The Bluffton news. [volume], August 08, 1940, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXV
RE-SURFACING OF
MAIN STREET NEXT
YEAR IS PROMISED
State Highway Department
Schedules Improvement
for Next Summer
Asphalt Top to Cover Brick and
Street Car Rails Estimate
Is $35,000
Re-surfacing of Bluffton’s Main
street has been promised as part of
Ohio’s highway improvement pro
gram next summer, Mayor Wilbur A.
Howe announced this week.
In a conference with officials of the
state highway department, Mayor
Howe was informed a new hard-sur
face asphalt top will be put on the
street, but that it will be next year
before the project can be started.
This means that the two-mile long
street over which the traffic-congest
ed Dixie highway is routed .must go
thru another winter in its present
condition, except for minor emerg
ency repairs.
In requesting approval of the re
surfacing of Main street. Mayor Howe
met with P. C. Kohli, regional high
way director, at the Lima office. It
was at this meeting that Kohli ad
vised the improvement will have to
wait until next year because of the
present full schedule of the highway
department.
Cost $35,000
Estimates obtained by Mayor Howe
from Kohli’s office indicated cost of
the proposed improvement will be ap
proximately $35,000. Of this Bluff
ton must pay $5,000.
None of the cost of the work, how
ever, will be assessed against land
holders with property abutting on
Main street. The town’s share of the
expense will be taken from funds re
ceived from the state and earmarked
for street and highway repairs.
Improvement of Main street was
first suggested last fall, but the high
way department has been unable to
act on the matter because of the press
of other projects.
Work proposed last year, however,
was more of a temporary nature, and
the total cost would have been $18,000
as compared with the $35,000 pro
gram outlined for next year.
Engineer’s Estimates
Engineers’ estimates on the basis of
■which anticipated costs have been an
nounced do not represent the final
figure which will be determined when
bids are received and the contract let.
Main street’s present pavement was
laid 13 years ago. It consists of a six
inch concrete foundation, one inch
sand cushion and a three-inch brick
top held in place with asphalt binder.
Re-surfacing of the street also will
eliminate a traffic hazard represented
by steel rails of the abandoned West
ern Ohio interurban line, which fol
lows the center of the thorofare.
Altho asphalt was placed in inden
tations beside the rails after the line
was abandoned, enough of the steel
projects above street level to make
driving treacherous when the surface
is wet.
Suits Are Filed After
Crash Four Years Ago
An automobile collision four years
ago was the basis of suits filed in
Allen county common pleas court
Tuesday against Merle Ramseyer,
Lima departmental Y. M. C. A. sec
retary and Bluffton college.
The suits were filed by Delbert
Luginbuhl seeking $5,650 compensa
tion for personal injuries allegedly
resulting from a collision at Grove
street and College road on the night
of June 5, 1936.
The plaintiff claims he was riding
as a passenger in an automobile
driven by Harley Luginbuhl and
was traveling east on Grove street
at 11:30 p. m. when the car col
lided with a truck owned by the col
lege and operated by Ramseyer.
Luginbuhl, in his petition, says the
truck was going north on College
road and that it was being operated
without lights at the time of the
accident.
Harley Luginbuhl, cousin of the
plaintiff, was fatally injured in the
crash and died a short time there
after.
Births
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Dunlap of
Columbus Grove are the parents of
a son born at Bluffton hospital,
Thursday.
Rev. and Mrs. Dwight Niswander
of Findlay, formerly of this place,
are the parents of a son, born Mon
day.
Although Great Britain is facing a
war crisis such as it has not en
countered in nearly a thousand
years, there is nothing suggestive of
hysteria in England where the
British are taking a calm and
matter-of-fact view of the present
situation.
Such was the picture of conditions
as narrated by Mrs. Rene Studler
who until last month resided in
London where her husband. Major
Studler, a native of Bluffton, is
military attache at the United States
embassy.
Mrs. Studler, who crossed the At
lantic on the U. S. liner Manhattan
on its last trip from Europe, landed
at New York city, July 13. She is
spending the week here with Major
Studler’s mother, Mrs. Paul Studler
of South Jackson street.
England Prepared
Adequate preparation to meet
Adolf Hitler and his blitzkrieg,
FOUR BLUFFTON
WOMEN INJURED
IN AUTO CRASH
Mrs. Lester Binkley and Daugh
ter Glenna are in Bluffton
Hospital
Three Cars Involved in Accident
At Junction of Routes
25 and 69
Four Bluffton women were injured,
three seriously enough to require
treatment at the hospital, in a three
car accident last Sunday afternoon
at the junction of Route 69 with the
Dixie highway, north of Bluffton
near Mt. Cory.
Taken to the Bluffton hospital fol
lowing the mishap were Mrs. Lester
Binkley, 53, broken left leg Miss
Glenna Binkley, 25, fractured right
arm, and Miss Pearl Ramer, 30, cut
on the nose.
Mrs. Grace Ramer, 55, the other
occupant of the Bluffton car, escaped
with bruises. All four hurt in the
crash are improving.
Wet Road Blamed
Oats Crop, Best In Recent Years
Shows Big Yield And Good Quality
A wet pavement, the result of
Sunday afternoon’s shower, and the
negligence of an unidentified motor
ist were blamed for the mishap.
Mrs. Binkley, Mrs. Ramer and
their two daughters were in the
Binkley car headed toward Findlay
when the accident occurred about 3
p. m.
Also involved in the crash was a
Kentucky auto driven by a Louis
ville banker. It was traveling to
ward Bluffton, following another
auto, the driver of which was not
identified.
At the intersection with Route 69,
the unindentified automobile stopped
in the middle of the Dixie highway,
awaiting passage of the Binkley
automobile, which was going north.
It was assumed the driver intended
to make a left turn from the Dixie
onto Route 69.
Skids On Pavement
Driver of the Kentucky car, Wil
bur M. Ransom, attempted to stop
his automobile when the one pre
ceding him came to a halt, but his
car skidded on the wet pavement and
crashed into the Bluffton auto.
Ransom, his wife, and 16-year-old
son, Robert, all escaped with minor
bruises.
Both automobiles were practically
demolished in the crash.
The Bluffton women were brought
to the local hospital by the Stanley
Basinger ambulance.
Name Delegates To
Mennonite Conference
Delegates have been named by the
First Mennonite church to the Middle
District Mennonite conference to be
held at Donnelson, Iowa, August 15
to 18.
Delegates are: Rev. H. T. Unruh,
Dr. and Mrs. J. S. Schultz, Dr. L. L.
Ramseyer, Gerhard Buhler, Rev. G.
T. Soldner and D. W. Bixler.
Real Estate Deal
Eugene Benroth has purchased the
Mrs. Rosa Hartman property on
North Lawn avenue. The property
is occupied by Francis Devier.
should he attempt to overwhelm the
island, has been made by a well
organized defense system, but such
preparations are not encountered by
the casual observer in the British
metropolis.
Outside the city, however, there
are ample evidences of British pre
paration for the struggle which
everyone believes will not be long in
coming. All fields large enough to
serve for airplane landings have
been plowed and concrete posts
erected along the wider highways to
render them useless for planes.
Signs have been removed from all
highways and concrete gun emplace
ments have been placed at strategic
points along the thorofares.
Far from being stampeded by the
prospect of a German invasion, life
in London is going on largely in its
usual routine, with exception of the
ever present air raid shelters which
thus far have not been needed, said
Reports of 80 Bushels to Acre
Are Current Thruout
District
Tests Average from 32 to 37
With One Test 42 Thresh
ing Under Way
Reports of the best oats yield in
recent years were heard this week as
threshing of the Bluffton district
crop got under way.
Many farmers have fields that are
yielding 80 bushels to the acre, and
the average in the area is better
than 50 bushels.
OATS MAKES 100 BUSHELS
Oats from a 4% acre tract on
the Ray Marshall farm in
Orange township averaged 100
bushels per acre, according to
threshing reports the first of the
week. The oats made a test
of 37.
Quality of the crop also is good,
with test running from 32 to 37 in
most cases. One test of 42 was re
ported.
Threshing of the bumper crop was
in full sway the first of the week,
and all fields have been cut with the
exception of a few in which com
bines are being used.
Straw is quite heavy this season,
the result of almost continuous rain
fall thruout the spring months.
Bluffton Woman
Arrives In Africa
Miss Hannah Bracy, Bluffton mis
sionary, who sailed early in July to
resume her mission work in Africa
has landed safely in Capetown, South
Africa, according to word received
here the first of the week.
Miss Bracy is a sister of Jesse
and Homer Bracy of this place.
After landing at Capetown she will
travel overland to her destination, a
mission station in Northern Rhodesia,
a British province. Part of the
journey will be made by train but in
the latter stages transportation will
be furnished by donkeys, river
canoes paddled by natives who will
also carry her over some portions of
the trail.
Miss Bracy is returning to North
ern Rhodesia for her third term of
service, having served two previous
terms of seven years each. She
sailed on a freighter from New
York City returning to Africa after
an 1 months’ furlough in this coun
try.
Stray Bidlet Goes
Thru Window Here
Authorities here were searching
the first of the week to determine
the source of an apparently stray
bullet which penetrated a window
and splintered glass in the dining
room of the residence of Dr. M. D.
Soash of South Main street, shortly
before midnight, Sunday.
The bullet, nearly spent, was
found on the window sill and had
evidently been fired from the direc
toin of the Nickel Plate railroad.
Authorities believe it to have been
fired from a revolver.
Several times in recent years stray
bullets have entered Bluffton homes
and Mayor Howe the first of the
week announced that a determined
effort is being made to put a stop
to careless use of firearms within
the town limits.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INT ERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1940
No War Hysteria in England as Island Prepares to Meet Invasion,
Says Wife of Former Bluffton Man Just Arrived Here From London
the major’s wife who has been a
resident of that city for more than
four years.
“I have not been very far from
the war, and at the same time not
very near to it”, she said. “In fact,
I have not seen a wounded soldier,
never heard a gun or bomb and only
once heard an alarm for an air raid
which by the way never materializ
ed.
Women in Uniform
One large market in the city has
been closed because of insufficient
air raid protection and some price
less art treasures have been remov
ed, but for the most part business in
London goes on about as usual.
The most noticeable change in the
city is the number of women who
have taken over men’s jobs, releas
ing the latter for defense duties.
Many of these women wear uniforms
cut along military lines.
EIGHT TO RECEIVE
COLLEGE DEGREES
ON FRIDAY NIGHT
Exercises at College Chapel will
Mark Close of Summer
School Here
Two Receive Bachelor of Arts
Degree School Music
Degree to Six
Degrees will be corferred upon a
class of eight summer students at 8
p. m. Friday in the Bluffton college
chapel, with the exercises marking the
completion of the sumn(|r term at the
institution.
Bachelor of Arts degrees will be
I
conferred upon two aradents, and
four others will receiv Bachelor of
School Music degrees
President L. L. Ramseyer will give
the address at the convocation exer
cises, and will confer the degrees.
The eight graduating seniors par
ticipated in commencement exercises
last June but did not receive degrees
because of work remaining to be com
pleted during the summer term.
Included in the group are Charles
Suter, of Pandora, and Gene Zuber,
of Bluffton, both of whom will re
ceive A. B. degrees. Bachelor of
School Music degrees will be confer
red upon Virgil Bartz, of Columbus
Grove Victor Gerber, of Dalton
Roger Hauenstein, of Bluffton, and
Mary Kohler, of St. Marys.
Musical numbers on the Friday
program will consist of Hauenstein
•raduating piano recital, and vocal of
ferings by Miss Kohler and Gerber.
Attend Mennonite
Retreat In Indiana
A delegation from the First Men
nonite church here are attending the
annual Mennonite Young People’s re
treat held at Quaker Haven, near
Syracuse, Ind., this week.
Ten young people from here in at
tendance include: Helen Soldner,
Betty Holtkamp, Marjorie Niswan
der, Mary Alice Howe, Eleanor
Berky, Marie Zuercher, Kenneth
Oberly, Geo. Myers, Herbert and
Paul Klassen.
Also is attendance are Dr. and
Mrs. C. H. Smith and Miss Eleanor
Niswander. Dr. Smith is a member
of the faculty and Miss Niswander
is director of music.
Emanuel's Church
Special Services
Special services will be held at
Emanuel’s Reformed church next
Sunday is announced by the pastor,
Rev. Emil Burrichter. The services
will mark the completion of a re
decoration program which has been
under way this summer.
Rev. G. T. Soldner will speak at
morning services at 10:30 o’clock
and Rev. W. H. Lahr, of Ada, a
former pastor will speak in the
evening at 7:30 o’clock.
Post Rules For Dogs
In Rabies Outbreak
Authorities announced Wednesday
that following an outbreak of rabies
in Allen county a general quarantine
has been placed on the entire area.
Police officers have been ordered to
take all dogs not confined to their
premises or on leash and to shoot
them if necessary.
Food there is and plenty of it.
Rationing of foodstuffs is limited to
bacon, sugar and butter. The por
tions of these allotted under the
rationing system are ample and
larger portions are supplied to men
in the military service.
No Rationing of Wheat Flour
There is no rationing of poultry,
fish, pork or wheat flour and the
problem confronting the average
English cook has changed com
paratively little from pre-war days.
Prices of foodstuffs are about nor
mal and have shown no disposition
to sky-rocket likewise prices in res
taurants and hotels have remained
about as usual.
One place where effects of the war
are noticeable is in the driving of
automobiles. Gasoline—petrol as the
British call it—is rationed also
blackout regulations requiring cars
to be operated almost without lights
Corn Crop Benefits from Rains
Sunday, First in Three
Weeks
City Water Reservoirs are Fill
ed Cooler Weather First
Of Week
Rainfall last Sunday afternoon—
the first of any consequence in more
than three weeks—helped the farm
ers’ crops, revived lawns and gard
ens, brought an end to the assault
of midsummer heat and checkmated
a threatened water shortage at the
Bluffton water works.
Beginning about 1:30 p. m., the
rain fell intermittently until 5 p. m.
and effectively ended a long period
of dry weather which was beginning
to. assume drought proportions.
A threatened water shortag««wfts
averted by the rain, which permitted
the waterworks plant to gain in
pumping for the first time in nearly
three weeks.
Reservoirs Full
Sprinkling of lawns was stopped
and less water was used generally
after the rain, and in the 24-hour
respite that followed, the water
works reservoirs were filled to ca
pacity.
For nearly three weeks, the volume
of water used by Bluffton patrons
had exceeded the 300,000-gallon daily
output of the plant’s three wells,
with the result that the supply of
water in the reservoirs was getting
low. Sunday’s rainfall averted any
possible shortage, however, and the
plant now is in condition to meet
heavy demands should another heat
wave strike here.
Crops Helped
Vegetable crops in general took on
a fresh appearance following the
rain, and corn was greatly helped
thruout the entire district. Gardens
were revived in town, and brown
grass had a greener tinge, altho
more precipitation will be needed to
restore it to the verdant hue of
early spring when rainfall was
plentiful.
Corn had been suffering from lack
of moisture, hut Sunday’s rainfall
staved off the danger of widespread
damage to the crop. More rainfall
is needed in the near future, how
ever, to assure an average corn yield,
farm observers report.
Relief from the heat, another re
sult of the rain, was welcomed by
everyone. A heat-wave of 14 con
tinuous days, broken the middle of
last week, was giving indication of
returning on Sunday, but the after
noon’s precipitation brought cooler
weather which continued thru Mon
day and Tuesday.
Hired As Teacher
In Kalida Schools
Miss Janet Bigler, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Otto Bigler of this place
has been hired as instructor in public
school music and home economics at
Kalida at the opening of school next
month.
Miss Bigler will be opening the de
partments of vocal and instrumental
music as well as home economics as
this is the first time these subjects
have been offered to Kalida pupils.
FIRE ALARM
A grass fire in a field at the rear
of the Edgar Conaway residence on
West Elm street brought the fire
department to that place last Friday
noon. The blaze was extinguished
without damage.
has practically eliminated night driv
ing except in case of emergency.
“We have not driven our car at
night since the blackout regulations
went into effect", said Mrs. Studler.
Women Evacuated
All wives of embassy officials were
sent to the rural districts in the
wholesale evacuation of London when
war was declared last fall. They re
mained there until the holidays at
which time they returned to London.
Since that time the women have
been encouraged to return to this
country. Mrs. Studler was one of
the last to leave, sailing on July 7
from Galway, Ireland. All Ameri
cans returning from England are
required to sail from Galway, a port
of the Irish Free State, which is
neutral in the present conflict.
She will not be permitted by the
United States government to return
to England during the present war
crisis.
lainfall Ends Drought Threat
Supply OfiCity Water Is Ample
COUNCIL ACCEPTS
NEW ADDITION ON
EAST CHERRY ST.
Menno Geiger Plat of Three
Lots Approved at Meeting
Monday Night
ract Consists of Land Between
Geiger Residence and
County Line
Reflecting Bluffton’s ever-expand
ing demand for building sites, a plat
of the Menno Geiger addition at the
east corporation limits was accepted
night by the town council.
Three lots were laid out in the tract
fronting Cherry street between the
Menno Geiger property and the
county line road.
It was unnecessary to extend the
corporation line to include the tract,
but action of the council Monday
marked platting of the site for build
ing purposes.
Lots 200 Feet Deep
Two of the lots have frontage of
65 feet and the third has frontage of
110 feet. All are 200 feet in depth.
Geiger’s son, Maynard is building
a house on one of the lots.
Platting of the Geiger addition
marks the first move in expansion at
the eastern edge of the town since a
building boom struck here three years
ago.
Jenera Festival
To Be Thursday
Jenera’s annual community fes
tval, sponsored by the Business
Men’s association of that village,
will be held this Thursday night.
Music will be present on the fes
tival program by the Jenera band,
directed by Carl Twining, of Find
lay. Special offerings will include
electric Hawaiian guitar numbers by
Naomi Preston and Dorothy Vanlue,
and marimbaphone selections by
Dwain Beane.
L. F. Rauch is general chairman
in charge of arrangements. In case
of rain the festival will be held Fri
day night.
Injuries Are Slight
In 14 Foot Fall
Hiram Wenger, engineer employed
at the municipal electric light and
waterworks plant escaped with a
sprained wrist and bruises when he
fell a distance of fourteen feet at
the plant, Saturday afternoon.
Wenger was engaged in dismantling
some machinery when he slipped and
fell into a pit recently excavated to
house part of the new turbine now
being installed at the plant.
Miller Resigns As
Coach At Pandora
James Miller, son of Mr. and Mrs.
C. F. Miller of this place resigned
as instructor and athletic coach at
Pandora high school, it was an
nounced the first of the week, and
will accept a similar position in the
schools at Mechanicsburg.
Miller, a former Bluffton college
athlete, made a record in Ohio high
school football circles last year by
developing a championship team.
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live and a
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 15
RE-SURFACING OF
LAWN AVENUE TO
BE STARTED SOON
Work to Start After Finnf
Details are Arranged an
Thursday
Vine Street from Jackson to
Spring May be Included in
Program
Re-surfacing of Lawn avenue from
Kibler to Riley street, a distance of
.9 of a mile, will be included in Bluff
ton’s summer street improvement pro
gram, with work to start shortly,
Mayor Wilbur A. Howe announced
Tuesday.
Complete details of the hard-sur
facing program will be worked out
Thursday at a conference between the
street committee of the village coun
cil and representatives of a contract
ing concern.
Work on Lawn avenue is required
principally because of a widening
project of nearly two years ago which
has left several feet at each side of
the street without an improved sur
face of any kind.
Prime Coat of Oil
Before the street is re-surfaced this
summer, it is planned to treat the un
paved area at each side of the hard
surfaced center with a prime coat of
oil.
Hot oil and chips then will be ap
plied to the entire width of the street,
following which the thorofare will be
oiled to give it a hards-uface. The
hot oil used is a mixture of tar and
oil similar to that applied to many
other streets of the town.
Cost of the program and final de
tails will not be worked out until this
Thursday’s conference.
Talk Other Projects
Additional street work in the town
this summer, including the proposed
re-surfacing of Cherry street from
Main street to the Nickel Plate rail
road, will depend on cost of the Lawn
avenue project.
mifficwut. funds are availably it
may be that a resurfacing program
on Vine street also will be approved.
This would include the stretch of Vine
street from Jackson street to Lawn
avenue, and another block of the
street from Lawn avenue to Spring
street.
Meter Works Picnic
Sunday At Avondale
Present and former employes, their
families, Bluffton business men and
interested residents of the commun
ity are invited to a Meter Works
picnic at Avondale on Indian Lake
next Sunday afternoon and evening.
Organized play and contests will
open the afternoon program at 2
p. m., with a basket picnic dinner
following at 5 p. in.
Plenty of recreational facilities will
be available, including swimming,
softball, a tug-of-war and contests
for young and old.
In the contests will be sack and
balloon races, guessing contests, pop
drinking contests with nipples, water
melon and cracker eating contests,
egg rolling contests and others.
With former employes and resi
dents of the community invited, the
picnic this year will take on the
aspects of a Meter Works reunion
and much interest is being evidenced.
Committees in charge of arrange
ments include: Entertainment
Juanita Swank, John Maxon, Frieda
Jean Klay, Esther Luginbuhl, Mike
Reichenbach and Jess Bracy.
Eats—Maynard Geiger, Glenn Noe,
Mary Luginbill, Gerald Berry, Row
ena Solt and Willis Cummins.
Grounds—Charles Hilty, Jess Yoak
am, Rob Patterson, Lendon Basinger
and Willa Hardwick.
Transportation Eddy the Bader
tscher.
Strip Wheels And
Tires From Trailer
A trailer parked outside the barn
at the Med Murray residence at Jef
ferson and Thurman streets was
stripped of its tires and wheels,
early Sunday momng, it was report
ed to authorities here. The trailer
belonged to Murray’s son, Atty.
Dwight Murray of Findlay.
Will Teach Near
Upper Sandusky
Richard Backensto, w'ho was grad
uated from Bluffton college last
spring has accepted a position as
science instructor and athletic coach
at Salem township high school near
1 Upper Sandusky for the coming