The Bluffton news. [volume], October 09, 1941, Image 1

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BLUFFTON NEWS
The Advertising Medium for
Bluffton Trade Territory
VOLUME NO. LXVI
HOMECOMING WILL
BE CELEBRATED AT
METHODISTCHURCH
Ail-day Services Sunday to
Commemorate 25th Anni
versary of Dedication
Former Pastors and Church
Dignitaries to Participate
In Program
Celebrating the 25th anniversary
of the dedication of the Bluffton
Methodist church, all-day homecom
ing services will be held at the
church Sunday.
Present at the sessions will be
former pastors and dignitaries of
the Methodist church. Dr. R. O.
McClure, superintendent of Lima’dis
trict Methodist churches, will ad
dress the session Sunday morning at
10 o’clock, it is announced by Rev.
J. A. Weed, pastor.
Former Pastors
Also participating in the morning
meeting will be two former pastors
of the church, Rev. E. S. Keller,
Columbus, who served the congrega
tion from 1902 to 1905 and Rev. J.
H. Butler, Lakeside, who was pastor
here from 1910 to 1913. Other min
isters who formerly were in charge
of the local church are expected for
the afternoon sessions.
A cafeteria lunch will be served
at noon in the church basement with
service and coffee to be provided by
the church. Families of the church
will bring baskets, it was announced
by the luncheon committee of which
Mrs. Forrest Harmon is chairman.
Homecoming Program
A special homecoming program
will be given in the auditorium in
the afternoon starting at 1:30
o’clock. At this meeting reminis
cences and former activities of the
church will ba presented. Former
pastors and members and visiting
ministers will participate in this
session.
The day’s program will be climax
ed with a the Bluff"
ton high school auditorium in the
evening at 7:30 o’clock. The
Thespian dramatic society of Bluff
ton college will present “The Lost
Church”, a religious drama under
the direction of Prof. P. W.
Stauffer of the college. The offer
ing from this service will go to the
community council of religious edu
cation. The public is invited.
Dedicated 1916
The present church building was
dedicated on October 8, 1916. It
will be the 67th anniversary for the
former church built at the present
site and approximately the 95th an
niversary for the original Methodist
church, which still stands on Thur
man street.
General committee in charge of
arrangements is: Forrest Steinman,
chairman Mrs. L. F. Baumgartner,
N. F. Steiner, E. L. Diller, A. J. B.
Longsdorf and Rev. Weed.
Orange Twp. Infant
Smothers To Death
Funeral services were held Sat
urday afternoon for Ronald Gerald
Kollars, 28-day-old son of Mr. and
Mrs. Gerald Kollars, Orange town
hsip, who was found suffocated to
death early Friday morning in the
Kollars residence near Bluffton.
The child was in the parents’ bed
and evidently had been smothered
by the bed clothing, Dr. Harold O.
Crosby, Hancock county coroner, re
ported.
The mother is the former Miss
Inez Jordan, daughter of Calvin
Jordan of Orange township.
Funeral services were held in the
Kollars’ home with Rev. H. Dale
Mitchell, of the Lima Church of the
Nazarene, officiating. Burial was in
Salem cemetery near Westminster.
Harriet Criblez To
Speak At PT A Meet
Speaking on her travel experiences
in Europe, Miss Harriet Criblez, lan
guage instructor at Bluffton High
school, will address the first session
of the Parent-Teacher association to
be held at the high school auditor
ium next Tuesday night at 7:30
o’clock.
Group singing will be in charge
of Miss Elizabeth Higley, high school
vocal music instructor and Rev.
Charles Armentrout, pastor of the
Presbyterian church, will lead in de
votions.
Officers of the organization are:
President, Mrs. Edwin Amstutz
vice-president, Gerhard Buhler
treasurer, Robert Ewing secretary,
Mrs. Adella S. Oyer.
Real Estate Deals
Clayton Bixel has purchased from
Edgar Chamberlain a building lot on
Cherry street. The lot is located be
tween the Mumma garage and the
residence recently purchased by
Chamberlain from Mrs. Jean Murray.
Elmer Burkholder has purchased
the Agin farm of 60 acres in Van
Buren township on the Lincoln high
way. He will occupy the place in
the near future, moving from his
present location on West Elm street.
The Wilson Stonehill farm of 24
acres in Van Buren township, Han
cock county, has been purchased by
Dow Pursley of Beaverdam. Pursley
will occupy the place October 20.
Harold Roush now on the farm will
move to New Stark. The deal was
made by H. W. Althaus of Bluffton.
NEW PAY SCALE IN
EFFECT AT LIGHT
AND WATER PLANT
Council Authorizes Raises Pro
posed by Board of Public
Affairs
Council Talks Proposal for Cut
In Present Electric Cur
rent Rates
Proposal of raise in pay for em
ployees at Bluffton’s municipal elec
tric light and water plant, proposed
by the Board of Public Affairs was
approved by the town council on the
third reading of the ordinance.
Approval of the council makes the
pay scale effective at the plant, with
the present rates retroactive to Sep
tember 1.
The new pay scale, which met op
position in the council when present
ed for its first reading was passed by
a unan^nous vote of four of the six
cannciI merrters present at the meet
ing.
Vote in Council
Voting for the measure were Coun
cilmen Triplett, Patterson, Bader
tscher and Basinger. Hauenstein and
Bixel were absent.
Passing of the ordinance making
effective the raise in pay of all water
work employes brought up again the
matter of a cut in electric current
rates here.
The council reaffirmed its position
that the present rate structure should
be revised with a general lowering of
rates. The present rate scale, es
pecially to large consumers is in
equitable, it was declared. Savings
in operations at the plant since in
stallation of the turbine should make
such a step possible, it was said.
New Schedule
The new schedule of pay now in ef
fect in the various departments fol
lows:
Plant superintendent, John Sw’isher,
$175, formerly $165.
Assistant superintendent, Hiram
Wenger, $170, formerly $165.
First, second and third engineers,
Wade Finton, Noah Zuercher and
Frederick Ludwig, each $140 former
ly $125.
Superintendent outside mainten
ance, Forrest Mumma, $135 formerly
$125.
Clerk of Board, Edgar Hauenstein,
$75 formerly $60.
The schedule provides for an ad
vance in hourly rates paid linemen
from 55 cents to 62 cents. Other
labo/ will e 57 instead of 50 cents.
Builds Summer Home
C. B. Platt, of Lima, is building
a summer cottage on his Orange
township farm, formerly the Bader
tscher place and later owned by the
late Wm. C. Augsburger.
Mrs. Vera Houser, 48, wife of a
Chicago mail order house executive,
who has been unconscious in Bluff
ton hospital following an automobile
accident nearly two weeks ago was
removed in an ambulance to a Chi
cago hospital, Tuesday.
The accident occurred on the Lin
coln highway, September 27 when a
rear tire blew out and threw the
woman from the car to the pave
ment fracturing her skull.
Her husband, Theodore Houser,
who was driving at the time was un
injured. Houser is vice president of
Sears Roebuck & Company of Chi
cago.
Austrian Student Here Marvels
At Many Autos And Good Roads
Makes Journey From Vienna to
New York by Way of
South America
Anxious to See First Game of
American Collegiate Foot
ball
Looking forward to the time when
he will see his first American foot
ball game when Bluffton college
meets Otterbin here a week from
Saturday. Otto C. Elmer, refugee
student from Vienna, Austria, com
pleted arrangements this week to
attend Bluffton college.
Elmer arrived here Friday from
New Y’ork where he had been em
ployed in the textile industry. Ar
rangements for bringing him here
were made by the college Y. W. C.
A. and Y. M. C. A. organizations.
Refugee Scholarship
He was awarded the Bluffton col
lege refugee scholarship having been
selected from a list of foreign stu
dents suggested by the refugee de
partment of the American Friends
Service committee.
Elmer came to this country from
Austria in a round about way. He
left Vienna in the summer of 1938
for Jugo-Slavia where he stayed with
a friend until January, 1939. Due
to the fact that he had only a short
permit to stay in that country he
then left for South America, land
ing at Monevideo, Uruguay.
Sailed
in
July
Through a friend in New York
City Elmer secured an affidavit to
enter this country and came to the
United States last July sailing on
the S. S. Brazil. Since that time
until he left for Bluffton the refugee
has been employed in the textile
industry in Rhode Island and New
York.
Impressing him the mpst in Amer
ica is the unbelievably high stand
ards of living. The many good
roads and fine automobiles are a
source of constant amazement.
The refugee Student says the
facts of the Nazi putsch stand out
very vividly in his mind. At the
time Dolfuss, the Austrian premier,
was assassinated, Elmer was work
ing in Karinther, a small Austrian
village. Nazi activity started in
Austria in 1932 with a great deal
of propagandizing.
U. S.
of
Woman Unconscious Here Nearly
Two Weeks Is Moved To Chicago
Europe
Elmer believes that much of
Europe’s tiouble is due to being di
vided into so many states with the
consequent barriers of tariff, race,
language and border regulations. A
United States of Europe is needed
to provide stability and unity, he
stated.
The Austrian student can speak
fluently Spanish, French, German
and English, having learned the lat
ter when on a Boy Scout trip in
England.
Friendliness Here
Commenting on American people
Elmer states that he is impressed by
the friendliness here and the fact
that good food and water can be
obtained almost anywhere. In Eu
rope good, food can be obtained only
in hotels and at very high prices.
Elmer is the second refugee stu
dent from Vienna, Austria, to at
tend Bluffton college. Last year
Dorrit Weil, also from Vienna, at
tended the college here.
Hunting Pictures To
Be Shown Tuesday
Motion pictures on hunting will be
shown at a meeting of the Bluffton
Community Sportsmen’s club in the
club house at 8 p. m. next Tuesday.
Plans for fall activities of the
organization also will be outlined at
the session.
Mr. and Mrs. Houser whose home
is in Kenilworth, Ill., were driving
to their estate in Virginia when the
accident occurred.
Following the accident the injured
woman was removed to the Bluffton
hospital" in an unconscious state from
which she failed to recover.
A Chicago brain specialist who
came here Friday night to examine
the woman advised her removal to a
hospital in that city. Accompanying
the ambulance to Chicago, Tuesday
was Dr. M. D. Soash, Bluffton physi
cian, who with Mrs. Soash were en
route to Minneapolis where they will
attend a medical convention this
week.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, OCT. 9, 1941
MISSIONARY HOME
FROM CHINA TELLS
OF JAP IRON RULE
S. Floyd Pannabecker United
With Family After Half
Year Separation
Very Difficult to Travel in
China Now Military Per
mits Required
Suspicion of all foreigners since
the executive order of President
Roosevelt in freezing Japanese assets
in the United States, the Japanese
military in occupied China is sparing
'no effort in checking on activity of
Americans in the region, according
to S. Floyd Pannabecker, former
Bluffton man, who sailed from China
the middle of September on the liner
President Cleveland.
Pannabecker, a missionary at Kai
Chow, China, arrived here Friday to
join his family who left China six
months ago and now reside on South
Lawn avenue. Mrs. Pannabecker is
the daughter of Mrs. J. H. Tschantz
of Kibler street.
Ordered Home
Panabecker together with his broth
er, Dr. Lloyd Pannabecker, of Gib
son City, Ill., and August Ewart of
Freeman. S. D., were ordered home
by the Mennonite board of foreign
missions when conditions in the Far
East became so disturbed as to threat
en safety of missionaries in the war
zone.
New and more severe restrictions
(Continued on page 8)
Mary Ruth Crawford
Weds Elmer Fett, Jr.
In a quiet ceremony at the home
of the officiating pastor, Mary Ruth
Crawford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Kay Crawford, last Sunday morning
was wed to Elmer Fett, Jr., son of
Mr. and Mrs. Ebner Fett, by Rev.
L. C. Davis, of Van Wert, former
pastor of the bride.
Parents of bride and groom
are well known Orange township
residents.
Attending the couple at the wed
ding ceremony were Mr. and Mrs.
Harold Schick, friends of the con
tracting parties, and Mr. and Mrs.
Willis Crawford, sister-in-law and
brother of the bride.
For the wedding, the bride wore
a street length dress of brown
trimmed in biege, with a corsage of
red roses and bronze pom poms.
Her only adornment was a gold
necklace, a gift of the groom.
Following the wedding, a recep
tion was held for immediate families
at the home of the bride’s parents.
For the reception the home was dec
orated with blue delphiniums and
white asters.
After the reception, the couple
left for a trip thru the Smoky
Mountains. They will be at home
after their return at 5144 Montgom
ery avenue, Norwood, Ohio. The
groom is an inspector for the anry
in the Wright Aeronautical Corp, at
Cincinnati.
Both the bride and groom are
graduates of Bluffton High school.
Farm Home Razed
In $8,000 Blaze
Five fire departments failed in
their attempt to save a brick dwell
ing on the Thomas Carr farm, four
miles north of Bluffton in Union
township, in a blaze that caused
$8,000 damage last Thursday morn
ing at 9:30 o’clock.
Firemen were unable to save the
house because of a lack of available
water, and it was impossible to con
trol the blaze with chemicals. De
partments from Bluffton, Pandora,
Jenera, Mt. Cory and Rawson assist
ed in battling the fire.
At the height of the blaze, Mrs.
Harold Carr, who has been bedfast
several months, and who lives in a
nearby house on the Carr farm, was
moved in an ambulance to the Bluff
ton Community hospital.
Her home is only about 50 feet
from the one leveled by’ fire. Altho
suffering from shock, she is said to
be recovering at the hospital.
Chief Guy Corson, of the Bluffton
department, said the fire evidently
started in a frame summer kitchen,
and by’ »the time firemen arrived it
had spread to the interior of the
brick home.
The family’ of Clarence Reiter, oc
cupants of the house, said there had
been no fire in the stove of the
kitchen for several days, and could
not give any clues as to the prob
able cause of the blaze. Altho the
building was destroyed, much of the
contents were saved.
Here Only During Sugar Beet
Season from May Through
November Harvest
Very Few Speak English Ar
rangements in Fields Han
dled by Interpreter
Transplanting the culture and cus
toms of the region from which they
annually migrate near the Rio
Grande river in southern Texas, the
beet and tomato growing region
northwest of Bluffton is becoming
an employment center of increasing
importance for several hundred
Mexicans.
Bluffton Methodist Church which will hold the twenty-fifth anniversary
of its dedication, Sunday
For the most part the Mexicans
have been brought to the area by
beet sugar interests with factories
at Ottawa and Findlay. The work
ers remain here only during the beet
season which is from May through
November. First beets of the sea
son in the Bluffton area will be
harvested this week, according to
growers’ reports.
Few Speak English
Hundreds Of Mexicans Working In
Beet And Tomato Fields In Area
Very few of the Mexicans speak
the English language but every
group of workers has an interpreter
with whom arrangements can be
(Continued on page 3)
Play To Be Given At
H. S. Sunday Night
Climaxing the day’s program of
the 25th anniversary celebration of
the Bluffton Methodist church will
be the presentation of “The Lost
Church” by the Thespian dramatic
society of Bluffton college in union
services to be held at the Bluffton
High school auditorium Sunday night
at 7:30 o’clock.
The play is being sponsored by
the Bluffton Ministerial association.
T^e cast:
A Man of the World, Mark Hou
shouer His Wife, Mary Alice Geig
er Their son, Robert Wagner Their
little daughter, Lee Boyer Sunday
School Teacher, Lucia Greiser A
neighbor, Darvin Luginbuhl Spirit
of the Church, Betty Keeney Spirit
of Ignorance, Eloise Whitmore
Spirit of Social Injustice, Viola Am
stutz Spirit of Sin, Holly Mosiman
Spirit of Spiritual Darkness, Dorotha
Heckenbach A poor woman, Mar
garet Olivet.
Funeral For Elias
Amstutz Thursday
Funeral services for Elias Am
stutz, 74, will be held at the Eben
ezer Mennonite church w’est of town,
Thursday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock.
Mr. Amstutz, a retired farmer, died
at his residence on Mound street,
Tuesday afternoon after three weeks’
of illness from heart trouble.
He was born in Allen county in
1867, the son of John and Elizabeth
(Badertscher) Amstutz.
He is survived by his wife, Dina
Augsburger Amstutz, eight children
and five brothers and sisters.
The children are Harry, Bluffton
Benjamin and Robert of Pandora
John of Norwalk George, Beaver
dam Mrs. Henry Balmer, Bluffton
Rhoda and Eunice, both at home.
Brothers and sisters surviving are:
Mrs. Samuel Bixel, Bluffton Mrs.
Margaret Reardon, Fort Lauderdale,
Florida Moses and Otto, Bluffton
and Joshua, Pandora.
Rev. A. C. Schultz, pastor of the
Elenezcr Mennonite church, will of
ficiate at the services. Burial will
be in the church cemetery.
Births
The following births at the Bluff
ton hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. George Stoody, Pan
dora, a girl, last Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed Painter, a
boy, Tuesday.
PARAGUAY LACKING
IN IMPROVEMENTS
LIONS CLUB TOLD
Ernst Harder, 19, Bluffton Col
lege Freshman, Says Con
ditions Backward
Capital City of Ascunsion Has
No Drainage System
Few Autos
Paraguay as a land lacking in
paved roads, drainage systems and
having only 50 miles of railroad, was
described by Ernst Harder, 19, Bluff
ton college freshman of Frenheim,
Paraguay, who addressed the Lions
club at the Walnut Grill, Tuesday
night.
Harder, who has been in this
country for two years, is a member
of one of the Mennonite settlements
in the Chaco in Paraguay consisting
of 19 villages and the surrounding
farm lands. He is securing his
education in this country in the
Mennonite institutions after which
he plans to go back to Paraguay to
teach in one of the Mennonite
villages.
He took his high school training
at Freeman Junior college in Free
man, South Dakota, and will remain
at Bluffton college for two years
after which he will transfer to
Bethel college in Newton, Kansas,
to complete his education.
Born in Russia
Harder was born and raised in a
German colony in Russia but was
forced to flee with his parents to
Germany where they lived until
1935 when his father was called to
a teaching position in the South
American Mennonite colony.
The country of Paraguay is very
backward and even the largest city
of Ascunsion has no drainage sys
tem of any kind. The streets are
very narrow and not well suited to
automobile traffic. There are only
50 miles of railroad track for use as
a public utility. There is some ad
ditional track in the country belong
ing to and used exclusively by pri
vate interests such as sugar re
fineries and lumber companies.
American Capital
Even the country’s leading port at
Ascunsion is owned by outside
capital in this case an American
firm. The company has a 30 year
lease on the port and has the
privilege of collecting all duties. Ten
years still remain in lease.
The Paraguayan army is very
poorly equipped and goes through
the various drills barefooted. Dur
ing the Paraguay-Bolivia war the
army of Paraguay was armed large
(Continued on page 8)
Two From District
Drafted This Week
Two Bluffton area young men are
among the 17 from Allen County
Draft Board No. 3 notified to report
for induction into army service
Thursday of this week.
Those notified to leave for Toledo
Thursday are Oian Waayne Herr,
Route 2, Bluffton and Herbert Mo
ser, Route 2, Columbus Grove.
Foundation Is Started
For A. C. & Y. Flashers
Concrete box foundation forms for
the installation of new flashers at
the grade crossing of the A. C. & Y.
railroad and the Dixie highway was
poured the first of the week. Instal
lation of the flashers will likely be
completed in the near future, it was
stated.
■i ..
A Good Place to Live and a
Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 24
FEDERAL WPA AID
SOUGHT IN SEWER
SYSTEM PROJECT
Application Will be Filed This
Week with Toledo District
Office
No Vote on Bond Issue for
Proposal Before Next
March, Belief
Bluffton’s application for federal
aid in the construction of a pro
posed intercepting sewer system will
be submitted to government WPA
agencies within the coming week.
Announcement to that effect was
made by Mayor W. A. Howe follow
ing the completion of test borings
to determine types of subsoil which
would be encountered in the project.
Data obtained from the test bor
ings will be made a part of the
plans which will also include esti
mates of the cost of construction.
Plans and estimates are being pre
pared by Champe, Finkbeiner and
Associates, Toledo engineering firm.
No Vote Before March
Opinion expressed the first of the
week was to the effect that there
could be no vote on any bond issue
for sewer construction before the
first of next March.
This was based on that fact that
from 90 to 120 days are usually re
quired to obtain decisions on re
quests for WPA aid. With govern
ment attention largely absorbed with
defense, it is anticipated that the
longer, rather than the shoirter
period will be required for an
answer.
Statutes provide that a special
election may be held thirty days
thereafter.
Court Action Deferred
Pending the outcome of the steps
being taken in the sewer project,
action in the $25,000 damage suit for
cieek pollution filed against the
municipality in the Allen county
common pleas court is being’ de
ferred, it was reported the first of
the week.
Answ’er to the complaint of Oliver
Locher and Henry Huber, landown
ers who filed the action was due
last Saturday. City Solicitor Fran
cis Durbin of Lima is representing
the town in the litigation.
Procedure in the request for fed
eral aid will require that plans and
specifications be submitted first to
the district WPA office at Toledo.
C. S. Finkbeiner of the engineering
firm stated recently that he had
conferred with W. B. Schmuhl, WPA
head who agreed to expedite the
matter.
State and National Inspection
From Toledo it will go to Colum
bus for inspection and checking by
state offices of the WPA. With
their approval the plans will be sent
to Washington for final decision.
Any federal aid which might now’
be available will come only thru
WPA channels, Finkbeiner said.
Aid thru PWA is no longer pos
sible since this was discontinued a
year ago. Under PWA there was a
federal grant of 45 per cent of funds
required for the project with work
done under private contract.
Aid thru WPA would be given
thru common labor being supplied
from relief rolls and paid by the
federal government. Assistance
from this source may be circum
scribed thru the present reduction in
WPA rolls it was stated.
Priorities May Delay Materials
Delivery of materials required in
construction of the sewer system
also may be affected by priorities
resulting from the present defense
program.
Cost to the tow’n of an intercept
ing sewer system was estimated at
$90,000 by the firm of Champe.
Finkbeiner & Associates. This fig
ure, however, was given as an ap
proximate total and on the basis
that WPA aid would be available.
Elma Schifferly And
James Elvin Are Wed
A quiet ceremony at the home of
the bride united in marriage Miss
Elma M. Schifferly and James Elvin,
Wednesday morning.
The Rev. W. H. Lahr of Ada,
friend and former pastor of the
bride’s family officiated at the wed
ding. Only members of the imme
diate family wrere present.
After a wedding breakfast the
couple left for a motor trip through
Wisconsin and Michigan. On their
return they will reside at 108 Pop
lar stree|.