.
McClure plans to present the pros
and cons of the proposals to these
members of the Board if they will
grant him an interview.
Some definite decision will prob-ably
be reached by the end of this
week.
Miss Betsy Fleet
Is Commissioned
Miss Fleet, recent assistant libra-rian
of Preston library, reported to
Richmond last Monday to take a
final physical examination before
joining the Women's Auxiliary Vol-unteer
Enlisted Service. A native
of King and Queens County in Vir-ginia,
Miss Fleet has served as as-sistant
librarian in the V. M. I.
l i b r a r y for the past four years, and
was formerly connected with the
Washington and Lee library.
Already possessing the rank of
Ensign, sh« expects to take a five
months training course at Smith
college, after which she will prob-ably
be assigned to library work
at some Navy center.
Miss Fleet has been anxious for
some time to serve in a branch of
the United States forces and had
previously considered joining the
WAACS. However, she remained
undecided until about six weeks
ago when she went to Richmond
to take a qualifying mental exam-ination
for the WAVES.
When conditions no longer neces-s
i t a t e women's voluntary service,
Miss Fleet hopes to r e t u r n to her
former post at the Institute.
Chemists Attend
Lecture On Cotton
By RAMSEY
Members of the VMI Chapter of
t h e American Chapter of Chemical
Engineers attended a lecture at
Washington and Lee University on
t h e night of October 22, by Mr. J o hn
L. Christ, president of the Southern
Dye-Stuff Corporation of Charlotte,
North Carolina.
Cotton For War
Mr. Christ spoke on the use of
chemicals in the cotton industry
and the important part played by
chemicals and chemically-treated
cotton and paint in the present war.
In illustrating the use of chem-icals
in the cotton industry, the
speaker gave the flow sheet for cot-ton
goods, explaining what chem-icals
are used and in what capacity.
He mentioned especially the vari-ous
chemicals which are used as
dyes and gave several tests for the
fastness of these dyes.
Mr. Christ said that the value of
cotton as a clothing material for
the army has been debated, but the
army has many uses for chemical-l
y - t r e a t ed cotton and chemicals.
Institute
Particaptes
In Broadcast
VMI went on the air for approxi-mately
five minutes as part of an
Army Hour Program which was
broadcast by NBC, CBS, and short
wave stations at 4:00 yesterday af-ternoon,
Sunday, November 8.
This program which is sponsored
by the Army is short waved every
Sunday to army listening posts
throughout the world. Yesterday's
program was devoted to pickups
f r om army training centers in this
country and emphasizing military
education.
VMI's five minutes were present-ed
as a p r e v i ew of the usual Armis-tice
Day review. An "especially
p r e p a r e d order of the day" was
read by Cadet Captain B. G. Cass,
commemorating VMI's military his-t
o r y since its founding in 1839 and
t h e part played by Institute alumni
in this and all other wars.
A drill detachment made up of
approximately thirty volunteers
t h e n executed several movements
commanded by Cadet First Captain
J. H. VanLandingham. The five
minutes were brought to a close
with several bars of "The Spirit"
played by the post band.
The script was prepared by a
committee composed of Major Dil-lard,
Lieutenant Goolrick, and Lieu-tenant
Barksdale, with the assist-ance
of Colonel Cooper.
The Army sent Captain Rorke,
f o r m e r l y with NBC, to make final
revisions of the script.
Crozet's Re-burial
To Take Place Here
On Founder's Day
Ceremonies
Will Include
Armistice Day
ASCE Fall Meeting
Held Last Saturday
Twenty-five (25) cadets f r om the
first and second classes attended
t h e Fall meeting of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, which
was held in Roanoke at the Hotel
Roanoke last Saturday. The busi-ness
meeting held in the afternoon
was high-lighted by three student
speakers, Cadet A. F. McElwell of
V. P. I. and Cadets C. J. Bounds
and R. B. Mountcastle f r om V. M.
I., followed by the principal ad-dress
delivered by Mr. Frank P.
Turner, principal assistant engineer.
Norfolk and Western Railway.
Col. R. A. Marr, Jr., head of the
Civil Engineering department at
V. M. I., presided at the informal
dinner Saturday evening. The a f t er
dinner speaker was Dr. Mowbray
Velte, formerly of the University
of Calcutta, and at present instruc-tor
in English at V. M. I. His subject
was the "British Problem in India
Today." ,
The dinner was followed by in-formal
dancing in the dining room,
dates having been arranged by the
cadets f r om Roanoke.
First Class Civils See Picture
On Costs of Road Construction
M. M. BRANTLY
All Civil Engineers of the first
class assembled in the auditorium
of Nichols Engineering Building
Friday evening for the showing of
a movie put out by the Calcium
Chloride Company. The picture
showed several different methods
of a r r i v i n g at the same result which
was an all weather, low cost road.
The type of road shown was
probably the simplest and the
cheapest of the all weather roads.
The principal requirements were
the same in all cases i. e. coarse ag-gregate,
fine aggregate, and clay.
The coarse aggregate gives the road
its long wearing and load carrying
capacity, while the fine aggregate
keeps the coarse aggregate in place.
The clay is t h e binding agent neces-sary
to prevent the aggregate from
being blown away by the air cur-r
e n t s caused by the passing cars.
This is all very fine in theory, or
when the clay is moist, but it does
not work so well when the clay
is dry. In the first place the road
will be very dusty in dry weather,
and very muddy in the rainy sea-son.
If on the other hand calcium
chloride is spread over the road as
soon as it is laid, the delequisence
of the calcium chloride will cause
t h e clay and the aggregate to be-come
cemented together, giving a
surface that is in some cases almost
as hard as concrete. Heavy traffic
will only cause this type of road to
become more dense, and therefore
more resistant to wear. After the
material has become packed this
type of road is also practically im-pervious
to water.
As a rule in the construction of
this type of road the aggregate and
t h e clay are mixed at a plant near
the proposed road site. This mix-t
u r e is then put in place by the
use of a spreader and a blade scrap-er.
The material is then rolled and
sprinkled. After the sprinkling of
this mixture of nine parts of ag-gregate
to one part of clay the road
is theoretically ready for use, but
as it is now it will cause much grief
in the f u t u r e . A minor dust storm
will be created every time a car
passes over the road in d r y weather,
and it will take a duck or a "swamp
buggie" to get through in really
wet weather. To avoid this trouble,
a f t e r the road has been sprinkled,
it should be covered by a thin layer
of calcium chloride. This may be
applied very rapidly by the use
of a regular lime spreader or sim-i
l a r piece of equipment. The cal-c
i um chloride will attract moisture
f r om the air, and will penetrate
down into the clay and aggregate
causing t h em to be bound together.
This, by keeping the road moist,
will prevent dust, and leave the
road in such condition that the t r a f -
fic will pack the road and improve
the surface.
This treatment of low cost roads
seems to be gathering popularity
in many sections of the country,
and f r om the present t r e n d it seems
apparent that this is the system that
will become more or less standard
in the f u t u r e.
Program For
Ring Figure
Now Shaping
The second class will hold its
first Ring Figure practice in the
gymnasium this Thursday night im-mediately
following supper. The
f u t u r e Class of '44 will furnish the
impromptu dates, as is customary.
Complete plans had not been made
when The Cadet "went to press, but
it is believed that all major issues
will have been decided upon by
Thursday night.
Thus far it is definite that the
present second class will allow last
year's plan of having four couples
walk abreast. And, so far as pos-sible,
each man will be placed with
the brother rats of his choice. Blank
sheets have been passed out among
the ilass members for the purpose
of ascertaining which men desire
to walk together. One man from
each group will then draw for the
position that his group will hold
in the figure.
The favorite musical numbers
a r e also being decided upon. The
tabulation is not yet complete, but
some of the early favorites were
"Night and Day," "Star Dust," and
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christ-mas."
The class rings and many of the
miniatures arrived here approxi-mately
a month ago. Mess jackets,
which the class will wear the night
of the figure, should arrive sjme-time
during the next two weeks.
Sham Battles Held
By Cavalry Sec.
The two combined first and third
class Cavalry sections executed
sham battles at White's Farm on
t h e afternoons of November 3 and
5 during their respective regular
afternoon Military Science classes.
The exercises extended into Drill
and Parade periods. The realism of
t h e exercise was f u r t h e r e d by the
presence of an enemy who fired
blank ammunition. The cadets were
also furnished with blank ammuni-tion.
Each combined section was taken
to the F a rm on the afternoon of its
Military Science class. Upon ar-rival,
some of the fundamental
principles of Cavalry scouting and
combat tactics were explained to
t h e class by Colonel Caperton and
Lieutenant Ellison. When every-one
had finished asking questions
and felt himself sure of his duties,
scouts were deployed by the Troop
Comman' v to discover the enemy
and determine its strength and lo-cation.
When the scouts had fulfilled
t h e i r missions they returned and
gave their reports. With this in-formation
the Troop Commander.,
with the advice of the Platoon Lieu-tenants
and the scouts, mapped out
a plan of action. This plan was then
executed and the enemy (two sta-blemen)
in both cases was suc-cessfully
routed.
When the section had been re-assembled,
Colonel Caperton criti-cized
the way in which the attack
(Continued On Page 4)
Rat Sentinels
Begin Duties
Last Week
By ED DENNIS
Last Monday at guard mount, the
"old" was replaced by the "new"—
the old cadet veterans were re-placed
by nine anxious rats, re-splendent
in their full dress dyke,
yet apparently none too eager for
t h e i r first taste of authority at V.
M. I.
At the conclusion of guard mount,
the old guard, posted on each side
of the brick walk, snapped to a
brisk salute to the first rat sentinel
for the year 1942-43.
The new cadet receiving this
honor which has been accorded to
but one hundred and two other
cadets since the founding of the
I n s t i t u t e was "Mr." H. J. Baker of
Alexandria, Virginia.
"Mr." Baker was marched through
t h e battery of cameras and old
cadets with very little opposition.
Yet he found this temperament of
acquiescence to the authority of
t h e guard completely changed
when he attempted to drive the
hoard from the courtyard. Also, he
found that his empty rifle f u r n i s h ed
h im indeed little protection against
the broadside of apples fired from
the second and third stoops.
Soon, however, "Mr." Baker re-gained
his composure, and, sum-moning
his most stentorian voice,
cried, "Let those 'men' drive on on
the third stoop."
Lexington, Va., Nov. 9.—Virginia
Military Institute will celebrate the
103rd anniversary of Founder's
Day on November 11, which also
Armistice Day.
F e a t u r i n g t h e exercises an-nounced
by Lieutenant-Genersl
Charles E. Kilbourne. Superintend-ent,
will be a ceremony incident to
the re-interment of Colonel Clau-dius
Crozet, first president of the
Board of Visitors (1837-1848), whose
remains will be removed from
Shockoe Cemetery. Richmond, to
t h e grounds of the Institute.
P r i o r to the ceremony near the
r e - i n t e r m e n t site west of the en-trance
to Preston Library, the corpt
of cadets will be formed for review.
At this time the cadet a d j u t a n t will
read the names of the 57 former
cadets who lost their lives in mili-t
a r y service during World War 1
and the names of the 12 former
cadets who have thus far died in
m i l i t a r y service in World War II.
Governor Colgate Darden hat
been invited to attend the Crozet
religious services which will be
conducted by Father Emmett Gal-lagher,
of Staunton. The Honorable
J a y W. Johns, of "Ashlnwn", Char-lottesville,
will speak as a repre-s
e n t a t i v e of the Board of Visitors.
An address paying tribute to Col-onel
Crozet will be made by his
biographer, Colonel William Cou-per,
V. M. I. historiographer
Distinguished guests will include
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of t h e Virginia
branch of the American Society cf
Civil Engineers, who will honor
Colonel Crozet as principal engi-neer
of the State of Virginia (1823-
1831 and 1837-1845) and chief engi-neer
of the Blue Ridge Railroad and
the four tunnels near Afton, Va.
(1849-1857). Crozet was also pro-fessor
of engineering at the United
States Military Academy (1816-
1823), and as president of the Board
of Visitors at V. M. I. was largely
instrumental in moulding the Insti-t
u t e in the patterns of the Military
Academy and of his alma mater,
L'Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.
As a t r i b u t e of respect to t h e for-mer
captain of artillery under Na-poleon,
V. M. I.'s garrison flags will
be flown at half-staff until a f t e r the-r
e - i n t e r m e n t ceremony, and the
usual academic and military duties
will be suspended. The corps will
be formed at 11:30 a. m. and the
services will take place at noon.
P a l l b e a r e r s will be eight cadet!
selected by the Commandant of
cadets f r om widely separated geo-graphical
areas, including several
foreign countries. Minute guns will
be flred from time the casket ie
brought from the lobby of Preston
L i b r a r y until the procession reaches
the re-interment site.
F i r s t call for the review will be
sounded at 11.30 a. m. There will
be a suspension of academic duty,
and except for the ceremonies and
necessary guard, there will also be
a suspension of military duties un-til
7:50 p. m. At that time the nor-mal
routine will be resumed. Ca-
(Continued On Page 4)
4A' Company Wins
Competitive Drill
The new type of competitive drill
held on October 30, 1942, afforded
competition not only between the
six companies but also between the
r a t s and the old cadets. The re-sults,
as announced last week, are
as follows:
1. "A" Company Old Cadets 95.0.
2. "B" Company Old Cadets 94.5
3. "F" Company Old Cadets 93.0.
4. "A" Company New Cadets 92.5.
5. "D" Company Old Cadets 92 0.
8. "C" Company New Cadets 91.5.
7. "B" Company New Cadets 91.0
8. "C" Company Old Cadets
(tie) 89.3.
9. "F" Company New Cadets
(tie) 89.3
10. "D" Company New Cadets 89.0
11. "E" Company Old Cadets 8U.0.
12. "E" Company New Cadets 85.0.