As appeared in The Rattle - Vol. XXXVII No. 2 - Nov. Dec. 1946, Jan. 1947

National Officers Guest of Omega for Breakfast
Taking advantage of an opportunity which does not often present itself, Omgea Chapter recently entertained a group of national officers and their wives at an informal breakfast. The national officers were members of the committee which installed Gamma Eta Chapter at Bucknell University on the weekend of March 29, and they accepted Omega's invitation to breakfast at 10 a.m., Sunday at the chapter house.

As sixty miles of mountain driving separates the campuses of Bucknell and Penn State it meant art early start and a long drive for the committee members. Shortly after ten, however, the group sat down with forty Omega brothers to a typical Penn State Sunday rooming breakfast of fruit juice, scrambled egg, country ham steak, hot biscuits, toast and coffee prepared as only Giff, the Omega chef, can prepare a breakfast.

After the edge had bean taken of the appetites, Charles Zink, president of the chapter, spoke a few words of welcome and turned the honors over to George W. Chapman, Omega, ’20, past national treasurer, who first introduced the women visitors, Mrs. Earl D. Rhodes, Mrs Frederick W. Ladue, Mrs. George W. Chapman, Miss Ann Chapman, and Miss. Jane Hostetter. The visiting brothers, were then introduced, and each responded with brief talk. Those were National President Earl D. Rhodes, Executive Secretary Frederick W. Ladue, Francis H. S. Ede, former national vice president, and Regional Counselor William Frantz.

News Notes from Omega
Omega Chapter at Penn State has three presidents emeritus living in the house: Charles G. Zink, 1946-47, Vaughn C. Stapleton, 1945-46, and Burton P. Willard, 1943, a transfer from Delaware. William F. Staley, marshal, has prepared four pledges for initiation: Donald L. Kress, Henry S. Mellinger, James D. Sears, Frank H. Yale. With the coming of graduation in June there will come also a speech and the possibility of public presentation of a publication by William A. Grun, who pledged Theta Chi in 1938. Recent initiates of the chapter include Herbert L. Aarons, Jr., and Michael L. Horen.

Earl B. Maize Makes Record In Coal Mine Inspections
The Centralia mine disaster and the startling aftermath of the closing of more than six hundred mines in the nation as unsafe makes more outstanding the impressive record of the division of health and safety of the United States Bureau of Mines that is headed by Earl M. Maize, Penn State, ’27. This division includes the Black Hills of South Dakota, western Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming and has been in charge of Mr. Maize as engineer since September of 1945, when he was transferred to Denver, Colorado, from Pittsburgh, having been safety engineer in Pennsylvania since 1942. He has been with the United States Bureau of Mines for 19 years, the most of which time he has been with health and safety activities.

There have been no major mine disasters in the past four years in Mr. Maize's division. During the period ending June 30, 1946, 920 men were trained in first aid and 88 in the use of mine rescue breathing apparatus.

Coal mines are usually ventilated by mechanical means. Eight engineers in the safety division work on coal mine inspections. In the fiscal year 1946 the safety division inspected 219 coal mines in the district. Color, do produced over seven and one-half million tons of coal from 230 mines with 6,200 men in 1945. This figure dropped to around six million tons for last year.

Honored by a Scout Organization
At the recent National Lodge meeting of the Order of the Arrow, George W. Chapman, Penn State, '20, director of leadership training and past national treasurer, was presented with its Distinguished Service Award. It is in the form of hand cast sterling silver arrowhead, and is worn on a dark green neck ribbon at formal affairs of the order. The Order of the Arrow is an honor society of the Boy Scouts of America and which was founded in 1915. It has 322 lodges scattered throughout the United States with more than 60,000 members. Mr. Chapman is a charter member of the organization and is at present a member of the National Executive Committee, serving as national secretary of the Virgil Honor.

Omega News and Notes - The Rattle, Jan. 1947