The Bluffton news. [volume], March 07, 1940, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXIV
WPA MAY OK
SEWER ISSUE
Council Approves Platt to Pre
sent Application for Fed
»eral Aid
Project Defeated at Polls Here
Last Fall is Still on
WPA Books
A sewer system for Bluffton, pro
posed as a WPA project last fall
and defeated at the polls in the
November election, may be approved
at Washington this spring and fed
eral funds made available for the
government’s part of the construc
tion.
Word to this effect was presented
to the town council at its meeting
Monday night by Carleton S. Fink
beiner, senior member of the firm
of Champe, Finkbeiner & Associates,
Toledo engineers, which was in
charge of drafting plans for the
proposed sewer system here last
fall.
Finkbeiner who appeared before
the council stated that the project is
still being carried on the books of
WPA as a possibility and that with
several minor changes, it would fol
low a routine procedure and be sub
mitted for approval by federal au
thorities.
Federal Grant Conditional
With WPA approval in Washing
ton, government funds would be
available for construction of the
sewer system on condition that
funds for the municipality’s share
of the cost also were available.
(Continued on page 5)
Pre-Easter Services
At Methodist Church
A week’s series of Pre-Eastor
evangelistic services will be held at
the Methodist church beginning next
Sunday and concluding on Palm Sun
day, it is announced by the pastor,
Rev. J. A. Weed.
Services will be held every evening
at 7:30 o’clock excepting Saturday.
Special music will be a part of each
meeting.
The following guest preachers will
speak:
Monday—Rev. C. R. Archer, Co
lumbus Grove. -A-
Tuesday—Dr. I. W. Bauman, Bluff
ton college
Wednesday and Thursday—Rev. A.
B. Albertson, Lima.
Friday—Dr. ,V. H. Allman, Bluff
ton.
The pastor will preach on Palm
Sunday morning and evening.
Pre-Easter Service
At Pandora Church
Dr. Edmund G. Kaufman, presi
dent of Bethel college, North New
ton, Kansas, will conduct the annual
pre-Easter services at the Grace
Mennonite church, Pandora, it is an
nounced by the pastor, Rev. Paul
Whitmer.
The services will open Sunday
morning and continue for a week,
closing the following Sunday night.
The Sunday morning services will be
at 10:30 o’clock. Evening meetings
will be at 7:45.
The following subjects have been
announced:
Sunday morning, “God” Sunday
night, “Creation” Monday, “Man”
Tuesday, “Christ” Wednesday,
“Prayer” Thursday, “The Bible”
Friday, “The Church” Saturday,
“The Kingdom” Sunday morning,
“The Christian” Sunday evening,
“The Future”.
In New Locations
W. W. Huber who moved to Ada
a year ago has moved back to his
farm south of Bluffton on the Bent
ley road this spring. During the
past year the place has been occu
pied by Walter Fleming.
Paul Amstutz who occupied the
Amos Thut farm has moved to the
farm of the Henry Diller heirs near
Columbus Grove. Oliver Amstutz of
Dunkirk has moved on the Thut
farm.
Rev. A. F. Albro is moving from
the Todd property on Cherry street
to the Lloyd Basinger property on
Jefferson street.
James Bowman will move this
week from the Harrison Anderson
farm in Orange township to a loca
tion near Ohio City. A Parker fam
ily from near Ohio City will move
on the Anderson farm.
Jacob Schnegg has moved from the
Nonnamaker farm in Orange town
ship to the Binkley property on East
College avenue which he recently
purchased.
New Auto Tags
To Make First
Showing Sunday
rUHOSE bright new blue and
white auto tags will make
their first appearance on Bluff
ton’s streets, Sunday morning.
The 1940 tags may be used
not earlier than March 10.
From that date until March 31,
either this year’s or last year’s
tags may be used. Use of the
old tags after midnight, March
31 is illegal.
Sale of tags thus far has been
slow and a heavy last minute
rush is anticipated by Robert
Lewis, deputy registrar in charge
of sales. Lewis has his office at
the Steiner Chevrolet garage.
FIREWORKS FOR
4TH PROHIBITED
Council Passes New Ordinance
Barring Sale or Use
Of Fireworks
Younger Generation Will Miss
Delights and Dangers
Of Father’s Day
No more will roaring fire crackers,
thundering torpedoes or plummeting
sky rockets mark the passage of
the Fourth of July in Bluffton.
In trend with changing times, the
village council Monday night passed
an ordinance prohibiting the sale or
use of fireworks in the town—and in
the future the younger generation
will miss out on the joys—and
dangers—that marked celebrations
of Independence Day when father
was a boy.
Sparklers, colored flares and non
explosive novelties will be permitted,
but the noise-making devices and
more spectacular pyrotechnics com
mon in previous years will be miss
ing from this summer’s observance
of the holiday.
Cap Pistols Taboo
Even the common cap pistol is
barred, and Bluffton’s juvenile two
gunmen next July must use weapons
with neither “bark nor bite” as a
result of the new municipal ruling.
Also on the taboo list are rockets,
roman candles, bombs, balloons,
wKeels^ '^crackers, blank cart
ridges, torpedoes, concussion canes
and any other device “intended to
produce a visible or audible pyro
technic effect by combustion, ex
plosion, deflagration or detonation.”
In the new ordinances are pro-,
visions prohibiting: First, the sale
of fireworks in the village Second,
the purchase of fireworks in the
village, and, Third, the discharge of i
fireworks in the village.
Public Displays Not Barred
On special occasions, special per
mission may be granted at the dis
cretion of the mayor, for display of
fireworks at public gatherings, pro
viding reasonable precautions are
assured for the protection of life
and property.
Otherwise, however, the day of
noisy Fourth of July celebrations,
fraught with danger, has passed in
to history so far as Bluffton is con
cerned.
For conviction of violation of the
ordinance, a fine of not less than
$25 and not more than $100 will be
assessed.
Sentiment for Safety
Sentiment for a “safe and sane”
Fourth has been prevalent in Bluff
ton since last year’s celebration in
which those discharging fireworks
failed to comply with a “controlled”
program suggested by Mayor Wil
bur A. Howe.
Discussion of the proposed ordi
nance prohibiting fireworks was. one
of the first matters taken up by the
new council when it was organized
in January, and a thoro study of
the problem resulted in passage of
the ordinance at last Monday’s meet
ing.
Speaker Home From
Europe Coming Here
George Blomgren, who has re
cently returned from Europe will
speak at the Ebenezer Mennonite
church next Monday night at 7:45
o’clock, it is announced by the pastor,
Rev. P. A. Kliewer.
Subject for the lecture will be
“Europe at this Hour in the Light
of Bible Prophecy”, which will be
preceded by sound motion pictures of
the fall of Warsaw, capture of Dan
zig and other features.
Mr. Blomgren, an evangelist, lec
turer and foreign news correspond
end was also preacher at The Little
Country Church of Hollywood, Calif.
PLAN MOSQUITO
CAMPAIGN HERE
“Mosquito Day” with All Resi
dents Cooperating May
Open Spring Drive
Annual Cleanup Day May Come
Earlier This Year to Aid in
War On Pests
Assurance that Bluffton will have a
scientifically planned mosquito control
program this summer was voiced
Tuesday night by Mayor Wilbur A.
Howe.
Patterned after the Ottawa Hills
cleanup that effected a 90 per cent
elimination of mosquitoes, Bluffton’s
drive will be sponsored by the muni
cipal council, the American Legion
and the Lions club.
An early step on the control pro
gram was indicated Monday night at
a meeting of the council when prelim
inary plans were discussed in line with
suggestions made a week ago when
Louis H. Lewandowski, Lucas county
sanitary engineer, speaking at a meet
ing here, described the Ottawa Hills
cleanup wnich he directed.
Open Campaign Early
Bluffton’s war on the swarm of mo
squitoes that plague the town every
summer will be open the latter part
of this month and it has been sug
ested that opening of the drive be des
ignated as “Mosquito Day” with all
residents of the town cooperating.
(Continued on page 5)
With The Sick
Frank Scott, retired Bluffton man
ufacturer, is ill at his home on East
Kibler street
Irvin Long, Bluffton restaurateur,
has recovered from a recent illness.
Mrs. J. A. Warren of Orange
township is confined to her home on
account of a sprained ankle, the re
sult of a fall.
Mrs. Dwight Diller has been re
moved to her home here much im
proved following a major operation
at St. Rita’s hospital, Lima.
Wm. Carr, north of Bluffton, is
a patient in the hospital here.
Real Estate Deals
The May Steinman fam of 50
acres in Orange township has been
purchased by Raymond Tuttle of Mt.
Cory. The farm will be operated by
a son of W. I. Moore of Orange
township.
The James Green farm of 60 acres
near Rockport was purchased by
Mrs. Clara Geiser the first of the
week. The place will be occupied by
Paul Geiser and family as soon as
remodeling of the house is complet
ed. Both deals were closed by the
Althaus & Collins agency here.
School Groups To
Give PT A Program
Various organizations of the grade
and high school will furnish the pro
gram at a meeting of the Parent
Teacher association here next Tues
day night. The meeting will be held
at the high school at 7:30 o’clock.
Annual election of officers also will
bt held at this meeting.
The following program has been
arranged:
Music Girls Glee Club A Capella Choir
Puppet Show .....Sixth Grade
Chorus .... Second Grade
Folk dances Junior High
Music. Campfire Girls
Skit Girl Reserves
Quartet Grade School Teachers
Third Robbery At H.
S. In Three Months
Bluffton high schbbl tvas the scene
of the third robbery in three months
when the building was entered Sun
day night and the office looted in
what was apparently a search for
money.
A checkup Monday revealed that
cash was obtained amounting to be
tween seven and eight dollars used
in operation of the school cafeteria.
More serious, however, was damage
to the building, which some esti
mates placed as high as $50. Prin
cipal damage was done to doors
leading to the office. One door was
forced by boring a large hole thru
the panel with tools obtained from
the school’s manual training work
shop.
Supt. A. J. B. Longsdorf was in
Lima, Monday morning conferring
with the sheriff’s office and deputies
were sent here to work on the case.
Deputies from the sheriff’s office
were assigned to each of the other
two robberies here but no arrests
were made.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INT ERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1940
Former Bluffton Man
Dr. Peter Epp Sees Horrors if
Present Attack of Soviets
Succeeds
Relatives Imprisoned by Bol
sheviks Died of Starvation
He Declares
Coments on the Russian invasion of
Findland by Dr. Peter Epp, former
Bluffton college professor now an in
structor in German at Ohio State uni
versity, received front-page promin
ence on the front page of a recent is
sue of The Columbus Sunday Dis
patch.
In the interview, Dr. Epp declared
he felt “some miracle will keep the
Finns from being defeated by the Rus
sians, despite Russia’s superiority in
man-power.”
Dr. Epp’s assertions were based on
his experiences in living thru Russian
ruthlessness, characterized by him as
“100 times more horrible than the
present war.”
When revolution swept thru Russia
Seeing bargains advertised in the
Dollar Day issue of The Bluffton
News, thrifty Bluffton college coeds
postponed their quadrennial Leap
Year Date Night from Thursday,
Feb. 29, to Friday, March 1, in or
der to take advantage of Dollar Day
specials offered by downtown refresh
ment parlors.
It was a victory for the pocket
book over tradition, as the college
lassies gave up February 29 dates
which custom decreed they should
make, and instead postponed their
Leap Year observance to the fol
lowing day.
Northwest Ohio High School
Choral Groups in Bluff
ton March 15
More than 1000 Singers to
Enter Contest Bluffton
High to be Entry
Representatives from more than 30
district high schools will compete in
the Northwest Ohio Choral festival
to be held in Bluffton .Friday of next
week.
Bluffton High school will be one of
the competing groups, and will enter
all three branches of eisteddfod com
petition.
Boys glee clubs, girls glee clubs and
mixed choruses will sing in the local
meet, and winners will be eligible to
compete in the state contest to be held
at Columbus in April.
Competition here will be in five
classes and entry will be determined
according to the size of the student
body of schools. Class divisions are
A, B, BB, and CC.
Prof. Russell A. Lantz is in charge
of arrangements and will direct the
all-day session. Sponsor of the event
is the Bluffton college department of
music, of which Prof. Lantz is direct
or.
Morning, afternoon and evening
sessions will be held in the large Bluff
ton High gymnasium, and it is esti
mated that more than 100 students
will be in Bluffton to represent each
of the competing schools.
Adjudicators will be Miss Faye
Rees, supervisor of music, Wooster
public schools Milton Rehg, director
of music, Muskingum college, and
Dale Gilliland, professor of music of
Ohio State university.
W. Oscar Jones, of Defiance, will
be chairman.
Dollar Day Wins Over Tradition
As Coeds Postpone Leap Year Dates
H. S. MUSIC
CONTEST HERE
Births
The following births at Bluffton
Community hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Edwards of
Spring street, a son, Saturday.
Airplanes Bomb Chinese Village
Home Of Former Bluffton Woman
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Wells of
South Main street, a son, Robert
Mollett, Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. White of Mt.
Cory, a daughter, Alice Marie, Fri
day.
Who
putting the Bolsheviks in control, Dr.
Epp was a yong teacher in the Rus
sian Ukraine district.
Relatives Tmprtsohed
He saw’ his brother, brother-in-law’
and scores of other relatives arrested
and sentenced to long ternis at hard
labor because they were of the hated
bourgeois class. His wife died three
Despite unfavorable weather, Bluff
ton’s first Dollar Day was a success,
as merchants generally reported sat
isfactory to flourishing business.
Many people drove here from a
distance to take advantage of Dollar
Day bargains, with quite a few
shoppers coming from towns in the
surrounding area.
Altho Dollar Day was a new ven
ture here, Bluffton shop keepers
handled the two-day program in big
city style and with full cooperation
on the part of the Business Men’s
association excellent results were a
chieved.
Letter from Mrs. Floyd Panna
becker to Her Mother, Mrs.
J. H. Tschantz
Twenty-three Civilians Killed
As Swooping Planes Bring
Rain of Death
Experiences of a former Bluffton
woman, now a missionary in China,
when bombing planes, presumably
Japanese, rained nearly 40 high ex
plosive bombs on their village kill
ing 23 people is described in a let
ter from Mrs. Floyd Pannabecker to
her mother, Mrs. J. H. Tschantz of
Kibler street. Mrs. Pannabecker,
the former Miss Sylvia Tschantz is
located at Kai Chow’, China, some
250 miles south of Peiping.
Describing the raid Mrs. Panna
becker writes:
As I stepped out of the house to
go to Sunday school, on Sunday
morning, January 7, I heard the
drone of airplanes and looking up
into the sky noticed six of them. I
could tell they were bombers by the
loud droning sound they made. Soon
three of them went east and three
w’ent west.
I stopped to get Miss Etta Davis,
one of our missionaries, to go along
to Sunday school and slowly meand
ered on, listening and watching.
(Continued on page 8)
/How a seventy-seven year old
Bluffton w’oman has overcome the
handicap of blindness to do her own
housework, assist with cooking and
sew for others also afflicted with
blindness, was disclosed Sunday in
connection with the observance of
the fifty-sixth wedding anniversary
of Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Ludwig of
South Jackson street.
Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig are pioneer
residents of this community and on
their w’edding anniversary they were
honored at the St. John’s Reformed
church, Sunday morning. Following
the Sunday school service they were
presented with a bouquet of carna
tions and a basket of fruit by W. A.
Amstutz in behalf of the congrega
tion.
Fled Red Russia
Feels Miracle Will Halt Finnish Invasion
Dr. and Mn. Peter Epp
Bluffton Woman, BLnd, Sews,
i Cooks And Does Own Housework
Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig have lived
at their present location on South
Jackson street for the past thirty
six years and Mrs. Ludwig, altho
IK
months after coming to America be
cause of privations she had suffered in
the Ukraine.
Dr. Epp’s brother and his sister’s
husband never completed their prison
sentences because they died of starva
tion shortly after being sentenced, Dr.
Epp said.
(Continued on page 8)
H. S. IN SECOND
TOURNEY GAME
High School Cagers Play Fos
toria St. Wendelin Thurs
day Night at Carey
Dillermen Advance to Quarter
Finals by Defeating
Chatfield, 54-46
Seeking to gain another lap in the
Inog, difficult road that leads to Sec
tional Class honors, Bluffton High’s
scrappy cage outfit will meet their
second tourney foe in a tilt with Fos
toria St. Wendelin, Thursday night in
the Carey High gymnasium. The
game is scheduled for 9 o’clock.
Bluffton advanced thru the first
round successfully last Friday in
smothering Chatfield’s formidable five
54 to 46, in a free-scoring contest.
Post©#* St. Wan deli n, the Jgirates*
next obstacle in the path that might
lead to a tournament championship,
gained the quarter-finals by dispos
ing of Lexington, Saturday night.
Should the Dillermen be successful
in their start against the Fostoria
crew, they will be called upon to play
again the following night at 9:30 p.
The other semi-finalist from the
lower bracket will be the winner of
the Carey-Bettsville game. Both of
these teams are top-notchers, Carey
having spilled Salem, dending champs
21 to 20, and Bettsville won over Raw
son, 42 to 19.
Bluffton’s performance against the
Chatfield team, in which the locals
ran up the high tournament score with
their 54-point sortee, marked the Dill
ermen as a possible dark horse in the
Class meet, but each test from now
on out will be increasingly difficult.
Male Quartet At
Missionary Church
A male quartet from Ft. Wayne
Bible Institute will have charge of
all services at the Missionary church,
Sunday, it is announced by the pas
tor, Rev. A. F. Albro. The quartet
features gospel hymn singing.
blind for several years does much
sewing for inmates of institutions
for the sightless. With assistance
of her husband, aged 81, she does
her own housework and cooking,
Both are enjoying fairly good health.
Mrs. Ludwig, the former Litisho
Alice Hyne, is a native of Piqua
county while her husband was born
near Delphos. After their marriage
the couple lived in Delphos for two
years and then moved to Orange
township where they resided on a
farm for nineteen years after which
they came to Bluffton where they
have since resided.
Mr. Ludwig has one sister living,
Mrs. Mary Jane King of Fremont.
Mrs. Ludwig has a brother, George
Hyne, of Sterling, Colorado, and
three sisters, Mrs. W. B. Kramer,
Mt. Cory Mrs. Hattie Barkimer,
Clinton, Mich., and Mrs. Maggie
Wiley, San Diego, Calif.
A Good Place to Live and a
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 45
56 SENIORS TO
BE GRADUATED
Bluffton High Commencement
Is Set for Thursday Night,
May 23
Junior-Senior Banquet May 10
Will Open Pre-Commence
ment Season
Fifty-six Bluffton High seniors
are expected to receive diplomas at
commencement services for the
class, Thursday evening, May 23.
Dr. J. Raymond Schutz, of
Indianapolis, formerly of Manchester
college, North Manchester, Ind., will
be the class speaker. A native of
Pandora, Dr. Schutz is well known
here. Since leaving Manchester
college he has been associated with
an insurance firm.
Opening event of the annual series
of pre-commencement events will be
the junior-senior class banquet,
scheduled for May 10.
Seniors will be guests of the
junior class at the event. Following
the dinner a class dance will be
held in the gymnasium.
Baccalaureate services will be
held Sunday, May 19, the speaker
to be announced later.
On Monday and Tuesday follow
ing baccalaureate, presentations of
the senior class play will be made.
This year the class will stage Mol
iere’s “Imaginary Invalid”.
Senior class night is to be held
Wednesday, May 22, followed by
commencement on May 23. Date of
the alumni banquet has been set as
Friday, May 24.
Open House Sunday
For Golden Wedding
Mr and Mrs. Gideon Burkholder,
of East College avenue, lifelong res
idents of this community will observe
their Golden Wedding anniversary
Sunday. Relatives and friends of
the couple are invited to call on
Sunday afternoon when the couple
will receive congratulations at open
house at the home of their daugh
ter, Mrs. Paul Diller of South Main
street.
Preceding the open house, a fam
I ily dinner will be held at the home
of another daughter, Mr* Calvin
'Steiner of Poplar street.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Burkholder are
natives of the Swiss Settlement west
of Bluffton, he being the son of the
late Samuel Burkholder three miles
north of Beaverdam. His wife, the
former Anna Bixel was the daughter
of the late Peter Bixel, two and one
half miles west of Bluffton. Both
are aged 75 years.
The couple was married March 13,
1890, and resided on a farm five
and one-half miles west of Bluff
ton until eight years ago w’hen they
moved to their present location on
East College avenue.
Their six children are: Mrs. Harry
Gratz, Lima Alvin Burkholder,
Findlay William and Harley Burk
holder, Mrs. Steiner and Mrs. Diller
all of Bluffton.
Mr. Burkholder has one sister,
Mrs. Sarah Diller of Bluffton and
five brothers, Menno and Elias of
Bluffton Samuel of Toledo John of
Kidron and Reuben of Washington
state.
Mrs Burkholder’s brothers are:
John Bixel, Lima Peter of Pandora
Elias of Lima Samuel and Chris
of Bluffton. Sisters are: Mrs. C. D.
Amstutz and Mrs. D. J. Basinger
of Bluffton and Mrs. Eli Diller of
Lima.
Name Bogart Head
Of Election Board
M. M. Bogart of Bluffton was
named chief deputy of the Allen
County Board of Elections at the
organization meeting of the board,
at Lima, Monday afternoon.
Bogart was named last month as a
member of the board, succeeding
Atty. Neil R. Poling. Other mem
bers are Clarence Mumaugh, Lima
J. C. Jones, Gomer and Ralph Linde
man, Delphos. Clerk of the board is
R. G. Patterson and Gerald Rothe,
deputy clerk.
Ladies Aid Society
Marks 50th Year
A special program in th© St
John’s Reformed church next Sun
day night will mark the fiOth anni
versary celebration of the Ladies Aid
society of the Congregation.
Special features have been planned
for presentation at the evening meet
ing.