The Bluffton news. [volume], January 04, 1940, Image 3

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THURSDAY, JAN. 4, 1940
ALLEN COUNTY
Coroner Rules Death
Natural
Dr. Burt Hibbard, Allen county
coroner, reported Thursday that the
death of Carl Crider, 41, whose body
was found near Beaverdam early
Dec. 22, was due to natural causes.
The coroner said he had reached
this verdict after performing an au
topsy.
Lima Man New State
Bank Head
Gov. John W. Bricker last week
appointed Rodney P. Lien of Lima
as State Superintendent of Banks to
succeed Samuel H. Squire of Elyria.
Lien, president of the National
Bank of Lima, will take the $7,500
a-year office Jan. 15.
Bricker said that the Allen County
Republican Executive Committee had
indorsed Lien.
Lien, 38 year old and a native of
Iowa, began his banking career as
a bookkeeper at Mason City, Iowa,
and later went to Chicago. Four
years ago he went to Lima as presi
dent of the First National.
Lima Wars On
Lotteries
A campaign against lotteries in
legitimate business in Lima was
launched last week by the Better
Business Bureau when its board of
directors condemned this practice in
a resolution, and its director warned
reports of all such activities will be
made to proper authorities for pro
secution.
The resolution asserted the results
■of lotteries to promote sales are
dubious, that such procedure is un
sound, unfair to competition and in
jurious to public confidence. It add
ed that such lotteries are illegal,
and that it has been found that op
eration of a lottery by persons or
firms of honest intent establishes a
precedent held up by fraudulent op
erators as justification for operation
of dishonest ventures.
Highway Worker’s Dis
missal Upheld
The State Civil Service commis
sion last week reinstated five dis
charged state employes and sus
tained the removal of five others.
Those whose removals were sus
tained and the charges against them
included Harley Staver, Route 4,
Lima, highway mechanic, misfeance,
malfeasance, nonfeasance, neglect of
duty and political activity.
State Examinations
Are Set
Examinations to cover approxi
mately 500 positions in state liquor
stores will be conducted Feb. 8 and
5 by the State Civil Service Com
mission, Miss Gertrude Jones, chair
man, announced Wednesday.
Jobs for which eligible lists will
be created include liquor store man
agers, cashiers and clerks. The tests
will be given in Columbus, Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Akron, Canton, Dayton,
Lima, Mansfield, Toledo, Athens and
Cambridge.
Examinations for the position of
store manager, which carries a sal
ary range of from $1,800 to $2,400
a year, will be held Feb. 8.
Tests for cashiers and clerks will
be given Feb. 9. Salaries for cash
iers range from $1,440 to $1,600 a
year while those for clerks range
from 1,380 to $1,600.
Liquor Permit Funds
Distributed
State Auditor Joseph T. Ferguson
last week distributed to municipali
ties $920,550 of the undivided liquor
permit fund. Larger distributions
included $6,555 to Lima.
Traffic Toll Heavier
In County
Allen county’s traffic fatality toll
in 1939 totaled 27, one more than
1938, Coroner Burt Hibbard an
nounced Saturday.
As the year drew to a close Dr.
Hibbard said he investigated 92 cases
from Jan. 1 thru Dec. 23. The total
was 89 in 1038.
Of the 27 killed in traffic mishaps,
16 were males and 11 females. Auto
truck collisions claimed the most
lives, the figures totaling eight
County Settles State
Debt
Three years of litigation were end
ed last week when Allen County and
State Welfare Department officials
reached a compromise agreement on
the amount of money due the state
by the county for the care of feeble
minded persons.
Allen County was one of a num
ber in Ohio which halted such pay­
NEWS NOTES FROM FOUR COUNTIES
ments several years ago in an effort
to force a reduction in the weekly
rate. The compromise represented
a medium between the $5.50 per pa
tient per week charged by the state
prior to last Jan. 1, and the $3.50
in effect since then.
The county’s indebtedness is cut to
$37,749, and represents a reduction
of about $33,000 in the obligation.
Commissioners Dis
charge Six
Members of the Allen county
board of commissioners are facing
prospects of real New Year’s head
aches.
Saturday morning the board dis
missed five janitors and the court
house elevator operator. But hardly
had the dismissals taken effect when
Attorney Francis W. Durbin started
court action to have the ousted em
ployes restored to their jobs.
It all started when T. H. Morris
was appointed commissioner to fill
the vacancy caused by the death re
cently of William B. O’Connor.
Morris is a Republican, and his ap
pointment gave Republicans a ma
jority on the board for the first
time since 1922.
Delinquent Tax Drive
Materializes
“The biggest land sale ever held
in Allen county’’ will start March
11, according to County Auditor
Floyd B. Griffin.
On that date, Griffin says, approx
imately 6,000 parcels of real estate
comprising the bulk of the county’s
staggering $2,002,352.16 tax delin
quency, will be forfeited to the state
and prepared for public auction.
There are now 8,330 parcels of de
linquent property on the county tax
books, including $720,035.52 in Lima
and $1,281,716.64 in the county, most
ly in the four townships surround
ing the city, Griffin says.
Of the list 6,230 parcels are due to
be sold—500 thru foreclosure and
the rest thru forfeiture.
4,719 Real Estate
Transfers In 1939
A total of $4,719 deeds and real
estate transfers was recorded during
1939, as compared with 4,434 last
year, and 8,787 chattel mortgages
were filed, as compared with the
1938 total of 7,969, according to Al
len county Recorder Wilfred F.
Failor.
Commissioners Operat
ing Within Budget
The Allen county Board of Com
missioners has paid in full all county
bills for 1939 operations, and in
tends to keep within its income dur
ing the coming year, Chairman
Homer J. Hilty declared Saturday.
Expenditures for relief during the
12-month periodjust closed totaled
$40,493.73, as compared with $75,
427.85 in 1938, Hilty revealed.
Lima Has 18 Amateur
Radio Stations
Lima has 18 privately-owned, non
profit radio stations, which do not
engage in commercial broadcasting.
Just released by the Federal Com
munications Commission, a new list
of licensed amateur radio operators
in Lima shows 18 licenses in good
standing as of Dec. 15, 1939.
Cupid’s Activity Wanes
In County
There has been a steady decline
since 1937 in the number of mar
riage licenses issued in Allen county
according to Probate Court attache
Louis T. Brown. In that year 667
couples obtained licenses to wed, in
1938 there were 618 issued, and in
1939 the figure was 544.
“Without a doubt Dan Cupid will
make up for lost time in 1940—
which is leap year,” Brown predict
ed.
Probate Court Has
Busy Year
More than $1,600,000 in assets was
appraised and listed in Allen county
probate court during the past year,
according to Louis T. Brown, chief
deputy in the office of Probate Judge
Raymond P. Smith.
Assets included both real and per
sonal property, subject to payments
of debts of decedents, and to trans
fer to heirs and beneficiaries.
Homes Threatened In
Refinery Blast
Hundreds of Lima homes were
shaken at 5:40 p. m. Thursday and
distillery equipment worth more than
$1,000,000 was endangered at the
Solar Refining plant of the Standard
Oil Co. in south Lima in an explos
ion of a naphtha storage tank in
the company’s S. Collet street field.
Simultaneously with the blast, the
2,000 barrel container burst into
flames and burned to the ground.
Plant officials estimated the loss at
$3,000.
Two Girls Arrested
For Theft
Two Lima girls, recently paroled
from the Girls Industrial School at
Delaware, were being held in Allen
county jail Friday on charges of
stealing clothing from the home of
F. E. Sandey, of Lima.
The girls, both 18, were arrested
Thursday by Arnold Potts, Putnam
county sheriff at the home of Leon
ard Hovest, near Ottawa. Sheriff
Potts reported the girls had in their
possession a fur coat, a shirt, an
alarm clock and baby clothing which
they admitted did not belong to them.
Nurse Suspended At
Lima Hospital
Dr. H. M. Turk, superintendent of
the Lima State hospital for the
criminal insane, filed with the state
civil service commission last week
notice of suspension of Mary Jean
Arras, a registered nurse at the in
stitution, on charges that she re
ported for duty while under the ef
fects of liquor.
Birthday Ball Chair
man Named
Fred R. Schoonover, comptroller of
the City Loan and Savings company
has been appointed chairman of
Lima’s birthday ball for the presi
dent to be held Jan. 30. He was
named by George B. Quatman, pres
ident of the Allen county chapter of
National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis, Inc.
Lima Man Loses
State Post
John W. Beall, of Lima, chairman
of the Ohio Industrial Commission,
lost his state post last week when
Governor John W. Bricker appointed
James A. White, a Columbus at
torney and former head of the Ohio
Saloon league as his successor.
The new member was named for
a six-year term effective immediate
ly. He will receive a salary of $5,
000 a year. The six-year term of
Beall expired last June 30 but he
continued to serve pending appoint
ment of a successor.
HANCOCK COUNTY
Findlay College En
rollment High
Official enrollment statistics re
cently released at Findlay college
show that the student roster for the
first semester of 1939-1940 term, in
dicates one of the largest student
bodies in the college history. Includ
ing all departments of the college,
there are 375 students, with 270 of
them enrolled in the liberal arts col
lege 62 in the commercial school
and three in the music department.
There are 40 special students. Ap
proximately 25 per cent of the stu
dents are girls.
Sales Tax Distribution
Greater
A total of $5,434.23 more has been
received for local government units
of Hancock county from the Ohio
sales tax in 1939 than in 1938, fig
ures compiled by County Auditor
Frank H. Huffman revealed.
Amount of sales tax received by
the county local governments this
year is $52,419.72 as compared with
$46,985.49 for 1938. The total still
is some $20,000 less than the $72,
776.32 received in 1937, Huffman
said.
Orange township got $277.68 Un
ion township received $284.76, and
Mt. Cory’s share was $296.88.
Change In County Jail
Recommended
Need for separate quarters for
juveniles held by the Hancock county
sheriff again is urged in the annual
report of the Hancock county board
of visitors to the state department
of public welfare.
The report forwarded to Columbus
over the signatures of J. N. Tabb,
president, and Mrs. Charlotte Learey,
secretary, says that “the board found
the institutions in excellent condi
tion and the personnel functioning
efficiently.”
“It is hard to imagine how the
County Home and the Children’s
Home could be conducted in any
more satisfactory manner,” said Mr.
Tabb in commenting on the report.
Fair Board Has $7.45
Balance
After staging an $8,000 exhibition
and making two $1,000 payments on
the fair grounds, the Hancock Coun
ty Agricultural Societywill close the
JHB BLUFFTONNEWS, BLUFI
year 1939 with a $7.45 balance in its
treasury and with $1,300 still to be
received from the county payable
after the year-end report has been
approved by the State Department
of Agriculture.
The financial statement of the ag
ricultural society which has just been
compiled shows expenditures of $10,
851.23 for this year and receipts
totaling $10,858.68—a difference of
$7.45.
Civil War Bequest
Benefits Aged
A dozen needy seamstresses benefit
each year to the extent of about $5
worth of fuel each, all because of a
trust fund set up in Findlay dur
ing the Civil War.
Hiram and Hanna Smith donated
$1,000 to the village of Findlay in
1863, the interest to be used for the
purchase of fuel for families whose
husbands and sons were engaged in
the Civil War.
After 10 years, the money was to
be invested with one-third of the in
terested credited to the principal for
a period of 30 years, after which the
interest was to be distributed an
nually among the widows and sewing
women.
The principal, now $1,800, is in
vested in government securities
which are kept by the city service
safety director.
Traffic Deaths Increase
Traffic accidents in Hancock coun
ty during 1939 have resulted in the
deaths of 23 persons as compared to
18 for the previous year and 17 in
1937.
Dies While Wife Reads
Paper To Him
Sittingin his chair while his wife
read him the news from the daily
paper at 1:30 o’clock Friday after
noon, Joseph M. Kinsey gasped
twice for breath and was dead. A
heart attack was given as the cause
of his death which occurred in his
home in Findlay.
Burned By Blast From
Furnace
A burst of flame from the furnace
in his home Friday afternoon in
flicted serious face and eye injuries
on Paul Emahieser, 20, of Benton
Ridge.
The victim said he had poured
fuel oil in the flu to burn out the
soot collected there. In so doing, he
said, he closed the furnace door.
When he re-opened the door, a blast
of flames shot out directly into his
face.
Two Crashes At Same
Spot
Two automobile accidents occurred
last week within 15 minutes of each
other at the same spot in the high
way when cars skidded on the snow.
Kenneth Remue, 26, Toledo, was
treated at Findlay Hospital for an
arm injury after his car skidded as
it rounded a curve in Route 224
near the junction of 224 and 186.
A car operated by Walter Ber
tram, 33, Boone, la., skidded on the
same cure a short time later. Mr.
Bertram, his wife and four children
escaped injury.
Veteran Fireman Is
Found Shot
George A. Yates, 77, veteran fire
man at the Findlay plant of the Cen
tral Ohio Light and Power company,
died at 5:05 o’clock Friday afternoon
in the Findlay hospital from a self
inflicted bullet wound received an
hour earlier at his home in Findlay.
Mr. Yates, according to Dr. H. O.
Crisby, coroner, shot himself in the
head with a pistol. The coroner re
turned a verdict of suicide, giving ill
health as the reason.
Aerial Pictures Taken
Of County
Hancock county had its picture
taken this fall and the prints have
been received at the county agricul
tural office.
The photographs cover every piece
of farm real estate in the county.
They will be used by the soil conser
vation committee in determining
areas of the various fields coming
under the farm program.
Census Taking To Be
Started
An appeal to the manufacturers of
Findlay to get ready for and co
operate with the U. S. census enu
merators beginning Jan. 2, was is
sued last week by Lester Thomas,
president of the Findlay Chamber
of Commerce.
Slippery Pavement
Causes Mishap
Slippery pavement caused another
automobile accident in Hancock
county Friday.
A car driven by Mrs. Arthur Low,
21, of Aurora, Ill., skidded on the
ice on the Lincoln highway six miles
TON, omo
west of Williamstown and struck a
bridge culvert.
The car was demolished. Mrs. Low
received abrasions and her husband,
28, a broken shoulder blade. Their
three-months-old son, David, was
bruised. They were treated by a
physician.
Cars Seen From Many
States
Observing parked automobiles on
Main street in the vicinity of the
court house in Findlay,a man jot
ted down the license plates from the
different states and reports," I saw
machines parked here from every
state east of the Mississippi river
except Maine, Vermont and New
Hampshire. Every state west of the
Mississippi was represented with the
exception of North and South Da
kota, Montana, Nevada and Okla
homa. Three cars from Canada
were observed and one from the Dis
trict of Columbia. These observa
tions took place up to December.”
HARDIN COUNTY
1844 Tax Receipt
Found
An interesting antique was pre
sented in the office of Hardin Coun
ty Treasurer Jno. P. Siemon last
week when a tax receipt for 1844
came to light.
Ott Myers of Kenton presented to
Siemon the receipt dated Dec. 14,
1844. It was made out to David
Clement, the grandfather of Mrs.
Ott Myers, and showed that taxes
had been paid on 80 acres of land
in Section 12, Township 5, Range 2,
Dudley township, Hardin county. The
land valuation was given as $122
and the amount due was two dollars,
19 cents and six mills.
The chattel tax was on the same
receipt and read—“Two horses and
two cattle, valuation $96, amount
due one dollar, 72 cents and eight
mills, making the total bill three
dollars, 92 cents and four mills.
New Kenton School
Completed
The newly constructed Kenton high
school building was opened when the
pupils went back to classes following
the annual holiday vacation on Jan
uary 2, it was announced by Boyd
W. Geiser, clerk of the Kenton dis
trict board of education.
The new school has been construct
ed to house 650 pupils, at an esti
mated costof $335,000. Of that
amount $150,750 was granted by the
Public Works Administration and
the remainder will be provided by a
local bond issue passed by the voters
of the district.
Drive Opened To Aid
Plant
With the Christmas season over,
members of the Kenton sivic com
mittee in charge of subscriptions for
stock in rehabilitating the Runkle
Co., whose plant was razed by fire
in Kenton on Nov. 5, will open a
concerted drive to sign subscriptions
for stock, Mayor Ellis H. McFar
land, committee chairman, announced.
The campaign to aid The Runkle
Co., had been retarded by the Christ
mas season, McFarland said. It is
expected that the local subscription
drive will be completed this week,
the mayor explained.
Goes To Navy Band
School
John Rutledge, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Jess Rutledge of Ada, has been
accepted in the U. S. Navy school of
music and will receive two years of
musical education and four years of
service in band and orchestra work
on shipboard.
Fire Leaves Eight
Homeless
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Webb and
their six children, living near For
aker, were left homeless last week
as fire, originating from a defective
flue, destroyed their farm home and
all the furnishings at an estimated
loss of $3,200. Only their clothing
and a radio were saved. The build
ing was owned by George McAdams,
Waynesfield.
Free From Quarantine
After Two Months
The Albert Sheldon family was
free from their home in McDonald
township last week, after enforced
isolation of two months, during
which time the mother and six
children recovered from scarlet fever.
Only the husband and father escaped
contracting the disease, County
Health Commissioner J. F. Holtz
muller said.
Applicant For Compen
sation Wins Fight
The state supreme court last week
refused to review Hardin county
court decisions finding that A. V.
Yoxsimer, owner of the Dola Hard
ware Co., was entitled to benefits
from the workmen’s compensation
funds for injuries suffered while en
gaged in work for the McGuffey Ele
vator Co.
Although Yoxsimer was himself
an employe, he had agreed to work
for the elevator company on certain
terms and was using his own em
ployes to complete the job. During
the work he fell from a ladder while
changing a corn cob spout and a
conveyor.
The State Industrial commission
rejected his application for compen
sation, but both the common pleas
and appellate courts held he was
entitled to participate in the fund.
Has Collection Of
Horseshoes
It may sound goofy, but Edward
H. Clucker, native of Kenton and
now a resident of Cleveland, has a
collection of 1,500 horseshoes, many
of which have interesting histories.
Yes, Mr. Clucker’s hobby is collect
ing such pieces of metal.
Clucker, when a boy, was a
“swipe” at the racetrack at the old
Hardin county fairgrounds. There
he formed his admiration for horses
and their riders. The first shoe in
his collection was that from the
hoof of “Bessie Stimmel,” record
breaking mare. He now boasts that
he can show a shoe from every well
known horse that has run on the
American track.
Man, 80, Wants To Be
Senator
An octogenarian is the first avowed
candidate for Ohio’s 1940 Republi
can nomination for U. S. Senator.
Charles E. Wharton, 80, of Ken
ton, president of the Federated Farm
club of Ohio and unsuccessful can
didate last year for the representa
tive-at-large nomination, announced
he would seek the nomination on a
“prosper)ty-for-small-business” o
gram.
The senate post is that now held
by Ohio’s senior senator, Vic Dona
hey, Democrat.
PUTNAM COUNTY
Man Held In Theft
Of Pipe
Mystery of how six tons or more
of cast iron drainage pipe, owned
by the State Highway Department,
disappeared from the right-of-way in
route 224 near Ottawa, led last week
to the arrest of Edward Clark, 27,
a Leipsic WPA worker.
Clark pleaded not guilty before
Justice O. J. Schierloh in Ottawa
and was remanded to jail in default
of $1,000 bond pending action of the
Putnam County grand jury.
State Highway patrolmen said
others may be involved in the case.
Authorities said Clark admitted dyn
amiting the pipe, once used for
drainage under a railroad bed, to
break it into small enough pieces to
truck away. He said his activities
were under full scrutiny of highway
employes.
No WPA Aid For
All chance of obtaining WPA as
sistance in the construction of a 100
foot addition to the grandstand at
the Putnam county fair grounds is
gone, at least until next spring, dis
trict Work Projects Administration
officials in Toledo have informed
members of the fair board.
Some other means of financing the
project will be considered.
Wins Bet By Not Shav
ing For Three Months
Chauncey Depew Shinkle, Jr., of
Ottawa, is introducing himself every
where he goes, even to his friends.
The reason—he came out from be
hind a thick, brown beard for the
first time in three months.
Chauncey is a junior in Ottawa
High school but he proved to every
one who chanced to notice that he
could grow a full beard. It all
started three months ago when his
school chum, Eugene Vermilya, bet
him a pipe that he couldn’t stand the
“gaff” he would have to take if he
let his beard grow until Christmas.
Chauncey accepted the pipe in pay
smer.l of the debt. Recently William
Kruse, local barber, shaved the boy
free of charge and gave him a dol
lar besides as a reward for his
bravery in jeopardizing his social
standing.
Buys From Five Gen
eration From Store
When J. D. Palmer, 77, retired
farmer and dairyman of Columbus
Grove, made a purchase of William
L. Mapel, 11-year-old son of Mr. and
Mrs. Lawrence C. Mapel of South
Bend, Indiana, in Mapel Bros. Cloth
ing store Christmas day, it was the
fifth generation of Mapels from whom
he had purchased goods during his
lifetime.
Palmer, who has resided in this
vicinity nearly all his life, bought
goods from the first generation of
Mapels around sixty years ago after
Simon Mapel, R. L. and H. B.
Ma pel’s grandfather, came from Gil
boa in 1868 and started a drygoods
store in Columbus Grove..
■wwy~ Y PAGE THREE
State Representative
To Run Again
State Representative T. F. Mc
Elroy of Putnam County has an
nounced his candidacy for reelection
subject to the Democratic primaries
in May.
Three Farm Meetings
Scheduled
Three meetings of interest to Put
nam County farmers have been an
nounced by John Finn, manager of
the Farm Bureau Cooperative.
The first one is farm leaders
roundtable to be held Jan. 5, the sec
ond is the Youth Council meeting
Jan. 26 and the third is the annual
cooperative meeting, Feb. 20.
Yule Week Tax Re
ceipts Lower
Christmas shopping fell off slight
ly in Ottawa during the week before
the holiday if sales tax receipts can
be taken as a barometer.
Sales tax receipts dropped about
13 per cent for the week as com
pared with the same week in 1938,
according to records in the office of
County Treasurer Grover Nichols.
However, figures for the year so far
indicate a definite increase over 1938.
County Acreage In
creased By AAA
Farmers in Putnam county will
have about two per cent more land
open to production of crops under
the agricultural adjustment adminis
tration program in 1940 than during
1939. This announcement was made
here by members of the county
AAA committee which has received
the county depleting allotment from
Washington, D. C.
This county will be allowed 144,
154 acres for production in 1940 un
der AAA provisions as compared
with 142,577 during 1939. This is
an increase of 1,577 acres which will
be divided among all the farmers
who participate in the AAA pro
gram.
Fair Board Is
Organized
Harry Collar, of Columbus Grove,
was re-elected president of the Put
nam county fair board in the annual
meeting of the group held in the
court house assembly room.
O. T. McDowell, of Pandora, vice
president W. E. Montooth, Leipsic,
treasurer, and Joseph L. Brickner,
Ottawa, secretary, also were re
named.
The fair books auditing commit
tee composed of Sam Ford, J. D.
Jones and Andrew Brinkman, an
nounced that the board had spent a
total of $15,835.34 during 1939. Re
ceipts for the same period amounted
to $16,776.63 and with the $198.89
already in the treasury at the start
of the year, the organization will be
gin the new year with total bal
ance of $1,140.18.
s
Grove Man Away On
Air Tour
Bill Witteborg, one of Columbus
Grove’s popular air enthusiasts, took
off from a field near his home last
week in his Taylor cub, headed for
the annual air show and two weeks
vacation in Miami, Florida.
Bill, former proprietor of Witte
borgs’ Lunch, now operated by Fritz
Witteborg, headed for the Lima air
port where he picked up an aerial
photographer fiom Lima, who ac
companied him to Columbus where
they met the Light Plane Cavalcade,
a fleet of privately owned light
planes under 75 horsepower.
Scientists nw use hens’ eggs in
the production of viruses to provide
disease immunity to animals. The
egg shell protects the viruses from
contamination while the production
process is being completed, and it
is believed these new weapons in dis
ease control will be less variable and
more safe than the ones produced
within animal hosts by former meth
ods.
0-
LOCAL AND LONG
DISTANCE HAULING
Every Load Insured
STAGER BROS.
Bluffton, Ohio
For Vigor and Health—
include meat in your menu.
Always ready to serve you.
Bigler Bros.
Fresh and Salt Meats