The Bluffton news. [volume], May 20, 1943, Image 3

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

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THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1943
The mushroom hunters are hav
ing more luck this year than has
been enjoyed for many a season.
Numerous persons have found as
many as 60 to 80 of these delicacies
around one single stump. The
edible morsel, which we know as
the sponge mushroom, and botanical
ly called the Morchella Esculenta, is
considered by epicures as superior
in flavor to most mushrooms. Any
of the fungi of the genus Morchella
is considered edible. Spring sponge
mushrooms are easily distinguishable
from the fall umbrella shaped va
rieties and for this reason are
sought by many persons without
fear of picking the non-edible type
known as toadstools. The edible fall
mushrooms are known as Agaricales
and local mushroom hunters search
for one type known as the field
mushroom, or Agaricus Campestris.
These mushrooms are equally delici
ous as the edible morel sponge mush
room and in the minds of many local
mushroom hunters there is no dis
tinguishing of flavor between the
two types.
The past week of warm rains and
steaming woodlands gives the mush
room hunter a desire to be off to the
fields and woodlots filled with the
urge to be the first to examine a
particular spot that yearly produces
an abundance of these much sought
delicacies.
Many local hunters are fortunate
this season. Sam Hauenstein was
luckey enough to find 90 of the
sponge type along the railroad.
Dan Trippiehorn spent a few
minutes looking under the apple
trees in Mrs. Eliza Fett’s orchard
and was well rewarded. He found
57 under one tree.
Fred Fritchie moved into his new
home on Jackson street last Satur
day. Three days later Carl Young
found 75 big sponge mushrooms on
the back end of the property on
Riley street formerly occupied by
Fritchie. Remember that old saying
“Look before you leap”. Perhaps it
might be applicable in this instance.
Paul Shulaw hit the jackpot two
days in a row. One day last week
he gathered around 40 mushrooms
along the railroad track. The next
day he duplicated the feat and found
nearly forty more in the same area.
Some folks are naturally lucky, Paul
can be classed in this category in
our opinion.
Joe Stage has the ability to recog
nize other edible types of the mush
room family. Joe brought in 5 or 6
pounds of the mushrooms commonly
known as the “brains” mushroom.
This mushroom if it has dark red
shelving masses is known as the
beefsteak in the mushroom guicie.
The mushroom is very similar in ap
pearance to a cauliflower, and
brownish-red in color.
Clayton Bixel, air flight instructor,
at Findlay realizes he is lucky to be
stationad so near at home. Off
duty finds Clate out at his old
stamping grounds hunting for mush
rooms, and with the usual luck! The
other evening he picked up 20 nice
sponge mushrooms and the following
night 12 more.
Elmer and Carolyn Romey have
one friend who was good enough to
tell them of a clearing where mush
rooms blossomed out as thick as
dandelions on a lawn after a spring
rain. No need to say they investi
gated, and such luck—Carolyn found
36 and Elmer picked up 44 more.
Ed Reichenbach asked Elmer where
he was going in such a rush last
Wednesday at noon. Finally Elmer
broke down and confessed there was
a big skillet of mushrooms on the
fire at home and he for one was go
ing to be on time for dinner.
William Garmatter of Rawson
WITH THE
found near an old oak stump in a
woods as nice a mess of mushrooms
as anybody could desire. Four of
the mushrooms weighed a total of
3’-2 pounds. One of the four weigh
ed better than a pound, was 7 inches
high, and about 10 inches in circum
ference. Besides these four he also
found 13 of the smaller grey type of
sponge mushroom.
Seems as though mushrooms pre
fer a sandy type of soil, perhaps this
is the reason they grow so large and
more plentiful in some sections of
the country. The state of Michigan
produces plenty of spring mush
rooms and sandy soil is prevalent in
that state. Charley Aukerman re
lated an incident that took place
over on his father’s farm near Mc
Comb. The farm located near the
Ridge Road has a strip of sandy
soil near a woods. Charley’s father,
Em Aukerman, was plowing one day
and as he neared the woods with
the team he noticed a great multi
tude of mushrooms growing out in
the field. Needless to say he gather
ed all he wanted and there were so
many more remaining to be picked
and time was so short that he plow
ed the rest of them under.
You have heard of a magician
palming an egg, well Clayton Hark
ness is no magician, but he did an
excellent job of palming a pheasant
egg the other day while mushroom
hunting. Wade Bechtol picked up
an egg and playfully heaved it at
Clate. Harnkess just as playfully
reached out his mitt to snag the
egg as it came hurtling toward him.
As a couple of ball players they did
tlright, but the egg couldn’t stand
the pressure and smashed. Clate re
marked afterwards, as he grudgingly
cleaned the mess from his fingers,
“Well anyway, I’m glad it wasn’t
rotten.”
The field trip did have merits
though for later Clate and his wife
were able to pool their hoard of
mushrooms with the supply that
Charley Lloyd and Dorothy had
salted away, and the four of them
had a feed down at the Lloyd man
sion. Dorothy was overheard to say
there were no less than two skillets
of mushrooms consumed at the ban
quet. Some folks have all the luck
we think.
Omar, Fannie, Clyde, and Vernie
Augsburger, former Bluffton resi
dents now living on a farm near
Benton Ridge had all the mushrooms
they could eat last week. In a field
of elm stumps near the house the
family gathered better than 200
mushrooms. Vernie stated they
had mushrooms for supper every
evening the whole week. Not only
did they find an ample supply for
their own table, but other folks were
equally as fortunate. At times there
were* as many as three cars parked
beside the field and folks were gath
ering these choice edibles by the
sack full.
Barney Anderson has an eagle
eye when it comes to spotting mush
rooms for he was able to spot a big
mushroom from his car window.
Stopping to investigate he found
three more in the near vicinity.
Ceasar Klay took a stroll Sunday
afternoon. In the back yard of the
Burns property across the street he
picked up a nice mess of mushrooms.
A short time later along the road
toward the dynamite house hear the
Buckeye quarry he gathered enough
additional mushrooms to fill his ten
pound sugar sack nearly to capacity.
Just goes to show you folks, a “C”
sticker is not needed to find mush
rooms.
Sam Bame took a stroll thru Fred
Muller’s cow pasture at an oppor
tune time last Sunday. In the field
near the Central Ohio Light and
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BUILDING & LOAN ASSOCIATION
128 WEST HIGH ST, LIMA, OHIO
Power Co., he picked up six dozen
nice mushrooms. If he had waited
until Monday to go hunting for these
choice delicacies he would have been
out of luck, for the field was com
pletely inundated by the flood waters
resulting from the heavy rains fore
part of the week.
May is the month for crappies and
more crappies are taken in May than
any other season. At Indian Lake
creel census shows that 50% of the
fish being caught are crappies. Blue
gills and largemouth bass complete
the “big three” of the catches with
29.6% and 14% respectively. Min
nows provide the best bait for crap
pies while artificial baits are provid
ing the best catches of blue gills and
black bass.
Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Harris report
ed a nice catch of crappies made at
the Lima city reservoir a few days
ago. Eleven crappies were caught
measuring around 11 inches each.
Jay stated that eight of the fish
were taken on worms.
fcLACK
CAAPPie
Both black and white crappies are
taken in the Bluffton area. The
black crappie is more prevalent in
the streams and quarries of the
northern portion of the state while
the white crappie can be taken
throughout the state in ponds, res
ervoirs, and sluggish parts of
streams.
The backing up of the creek into
the Buckeye has caused the quarry
waters to be slightly muddy. Fred
Tschantz was able to shut off the
valve at the outlet on Sunday in
time to keep the quarry from over
flowing the banks during the rain
and resulting flood last Monday. The
creek waters stood at least 4 feet
higher than the quarry water at
noon Monday. The waters of the
Buckeye in a muddy condition should
result in excellent crappie fishing
this week.
Sam Stepleton took advantage of
the muddy condition of the quarry
Sunday night and using shrimp and
a few craws for bait was able to
snag eleven channel catfish and four
bluegills. Some of the channels
measured up to 17 inches in length
and the blue gills averaged 8 to 9
inches. In the opinion of a good
many of our fishermen there is no
better tasting fish than a channel
from one of our quarries. As a
matter of fact Gerald Crawfis has a
number of times swapped a nice big
crappie for a channel catfish with
one of his neighbors.
Dennis Brauen residing near Bluff
ton has his own method of keeping
the pheasants from pulling newly
sprouted corn. The method is simi
lar to the idea suggested by the
state department. The department’s
plan is to scatter shelled corn around
the edge of a planted field at plant
ing time. In many instances this
trick will do a great deal of good
in controlling the depredations of
the birds. Brauen goes a step far
ther and gets better results. Ob
taining several bushels of “floor
sweepings” containing a variety of
mixed grains, Dennis scatters these
in a stretch of swale grass bordering
a woods and at a point where the
birds are most apt to do damage to
the crops. Brauen states the
pheasants spend all day hunting and
fighting in the grass and have no
time left to dig out the sprouting
grains.
Pheasant chicks are hatching out
and have been seen the past week.
A salesman calling on the Fred
Gratz store reports seeing a hen
bird and brood of chicks near
Pandora.
Like the partridge that builds her
nest near the highway, knowing the
stream of trafic keeps the fox at
THE BLUFFTON NEWS, BLUFFTON, OHIO
Fross
LARGE CATCHES
ARE MADE ON
MINNOWS OA_
BRIGHT —5
SPINNERS’ S
under onio sates
As told by^ Conservation Division
abb PAOrecTeo
IN ALL WATSR*
during
THtt
CLOSED SEASON ON BLACK
BASS PUAIN&
the SAME
CLOSED SEASON TURTLES
ARE PAOTECTEO IN
ALL STAEAMS-*
MAY BE TAKEN __
IN LAKES OA
PONDS’
White
bass come in
TO SHALLOW WATER
OF THE LARGER
LAKES’* OR RUN
UPSTREAM IN
THE LARGER
RIVERS TO
SPAWN DURING -------jA
THE MONTH A,
OF MAY*
a distance, the rabbit nesting in
Sidney Stettler’s lawn has the same
idea in mind. This particular nest
is within two feet of the side walk
and in plain view of the public.
Without the protection of weeds as
additional cover the rabbit is get
ting along very well with her nest
of young ones.
There has been a considerable
number of requests by the towns
people to have the Sportsmen’s Club
furnish them with a squirrel den
and a feeding platform. A number
of the folks in the community have a
nice oak, beech, walnut tree, or a
grove of trees that would be an ideal
habitat for a squirrel family. The
club officers have made arrange
ments with Albert Benroth to con
struct dens and feeders to fill this
demand. Since the College game re
serve has been restocked so plenti
fully with these bushy:tailed animals
the people of Bluffton are often
pleasantly surprised to see either a
grey or a fox squirrel playing in
their back yard throughout the com-
munity. These squirrels can be
enticed to take up new living
quarters away from the reserve if
a den is placed in a tree for them.
The feeding platform to be furnished
with each den is constructed to hold
an ear of corn. The dens are to be
made of poplar wood and built to
specifications furnished by the De
partment of Conservation. The price
of a den and feeder, which includes
lumber, hardware, labor, and an ear
of corn, is $1.50.
The writer of this column received
a welcome letter from Denver Augs
burger stationed at Fort Lewis,
Wash. “Demps” in his letter says
that he can see Mount Ranier with
its snow capped peaks nearby, and
this sight is just one of the many
that is satisfying an ambition of
long standing—a chance to see these
beautiful mountains and the Pacific
northwest. He has had no chance
as yet to fish, but has seen many
trout taken from the cold mountain
streams near their encampments.
The squirrels in the forests nearby
are about the size of red squirrels,
but grey in color. The grey squir
rels here in Ohio are many times
larger than the frisky little fellows
of the Northwest Territory. Denver
says there are not many pheasants
in Washington, but he saw many of
these birds as they travelled thru
Oregon.
In the letter he relates an incident
that happened in camp. A rabbit
came a tearing thru the encampment
and took shelter in a clump of
briars. About 50 of the boys sur
rounded the patch, and as the bunny
was chased out Demps had the
honor of knocking it down with a
club. Shortly after, the rabbit was
roasted over a fire and lunch was
served for all the 50 men participat
ing in the hunt. The rabbits surely
must grow big out in Washington
state, this particular one must have
been the size of an elephant!
We are always glad for the let
ters from the boys in camp and at
the last directors meeting of the
club the men planned to give full
support to the writing of this col
umn. Seems that the boys in camp
are always glad to hear the hunt
ing and fishing news from home and
the activities of the club members.
If this column can in any way help
to keep up the morale of the men
in the armed forces then it is up to
us to do all we can to help in this
manner. If any of you folks in the
community have a hunting or fishing
L_ACZ.O5£P SEASON
Lon Alack pass*
iSoothern zone-
April IS-May 3!
NORTHERN ZONE
May 1 -Jone 15
AAIT MINNOWS
WILL SPOIL. IF
PEPT IN TEMPERA
OVER 6O*E
story, do not hesitate to turn it in,
the boys out there in camp want to
hear all about it.
Miss Della Krehbiel, President of
the Archery Club, announces the
Archery club members will journey
to Lima on Wednesday, May 26 to
visit the archery range of the Lima
Archery Club. The range is located
in the basement floor of the Wilson
Sporting Goods Store next door to
the Greyhound Bus Station.
Archery members will meet at the
town hall at 8:00 p. m. sharp. Bring
your archery equipment with you
for there will be shooting privileges
at the Lima range. Arrangements
are being made for instruction at the
meeting. Those members who have
not yet decided as to the type of
equipment needed for their indivi
dual requirements, will have an op
portunity to be tested on the weigh
ing machine for bow strength needed
and the arrow length required.
C. V. Stonehill has become the
possessor of one of the best set of
bow and arrows in this section of
the country. The bow, a genuine
Fleetwood, is made from yew wood,
is light in color with the grip of a
darker grain and the ends are tipped
with ivory. Yew wood is highly
preferred by archers for bow con
struction due to its high degree of
resiliency. The wood is heavy and
fine grained which allows for fine
workmanship in bow construction.
Stoenhill’s bow is equipped with a
metal sight containing two glasses.
The plain glass for close ranges and
the prism for distance. The bow is
six feet in length and has a 40
pound pull.
Besides possessing an assortment
of other archery equipment Stonehill
has a set of 12 matched “Group
Gold” arrows. These arrows are
selected because of their straightness
in grain, and their ability to hit a
gold area on a target placed at a
required distance when fired from a
mechanically controlled bow. Many
arrows are fired by such an appa
ratus, but only arrows of superior
quality and construction can hit the
“gold” consistantly.
For home practice Clarence con
structed a target of a number of
layers of heavy corrugated card
board laced together. An arrow
piercing the material will travel
scarcely 6 inches before its motion is
stopped. The target is easily con
structed and serves the purpose ad
mirably.
FARM BUREAU
INSURANCE
Auto—Fire—Life—Liability
Paul E. Whitmer, Agent
245 W. Grove St.—Phone 350-W
Bluffton, Ohio
Feet
Hurt?
SEE
W. H. Gratz
Foot Comfort Service
BLUFFTON
The Family Shoe Store
Miss Ruth Neuenschwander to
Be Crowned Queen in Col
orful Ceremonies
Many and Varied Activities Are
Crowded Into Annual
Pageantry
Editor’s Note: This is the sec
ond in the series of three articles
describing turtle hunting in the
Bluffton area.
Thrill-packed adventure abounds
foi Bluffton sportsmen who wade
through streams here searching for
turtles, it was indicated this week on
the basis of data supplied by Eugene
Benroth, president of the Bluffton
Community Sportsmen’s club.
Not only do they provide a table
delicacy that make one’s mouth
water, but they also give the hunter
a genuine thrill. A further advant
age of this type of meat is that it is
not included in the class of rationed
foods.
Turtles are on the move in streams
here but local sportsmen must re
strain their turtle hunting enthusi
asm until June 15, the last day of
the closed season on turtles.
Caugt Many Ways
Turtles are caught in a variety of
ways. Some use hand nets, others
use traps of various typQs while some
use hook and line. Lester Hahn,
Bluffton sportsman living on West
Elm street, has developed his own
technique of wading into the stream
and finding the turtles in their habi
tat.
Lester has followed this sport for
many years and enjoys it as much as
any sports activity he engages in.
He states that there should be at
least three persons in the party.
On many of his hunting expedi
tions he is accompanied by Ray Hof
fer, living near Delphos and Dave
Good of the Lima Westinghouse
plant. Very often the trio hunt along
the Auglaize river near Kalida and’
more frequently near the Little and
Big Riley creeks.
Wades In Stream
On a hunt two of the men will
walk along the sides of the stream
while Lester, appropriately dressed
for the occasion, takes the center of
the stream. When a half submerged
hole is found in the sides of the
banks, Lester plunges his first into
the hole.
If a turtle is encountered, Lester
quickly withdraws his arm and then
using a broom handle with a hooked
wire attached he reaches in again
and drags the turtle out.
Reaching in with the arm is gen
erally the most exciting part of the
game because the snapper variety of
turtle invariably takes a good lunge
at the hand. If the fist is not closed
it would be easily possible for the
fingers to be injured and it might
prove difficult to remove a finger
or thumb from the snapper’s jaws.
Muskrat More Dangerous
A closed hand gives the turtle lit
tle or no opportunity to obtain a
hold on the hunter’s hand. The tur
tle is not as dangerous as the musk
rat when it comes to reaching into
a hole in the bank, Lester points out.
A muskrat when trapped will
waste no time in sinking its teeth
into a person’s hand. This does not
happen very often because the musk
rat gives an angry “chrrrrrr” and
the warning enables the hunter to
withdraw his hand.
The rat will then streak out of the
hole giving the hunter more free
dom in finding the turtle which has
been sharing the hole with the musk
rat.
Goes Under Water
On one of the hunting expeditions
there was some fear expressed for
the safety of Hahn when he disap
peared under the water of the Aug
laize river for quite some length of
time. While Lester was wading, and
Thrill-packed Adventure Abounds For
Bluffton Turtle-hunting Sportsmen
DONI LET YOUR CROPS BE
THE RESULT OF- J..
Too Little-Too Late
PAGE THREE
the other two men were searching
along the banks, he came upon a
large sycamore tree whose roots ex
tended out over the water about five
feet in a great clump of matted
roots.
High waters of the stream had
washed the soil away from the bank
and the root system was left extend
ing over the water. Feeling under
the roots with his foot Hahn discov
ered there was enough room for
him to duck under the water and
search for holes in the bank under
the roots.
So under Lester went and in rais
ing his head under the roots he
found it cleared water and he could
breathe. He could hear his friends
talking and expressing concern over
his safety.
On Back of Turtle
Hahn was on his knees and reach
ing in the holes under the bank with
a hooked stick when suddenly he dis
covered that he was leaning on the
back of a large snapper. By this
time his friends had became serious
ly alarmed about him and were plan
ning to come under the water after
him.
Just as they were making prepara
tions to wade into the water looking
for him they were amazed to see
Lester’s head pop up out of the
water and a second later emerge
holding a large turtle by the tail.
Lester really had this snapper tur
tle trapped by leaning in its back
and it was an easy trick to reach
under and grasp it by the rear ap
pendage. When the turtle was
weighed at home after the day’s ad
venture it was found to tip the
scales at 18 pounds.
Seven Turtles Caught
The men long remembered this day
as seven turtles were caught by the
trio as well as a large jumbo frog
that measured 16 inches.
The cut above picturing the soft
shelled turtle reminded Hahn of an
other incident in which he captured
a large leather back turtle on the
Cal Ewing farm.
The smart old leather back had de
fied capture a good many times by
the local hunters but on this par
ticular occasion the old boy chose to
hide in a small gravel pit in the bot
tom of the stream.
Catches Leather Back
When Lester spied him from the
bank above he gave a jump and
landed in the stream right beside
him. The turtle immediately dug in
but not deep enough for Hahn was
able to feel him out on the stream
bed by shuffling his feet around.
This turtle had a 16 inch shell.
Even Mr. Ewing was surprised to
see this particular turtle as it had
given many a hunter the slip for
the past several seasons.
Experiences of other Bluffton
sportsmen in their turtle hunting ac
tivities will be described in the next
issue of the News.
The War Food Administration has
requested the War Production Board
to authorize production of an ad
ditional 9,530 combines, 4,460 corn
pickers, and 2,000 pick-up balers for
delivery in time for use this fall.
Francis Basinger, D. D. S.
Evan Basinger, D. D. S.
Telephone 271-W
Bluffton, Ohio
MUNSON R. BIXEL, M. D.
Office Hours: 8:30-10 A. M.
1-3 P. M. 7-8 P. M.
Office, 118 Cherry St.
Phone 120-F Bluffton. O.
D. C. BIXEL, O. D.
GORDON BIXEL, O.D.
Citizens Bank Bldg., Bluffton
EYESIGHT SPECIALISTS
Office Hour.: 8:30 A. M.—5:30 P. M.
Evenings: Mon.. Wed.. Fri., Sat. 7:30 to
8:30 P. M. Closed Thursday Afternoon.
Get those machines in shape for your spring
work NOW.
Better check your plow, disk, drill, planter, and
cultivator.
If you need new parts, call us. We sell
GENUINE IHC PARTS for your McCormick
Deering tillage implements.
C. F. NISWANDER
McCormick-Deering Dealer
Bluffton, Ohio