The Bluffton news. [volume], April 24, 1941, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXV
WORK IS STARTED
ON FOUNDATION OF
GENERATING PLANT
Pouring
tion
of Concrete for Addi
to Utility Here to
Begin Soon
Contract for Construc­
General
tion is Held by Hamilton
Company
Foundation for the $750,000 addi
tion to the Woodcock generating
plant of the Central Ohio Light and
Power Co. will be poured within the
next ten days, it was announced Tues
day.
Construction of forms for the con
crete foundation was started a week
ago, but work has been progressing
slowly because of d^ays in obtain-
ing materials.
The addition
north side of the present structure
and will face the Dixie highway. It
is expected that the structure will be
completed by the middle of the sum
mer.
ts being built at the
Schedule Operation
testing
to four
be the
Placing of equipment and
likely will require from three
months and it probably will
end of the year before the new cur
rent generating setup is in use.
Wherever possible Bluffton men
will be hired for work on the new ad
dition, according to announcements
made by supervisors of the work.
General contract for the new build
ing is held by the F. K. Vaughn Build
ing Co., of Hamilton.
S. P. Herr Dies At
Hospital Tuesday
S. P. Herr, 74, Bluffton insurance
man, died at the Community hospital
here Tuesday night at 9:55 o’clock.
Death was due to complications.
He had been in failing health for
the past two years and last Thurs
day became seriously ill at his home
on South Main street. He was re
moved to the hospital Sunday night
Mr. Herr was a lifelong resident
of this vicinity, being born in Rich
land township, May 1, 1867, the son
of John and Mary (Schifferly) Herr.
In late years he was engaged in
the insurance business here. Prev
iously he was a teacher in the public
school and also in the grocery, ice
and coal business For several years
he was deputy collector of internal
revenue attached to the Toledo office.
He was a member of the Lutheran
church and a former superintendent
of the Sunday school. He was also
a member of the Bluffton Masonic
order and the Knights of Pythias.
He was married September 20,
1893, to Miss Tillie Herrmann who
preceded him in death December 7,
1931.
Surviving are two sons: Franz of
Toledo and Frederick of Bluffton, and
three daughters Mrs. R. W. Cluin
Haines City, Florida Mrs. D.
Friedley, Ft. Wayne, and Mrs. R.
Martin, Akron
of
C.
E.
Also surviving are five brothers
Charles and Calvin of Lafayette
Walter and William of California and
Dr. Albert Herr of the U. S. Army
and three sisters, Mrs. C. M. Contris,
Lafayete, Mrs. Emma Sheilander of
California and Mrs Katherine liams
of Lima.
Funeral arrangements are incom
plete awaiting word from his daugh
ter Mrs. Clum of Haines City, Flor
ida. Rev. W. L. Harmony of the
Lutheran church will officiate at the
service and interment will
Maple Grove cemetery.
be at
Give Certificates
In Defense Courses
Special exercises signifying com
pletion of the national defense train
ing courses will be held this Wed
nesday night at the high school audi
torium at 7:30 o’clock, it was an
nounced by A. J. B. Longsdorf,
superintendent of Bluffton public
schools, who will preside at the
meeting.
Vocational record cards and certifi
cates will be presented to the 40
young men who completed the course
by Forrest L. Steinman, president of
the Bluffton board of education.
Norman Triplett, sales manager of
the Triplett Electrical
will address the
maxes the three
national defense.
Inst. Co.,
meeting that cli
months’ course in
advisory committee
Members of the
will be the special guests of the ex
ercises. These include: Norman
Triplett, C. A. Lloyd, C. B. Fett,
Waldo Hofstetter, Homer Gratz,
Elmer Short, John Tosh, Charles
Hilty and Dr. W. M. Niswander.
The public is invited.
Mosquito Control
To Start In May
Preliminary work on Bluffton’s
summer mosquito control program
will be started in May, with control
work similar to that of last summer
scheduled for June.
Robert Oyer, who handled the
stream spraying last summer, will
be re-employed again this
Mayor W. A. Howe said,
however, will not take up his
until June, and preliminary
will be done by other municipal
employes.
Cases of Men Deferred Until
Close of School Will Come
Before Local Boards
Decision Relative to Further
Deferment Will be on Basis
Of National Needs
Bluffton college men Wednesday
were studying a statement from state
draft headquarters relative to the fu
ture status of students in respect to
army training after the close of the
present college term.
Students here, together with those
of other Ohio colleges, are now in the
1-D classification.
Training of these men was post-,
poned under the Selective Service Act
until the end of their present college
year, and available not later than
July 1, 1941. With the closing of col
leges in June, local boards will de
termine immediately whether these
men are available for military service
or whether they will be deferred, as
is the case with other registrants.
Local boards face a difficult task
in this respect, Lieut. Sol. C. M.
Goble, said. These boards will have
to decide whether there is shortage
of Ren in the field for which the reg
istrants is educating himself, and de
termine whether the man is qualified
and will fit himself to take a place in
this field.
“It must be borne in mind that
there are no blanket deferments,” Col
Goble said. “Each case must be con
sidered on its individual merits and
final determination is a matter of
board discretion.”
“In certain fields such as medicine,
dentistry, and engineering it is defi
nitely known that there is a short
age of trained men,, a shortage which
will make itself increasingly felt. In
these fields boards may feel that it is
not desirable to interrupt the educa
tion of qualified men. In other fields
not so vital, boards may not be justi
fied in giving deferments for train
ing.
“It must be rememebered such de
ferment will not be granted in the in
terest of the individual registrant.
Instead such deferments will be in the
interest of the government and the
country at large.
“Therefore, the question does not
turn on whether or not a break in
some man’s college career will be in
convenient but whether or not there
is a demand for men in the field for
which he is training and whether
there will be a critical need for his
services as a trained civilian rather
than a trained soldier.
“In many cases, the boards may de
termine, on the basis of the man’s
performance in college. Whether he
is really getting an education or is
just going to college.”
Rites Monday For
Benedict Liechty
Infirmities aggrevated by a para
lytic stroke that left him a semi
invalid for five years, early last Sat
urday morning resulted in the
of Benedict Liechty, 92, at his
in Bluffton.
Mr. Liechty had lived here
he retired from farming 21
ago.
THE BLUF
High School Glee Clubs Given Highest
Honors In State Music Meet At Columbus
year,
Oyer,
duties
work
COLLEGE STUDENTS
STUDYING FUTURE
STATUS IN DRAFT
death
home
since
years
at the
Monday
Unruh,
Funeral rites were held
First Mennonite church
afternoon, with Rev. H. T.
the pastor, officiating,
in the Ebenezer cemetery,
a member of the Ebenezer church.
Burial was
He was
Survivors include the widow, Mar
ian, to whom he had been married
66 years five daughters, Mrs. Paul
ine Liechty and Mrs. Kate Sprunger,
both of Berne, Ind. Mrs. Caroline
Parker, of Lima Mrs. Lena Schiff
ler, of Muncie, Ind. and Mrs. Chris
tina Basinger, of Pandora two sons,
Emmanuel, of Mt Blanchard and
Noah, of Bluffton 28 grandchildren
and 15 great-grandchildren.
Unusual Performance Qualifies
Girls Glee Club for Na
tional Competition
School Orchestra Given
High
Very Good Rating in In
strumental Contest
Highest ranking in the state in
the class BB section, was the honor
accorded the girls and boys glee
clubs of Bluffton High school at the
annual chorus competition sponsored
by the Ohio Music Educational asso
ciation in Columbus Friday. Miss
Elizabeth Higley, high school music
instructor, was director of the two
groups.
At the Saturday meeting of the
music competition, the high school
orchestra, under the guest direction
of Nelson Hauenstein, student at the
Rochester School of Music in New
York, received a rating of very good.
His father, Prof. Sidney Hauenstein,
the regular director of the orchestra
was one of the judges in other
classes of orchestra competiton.
The girls glee club was given a
superior rating, the highest possible
score, in the four divisions of per
formance. This unusual rating qual
ifies the girls group for competition
in the national music chorus competi
tion to be held in several weeks.
The boys glee club was given a
rating of excellent, which does not
qualify them for the national con
test.
School authorities indicated that
due to difficulties that would be en
tailed in financing such a project it
would be practically impossible to
send the club to national competition.
The following numbers were used
by the three competing groups:
Girls glee club—Smiling
Handel My Mother Bids
My Hair by Hayden In
Homeland by Trunk.
Dawn by
Me Bind
My Own
Ships by
Lights
Boys glee club—Song of
Flagler When Morning
Awake by Bach As Off to the South
We Go.
Orchestra—Adagio Pathetique by
Godard Minuetto Overture to Nor
ma by Bellini.
The various musical units of the
high school will be presented to the
public in a concert during May it was
announced the first of the week.
Samuel Welty, 82,
Dies At Farm Home
Funeral services were held Tues
day afternoon in St. John Mennonite
church near Pandora for Samuel
Welty, 82, pioneer resident of this
section, who died last Saturday
afternoon at the farm on which he
was born. He had been in ill health
several years.
Boehr officiated at the
Rev. A. M. Ross assist
was in the St. John
Rev. P. J.
service, with
ing. Burial
cemetery.
Survivors include the widow and
14 children, Ed, Plain City Eph,
Gilboa Mrs. Persis Good and Mrs.
Bertha Althaus, Ashland Oliver,
Columbus Grove Sam, Toledo Mrs.
Lucy Reichenbach, Mrs. Sylvia Trip
plehorn, Mrs. Huldah Amstutz, Mrs.
Edith Burkholder and Mrs. Cleona
Benroth, all of Bluffton, and Cecelia,
Fred and Cleo Welty, all at home.
There are 10 grandchildren.
Real Estate Deals
Mrs. Grace Hughes has purchased
the two and one-half acre tract of
Brice and Minnie Main
township. The deal was
H. W. Althaus.
in Orange
handled by
sold his 40
Waldo Schaeublin has
acre farm south of Bluffton to John
Glancy of Columbus Grove. Posses
sion will be given in May. Schaeub
lin expects to follow the carpenter
trade.
Moses Amstutz, residing south
west of Bluffton has purchased the
residence of the late Chas. Stein
graver on Grove street from the
Mrs. Margaret Adams estate. Am
stutz expects to occupy the proper
ty this summer. It is now occupied
by T. J. Schultz and family.
Soash Is Manager
Of Buckeye Lake
Evan Soash will serve as manager
of Buckeye Lake, Bluffton swimming
center, for the coming summer sea
son.
Soash’s appointment was made at
this week’s meeting of the municipal
council.
Councilmen also authorized the
construction of a concrete walk from
the bathhouse to the lake, with the
worjc to be completed before the sea
son opens.
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INT TS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
Council
When
SDAY, APR
BLUFFTON, OHIO, T1 24, 1941
WILFORD GEIGER
COUNCIL’S CHOICE
FOR CITY CLERK
Preference
is Called
Indic
Clerk
For Army Service
Carold Steiner
ed as Deputy
ed Employe
ormerly Nam
lerk Report
at Dayton
Wilford O. Geiger, Bluffton high
school instructor is slated to fill the
office of corporation clerk when
James West, present clerk, is drafted
for military service.
This became apparent Monday
night at a meeting of the town coun
cil when results of an informal
straw ballot disclosed that Geiger
had the support of a majority of
councilmen for the position.
Action of the council looking toward
filling West’s post came after it was
reported at the meeting
Steiner who was named
a month ago had left
where he is employed.
tion, however, had been received
from Steiner and therefore no form
al council action was taken.
that Carold
to the place
for Dayton
No resigna-
Majority Favors Geiger
Results of the straw ballot taken
at the council meeting Monday night
showed four votes for Geiger and
(Continued on page 8)
SPRING WEATHER
STIMULATES
PRODUCTION
FARM
HERE
Cattle to
Farmers Will Turn
Pasture Fields Ahead of
Usual Time
Increased Farm Production
Prospect with Favorable
in
Warm weather of the past week
together with much needed rainfall
giving farmers an opportunity to
catch up with delayed spring tillage,
teams and tractors are in the fields
from dawn to dusk and in some
instances are running on night shifts.
Patures are flourishing and reports
from the countryside are that many
farmers are planning to turn their
cattle into the fields by the first of
May, about two weeks ahead of the
usual time.
Wheat is making a good stand with
execellent prospects thus far also the
prospects for clover are promising
and weeds, likewise appear to have
gotten an- early start.
Farm Prospects Good
With market prices generally high
er and an increased demand for farm
produce due to national defense needs
the prospects for a profitable farm
ing season are bright.
Several new factors are in the local
farm picture this year for the first
time. With the establishment of a
tomato canning factory in Pandora, a
new demand for tomatoes is seen in
this area.
Contracts for 100 acres of tomatoes
are being closed with farmers to pro
vide sufficient tomatoes to pack 25,
000 cases. More than 270,000,toma
to plants will be planted here the lat
ter part of next month.
With soy beans above the dollar
mark, many farmers are considering
additional production in this line as a
source of added farm income.
Potato acreage, too, is being in
creased in this section with dealers
reporting a heavier than usual de
mand during the past four weeks for
seed potatoes.
Funeral For Fomer
Bluffton Minister
—Funeral sendees were held Tues
day at New Knoxville for Rev. Wi
liam Settlage, 72, pastor of the
Bluffton St. John’s and Emmanuel’s
Reformed churches about 25 years
ago.
Rev. Settlage died last Friday in
Lima Memorial hospital. He was re
tired.
His widow is the former Miss Alice
Mueller, of 'this place, a former
Bluffton college professor. Other
survivors include two daughters,
Phoebe, of Nevada, Mo. Mary Eliza
beth, at home, and a son, Dr. Arnold
Settlage of Minnesota.
Rev. D. A. Bode, pastor of the
New Knoxville Reformed church,
officiated at the funeral rites, assist
ed by Rev. William H. Lahr, of Ada,
also a former Reformed pastor here.
ON NEWS
Bluffton’s annual summer dust nui
sance in the business district will be
alleviated if a project proposed Mon
day night at a meeting of the muni
cipal council is carried thru to com
pletion.
Flushing of streets with water
from fire hydrants is being consid
ered as a means of eliminating traf
fic dust. In the past this condition
has brought many complaints from
World’s First Processing Plant
Built Only Eighteen Years
Ago
Food Products, Paints, Lac
quers and Soaps are Among
Many Uses
Soy bean market quotations over
the dollar mark once again has fo
cused national attention on a major
farm crop unknown in this country
less than two decades ago.
America’s first soy bean processing
mill was built only 18 years ago, pri
or to that time there was no place in
the country where beans could be sold
except as seed.
Ever-increasing commercial appli
cations and need for soy bean by
products to day makes the once un
known bean one of the nation’s ma
jor farm crops,
States producing more than a third of
the world’s supply.
Later the oil went into oleomar
garine and salad dressings, and uses
so far as food is concerned still are
broadening.
Analysis of the soy bean shows it
is 40 per cent protein and 20 per cent
fat, from which the oil is obtained.
Of oil produced in this country, 85
per cent goes into human food pro
ducts and the remainder into paints,
lacquers and soaps. About 95 per
cent of the meal is used as livestock
feed.
Another new commercial applica
tion is in the making of plastic ar
ticles, opening up an entirely new
field.
This year’s prospects are for a
crop in excess of $100,000,000, and
there is likelihood that the crop will
continue growing in scope to keep
pace with expanding commercial us
age.
Masonic Inspection
Here Next Monday
Annual inspection of the Bluffton
Masonic lodge will be held next Mon
day at a regular meeting in the
lodge rooms here.
The second degree will be confer
red before the inspecting officer.
This Thursday night Masonic em
ployes of The Triplett Electrical In
strument Co. will fill all the chairs
at Rawson when an employe of the
firm receives the third degree.
Richard Caris Passes
State Phamacy Exam
Richard Caris, who is employed at
pharmacy in Findlay, passed exam
inations of the state pharmaceutical
board, according toword received
here the first of the week.
a
Caris, a graduate in pharmacy at
Ohio Northern university took the
state examination last month.
wife is the former Miss Betty Trip
lett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cleon
Triplett of South Main street.
Main Street May Be Flushed
To Eliminate Summer Dust Nuisance
Soy Beans Top Dollar Mark To Focus
Attention On Major New Farm Crop
with the United
In the early days in this country
farmers raised the beans to enrich
the soil by adding nitrogen to it
to use the plants for hay, forage
fertilizer.
and
and
was
First soy bean procesing mill
built in 1922 by an Illinois starch
concern at the suggestion of Eugene
Staley. At first, domestic soy bean
oil and meal was used to replace im
ports. Oil was used in paints and
lacquers and the cake and meal for
feed.
His
Orange Sunday School
Meet At Riley Church
Spring meeting of the Orange
township Sunday school convention
will be held at the Riley Creek Bap
tist church on Sunday, May 4.
Rev. E. J. Haldeman, of Fostoria,
will be the speaker for the occasion.
Special musical numbers from the
local churches will be presented.
The evening session will be ad
dressed
Toledo,
evening
quartet
by Rev. Q. S. Johnson from
A special feature of the
session will be the Star male
from Lima.
Bluffton merchants.
Approval to use water for the
flushing program has been requested
of the board of public affairs by
Mayor Wilbur A. Howe.
In washing the dust from streets,
fire hose would be used, with Street
Commissioner Lee Coon supervising
the project The section to be treat
ed would be Main street from Wash
ington street to College avenue.
BLUFFTON STARTS
SPRING PROGRAM
OF STREET WORK
Grading of Huber Street, New
Thorofare Under Way
This Week
Resurfacing of Kibler Street
From Jackson to Grove
Is Scheduled
Inaugurating an extensive spring
and summer street improvement
program, work was started this
week on opening Huber street from
Mound to Cherry street.
Grading of the new street is
under way, to be followed with a
crushed stone top.
Huber street will
way from Jefferson to Cherry street,
coming out on
by the Mrs.
property.
When completed
continue all the
the latter thorofare
William Underwood
has ended in the
Huber street
past at the point of its intersec
tion with Mound street near the
Fred Hofer residence, and many
have
one
Bluffton persons in the past
considered the two streets as
thorofare.
Resurface Kibler Street
Other work on the summer
program will include
from
provement
surfacing
Jackson to
im
re-
of Kibler street
Grove street.
project entails the
Another
grad
from
ing of South Jackson street
Kibler street south to the end of
Jackson, a distance of approximate
ly 400 feet.
A WPA sidewalk construction pro
gram also is scheduled for the sum
mer months, with individual prop
erty owners paying for materials
and the WPA furnishing free labor.
Five Plays Will Be
Given Here Next Week
Four short one-act plays and an
hour length play will be presented
by the Bluffton High school English
and speech departments in the
school auditorium Monday and Tues
day nights at 8 o’clock.
On the program Monday night is
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream” and a one-act play
“Things”. Three one-act plays,
“Julius Caesar,” “Not Quite Such a
Goose,” and “Those Husbands of
Ours” will be given Tuesday night.
Rehearsals for the productions
have been held under the direction
of P. W. Stauffer, instructor in
speech and dramatics at the high
school.
Seek Conference On
Tax Settlement Here
Mayor W. A. Howe indicated the
first of the week that he would seek
a conference with County Audtor
Floyd Griffin to determine the reason
for an alleged cut of $1,400 in the
amount due the town in the Febru
ary real estate tax settlement.
Acording to Howe the tax settle
ment of approximately $2,100 after
deductions should have been $3,500,
the amount received last year and
which he stated was requested in the
budget for this year submitted• by
the towm and later approved by the
county tax commission.
New Bridge Here
Nears Completion
Work on the Jefferson street bridge
over Big Riley creek likely will be
completed within the next week,
weather permitting.
Installation of new girders and a
new floor for the bridge has been
completed and a few more days work
will mark completion of the project
The improvement is being made by
the state highway department
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live and
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 52
TALK FOX FARM
SITE FOR SEWAGE
DISPOSAL PLANT
ict as Well Suited as Present
Land on Which Town
Has Option
igineer Presents Report on
Two Locations at Council
Meeting Monday
Bluffton’s much- debated sewage
disposal system was in the public eye
again this week, with the municipal
council taking under consideration a
proposal to purchase a five acre tract
at the former Fox Farm site as a
possible plant location.
Purchase of the land was proposed
to prepare for the likelihood that a
municipal sewage disposal system
ultimately will be constructed here.
With the same thought in mind,
the council now holds an option on
another site. This is a five-acre
tract of land at the north edge of
town owned by the Central Ohio Light
and Power Co. A $1 consideration
was involved in taking the option
which will expire next April.
Site Proposed
The newly proposed site of five
acres is a part of the former Bluffton
Fox farm, now owned by J. E. Stein
er.
An inspection of the site has been
made by Carlton S. Finkbeiner, of
Champe, Finkbeiner and Associates,
Toledo engineers. Finkbeiner ap
peared at Monday’s meeting of the
council and reported that the land
would be suitable for a plant location.
Each of the two sites involved have
advantages, the councilmen were told.
Adavantages Each Way
The Fox farm site is higher than
the other and consequently no pro
tection would be needed against
spring and fall floods. However, the
sawage would have to be pumped to
a higher level, requiring more elec
tric current. Finkbeiner estimated
that about 3000 to 4000 extra KW
would be needed annually.
Less current would be required for
pumping should the Central Ohio site
be purchased, but protection against
floods would have to be worked out
because of the lower land level.
Advantages and disadvantages of
the two locations balance each other,
in the opinion of the engineer, which
means therefore that price would be
the major consideration in making a
decision.
Matter Being Considered
In previous transaction discussions,
a price of $2000 was put on the Cen
tral Ohio site. No cost has been an
nounced relative to the fox farm lo
cation, which would require approval
of the state board of health before
it could be used as a sewage disposal
site.
The Central Ohio site is at the
western edge of Buckeye lake, bound
ed by the Bigler road, the A. C. and
Y railroad and the western edge of
the quarry. It is the triangular strip
on which the old “dynamite house” is
located.
Purchase of either site likely will
be dependent on the availability of
funds, members of the council re
ported.
Births
The following birth at the Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Spaeth, a girl,
last Wednesday.
daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs.
Ray Kern.
Mrs. Spaeth is the
and Mrs. J. M.
Born to Mr.
Springer of Peora, Ill., a boy Satur
day morning at the Methodist hos
pital. Mrs. Springer was formerly
Miss Treva Stepleton, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Stepleton of this
place.
Announcement has been made of
the birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs.
Wilbert Welty of Dayton. Mrs. Welty
was formerly Miss Vera Locher,
daughter of Samuel Locher of near
Bluffton.
Religious Education
Classes In Program
A program of religious musical,
dramatic and recitation numbers will
be presented by the classes in re
ligious education at the high school
auditorium Sunday night at 7:30
o’clock, it was announced by Miss
Elizabeth Tiefenthaler, instructor.
Each of the grades from one to
eight will present a short religious
play, musical number and hymns or
concerted reading of scripture. A. J.
B. Longsdorf, president of the coun
cil of religious education, will speak
briefly of the religious education pro
gram carried out in the Bluffton
schools.