The Bluffton news. [volume], March 20, 1941, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXV
NEW FIRE ALARM
SYSTEM PROPOSED
TO TOWN COUNCIL
Proposed Plan Would Place
Alarm Boxes in Various
Parts of Town
Advocates Claim System Would
Give Speedier Action in
Event of Fire
Bluffton may have a system of fire
alarm boxes if a proposal presented
at the town council meeting Monday
night should go into effect.
Lester Niswander, representing the
Bluffton fire department, explained in
detail the operation of the proposed
system as it has worked in other com
munities and the
application.
nature of the local
boxes would be lo
parts of the town
connected with the
office. An alarm
The fire alarm
cated in various
and would all be
telephone central
bell would be located in each fire
man’s home and place of business.
A signal from central would ring
all bells simultaneously and indicate
to the fireman in what part of town
the fire is located. The person put
ting in the call would deal only with
central who would relay the message
to fire department members.
Estimate Cost $300
Niswander estimated that a com
plete system of boxes and bells could
be installed in Bluffton for approxi
mately $300. This w’ould represent
the cost of materials alone since in
stallation would be made by the mu
nicipal light plant, according to pres
ent plans.
The advantage of the system would
lie in the speedier action that it would
provide through the use of pre-ar
ranged signals and the greater ac
cessibility of the boxes.
Under the plan proposed the gen
eral alarm would be given by the wat
erworks whistle to notify firemen who
might not be near an alarm bell.
Ringing of the fire bell at the town
hall, however, would be discontinued.
The matter was discussed by
council and was referred to the
and light committee composed of
M. R. Bixel and Cleon Triplett,
will be presented again at a future
meeting of the council for further
action.
the
fire
Dr.
It
Wanda Diller In
Columbus Contest
Wanda Diller, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Noah Diller of Jackson
street, will represent Bluffton High
school in the finals of the state ex
temporaneous speech contest to be
held in Columbus April 4 and 5.
She won the right to the Columbus
meet by winning first place in the
district extempore contest held at
Bluffton High school last week.
Other divisions of the contest are
debate, one act plays, original ora
tory and declamations. Bluffton may
have other entries in the meet from
the other divisions, it was announced
by P. W. Stauffer, instructor in
speech at Bluffton High school.
Betty Steinman, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. oFrrest Steinman of South
Lawn avenue, will participate in the
declamation eliminations at Fremont
Saturday.
Naval Films At
Masonic Meeting
Travel films in sound released by
the United States navy will be shown
at a public meeting at 8 p. m. next
Monday in the Masonic clubrooms,
Charles Aukerman, master of the
lodge, announced this week.
Following showing of the pictures
a lecture relating to the subject will
be given by John E. Dial, chief ma
chinist’s mate, a veteran of 30 years
in the service of the navy.
An invitation to the general public
was given by Aukerman.
Lions Club To Give
Musical Revue Soon
With prizes to be awarded in three
separate divisions, the Lions club
Musical revue will be presented at
the Bluffton High school gymnasium,
April 1, it was announced by P. W.
Stauffer, president of the club.
The divisions for entries are as
follows: adult musical, adult novelty
and a junior division which will in
clude all ages and grades up to the
eighth.
Prizes totalling $36 will be award
ed for the best performances. Gor
don Bixel has been appointed to take
general supervision of planning the
event.
fit
Pheasant Raising
Planned At Rally
Plans to raise pheasant chicks in
Bluffton as a part of the area’s
game bird re-stocking program were
aired at a sportsmens’ rally in the
Legion hall last Wednesday under
auspices of the Bluffton Community
Sportsmen’s club.
Pens for the raising of chicks are
under construction and it is planned
to obtain baby pheasants from the
state conservation department.
With more than 90 men in attend
ance, the sportsmen’s rally was a
successful
opening of
spring and
STEINER NAMED
CITY CLERK TO
SUCCEED WEST
Former Holder of Office Ap
pointed by Council to Fill
Unexpired Term
Present City Clerk to Leave
Early in April for Mili
tary Training
Carold Steiner, former Bluffton
corporation clerk was named by the
Bluffton town council to serve the
nine months’ unexpired term in that
office of James West w’ho will be
drafted for army service early next
month.
Steiner was appointed at the
council meeting Monday night to
fill the vacancy, being designated as
deputy serving in the absence of the
regular jclerk. Should West return
before the expiration of his term,
he will again assume duties of the
office.
Of six applicants for the position
Steiner and Wilford Geiger, Bluffton
high school instructor were nominat
ed by councilmen. In the balloting
which followed Steiner received four
votes and Geiger one.
Vote in Council
Voting in the council wras as fol
low's
For
anger,
Steiner—Badertscher, Bas
Patterson and Triplett.
Geiger—Bixel.
For
Councilman Hauenstein
sent.
o
Tulips And Hyacinths Will Be Missing
From Easter Floral Parade This Year
event and marked the
the local organization’s
summer activity drive.
Clark, fish management
Clarence
agent for St Marys, Loramie and
Indian lakes, gave an interesting
talk on fish conservation, and movies
were shown of the development of
Van Buren lake.
was ab-
Steiner w’ill assume the
his office beginning April
expects to be called for army ser
vice the following week.
duties of
1. West
Steiner, it was pointed out at
the council meeting, is familiar with
duties of the office, having served
for a two year period during the
years 1939 and 1940.
State Speakers At
Community Council
Dr. H. W. Nisonger, professor of
adult education at Ohio State uni
versity, and Harrison Sayre, chair
man of Governor Bricker’s state com
mission on democracy, will conduct
an informal forum session at the
newly formed commuity co-ordinating
council to be held at the high school
cafeteria Sunday afternoon at
o’clock.
2:80
wide
and
Both of the speakers have
experience in the organization
problems of community council work
and will assist the local group in
setting up an effective organization.
Purpose of the council is to serve
as a clearing house for community
problems and to work out solutions
for difficulties in terms of commun
ity improvement and civic welfare.
The council is composed of rep
resentatives of the various clubs, in
dustries, service groups, churches
and other agencies of the community.
The public is invited to attend the
meeting and any representative of
any organization may make sugges
tions concerning needs and problems
existing in the community.
Missionaries From
Korea Here Sunday
Rev. and Mrs. Wm. Shaw, mission
aries recently returned from Korea
will speak at the Methodist church
Sunday morning at 10 o’clock. The
Woman’s Society of Christian Service
will be in charge with Mrs. Millen
Geiger presiding. Music will be by
the senior choir of the church.
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE
Nazi Occupation of Holland Re
sults in Shortage of Bulbs
And Flowers
American Supply Far Short of
Heavy Demand, With Sub
stitutes Required
Tulips and hyacinths—long asso
ciated with Eastef’s floral parade—
w’ill be missing from the scene this
year.
Nazi occupation of Holland, prin
cipal source of the world’s supply
of bulbs of the tw’o flowers, has
brought an end to export trade and
resulted in the shortage for this
Easter, according to Elmer Short,
proprietor of the Grove Street
Greenhouses.
Holland, Mich., a Dutch settlement,
is the only place producing tulips
and hyacinths in quantities in this
hemisphere and their output falls
far short of meeting the customary
demands, Short said.
Tulips and hyacinths are raised by
methods similar to onion culture,
and the industry reached its peak in
Holland w’here the soil, climate and
years of experience resulted in un
usually fine bulbs.
Cut flow’ers will not be affected by
the change in the floral picture for
Easter, and many potted plants are
expected to be in demand. Lilies
grown from bulbs imported from
Japan will be available also.
and
hy
cal-
Principal substitutes for tulips
hyacinths likely w’ill include
drangeas, lilies, jonquils, spirea,
ceolaria, cineraria, violets and roses,
according to Short.
Many Farmers Sign
AAA Program Here
The majority of the farmers in
this area are signing for participa
tion in the Agricultural Adjustment
Act, it was announced Wednesday by
Willard Jennings, chairman of the
committee in charge of the local par
ticipation.
Although not all of the farmers
have been visited by the committee,
preliminary indications are that the
record total of 71 per cent of last
year, will be exceeded this year.
Members of the committee in addi
tion to Jennings are: S. E. Steiner
and Walter Schaublin.
The committee has been advising
with farmers ih the area concerning
the most effective methods of farm
production within the limitations of
the program.
The farmers are especially inter
ested in the marketing quotas opera
tions which may be used in this area.
A meeting on this matter will be
held in Lima in the near future.
School Will Enter
Music Meet Friday
Bluffton High school glee clubs will
enter the district choral contest to be
held at Bow’ling Green State univer
sity, Friday. The meet will be under
the supervision of the Ohio Music Ed
ucation association.
Buffton will enter the class BB
competition which, as in orchestra
competition, is with schools
larger. The mixed chorus
enter the competition this
was announced by Miss
Higley, music instructor.
much
will not
year, it
Elizabeth
There are 27 in the boys glee club
and 34 in the girls glee club. The
boys w’ill sing “Song of the Ships” by
Flagle, “When Morning Light Awak
ens Me” by Bach and “As Off to the
South’ard We Go.” The girls will
sing “The Smiling Dawn by Handel,
“My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair”
by Haydn and “In My Own Home
land” by Trunk.
Revival Services At
Church Of Christ
open next
Church of
evening ex­
Revival meetings will
Sunday at the Bluffton
Christ and continue each
cept Saturday until Sunday, April 6.
Services will open nightly at 7:45
p. m. with the pastor, Rev. Lee B.
Remaley, of Arlington, in charge.
Carl B. Pearson, evangelistic sing
er of Dixonville, Pa., will conduct
the singing during the services.
Pearson is an experienced conductor
of revival service music.
Two Bluffton Area
Youths Go To Army
Gerald Scoles of Orange township
and Lewis Dukes, Jr., of Union
tow’nship, were among the group of
Hancock county selectees which left
for a year’s military training last
Friday. They are stationed tempor
arily at Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
FHE BLUFFTON NEWS
LACK OF INTEREST
MAY SCUTTLE WPA
SIDEWALK PROJECT
Few Sign Up
gram as 8
line
May Make Drastic Change
In event WPA aid is not forth
coming, it will be necessary to re
vise drastically the program, the
mayor stated.
The entire program as proposed
with WPA assistance includes grad
ing and surfacing of Huber street
and also short stretches at the south
ends of Jackson, Geiger and Mound
streets.
Huber street which joins Jefferson
street at the Allen McCluer resi
dence will be continued until it
reaches Cherry street at the resi
dence of Mrs. Wm. Underwood.
Huber Street Improvement
/At present, Huber street stops
the junction with Mound street
the Fred Hofer residence. Construc
tion of sidewalks isJalso proposed on
Huber street from Jefferson to
Mound street.
ESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
f, MARCH 20
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THU 1941
Proposed Pro
turday Dead
Nears
Absence of Support Will Result
In Drastic Revision, Mayor
Bluffton’s proposed WPA side
walk construction for the coming
summer may be dropped because of
lack of interest, it was stated
Mayor W. A. Howe, the first of
week.
by
the
for
for
With Saturday a? the deadline
property owners to sign requests
the federal aid project, a large in
crease in the number of signers will
be necessary if the proposed side
walk construction is to be under
taken this summer, the mayor de
clared. Forms may be signed at
the mayor’s office. In the building
of walks as a WPA project, labor
will be provided without charge and
the only cost to property owners
w’ill be for materials.
at
at
Other street construction will in
clude that portion of Jackson street
south of the Kibler street intersec
tion at the Moses Steiner residence
and on Geiger and Mound
south of the East College
intersections.
streets
avenue
on Kib-
Construction of a sidewalk
ler street road from South Law’n
avenue to Grove street is also in
the program. A number of
residences have been built in
area during the past summer.
new
that
mile
A concrete curb for nearly a
of the full length of Lawn
from Kibler to Riley streets
proposed tentatively.
stretch
avenue
also is
Ridge-Harris Wedding
Held Sunday Morning
Marriage of Miss Nellie Ridge,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rex Ridge
of Benton Ridge, and Donald Harris,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Harris
north of town, took place at the
home of the officiating minister, Rev.
Clayton Landis of Rawson, Sunday
morning at 8:30 The single ring
ceremony was used in the presence
of the attendants, Miss
Schoonover of Benton Ridge
Howaid Frantz of
served as bridesmaid
respectively.
Dolores
and
who
man,
Rawson
and best
rose suit
with
The bride wore a
hat to match and a corsage of
sweet peas and pink roses,
bridesmaid wore a blue suit
rose hat and a corsage of pink
peas and yellow roses. The men of
the party wore boutionneres of white
carnations.
white
The
with
sweet
The couple left for a short wed
ding trip to Montpelier and Chicago
returning Tuesday night. They will
reside on a farm north of Mt. Cory.
The bride is a graduate of Liberty
Township High school and also at
tended Bowling Green university. The
groom is a graduate of Mt.
High school.
Cory
With The Sick
sick
W’. B. McGeorge is still quite
at his home on Mound street.
Ray Kerns who has been ill at the
hospital several months remains
about the same.
Mrs. C. C. Hofstetter is improving
at her home near here following a
fracture of several bones in a fall at
her home.
Eli Amstutz is ill with pneumonia
at his home on Cherry street.
Mrs. Chris Schnegg recently frac
tured several bones in a fall at her
home near here.
T. A .Kitchen of Cherry street is
improving at the hospital here follow
ing injuries sustained in a fall.
Although the calendar schedules
the arrival of spring here Friday,
old man weather had a different no
tion when Bluffton area residents
found themselves plunged into the
coldest weather of the winter dur
ing the forepart of the week.
The official minimum temperature
recorded here was five degrees above
zero,
six.
Ed Steiner, Bluffton clothier, sold
his two building lots on South Main
street the first of the week. The
lots are located between the Donivan
Conrad and Oliver Zimmerman resi
dences.
One of the Steiner lots was pur
chased by Byron Anderson, Bluffton
city mail carrier.
The other lot was purchased by
Clyde Evans, formerly employed in
the construction of the Central Ohio
Light & Power generating plant here.
Mrs. Evans was formerly Miss Mar
jorie McElroy, youngest daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Frank McElroy of
South Main street. Mr. and Mrs.
Evans are now located at Salem, Ill.,
where he is superintending installa
tion of equipment in a power plant
under construction.
The Mrs. Grace Hughes farm of
35 acres two miles north of Bluffton
on the county line was purchased the
first of the week by James Det
weiler of Lansing, Mich., and Ger
hard Wiebe of O. S. U., Columbus.
Detweiler is a son-in-law and Wiebe
a son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Wiebe
of Beatrice, Nebraska, who will
move here this spring and occupy
the place. Mr. and Mrs. Wiebe are
the parents of Mrs. John Boehr re
s’ding north of town and the place
will be farmed by Mr. Boehr. Sale
of the. real estate was handled by
H. W. Althaus.
Death Takes Wife
Of School Head
Serious illness of five weeks re
sulted in the death of Mrs. A. J. B.
Longsdorf, 56, wife of the superin
tendent of Bluffton public schools,
Sunday morning at 2 o’clock in
South Lawn avenue home.
An active leader in church
civic affairs, Mrs. Longsdorf
came critically ill last Friday.
W intry Blasts Accompany Mercury Drop
As Near-Zero Temperature Is Reached
The previous low mark was
A bitter blast, thrown across the
area Sunday night by a howling
Real Estate Deals
Church Plays Important Role In
Life Of Draftees At Camp Shelby
her
and
be-
Funeral services were held Wed
nesday morning in the First Metho
dist church and final rites were in
the afternoon at the McIntyre Fun
eral Home in Wooster. Rev. J. A.
Weed, pastor of the Bluffton Metho
dist church, officiated assisted by
Rev. Chas. Armentrout of the Pres
byterian church. Burial was at
Wooster.
Bluffton public schools were closed
Wednesday and the flag was at half
mast throughout the week as a
mark of respect.
Mrs. Longsdorf came to Bluffton
in August, 1925, when her husband
assumed the superintendency of the
Bluffton schools and she soon be
came active in community affairs.
Born in Springville, Wayne county,
Mrs Longsdorf served at one time
as one of the supervisory directors
of the Methodist Westminster home
in Wooster.
Before coming to Bluffton she had
lived six and one-half years at Cyg
net and seven years at North Balti
more, where he husband served as
superintendent of schools.
Organizations of which Mrs. Longs
dorf was an active member included
the Alice Freeman club, Order of
Eastern Star, Bluffton lodge No. 380
Bluffton Methodist church, Mary
Martha Sunday school class of the
church, and the Women’s Society of
Christian Service.
Besides her husband, her 92-year
old father, Martin Landis, of Woos
ter, also survives. Others are four
brothers, William Garfiield Landis,
Edward M. Landis, Sherman L.
Landis and Karl M. Landis, all of
Wooster and three sisters, Miss An
na Belle Landis and Mrs. Effie M.
Butler, both of Wooster, and Mrs.
Mary Ellen Winter, of West Salem.
Graduation Speaker
Announced At College
Dr. Arthur E. Holt, professor of
Social Ethics at the Chicago The
ological seminary, will be the speak
er at the 41st annual commencement
exercises at Bluffton college on June
10, according to announcement made
this week by Dr. L. L. Ramseyer,
president of the institution.
gale, kept the mercury flirting with
the zero mark Monday and Tuesday
nights with the temperature at the
lower teens during most of the day.
Predictions Wednesday morning
are for rising temperature wnth the
result that the wild finale of a win
ter that has been unusually mild will
come to a pleasant conclusion.
The rising temperatures, however,
will be accompanied by increasing
cloudiness for both Wednesday and
Thursday, .according to the official
weather forecasts.
Men in Training Given Oppor
tunity to Attend Services
Of Their Choice
Chaplain J. Norman King, for
merly of Bluffton Writes of
Life in Army Camp
Life at Camp Shelby, Miss., where
most of the Bluffton area draftees
have been assigned, is dscribed in an
interesting letter received this week
from Lt. Col. J. Norman King, form
rly of Bluffton, who is serving as as
sistant 37th division chaplain.
The letter follows:
“Due to the fact that quite a large
number of men from Bluffton and
community are now* in training at
Camp Shelby, I thought you might be
interested in knowing something
about the conditions that prevail here.
No doubt reports have been received
by folks in Ohio regarding the cli
mate here in Mississippi and how it
differs from that to which we are ac
customed in Ohio.
“Most of the men from Bluffton and
community have come to Camp Shelby
only recently and may have found
some difficulty in adjusting themsel
ves to this change of climate, but
some of us have been here nearly four
(Continued on page 8)
FFA Wins Judging
Contest Saturday
First place was won by the Bluff
ton High school stock judging team
at the Allen Judging Circle held at
Waynesfield, Saturday.
Hereford steers and Brown Swiss
cows were judged at the meet in
which Bluffton topped the honors.
Judging for Bluffton were: Wayne
Badertscher, Kenneth Winkler, Wel
don Deppler and Edgar Huber.
A handsome rotating trophy was
awarded the Bluffton team. This,
however, is not the permanent pos
session of the school and will remain
here only until some other school
wins again in the series of 12 judg
ing meets being held in the area.
The trophy was donated by the Lima
Kiwanis club.
Saturday competi
from Harrod, La
Waynesfield, Spen-
Included in the
tion were teams
fayette, Shawnee,
coi*ville and Bluffton,
test will be held in Bluffton on April
The following men,
have been called by
draft board No. 3 for
the army. They will
day morning at Lima.
The next con-
29, it was announced by
Barnes, instructor.
Harry
Draft Board No. 3
Calls Men For Army
in this area,
Allen county
induction into
report Satur-
Called are: Lawrence Galloway,
Jack Baum, Thomas McLaughlin, Jr.,
Page Goodenough, James Walters,
George Dale Moser, Carlton Randall.
Leonard Schulte, Floyd Jones, Ed
ward Oberdier, Carl Trippiehorn, Al
bert Brandehoff, Hubert Niedecken,
Fred Cannon, Eugene Noonan.
Novelty Musicale
In Reformed Church
The Joy Bell Ringer, wrell know’n
novelty musical performer will pre
sent a program at St John’s Re
formed church, Thursday night at
8:00 o’clock.
Among the unique musical instru
ments to be used on the program
are piccolo cowbells, musical glasses,
musical saw, London cricket bells
and vibra-harp.
Golf Club Meeting
This Friday Night
Officers and directors of the Bluff
ton Community Golf club will meet
at 8 p. m. Friday in the Basinger
Furniture store. Plans for the com
ing summer’s activity on the golf
course will be outlined at the session.
THREE
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live and a
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 47
HIGH SCHOOLS TO
BRING ORCHESTRAS
FOR CONTEST HERE
Northwestern Ohio Event to be
Held in Gymnasium, Fri
day, March 28
Programs are Being Arranged
For Afternoon and Even
ing Sessions
Bluffton will be host to the North
western Ohio High school Orchestra
contest to be held in the high school
gymnasium Friday afternoon and
night, March 28.
Orchestras from schools in north
western Ohio will participate in the
event. Likely participants, so far, in
clude: Findlay, Paulding, Shawnee,
Ottow’a Hills, Ada and Bluffton. Sev
eral more schools will probably enter
the competition, according to Prof.
Sidney Hauenstein, director of the
Bluffton orchestra.
The Bluffton college music depart
ment is sponsoring the competition
and Prof. Russell Lantz, head of the
department, will preside as chairman.
Compete With Larger Schools
The orchestra will be grouped in
to several classes depending on the
size of the high school from which
they come. The classes are A, B, BB,
C, and CC. Bluffton ^ordinarily
would be placed in class but as in
the past the Bluffton orchestra has
elected to compete in class with
schools nearly three times as large.
Judges for the contest will be Pro
fessor Don Morrison and Arthur Will
iams of the Oberlin Conservator}’ of
Music faculty. The Bluffton High
school orchestra this w’eek is starting
special rehearsals in anticipation of
the event. Instrumental sections are
being heard by Prof. Hauenstein in
order to give concentrated instruc
tion.
Last year the competition in the
Northwestern Ohio contest w’as in
band. Two years ago Bluffton High
won the orchestra contest at Ada and
in state competition at Columbus the
orchestra placed second in class
division in which much larger schools
were entered.
In New Locations
E. T. Reagan and family will
move the coming w’eek into their
new home on W’est Kibler street
w’hich is now being completed.
The Moses Steiner property also
on West Kibler street to be vacated
by the Reagan family will be oc
cupied by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph
Bruce who w’ill move from rooms
in the A. L. Baumgartner home on
South Main street. Mr. Bruce is in
charge of northwestern Ohio real
estate holdings of a Cincinnati in
surance company.
Walter Niswander and family are
moving this week from the Jacob
Hochstettler property on High street
near Ropp hall into the former
Mrs. Martha Radebaugh
which he purchased and
his lot an Grove street
Jackson machine shop.
pro^erty
moved to
near the
Chris Schnegg who occupied the
Mrs. Anna Groman farm
of Bluffton w’ill move into
Stettler property vacated
wander.
northwest
the Hoch
by Neis-
the Gro-
John Hilty will occupy
man farm vacated by Schnegg, mov
ing from the Mrs. John Ewing farm,
the former Frick place in Orange
township recently purchased by
Clayton Bixel. Don Eddy
moving from Findlay, will
the place vacated by Hilty.
who is
occupy
moving
Menno
Poplar
Mrs. Coza Rauenbuhler is
from an apartment in the
Badertscher residence on
street to the residence on East
Kibler street formerly occupied by
the late Frank Scott.
Mr. and Mrs. Eldon King will
move from the Jesse Welty farm to
Mt. Cory soon. Rev. A. F. Albro
and family will move on the Welty
farm vacating the Ezra Basinger
property on Jefferson street. Bas
inger w’ill occupy his property va
cated by Rev. Albro and Don
Cuppies will move into the Cherry
street property vacated by Basinger,
which Cuppies recently purchased.
Nfr. and Mrs. Francis Wilson have
moved on the Hiram Locher farm
north of Bluffton.
Births
The following births at the Bluff
ton hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Russell Schaublin,
a boy, Sunday.
Leon Hauenstein, a
Mr. and Mrs.
boy, Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs.
a girl, Thursday.
Ezra Bower, Jenera,
,4 i