The Bluffton news. [volume], November 23, 1939, Image 1

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

Image provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

                
BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXTV
LIGHT PLANT TO
INSTALL TURBINE
750 KW. Turbo-Generator is
Bought for Bluffton's
Municipal Plant
Council Authorizes $14,000 Ex
penditure for Equipment to
Replace Unit
Purchase of a 750 K. W. Turbo
Generator unit for the Bluffton mun
icipal power plant at a net cost of
$14,000 was authorized Monday night
at a meeting of the town council.
With approval given by the council
the board of public affairs will pro
ceed with arrangements to acquire the
equipment which is expected to be in
operation here early in the spring.
Cost will be met from the plant’s
cash balance and no bond issue will
be required.
W’estinghouse-made, the turbo-gen
erator will come complete with a di
rect connected exciter and surface
condenser
It was installed as a new unit at
Penn State college, State College, Pa.,
and was discontinued from service in
1938. Investigators report the equip
ment has been well maintained and is
in first-class condition electrically and
mechanically.
Purchase price, freight allowed to
Bluffton, is $15,500, but the local
plant will receive a credit of $1,500 on
a 150 K. W. Skinner Uniflow Engine
Generator set. This makes the net
cost to the town $14,000.
First Turbo Generator
Installation of the new equipment
■will give the Bluffon plant its first
turbo-generator unit. Current prev
iously has been generated by a bat
tery of three Skinner engines—two
with ratings of 300 K. W. and one
150 K. W.
It is now necessary to run the two
300 K. W. Skinner units much of the
time to cary Bluffton’s load.
Purchase of the turbo-generator is
from the Pow*er Plant Equipment Co.,
of New York City, which guarantees
the equipment electrically and me
chanically for one year.
Supt. John W. Swisher, of the Bluff
ton plant, has checked the unit in its
present installation and recommended
it to the council.
Former Resident
Dies In Indiana
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Zehrbach of
this place and Mr. and Mrs. A. M.
Schifferly of Mt. Cory were in De
catur, Ind., Saturday attending fun
oral services of Mrs. Henry A. Fuhr
man, 71, former Bluffton resident.
Mrs. Fuhrman died at her home
in Decatur, last Wednesday follow
ing a five months’ illness. She will
be remembered here as the former
Miss Maggie Schifferly, a sister-of
the late Mrs. J. E. Lugibill. She
was employed as a saleslady in the
Lugibill dry goods store here some
forty-five years ago.
Surviving are her husband of De
catur one son Herbert Fuhrman of
Waterloo, Iowa, and three daughters:
Mrs. Herrman Baumgartner, Ft.
Wayne Mrs. Joe Livers, Bozeman,
Montana, and Mrs. Mason Hoyt,
Hollywood, Calif.
Also surviving are one brother,
Wm. Schifferly of Kenville, Mani
toba, Canada one sister, Mrs. Sadie
Moore of Van Wert and five grand
children.
Borden Company To
Continue Business
The Midway Fountain, operated by
H. E. Graham at the corner of
North Main and Vine street which
was closed the first of the week will
be re-opened shortly, it was an
nounced Tuesday.
The place was closed when Gra
ham moved with his family to Mar
ion. The Borden milk interests
which have a lease on the business
location are expecting to re-open it
under new management as soon as
invoicing and other routine matters
are completed.
Former Bluffton
Man Is Ordained
Rev. Victor Augsburger, formerly
of Bluffton, recently called to the
pastorate of the Community church
of Kasbeer, Ill., has been formally
ordained as pastor of the church.
Present for the ordination service
was Rev. Augsburger’s father, Elias
Augsburger and also Mr. and Mrs.
Alvin Augsburger and Junior Augs
burger all of this place. Rev. Augs
burger is the third of the family to
be ordained to the ministry.
Levies in Corporation and
School District 60 Cents
Thousand Less
New Rates, Effective for De
cember Tax Approved by
Local Bodies
Tax rates in Bluffton corporation
and also in the school district will
be lower during the coming year it
was announced the first of the week
following conferences of representa
tives of the town council and school
board w-ith County Auditor Griffin.
BUCKEYE PIPE
LAYS NEW LINE
Seventy Men Quartered Here
Double That Number Com
ing Next Week
Rooming Accommodations Will
Be Taxed by Influx of Con
struction Crews
With laying of a new’ 10-inch pipe
line under way in the Bluffton area,
approximately 70 workers employed
by the Buckeye Pipe Line Co. now are
quartered in Bluffton, and the number
of employes staying here likely will
be doubled within the next week.
Rooms will be at a premium in the
town when work in this area is at its
peak, for reports Tuesday were to the
effect that within another week ap
proximately 150 Buckeye workers will
be puartered here.
With a heavy influx of men seeking
lodging, Bluffton’s customary rooming
facilities will be taxed, and many pri
vate homes which ordinary do not
take roomers likely will offer their
service.
The peak crew of about 150 men is
expected to stay in Bluffton for at
least tw’o or three weeks.
The new 10-inch crude oil pipe line
is being laid from the Adgate Pump
ing station, near Lima, to Cygnet.
This is a distance of approximately
46 miles.
Present right of way of The Buck
eye Pipe Line Company thru Bluffton,
which the new line will follow, runs
east of and parallel to the Nickel
Plate railroad tracks.
Former Trustee Of
College Succumbs
Maxwell H. Kratz, 64, Philadel
phia attorney and former trustee of
Bluffton college, died Sunday in
Byrn Mawr hospital, Philadelphia
suburb, after a month’s illness.
Kratz was a member of the board
of trustees here for eighteen years
from 1914 to 1932 and was promin
ent in laymen’s activities of the Men
nonite church. He was well known
in Bluffton and delivered the class
address at the graduation exercises
of Bluffton college a number of
years ago.
A native of Frederick, Pa., he was
educated at Princeton and the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania Law school.
He was also a former member of the
Pennsylvania board of law exam
iners and a trustee of Perkiomen
school.
Funeral services were held at
Philadelphia, Wednesday. Surviving
are his wife and two children.
Former Bluffton Girl
Married In Cleveland
Announcement has been made of
the marriage of Miss Margaret Ruhl
of Cleveland, formerly of Bluffton,
to Dr. Victor B. Yahner, Kent dent
ist. The wedding took place at St.
Augustine’s parish house in Cleve
land last Wednesday.
Present Day Demand Is For
Smaller Thanksgiving Turkey
Since her graduation from Bluff
ton College in 1929, the bride has
been engaged in social service work
in Cleveland where she was director
of Herrick House Day Nursery, for
several years. She was also presi
dent of the Cleveland Association of
Housemothers whose membership in
cludes everyone in institutions of
that city coming in direct contact
with children.
Dr. and Mrs. Yahner will be at
home after December 1 at 531 Earl
avenue, Kent, Ohio.
NEW TAX RATES WILL BE LOWER TOWN
RATE $19 SCHOOL DISTRICT $15.20
Rate in. Bluffton for the coming
year will be $19 per $1,000 worth
of taxable property. This is a de
crease from the present rate of
$19.60, a drop of sixty cents for
each thousand dollars’ worth of
property on the tax duplicate.
Rate in the school district for the
coming year will be $15.20. This
rate likewise is a drop of sixty cents
per thousand from the present rate
of $15.80.
The rates approved by council and
board of education will go into effect
with the December tax collection
which will be made early next year.
The following table shows rates
in mills inside and outside the 10
(Continued on page 8)
Trend Toward Smaller Families
Is Reflected in Market
For Birds
Turkeys from Eight to Twelve
Pounds Most Popular,
Dealers Say
Trend toward smaller families—
and likewise fewer gathered around
the table for Thanksgiving dinner—
is strikingly reflected in the market
demand for smaller Thanksgiving
turkeys, dealers here stated the first
of the week.
Instead of 16 to 18 pound gobblers
cherished in father’s day, the de
mand now is for turkeys in the eight
to 12 pound class.
In by gone days they wanted their
Thanksgiving fowls heavy but today
a 12-pound live turkey is about the
largest for which there is a demand.
Local produce dealers said that a
fully developed hen turkey will
weigh 15 pounds, and a full grown
tom will weigh upwards of 30
pounds. Few turkeys have reached
the full stage of their growth at
this time of the year, however.
The Thanksgiving appetite gener
ally has changed but little in the
last several decades. Pumpkin pie
still remains the favorite, with mince
a close second in the desert class.
Cranberries always are associated
with Thanksgiving, and few tables
are without the tart red berries on
the holiday.
Thanksgiving Day for years has
been one of the nation’s largest
oyster-eating days. Dressings, pud
dings, garnishes and side dishes gen
erally are the same now as they
were in Father’s and Grandfather’s
time.
Crash Injury Fatal
To Fred Stauffer
Injuries received in an automobile
accident near Bluffton on October 8
resulted in the death late Monday
of Fred Stauffer, 63, of near Wil
liamstown.
Stauffer, who sustained a frac
tured rib and severe cut above the
left ear, was in the Community hos
pital here until two weeks ago. His
wife, injured in the same crash, also
was a patient in the hospital until
recently.
One man was killed instantly in
the crash at the Ebenezer church
corner on the Grove street road
October 8.
The car in which Mr. and Mrs.
Stauffer were riding with their son,
Harold and family, of Findlay, was
involved in an accident with an auto
carrying four Lima fishermen. One
of the four was killed instantly and
the others were seriously hurt.
Funeral services for Stauffer were
held Wednesday afternoon at the
Combs funeral home, w’ith Rev. J. A.
Weed, pastor of the Methodist
church, officiating. Burial was in
the Bluffton cemetery.
In addition to the widow, Stauffer
is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Kate
Beals, of Bluffton Mrs. James Ham
mon, of Columbus Grove and the
son, Harold, of Findlay.
Master Feed Mill
Holds Opening Here
Opening of the newly remodeled
quarters of the Master Feed Mill
was held here Friday and Saturday.
The former skating rink building at
the rear of the Steiner hatchery, oc
cupied by the mill has been extens
ively remodeled during the past sum
mer and is now completely equipped
to handle farm grains and other
products, it W’as stated by E. G.
Steiner, the proprietor.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
I
A
nr*n TAnirnmnn mA rruv T\.’T I'llPOTO nt? T*T tTnmv\»T xtt\ tnzvriTMr..
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INT ERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1939
1620 1939
Hog Prices
Lowest In
Five Years
TTOG prices on the Bluffton
market Wednesday morning
stood at the lowest point in five
years when $5.70 was quoted for
top offerings.
The drop in prices wiped out
the last vestige of the September
“war boom” which lifted hog
prices about $2.50 in a single
week—the sharpest rise in the
history of the stockyards.
Large corn crops during the
past three years when hogs were
ranging from $8 to more than
$11 has stimulated increased
production which is glutting the
market, dealers stated.
TO
BE HOLIDAY HERE
Columbus Grove Minister to
Address Union Service
Thursday Morning
No Mail Delivery on City or
Rural Routes Stores Open
Late Wednesday
Bluffton’s observance of Thanks
giving this Thurwiay will be a quiet
one—with the traditional dinner at
noon the feature event of the day for
most families in the area.
In the morning a one-hour union
church service will be held in the St.
John’s Reformed church, at 8:30 a. m.
Rev. Chester Armentrout, pastor of
the Columbus Grove Presbyterian
church, will be the speaker. It will
be the only public observance of the
day.
Bluffton’s retail stores will be closed
thoughout the day, but they will re
main open late Wednesday night to
accommodate the usual holiday trade
rush. Business activity will be re
sumed Friday morning.
No Thanksgiving Day mail service
will be provided on town or rural
routes, Postmaster Ed R. Reichenbach
said. Outgoing mails, however, will
be made up and dispatched as usual.
Holiday week end vacations are in
store for pupils in Bluffton public
schools and Bluffton college students.
Classes will be dismissed at all insti
tutions Wednesday afternoon.
With fairly moderate weather evi
denced by present conditions, many
residents are making arrangements
to motor out of town for the day.
Others are making preparations to
entertain guests in their homes.
Rural Church Is
Moving To Town
Purchase of the A. S. Faze lot on
South Jackson street by’ the congre
gation of the Defenseless Mennonite
church will bring another church to
Bluffton this fall.
Announcement was made Tuesday
of purchase of the site, and the
church building will be moved to
town shortly from its present lo
cation four miles northwest of Bluff
ton.
Excavation will be made for a
basement on the new site before the
building is moved onto the location,
it was announced by church officials.
Until the church is ready for oc
cupancy the congregation will hold
services in the Bluffton college
chapel.
Rev. E. G. Steiner is pastor of the
church, which has a membership of
about 50.
Real Estate Deal
Mis Ocie Anderson, librarian in
charge of the public library here has
purchased a building lot from Mrs.
Eliza Fett on South Main street.
A mild winter with the coldest
weather in the forepart of the season
is predicted by markings on the furry
coat of the caterpillars, Charles Burns,
Bluffton weather prognosticator, said
this week.
Burns determines his weather fore
casts by studying the black bands and
thickness of the furry covering of cat
erpillars.
For the last two years since he
started announcing his predictions
publicity, he has been unusually ac
curate in forecasting winter weather
conditions, during the three months
period, December 21 to March 21.
Burns said the caterpillars* coating
shows this winter will be warmer than
that of last year, which was one of
Changing of Date from Last
Thursday in Month Does
Not Set Precedent
Observance Held on Many Other
Days One President For
got Proclamation
President Roosevelt’s decision this
year to advance the date of Thanks
giving from Nov. 30 to Nov. 23,
generally followed thruout the coun
try, has not as popularly supposed
established a precedent.
President Andrew Johnson, in
1865, forgot or neglected to issue a
Thanksgiving proclamation, and took
no action until a church delegation
called upon him.
Then it was too late to observe
the holiday on the customary last
Thursday in November, and as a re
sult President Johnson set Dec. 7 as
Thanksgiving Day.
Since President Abraham Lincoln’s
last year in the White House, how
ever, 1965 was the only year in
which the last Thursday of the
month was not observed, until Presi
dent Roosevelt changed the date this
fall.
First National Observance
President George Washington was
the first to declare a national day
of Thanksgiving, observed on Thurs
day, Nov. 26, 1789, at the suggestion
of Congress.
(Continued on page 8)
To Spend Winter
Season In Arizona
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Welty of Min
neapolis, former Bluffton residents,
left the first of the week on a motor
trip to Phoenix, Arizona, where they
will spend the coming winter.
Mrs. Welty, who became seriously
ill last winter in the southwest, is
improving nicely, according to word
received by friends here.
Mr. Welty, a former Bluffton farm
implement dealer who continued in
that line has retired after spending
thirty-eight years in that business.
He has announced no definite plans
for the future.
Births
Announlement has been made of
the birth of a son, Michael Edmund
to Mr. and Mrs. Phil Lockwood of
Solvang, Calif. Mrs. Lockwood w’as
formerly Miss Lena Sinkowitz of this
place.
Mr. and Mrs. Dahl Predmore of
Findlay are the parents of a son.
Mr. Predmore was formerly manager
of the City Market store here.
A son was bom to Mr. and Mrs
Don Kirtland of Bluffton at the hos
pital here Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Warren, Bluff
ton are the parents of a son born at
the hospital here Monday.
A son was born Tuesday to Mr.
and Mrs. Wilmer Rader of Bluffton
al the hospital here.
LIBRARY TO CLOSE
The Bluffton public library will be
closed all day Thursday, for the
Thanksgiving day holiday, it is an
nounced by Miss Ocie Anderson, li
brarian. The library will also be
closed all day Saturday for cleaning.
It will be open all day Friday.
HERE FROM MEXICO CITY
Egon Mabardi, of Mexico City, was
at the plant of The Triplett Elec
trical Instrument Co. Tuesday on
business. Mr. Mabardi is a member
of the firm of Mabardi and Von
Richter, sales representatives of The
Triplett Co. in Mexico.
Bluffton Weather Prophet Sees
Mild Winter In Annual Forecast
Nation’s Thanksgiving Observance
Has Varied And Colorful History
I
the mildest in recent years. We lik
ely will experience our coldest weath
er during the latter part of Decem
ber.
Predictions for this year tend to
indicate the winter will be similar to
that of 1889, Bums said. In that
year, he pointed out, there were only
three and one-quarter inches of snow.
With open weather prevailing Burns
recalled that he hunted all winter, and
caught 76 raccoon.
An early spring is predicted in 1940,
on the basis of Bums’ forecast, and
he said that plans can be laid now’ to
make garden early in the season.
Farmers can start their spring work
after the first cold snap if the weath
er forecasts is borne out in its ntirety
for the third successive year.
NURSE KILLED
IN AUTO CRASH
Early Morning Accident Proves
Fatal to Hazel McCune
Of Bluffton
Headon Collision with Stone
Truck on Highway South
Of Beaverdam
An early morning highway crash
was fatal to Miss Hazel McCune, 40,
of Bluffton, a private nurse, and she
died at 8:20 a. m. Friday in Lima
Memorial hospital less than two hours
after her automobile crashed headon
into a heavily laden stone truck, two
miles south of Beaverdam on the
Dixie highway.
The mishap occurred near the ill
fated Foust bridge, which has been
the scene of many fatalties. Miss
McCune was enroute to Lima to go on
duty at Lima Memorial hospital.
In the crash she suffered several
fractures of the pelvis bone, 10 frac
tured ribs and a broken right leg.
Shock xvas believed the cause of her
death.
The stone truck involved in the col
lision w’as owned by the American
Stone Co., of Lima, and was driven
by Warren Stauffer, 21, of Limit. It
was northbound. Stauffer w’as unin
jured.
Harry Wolfe, of Findlay, bound to
ward Lima at the time of the crash,
told state highway officers that Miss
McCune had passed him just prior to
the mishap. Because of poor visibil
ity that early in the morning, he was
unable to explain how the accident
occurred, however,
Funeral services were held Monday
afternoon at the Diller funeral home.
Rev. J. A. Weed ,pastor of the Bluff
ton Methodist church, officiated. Bur
ial was in Maple Grove cemetery,
Findlay.
Surviving are her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Arthur McCune, of Geiger street,
a sister, Mrs. Byron Stratton, Niagara
Falls, *N. Y., and a brother, Burdette
McCune, McFadden, Wyoming.
The mishap victim was graduated
Bluffton High school in 1916, and
from the Lima City hospital nurses
training in 1923.
With The Sick
Dr. S. K. Mosiman, president
emeritus of Bluffton college who be
came suddenly ill with a kidney ail
ment and complications was removed
to the Bluffton hospital Sunday
night. His condition which was re
ported serious is considerably im
proved.
Albert Vermillion residing east of
Bluffton is convalescing following an
operation at Bluffton hospital.
Sylvan Herrman of East Elm
street is recovering from an attack
of rheumatism.
Mrs. Noah Moser residing north
of Beaverdam underwent an opera
tion at Bluffton hospital the first of
the week.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S SPEAKER
Dr. C. Henry Smith of Bluffton
will be one of four college speakers
who will address the sixteenth an
nual convention of the Ohio Federa
tion of Baptist Young People to be
held in the First Baptist church of
Lima from Friday to Sunday. Dr.
Smith is head of the department of
history of Bluffton college.
Approximately 500 young people
are expected to attend the conference
which will open Friday afternoon
and close at noon on Saturday.
Place
No Tents to be Used This Year
Pulling Contest and Parade
Are Features
Final plans for Bluffton’s 24th an
nual agricultural fair, to be held
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
December 6, 7 and 8, likely will be
completed at a meeting of the fair
board this Saturday night in the
town hall.
Distribution of premium lists,
started last week, is continuing at a
rapid pace, indicating early and
wide-spread interest in the mid
winter showing.
Entry in the three-day fair is open
to residents of Allen, Putnam, Han
cock and Hardin counties. Deadline
for entries is Monday, Dec. 4.
Arrangements have not been com
pleted for buildings and judges, but
it is expected that final plans will
be drafted by the end of the week.
It was decided at the opening of
the season that no tents will be
used this year. ,,
Fair showings will be in nine de
partments, including the junior fair,
and awards offered aggregate near
ly $1,000. The departments include:
Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry,
grain and fruit, domestic science,
fine arts and the junior fair.
In addition to the regular showing
by departments, features will be the
pulling contest, pet parade and the
livestock parade, which closes the
fair.
H. S. Cast To Stage
"Robinson Crusoe"
I
NUMBER 30
COMPLETE PLANS
FOR WINTER FAIR
Final Arrangements to be Made
At Directors Meeting
Saturday
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe on
a desert island will be portrayed in
the play of that name to be pre
sented by the speech department of
Bluffton high school Tuesday and
Wednesday nights of next week at
8 o’clock.
Simply a tale of island life would
hardly make an interesting play, so
the author has introduced some more
shipwrecked people into the play to
provide a clever plot of romance and
intrigue. All in all the play should
be one of the outstanding entertain
ments of the Bluffton dramatic sea
son.
For the first time in the history of
the school a squad system of play
ing is used. Instead of the usual
double cast, several players are re
hearsing the same role, but they will
not be assigned to the public per
formance until the afternoon pre
ceding the play. In some instances
the shift may be made between acts
if the director deems it justifiable.
The tentative cast is as follows:
Robinson Crusoe, Herbert Klassen
Friday, George Myers and Ray Nis
wander Mrs. Drake, Helen Soldner
and Madelyn Isham Emily Drake,
Doris Jean White Ethel Cartwright,
Wanda Diller and Doris Garmatter
Ben Hawks, Ralph Short Jeff Sny
der, John Stettler and Harlan
Swank Frederick Salvatore, Arthur
Thiessen and Harold Santschi Don
na, Bettye Steinman and Harriette
Biome Meta Robinson, Charlotte
Santschi and Marjorie Stratton El
len Robison, Carolyn Stonehill and
Billie Bechtel Mrs. Robinson, Dor
othy Greding and Georgia Fisher.
Will Open Auto
Accessory Store
Opening of a Western Auto store
in Bluffton was announced the first
of the week by Millen C. Geiger who
will operate the establishment. The
store will be located on the first
floor of the George Carmack build
ing, part of the former Bluffton
Manufacturing block on South Main
street.
Geiger, a native of Pandora, has
been in Medina for the past seven
years and is moving with his w’ife
and daughter from that place this
week. His daughter, Mary Alice, en
tered Bluffton high school as a mem
ber of the senior class, Monday.
The store here will handle auto
accessories, electrical and sporting
goods and allied lines, Geiger stated.
Arrangements are being made for an
opening early next month.
For the past sixteen years Geiger
has been connected w’ith the Sinclair
Oil company, the past seven years
of which he was commission agent
of the company with headquarters
in Medina.