THURSDAY, JAN. 7, 194.3
And if you’re not feeling up to
par this week, don’t worry
we’re all that way just a hang
over from the holidays even
the town clock hasn’t got back
on the job yet maybe it’s effects
of a holiday jag ... or the ice storm
Sunday night and that Sunday
night storm froze everything that
hasn’t been frozen by Washington
except ice cream and they say
that ice cream isn’t going to be
frozen—if you get what we mean
but maybe you won’t get a
second dish and it was down to
eight above Tuesday morning
and Monday night’s snow over Sun
day’s ice resulted in several casual
ties among pedestrians—one serious
and speaking of casualties—
another business, a cream station,
closed because of wartime labor
shortage that makes ten here
and you can expect still more
looks as if Tuffy’s place closed
last summer will have lots of com
pany before it’s all over maybe
hitching racks will come back yet—
stranger things than that have hap
pened since Pearl Harbor who
would have suspected rationing back
in the days when they were killing
off the little piggies and now
the victory tax takes an extra nick
out of our pay but anyway
we'll close on a cheerful note—we’re
promised street lights again by this
Wednesday night didn’t know
how dark it is when it’s dark until
there weren’t any lights on the main
drag.
Some of us have been wondering
lately why there are practically no
community celebrations in Bluffton
any more. In past years we recall
community affairs at Halloween,
Fourth of July, Christmas, New
Years and various other holidays.
Things of that type are needed to
develop a community consciousness.
When a town loses its sense of
pride and communion it starts on
the down grade. Many towns have
pioneer day celebrations others ob
serve certain anniversaries. All
kinds of possibilities for the develop
ment of real community concerns
exist. Revival of the community
council formed several years ago,
with the thought of working out ac
tivities of this kind, might be an
answer to the problem. Apparently
none of the organizations in town
are enough interested to take on any
such activities.
Confidential note to draftees—if
you happen to be a college graduate,
better keep it carefully concealed as
some top sergeants are violently
allergic to college degrees. The
story is going the rounds this week
of a former local youth, new to
military ways who objected to his
first K.P. assignment on the grounds
that it was unbecoming a college
graduate whereupon the unim
pressed top kick doubled the assign
ment.
To some people the flooding of
the Ohio river meant homelessness
and suffering. To Miss Ocie Ander
son, Bluffton High school librarian,
it meant prolonging her stay at the
home of her folks near Pittsburgh
and almost meant not getting back
to Bluffton in time for opening
classes on Monday. She had plan
ned to return several days sooner
than she did but the flood waters
were so high that it was impossible
to cross the river.
Curious, the large number of
people who have the late-staying-up
habit. So many have remarked that
Farmer* specially like
the prompt service and
friendly understanding
treatment at The City
Loan. So help yourself
to a helpful loan and
make 1943 your most
successful ear.
Cash To Attend
PUBLIC SALES
Before you attend your next public sale, come to The
City Loan and get plenty of cash ... to snap up
those bargains you’re looking for.
HOGS. Feeders, gilts. Increase pork
production.
CATTLE. Step up your milk and beef
output.
POULTRY. Government urges more
poultry and eggs.
SHEEP. Ewes are easy keepers and
profit makers.
IMPLEMENTS. Machinery to do more
work with less help.
We Now Supply The Cash You Need At
The Lowest Cost In City Loan History
Just check your cash requirements with our new
low-cost loan figures below. Come in and get the
cash as much as $1000 or as little as $10. Use
it wisely to your advantage right now. Repay it
later, a little at a time or after harvest, as you wish.
New Year’s eve wasn’t much dif
ferent from any other night. Ap
parently lots of people “watch” in
the new day as a regular habit.
Some of the young people cele
brated New Year’s by slumber
parties. For example after celebrat
ing the evening Lucretia Johnston,
Lois Hauenstein and Louise Soldner
high school girls, slept at the home
of Phyllis Hardwick on Railroad
street New Year’s eve.
Jerome Herr, former Bluffton
school bus driver now in Uncle
Sam’s army somewhere in the South
Pacific, writes that he has seen only
two white women in the entire time
he has been located on the island.
Earl Frick says his New Year’s
resolution is to do a good turn daily.
This consists of such things as get
ting coal in for his folks, running
errands up town, etc. Incidentally
he says that he's having a lot of
fun with the new microscope set he
got for Christmas.
Richard Kohler says that he’s hav
ing a lot of fun with the boxing
gloves he got for Christmas but that
he’s worried a bit over his small
stature in regard to ever becoming
much of a pugilist. He thinks may
be he could qualify some day in the
feather-weight division. He also re
ceived the following Christmas pres
ents: basketball, table tennis set,
bowling set, stockings, hat, gloves,
and defense stamps.
New Year’s songs in German were
something new to Florida and
Georgia communities this year. C.
W. Roethlisberger who markets
folders containing the two traditional
carols received orders for shipments
to former Bluffton people now locat
ed in the south. Southern crackers
singing Neu Jahr’s Lieder—there’s'
a combination foi' you.
And it’s just occurred to us that
there should be some sort of civic
minded group to foi-m a reception
committee to greet the reappearance
of the sun which shone on Monday
and Tuesday for the first time in
about three weeks.
Comes a letter from Don Smucker,
former Bluffton youth, now pastor
of the Mennonite church at Wads
worth. Don objects to the title of
Rev.—so we’ll skip that. Don, who
formerly dabbled in newspaper work
says his reading of the Wadsworth
weekly, Bluffton News and Time
magazine plus two radio newscasts
supply everything worthwhile in local
and international news—no need for
daily papers, he opines.
“We look forward to the coming
of the News each week, and assure
you it is thoroughly read” writes
Mrs. Helen Wells Stauffer of Big
lers villa, Pa. and New Year
greetings from the Emil Zimmer
man’s who read the News out in
Zion, Ill., all former Blufftonites
Corporal Donald 4 Buddie” Lugin
buhl who signs himself “a very
steady reader of your paper”, says
he is being moved from Ft. Knox to’
Camp Campbell, Ky., this week.
Uncle Sam found a good mechanic
when Buddie arrived at Ft. Knox
last spring and the Bluffton youth
who knew all about the innards of
a farm tractor now has a steady'
job repairing army trucks and
tanks.
Honesty of Kenneth Finton, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Wade Finton of
Cherry street, was rewarded. On
Christmas eve he found a wallet
containing $64 in cash. Through
Mayor Howe he found the owner
who called for his wallet on the
next day. Kenneth was rewarded
SPECIAL TERMS FOR FARMERS ONLY
Amo'int
of Loan
3 months
Total Cost
The City Loan&
months 9 months
Total Cost
1? months
Total Cost
S 125 $ 5.00~ $ 8.76 $12.52 $16.24
250 9.68 17.11 21.51 31.92
500 15.00 27.22 39.37 51.55
1060 20.87 38.13 55.23 72.31
Above figures are for monthly payment loans.
Farmers may also obtain full term loans for
3, 6, 9, or 12 mos. without monthly payments.
Savings Company
Cor. Market & Elizabeth Lima, Ohio Phone 73511
Offices All Over Ohio Visit the One Nearest You
with two dollar bills for his honesty.
A group of Bluffton amateur
basketball players enjoyed a game
at the college gym on the after
noon of New Year’s day. The In
dians defeated the Goats by a score
of 42 to 40. On the Indian team
were Kenneth Bracy, Jimmie Howe,
John and Harry Klay, Earl Frick
and Lanoy Loganbill. The latter
was chief point getter with 18 points.
The Goats were composed of Gordon
Bixel, Leonard Smucker, Michael
Reagan, and Robert Fisher. Smuck
er was high with 19 points.
Pvt. James Benroth, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Albert Benroth of North
Main street, and located with the
U. S. Army Air Force in India,
states in a recent letter that the
American boys stationed in India ap
preciate the work of the mission
aries from the United States very
much. They invite the boys to the
compound for a sample of home
cooked foods and entertainment. In
a recent letter he states:
“Out in the field we have a V
room run by American missionaries
where we can get coffee, tea and
cakes at all times. I have to hand
it to the American missionaries over
here, they sure make us feel at
home, and we think much more of
them than we do of all the rest of
the U. S. organizations put together.
They surely try to make us boys for
get our troubles, large and small.”
Bluffton had a sample the first of
the week what it would be like to
not have street lights. A good por
tion of the town including the busi
ness section was in darkness. Of
course there were lights from an oc
casional business house but other
wise it was a partial sample of1
what a blackout would be like.
Another youngster who got boxing
gloves for Christmas was Jimmie
Howe. He says that he’s been prac
ticing up on his brother Roger.
Mrs. J. S. Steiner is puzzled by
the fact that none of the grade
school boys responded to her appeal
for them to engage in the Red Cross
knitting work. Despite her state
ment that the governor of Kansas
is an enthusiastic devotee of crochet
ing and that a number of famous
men have taken up knitting some of
the boys thought it still was kind
of “sissy” like.
Strange to see Siefield’s Bakery
closed after 23 years of continuous
operation. Fresh baked products on
hand at all times will be sorely
missed here. The business casualties
caused by the war have been rather
numerous for a small town. We
wonder if there will be as many in
1943 as during the past year. If
this would happen the total would
run to 18.
Did you notice how the town was
practically deserted early Saturday
evening? Many of the business
houses, accustomed to closing about
midnight, were darkened between 10
and 11 o’clock.
Haydn Steiner, Bluffton High
school industrial arts teacher, came
to school Monday morning equipped
with a pair of ice cleats attached
to his heels. While everyone else
was slipping on the walks and roads
he was walking with sure footedness.
Spills and tumbles provided the
chief topic of conversation Monday
morning. ery few were spared
the dismaying experience of falling
headlong.
Rawson
Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Tooley en
tertained with a watch party New
Years eve in honor of their son
Billy’s birthday. Those present
were Mr. and Mrs. W’m. Ellenberg
er, Jr., of Beaverdam Paty Lou,
Mary Ann and Carol Sue Lehman,
of Pandora Mrs. Helen Blunk and
children and Mr. and Mrs. C. K.
Tyson and family.
Mrs. Daisy Pifer spent the week
end in Lima at the home of her
sister, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bergman.
Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Peterson and
family were Sunday evening supper
guests of Mrs. W. H. Peterson.
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Grubbs en
tertained in honor of Mrs. Grubbs
and her daughter Norma Kay’s
birthday. Those present were: Mr.
and Mrs. C. W. Smith and daughter
Ruth.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Beach and
Paul Steinman of Erie, Mich., spent
several days with Mr. and Mrs.
Harold Smith. Sunday evening
callers were Mr. and Mrs. Harley
House of Toledo.
Mrs. Wanda Wakefield of McGraw,
N. Y. is visiting her sister, Mrs.
O. A. Peterson and family.
Every Ohio farmer who is mar
ried and who had a gross income of
$1,200 or more and every unmarried
farmer with a gross income of $500
or more must file an income tax
statement before March 15, 1943.
With the point system in effect
for food rationing, good cooks will
be at a premium. Proper prepara
tion will make tasteful, nutritious
meals out of meat cuts which score
low in the point system.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS, BLUFFTON, OHIO
THE ALGIERS AIRFIELD at Maison Blanche was quickly occupied
by Royal Air Force fighter planes and ground crews immediately
after it had been captured by American forces. This picture shows
an R.A.F. pilot. and ground staff officer cooking up a hasty meal
beside their Spitfire fighter planes in an interval before taking to
the air again to fieit off Axis attacks on Allied troons and ships.
Study Booklets Prepared Joint
ly by War Department and
Education Office
Basic Training in Radio, Elec
tricity, Machines and Shop
To be Provided
Bluffton High school will give
five pre-induction training courses
for boys facing induction into the
country’s armed forces as the high
schools of the country’ begin to gear
their training to the needs of mod
ern mechanized warfare. The new
training will start at the beginning
of the second semester, January 18.
Courses of study prepared by the
war department will be taught in
connection with the physics classes
by Gerhard Buhler, principal. In
struction will be given in the funda
mentals of electricity, radio and ma
chines in the physics classes.
Two war department courses will
be given in connection with the shop
courses taught by Haydn Steiner,
industrial arts instructor. These will
deal with general shop procedure
and automotive mechanics.
The Bluffton News presents
another in the series of import
ant but lesser known aspects of
South America.—Editor.
A few weeks ago freight trains
moved across the newly completed
international railroad bridge span
ning the Suchiate River, uniting
Mexico and Guatemala by rail and
extending railroad connections from
the United States deep into Central
America.
The erection of this bridge, mak
ing possible the transportation to the
United States of the products of a
vast tropical region, recalls the his
tory of railroad building throughout
Latin America, and the daring feats,
courageous perseverance, and tech
nical skill which enabled engineers
to conquer mountains, rivers, jungles
and deserts. North Americans were
leaders in many of these undertak
ings.
Prominent among them was Wil
liam Wheelwright, who was born in
Newburyport, Mass., in 1798. Wheel
wright early took to the sea. In
1826 he was shipwrecked near Quil
nias, Argentina, and, impressed with
the possibilities for enterprise, decid
ed to remain. He laid the ground
work of Argentina’s vast network
of rails. He built the first really
important line in the country, from
Cordoba to Rosario, a distance of
246 miles. This far-sighted Yankee
was the first to contemplate the
building of the Trans-Andean rail
way to connect Argentina and Chile,
but death intervened in 1781. Wheel
wright also built what is probably
the oldest existing railroad in Latin
America, from the port of Caldera
to the coal mines of Copiapo in
Chile, completed in 1849. He started
a road from Valparaiso to the capit
al city, Santiago, but it was left
to another Yankee engineer, Henry
Meiggs, to finish.
Bluffton High School Will Give
Pre-induction Training Courses
Henry Meiggs went from his home
town of Catskill, N. Y., to California
in the gold rush of ’49 and later
shipped south to Chile for further
adventure. He got the contract for
the railroad Wheelwright had be
gun, and carried it to completion in
less than two years. Meiggs next
turned north to Peru and began
work on t^e Central Railway in
1870. This line starts at the port
of Callao, and in a distance of 106
miles reaches an elevation of 15,865
feet, the greatest height reached by
any standard-gauge railroad in the
world.
Chile has erected monuments to
Technical Training
Since modern warfare consists
largely of mechanical operations
there is much basic technical knowl
edge that soldiers should have prior
to induction, it was stated.
If the schools are able to provide
this basic training then much of the
resources of the army are freed for
the more specialized training after
the young men are inducted, it was
pointed out.
The five courses of study to be
taught at the high school here have
been prepared jointly by the war
department and the United States
Office of Education. The study
books have been received here and
the instructors are making plans for
the course procedure.
Students Urged
Yankee Adventures (Lay Foundation
For South American Railroad System
to
Enroll
All of the junior and senior boys
have been urged to enroll for the
courses since most of them will face
induction shortly after graduation
following the lowering of the age
limits under selective service.
In addition to the pre-induction
work, a course in aeronautics will
be taught starting at the second
semester if enough of the students
show interest. Name of the in
structor of this course has not yet
been announced.
Wheelwright and Meiggs, Peru to
Meiggs, and Argentina to Wheel
wright.
Time was of the essence when the
world was beating a path to Cali
fornia in 1849. Each day might
mean millions. Panama was the
favored route, and in 1849 a group
of North Americans, John L. Steph
ens, John C. Trautwine, and others,
succeeded in getting a contract to
build a line from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. It runs through dense trop
ical jungles, which in some places
form an almost impenetrable green
wall of vegetation. Malaria felled
workers by the hundreds. The 50
mile stretch was finished in 1855,
at a cost of nearly $140,000 a mile,
making it the first transcontinental
roalroad in the Americas.
Rivaling these achievements in
Argentina, Chile, Peru and Panama,
were the construction of the Ma
deira-Mamore railroad in the heart
of South America, also under the
direction of North American en
gineers the building of the Guya
quil-Quito Railway in Ecuador the
construction of the line from Puerto
Limon, Costa Rica, to the capital
city, San Jose, begun by Meiggs and
completed by Minor C. Keith, who
also pioneered the building of rail
roads in several other Central Amer
ican Republics.
These were epics of achievement,
and early demonstration of the “Good
Neighbor” policy, in which Ameri
can railroad pioneers pushed back
jungles and overcame mountains, to
contribute their share to the promo
tion of a genuine spirit of inter
American cooperation.
No Ohio farm should be without a
garden in 1943. Present government
requisitions for canned and dried
fruits and vegetables from the 1943
commercial pack certainly will re
duce the amount available for civil
ian use below the amount available
in 1942. Homegrown vegetables
must make up the shortage or many
people will get too small amounts of
these health protecting foods.
Ailing members in the poultry
flock should be isolated as soon as
they are detected. It is much cheap
er to lose one bird than to have the
whole flock exposed to a contagious
disease.
Late hatched chicks will not lay
eggs in 1943.
Less Than Half of Usual Num
ber of Hoboes Seek Over
Night Lodging
Easy Availability of War Jobs
Accounts for l^irge Re
duction
Concrete evidence that the general
war boom prosperity of the country
has affected even the knights of the
road was shown in the sharp reduc
tion, considerably less than half, in
the number of transients spending
overnight in the Bluffton jail during
the past year.
Usually there are about 600 to
800 transients given night lodging
at the Bluffton jail in the course of
a year but it is doubtful if there
were more than 200 during the past
year, it was stated by Marshal Lee
Coon.
In cold weather, as usually occurs
during the month of January there
were always five to seven every
night. Now there are seldom more
than one or two a week, Coon stated.
Warning Given
One reason, other the general
prosperity of the country, was the
stern warning given to the transients
that the municipality of Bluffton is
not running a lodging house and
that they should not return at any
time during the year.
Treating home appliances with
care and respect, because they are
made of the critical materials es
sential to the war effort, is another
way of hastening victory, it was
pointed out this week.
Clean all appliances carefully, but
use them as often as you wish, be
cause like all things mechanical the
way to keep them in their best
working order is to use them.
Electric refrigerators especially
warrant special care. Government
officials advise brushing up on the
rules so the one you now have will
last for the duration of the war.
Set a regular time for defrosting
—the day before the weekly market
ing is the best time. Manufacturers
recommend defrosting when the ice
on the freezing unit is one-fourth
inch thick, but once a week is much
easier to remember.
When defrosting, remove every
thing from the refrigerator and
wash the interior thoroughly, in
cluding the shelves and freezing
unit with warm water and baking
soda. Remember to empty ice trays,
wash them, and refill them with
fresh water.
For the outside of the refrigerator
use soap and water—nothing harsh.
It is best to cool food to room
temperature before putting it in the
refrigerator. Try to remove every
thing you will need for one meal at
the same time. This cuts down on
the times you need to open the door.
Clean up spilled foods immediately
for they damage the finish. Don’t
use a sharp instrument when prying
ice trays loose, for there is danger
of puncturing the freezing unit.
Guard the gasket around the re
frigerator door. It’s made of rub
ber, so avoid stretching or scuffing
it. Wipe off food or grease im
mediately.
Take just as good care of your
stove. Regularly clean all burners
carefully. Clean the stove inside
Considerably Fewer Transients Get
Night’s Lodg ng At Municipal Jail
Home Appliances Should Have Care
To Conserve Critical War Materials
We are making every’ effort to repair and
service your farm equipment as promptly as
possible and to the best of our ability.
However, because of wartime restrictions,
there may be some delay in obtaining necessary
repair parts and service also may be delayed be
cause of shortage of help.
For these reasons we ask that you check up
on your equipment now and bring it in early for
any needed servicing and repairs.
Please cooperate by attending to this at
once.
The Bluffton Implement
& Harness Co.
PAGE THREE
Occasionally the wanderers carry
their bedding with them, but more
often they sleep on the floor with
only a few scattered newspapers be
tween them and the boards. Some
use lumps of coal for their pillows
and the group would appear to be
anything but comfortable when they
bed down for the night.
On some occasions they pool their
feedstuffs but thk year with so few
of the transients in the jail they
usually eat their fare individually.
Hoboes Work
Hoboes, as distinguished from
tramps, seek work in the seasonal
occupations in different parts of the
country. With so many jobs avail
able at the present time in war
plants it is known that many for
merly in the hobo classification are
now engaged in military production.
And of course, many of the
younger knights of the road, who
could qualify physically, are now in
the armed forces of the nation.
Generally March is the peak sea
son for lodging of transients, al
though January and February are
usually high in the numbers. In
these months last year, there were
more than one hundred each month.
Nothing approaching this figure is
expected this year, Coon said.
During the hot months of the
summer most of the hoboes sleep
outside, in fields or barns, which re
sults in very few requests for lodg
ing in the local jail at that time.
and out, and have it checked im
mediately by an appliance man if
anything goes wrong. It also will
have to do for the duration and de
serves all the care you can give it.
Newer vacuum cleaners should not
require oiling for several years, but
equipment that is older tl^an five
years should be oiled or greased,
whichever is correct for your model,
every three to six months.
The bag which holds the dirt
should be emptied after every clean
ing. It is made of porous material
and was planned so the dust will
stay in but the air seep out. When
dirt remains in the bag too long,
the pores become closed and the free
flow of air necessary to the vacuum
is cut off.
It is also desirable to keep re
volving brushes of vacuum sweepers
free from lint, threads and hair.
These interfere with the efficiency
of the brush. As tufts of the brush
wear down, it should be re-set for
greater efficiency.
Bathers Given Strict Rules
Bathers using the beach at South
Melbourne, Australia, where sum
mer is just beginning, must obey
strict rules this season. Those in
bathing costume must either remain
continuously in the water or retire
to the bathing huts. There must be
no games or resting on the beach,
and sunbathing is permitted only
when the bathing costume is cov
ered. Skirted bathing costumes are
compulsory. And there must be no
bathing between 10:30 o’clock at
night and five in the morning.
News Want-ads Bring Results.
FARM BUREAU
INSURANCE
Auto-—Fire—Life—Liability
Paul E. Whitmer, Agent
245 W. Grove St.—Phone 350-W
Bl u ffton. Ohio
Important Announcement
To Our Implement Trade