The Bluffton news. [volume], June 29, 1939, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXIV
COUNCIL REBUFFS
STATE EXAMINER
Recommendation on Street
Lighting Accounting Brings
Sharp Criticism
Cost of Examination, Borne by
Municipality is Excessive,
Complaint
Caustic criticism rang thru the
municipal council chamber Monday
night following the report of recom
mendations of J. E. Gotherman, ex
aminer from the State Bureau of
Inspection and Supervision of Public
Offices who Saturday completed an
examination of the town’s records
covering the past three years.
Rarely has a Bluffton village
council been so unanimous in such
sharp condemnation of any matter
brought before it. Both Mayor W.
A. Howe and members of the council
declared that Gotherman’s recom
mendations were arbitrarily laid
down and that to follow them would
constitute a direct infringement on
the legal prerogatives of the council,
the governing body of the munici
pality.
That at least one of the examin
er’s major recommendations would
be ignored was apparent as the
council session adjourned Monday
night.
Recommends Pay for Street Lights
One of the principal items in the
examiner’s report which drew fire
from the council was the recom
mendation that the municipality pay
for its street lighting, taking money
from the general fund and trans
ferring it into the light fund.
Members of the council pointed
out that there is no way under the
present tax set-up whereby this sum
could be obtained to pay for street
lighting, unofficially estimated at not
less than $2,500 annually.
Legal opinions of the attorney
general which Corporation Clerk
Carold Steiner said Gotherman had
submitted in support of his conten
tion, were dismissed by the council
as not applicable to the local situa
tion.
May Continue Present System
Although no action was taken,
sentiment in the council appeared
unanimous to ignore the examiner’s
recommendation and continue the
present practice whereby current for
street lighting is furnished by the
municipally owned plant for which
no service charge is rendered.
Going into the matter further,
council members pointed out that to
follow the examiner’s recommenda
tion would mean that one village
fund (general) would owe another
village fund (light) without any
means of effecting a settlement.
This would, accordingly, be carried
continually on the town’s books as
a delinquent account against itself,
the council declared.
Sharp criticism was also made by
council members when it was learned
that Gotherman’s examination of the
municipal records had required six
teen days. Cost of the examination,
$10 per day, is borne by the munici
pality, it was stated by Corporation
Clerk Steiner.
Cost Too High, Complaint
Council members claimed that this
amount of time and the resultant
cost, were greatly in excess of that
required by previous examiners.
Also, they pointed out, the examina
tions should be made at more fre
quent intervals than once in three
years.
Other recommendations by Gother
man were made in routine bookkeep
ing in the municipal, cemetery and
board of public affairs departments.
To what extent the examiner’s
recommendations will be carried out
was not clear the first of the week.
James Miller To
Coach At Pandora
James Miller, who was graduated
from Bluffton college early this
month, has accepted a position at
Pandora high school for the coming
year as athletic coach and instructor.
Miller has been prominent in ath
letics throughout his high school
and college career, participating in
football, basketball and baseball. He
is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. F.
Miller of South Main street.
Births
The following births at the Bluff
ton Community hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Wilkins, a
daughter, Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Marshall,
a daughter, Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Duane Hilty, Colum
bus Grove, a son, Monday.
Bumper Crop
Of Cherries
Is Ripe Here
f^HERRY pickers are busy in
the Bluffton district harvest
ing a bumper crop from heavily
laden trees. Likewise house
wives here are busily engaged
this week in canning.
Raspberries are also reported
plentiful this year and the out
look for fruit' is generally good.
LIGHT RATE CUT
TO BENEFIT 500
Average Domestic User Will
Save 30 Cents Monthly,
Board Announces
New Schedule Effective With
June Billing: Initial Rate
Is Lower
Bluffton’s electric current rate re
duction, effective with the June bill
ing on July 1, will result in a sav
ing of 30 cents a month to the aver
age domestic user, it was announced
Wednesday by the Board of Public
Affairs.
A flat reduction of one cent per
KWH for the first 30 KWH is pro
vided by the new rate schedule.
Previously the first 30 KWH have
been billed to patrons at six cents
per KWH, but the future rate is to
be reduced to five cents. This will
provide a saving of 30 cents monthly
to all users whose bills have been
$1.80 or more for each billing period.
It is estimated that approximately
500 patrons will benefit from the re
duction, and that aggregate savings
will be more than $50 monthly.
Only One Change
Domestic rates will be unchanged
othei than for the one-eent reduction
in the initial classification range.
Several minor changes other than
for the starting bracket are to be
made in commercial rates.
The electric current rates now be
ing discontinued have been in effect
here since February, 1936, when a
20 per cent reduction was made
from the previous schedule.
New rates for domestic users,
effective with the billing on July 1,
are as follows: First 30 KWH, five
cents per KWH next 30 KWH, four
cents per KWH next 40 KWH,
three cents per KWH next 100
KWH, two and one-half cents per
KWH and next 200 KWH, two cents
per KWH.
New rate schedule cards will be
available for patrons at the time of
the July 1 billing, it was announced.
In announcing the cut in electric
current rates, the board at the same
time said municipal heating rates
are to be boosted from 15 cents per
square foot of radiation to 20 cents
per square foot, this fall.
Real Estate Deals
Clarence Steiner has purchased the
Dorsey Amstutz farm of 80 acres
one mile west of Bluffton from the
heirs, Mrs. John Dunbar residing on
the farm and Mrs. Martha Leichty
Artus of Texas. Possession will be
given October 1.
Mr. and Mrs. John Dunbar, resid
ing on the Dorsey Amstutz farm
have purchased the M. L. Perkins
farm of 40 acres in Orange town
ship on the county line. Posses
sion will be given Oct. 1. Mr. and
Mrs. Perkins will return to their
former home in Leipsic.
Foregoing deals were made by the
H. W. Althaus agency.
Haymaking, Corn Cultivation And
Wheat Harvest Crowd Farm Hands
Forrest L. Steinman of Bluffton,
Governor of Lions International Dis
trict 13-A, comprising the north half
of Ohio, will complete his year of
activity by presenting a charter to a
new Lions club at Bucyrus, Ohio,
this Wednesday evening. Dr. Rarrel
D. Bibler, president of this new club,
will accept the charter. M. A. Deere
is secretary.
Bluffton Man Completes Term
As Lions District Governor
During Steinman’s term of office,
which will expire at the close of the
Internatipnal convention in Pitts
burgh, next month, he has presented
charters to nine new clubs, namely:
Green Springs, Sunbury, Tallmadge,
Stowe, Marion, Cortland, Mt. Ver-
Farmers Working Early and
l^ate to Keep Pace with
Growing rops
Corn Prospects Particularly
Bright Outlook for Po
tatoes Good
Farmers are busy from dawn un
til dark these days attempting to
keep pace with the rapid develop
ment of thriving crops.
Last week’s rains, referred to gen
erally in agricultural districts as a
“million-dollar” downpour, led to
much of the present congestion by
keeping farmers from their fields in
the days immediately preceding the
start of the wheat harvest.
Hot weather further aggravated
the situation by ripening the wheat
crop rapidly, with the result that
cutting was under way in earnest
early this week.
Many Jobs Urgent
With wheat ready for harvesting
farmers also found themselves faced
by the necessity of cultivating the
booming corn crop and making hay,
in addition to the hundred and one
other farm jobs that are always
there.
Hay is much better than had been
anticipated, rains of the past few
weeks having done a world of good,
after initial prospects had been none
too bright. The greatest difficulty
experienced at present is in attempt
ink to get hay making completed
without at the same time neglecting
the wheat harvest or corn cultiva
tion.
While some hay was damaged by
frequent rains of the past week, the
benefits to other crops more than
offset any losses sustained by hay,
farmers stated.
Corn Crop Booms
Corn prospects are unusually good,
and excellent growing weather will
give a crop “hip-high” by the Fourth
of July instead of the “knee-high”
type usually expected.
Potato prospects also are good,
and all farm crops »re reflecting the
benefit of timely rains received dur
ing the past few weeks.
Vacation For Meter
Works Next Week
Plants of The Triplett Electrical
Instrument Co. and the Readrite
Meter Works will be closed next
week for the annual summer vaca
tion for employes.
With the exception of a small
force in the office the two concerns
will completely discontinue opera
tions. This is the third successive
summer in which employes have re
ceived a vacation in July.
Pre-School Child
Clinic On July 6
A pre-school child health clinic
will be held in the Grade school
building on Thursday morning, July
6 from 9 o’clock to 11:30. The
clinic is being held under auspices
of the Parent-Teacher association.
Parents who have children entering
school in the first grade next fall
are urged to bring them to the clinic
for free examination.
Ask Cleaning Of
Big Riley Creek
A petition bearing thirty-three
signatures was presented to the
town council Monday night request
ing the cleaning of the channel of
Big Riley creek.
Although no action was taken on
the petition, the council discussed
plans for a general cleanup of in
dustrial and domestic sewage now
being emptied into the stream.
non, Danville, and Bucyrus.
There has been a net increase of
372 new members, which now brings
the total membership of 13-A Dis
trict up to 1,973.
Restoring the eyesight to four
children was the outstanding activ
ity of the year, together with the
fact some of the Lions members act
as “Dads” for boys who are paroled
in their custody, instead of being
sent to a state penal institution.
Over 300 pairs of eye-glasses were
supplied to children, one club alone
having furnished 57 pairs. Dozens
of white canes were presented to
(Continued on page 8)
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INT ERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY,
RAILROAD WILL
IMPROVE TRACK
A. C. & Y. Pusht
Program for Reba I:
Right of Way
summer
sting
Improve 26 Mile St ret i of Line
Between Bluffton and
Delphos
Improvement of 26 miles of the A.
C. and Y. railroad is under way
with a crew of more than 40 men
engaged in reballasting the track
from Delphos to one mil e west of
Bluffton.
Work likely will exmlmle for the
rest of the summer and the program
will include the laying of new stone
ballast and replacement of ties.
Three years ago the rail road made
initial improvements to the same
section when new rails were laid
from Carey to Delphos, a listance of
55 miles. When the
Willis A. Steiner, 51, Lima indus
trialist, and a native of the Swiss
Settlement died at his home in Lima,
Monday morning following a heaid
attack.
He was a member of the firm of
Steiner Brothers Machine company
widely known as makers of machine
tools and dies and was well known
in industrial circles.
He was born on what is now the
Andrew Balmer farm four miles
northwest of Bluffton, the son of
the late Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Steiner.
Surviving are his wife Katherine
and two sons Phares and Donald at
home four brothers Amos of
Waynesboro, Pa. Peter, Noah and
John, all of Lima, and four sisters
Mrs. David Nusbaum and Mrs. An
drew Balmer of Bluffton Mrs. J. L.
McCleary, Waynesboro, Pa., and
Miss Rhoda Steiner, Lima.
Funeral services were held W ed
nesday afternoon in Lima conducted
by Rev. Paul Graeser, pastor of the
First Reformed church of that city.
Interment was in Lima Woodlawn
cemetery.
Young People At
Lakeside For Week
A group of young people from the
Bluffton Church of Christ are spend
ing the week in Lakeside attending
a young people’s conference of that
denomination. They will return Sun
day.
Those from here in attendance in
clude:
Misses Mary Lou Carr, Gertrude
Ewing, Luella Luginbuhl, Mary Jane
Manges, Marcene Stonehill and Vera
Welty. Fred Fritchie and Robert
Luginbuhl.
No Mail Delivery
Here Next Tuesday
There will be no
Bluffton city or
Tuesday,, Fourth o
at the post office i
the day but mail
and dispatched as
Wl
Cara!
Tripl
'Ballasting
program is completed the right of
way between Bluffton and Delphos
will be the equal of any section on
the line.
A crew of 40 has been hired for
the work, in addition to le regular
section crew, it was annomiced. Five
of the employes are fron Bluffton.
Reballasting of the road was
started about six weeks aj?o at Del
phos, and it likely wi!i be the close
of summer before the woi’k is coni
pl eted.
News Correspondence
Notice
QINCE the Bluffton News office
will be closed all day on
Tuesday, Fourth of July, letters
from correspondents and other
news matter for publication in
the next issue should reach the
office not later than next
Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock.
Former Settlement
Resident uccumbs
tions
mail delivery on
ural routes next
July. Windows
vill be closed for
will be received
usual.
ly, will be sus-
Business, genera
pended for the daj
Relative Of
Families'
Huber
Succumbs
Word has been
the death of Mrs.
of Goshen, Ind., 1
home in that city
ceived here of
i.t'ona Cripe, 50,
iho died at her
a st week.
the daughter of
of Goshen, and
er families here,
re held in Goshen
mt at that place.
Mrs. Cripe was
Calvin Huber, alsc
related to the Hui
Funeral services w
followed by interm
Parades wound a tortuous path
through packed streets and in the
procession were gaily decorated pony
carts, bands, and at the head Uncle
Sam figures in red, white and blue
costumes.
Pink lemonade stands banked the
streets, always surrounded by a
crowd. Spread-eagle oratory was ex
pected and always was available, fol
lowing which the big baseball game
of the season was played.
In those days there were no auto
mobiles, so everyone stayed home,
and since the celebration was one
worth going miles to see everyone
in the entire area came to Bluffton.
Sometimes the railroad ran an ex
cursion to Cedar Point over the
Fourth. These tours were so popu
lar that there were seldom enough
coaches for the crowds buying tick
ets and the aisles were jammed with
those standing.
The moving finger of time, how
ever, has wrought changes in all of
this, and the hectic celebrations of
another era now live only in the
memory of a few of the older folk
who recall when “anything went” on
the Fourth and safe and sane cele
brations would have been hooted into
the background.
Filling Station
Changes Hands
Ralph Diller has purchased from
L. H. Foltz the latter’s gasoline fill
ing station at South Main street and
Bentley road. Diller took possession
the first of the week and will con
tinue to handle products of the
Johnson Oil Refining company which
were marketed here at that station
for many years. Foltz has made no
announcement of his future plans.
Exiled In Bluffton By Spanish War,
Manuel Caragol Leaves For Home
?hooling was completed
a position with the
any awaiting th
stilities in Spain
job also gave him the opportunity
to become fully acquainted with pro
ducts of the firm, which is represent
ed in Spain and Portugal by Cara
gol’s father.
After his return to Barcelona
young Caragol will take an active
Old-Fashioned Fourth In Contrast
Holiday was Paradise of Bedlam
For Youngsters Back in
Those Days
Parades, Pink Lemonade, Ora
tory, Baseball All Included
On Day’s Program
isnione
i the Fourth
cannon thundcjring at daybreak and
giant fire cra:kers go mg off at sun
down remain only a memory as
Blufftoi tor the second consecutive
year pl ans to follow a safe and sane
observance of the Fourth next Tues
day.
Celebrations of today are decidedly
marked in contrast to those our
fathers knew when the holiday was
a paradise of bedlam for the young
sters and a day of uproarious en
joyment for the grownups.
Cannon roared a salute at the
crack of dawn in those days, fire
crackers popped all day long, and
in the evening there was a gigantic
fireworks display.
Fireworks will go on sale in
Bluffton next Monday, but their dis
charge within the city limits will be
limited to one day only—the Fourth
—in the town’s “safe and sane” ob
servance of the holiday.
The Caragol family, all American
citizens, took no part in the Spanish
war, but business was almost com
pletely disrupted by the conflict.
During the siege of Barcelona, where
the Caragols have their home, most
of the family left Spain.
Word received from his father
prior to Caragol’s departure indi
cated that altho certain sections of
Bercelona were in ruins most of the
city escaped unscathed and chances
are there will be few remaining evi
dences of the war when he reaches
home.
To Today’s Safe-Sane Celebration
open celebra
of July with
WHEAT HARVEST
IS UNDER WAY
Cutting of Crop Expected to be
Completed by the End
Of The Week
Average Yield Anticipated by
Farmers Threshing With
in Next Two Weeks
ting of wheat is under way in earnest
week, unless rains interfere.
In a few areas the grain was cut
as early as last Saturday and by the
middle of the week most farmers had
managed to get to at least part of
their crop.
General forecasts are optimistic, in
dicating the yield will be about 20
bushels to the acre, an average crop.
Most of the stalks are said to have
headed nicely. Quality is expected to
be better than that of last year.
No Rain Damage
Recent heavy rains have brought no
report of damage since grain heads
have been too light to be beaten to
the ground. Straw, altho somewhat
shorter than average, is of pretty
good growth on the whole.
Those planting early have reported
that destruction caused by Hessian
fly infestation will be heavier than
usual this year. Evidence is seen of
the damage by the “straw-broken”
stand in quite a few fields. Wheat
rust has been noticed by a few others.
The crop this year is early, altho
not as much as last season when cut
ting was under way by the third week
in June. Harvesting generally is not
started until the first week in July.
Unless weather interferes threshing
will be well underway within the next
week or ten days. In some sections
farmers are harvesting and threshing
their crops at the same time by means
of combines.
No Fireworks Sale Before Monday,
Discharge Restricted To One Day
Fne crackers, torpedoes or other
explosives may not be discharged in
the business district at any time.
Boundaries of the restricted area
are from College avenue to Washing
ton street and from Jackson street
to Big Riley creek.
Discharge of fireworks in the resi­
Free Magic Show
Next Wednesday
A free magic show for evening
shoppers in Bluffton will be an at
traction here on Wednesday night of
next week, it is announced by the
Bluffton Merchants association.
The show will be staged by a
traveling magician on the vacant
parking lot on South Main street ad
joining the Risser Sandwich shop at
9 o’clock.
A number of rabbits which will
be magically produced during the
program will be given to children in
the audience, it is announced.
dential section is limited to one day
only—the Fourth. The residential
district includes all parts of the
town not in the business area.
Under the town's safe and sane
regulations, dealers will not be per
mitted to display or sell their stocks
befon next Monday, the day before
the Fourth.
Future permission for the use of
fireworks in Bluffton’s Fourth of
July celebration will depend largely
on the cooperation of the public in
the observance of this year’s re
stricted program, it was announced.
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live and a
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 9
WOMAN KILLED
IN AUTO CRASH
ndiana Woman Is Instantly
Killed in Accident on Dixie
Highway Tuesday
Two (ars Meet at Intersection
of Main Highway and
ounty Road
road intersection eight miles north
of Bluffton on the Dixie highway
claimed the life of Mrs. Emma
I hompson, 60, of Knightstown, Ind.,
Tuesday night at 7 o’clock.
1 he accident occurred near Rawson
as Mrs. Thompson and her daughter,
Mrs. Loraine Ramsey, 39, also of
Knightstown were driving north to
Port Clinton to visit friends when
their car crashed into another ma-
chine driven by Carl W. Dukes, 20,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Ura Dukes of
Blanchard township. Dukes was driv
ing on Hancock county road 37
which runs east from the Rawson
school.
Mrs. Thompson died almost in
stantly from a skull fracture and
the body was taken to the Otto fun
eral home in Rawson. Her daughter,
Mrs. Ramsey is in the Findlay hos
pital with a fractured lower right
arm, fractured ribs lacerated scalp
Dukes Uninjured
s, driver of the other
injured. The accider
curred as Dukes, enroute east on
the country road, attempted to cross
the Dixie.
Dukes told State Highway Patrol
man R. I. Governor that he was
headed straight across the highway
for Jenera where an open-air motion
picture show was held Tuesday night.
He stopped at the intersection to
allow a truck to pass from the
northeast, he told the patrolman.
Dukes said he noticed an automobile
coming from the southwest when he
approached the crossing but think
I ing it was some distance away he
started across after the truck had
passed.
The Indiana machine struck
Dukes’s car on the right front side
and sent it into the ditch on the
south side of the state highway and
to the east of the intersection. The
car with the women in it then ap
parently hit the ditch, bounced into
the air, struck a tree and piled up
on the right front fender and motor
of the other car, Patrolman Gover
nor said.
Top Hits Tree
Bark was scraped from the tree
and the top of the Indiana car was
caved in which led the patrolman,
and Dukes to believe that it might
have half turned in the air and
struck the tree top first.
Dukes and Donald Folk, Findlay
barber who was enroute to his home
in Mt. Cory, pulled the two women
from their auto. The door on the
right side had come open and Mrs.
Thompson was partly thrown out
while the driver, Mrs. Ramsey, was
pinned under the crushed top. Mrs.
Thompson died as she was being re
moved from the wreckage.
Dr. H. O. Crosby, Hancock county
coroner, withheld a verdit and said
he would conduct an inquest as soon
as Mrs. Ramsey’s condition is such
that she may be questioned.
Dukes said he had driven from
his home near Moffit Station to Raw
son where he expected to pick up a
friend. The friend was not home,
however, and Dukes was alone.
Bn joy Outing At
Michigan Lake
Bluffton high school girls, com
prising the Future Home Makers of
America are enjoying a week’s out
ing at Devil's lake, near Jackson,
Mich. The girls, together with their
advisers, Misses Edythe Cupp and
Florence Duffield of the high school
faculty left last Saturday morning.
Members of the group are: Alice
Kohler, A lice Mae Amstutz, Rosann
Hilty, Dorothy Garmatter, Mary El
len Burkholder, Veldean Moser, Dor-
othy Burkholder, Jeanett Burkhold
er, Doris Garmatter, Ruth Ryan,
Dorothy Long. Mae Huber, Edna
Huber, Marceille Reichenbach, Treva
Harris, Lois Schaublin, Wava Fisher
and Gladys and Dorothy Klingler.
Regal Lily Plant
Has Many Blooms
A regal lily plant bearing twenty
blossoms is attracting much attention
on the lawn of the Diller funeral
home on South Main street. Flori
culturists state that rarely are seen
this number of blooms on one plant
at the same time.