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BUY UNITED VOLUME NO. LXIX RESURFACING OF CHERRY STREET TO START NEXT WEEK Council Authorizes Improve ment from Nickel Plate to Jackson Street Cost of Applying New Asphalt Concrete Surface on Street Will Be $4,296 Expansion of Bluffton’s summer street improvement program to in clude the resurfacing of Cherry and Church streets from the Nickel Plate railroad to the Jackson street inter section was authorized Tuesday night by the municipal council. Work on the project, which will cost the town $4,296, will be started early next week by the Churchill Construction Co. of Lima, immediately following completion of the re-sur facing of Main street from the Bent ley road to the north corporation lim its at the Allen-Hancock county line. The Lima contractors have all the necessary equipment here because of work on the Main street project, and this made possible what Mayor W. A. Howe and Council members said was a low quotation for the work on Cher ry and Church streets. Bluffton councilmen approved the bid of the Churchill firm Tuesday, and formal ratification of the re-sur facing program will be made as a matter of record at next Monday’s meeting of the body. Material used in re-surfacing the streets will be the same as that ap plied on Main street, and the asphalt concrete surface will be one and one half inches in thickness. Total dis tance involved in the work will be one-third of a mile. Present brick pavement on Cherry and Church streets was laid in 1904, and for a number of years it was Bluffton’s only hard-surfaced street. Forty years of traffic have left their marks on the street, and re-surfacing has been badly needed for some time, spokesmen for the council stated. Name Religious Education Teacher Mrs. S. F. Pannabecker of College road, recently named instructor in religious education in the public schools began her work, Tuesday. She will teach classes in the first six grades. Her work is carried on under aus pices of the Bluffton Council of Re ligious Education, composed of rep resentatives of local churches which also pays her salary. Mrs. Pannabecker, formerly en gaged in foreign mission work in China has been in this country since the outbreak of the war. Her hus band, Dr. S. F. Pannabecker will re turn to China this fall to organize a program of relief work among the war stricken native population. In New Locations Ralph Lanham, superintendent of the public schools, together with his wife and two daughters are occupy ing the Ebenezer Mennonite parson age on Grove street since Monday when their household goods arrived from Mt. Victory in Harden county where they formerly resided. They will occupy the property during the interim of pulpit vacancy at the church or until they can obtain a more permanent location. The prop erty was vacated last month by Rev. A. C. Schultz who resigned as pastor of the Ebenezer congregation to ac cept a teaching position in a Chi cago theological seminary. Mr. and Mrs. George Rauenbuhler have moved from the Hankish apart ment above the former Siefield bak ery to an apartment above the Jorg hatchery on Cherry street. Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Kuhn and sons who formerly resided on Cherry street and later moved to Rawson are occupying the apartment vacated by the Rauenbuhlers. Clyde Hauenstein is remodeling the farm property south of Bluffton which he purchased from his father, the late Sam Hauenstein and ex pects to move this fall from a farm near Columbus Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dietier are moving, from Gilboa to the Huber property on Cherry street which they purchased from her grandmother’s estate. B. R. Shafer and family who formerly occupied the Huber prop erty on Cherry street have moved to Rawson. Gerald Hilty and family are mov ing from the apartment at the home of C. F. Strat nn to the Ervin Long property vaca by Mrs. Harry Shalley. This month marks the fiftieth an niversary of the discovery of oil in the Bluffton area, it is recalled by old time residents and local oil men. It was fifty years ago—in September, 1894—that the first well was “brought in” on the A. C. Ewing farm in Orange township, now occupied by Amos Klingler. Discovery of oil started something akin unto the California gold rush and for a decade Bluffton was the center of a teeming, booming oil field where fortunes were made and lost and bus iness conducted in figures that ap peared fantastic to native residents, who were small farmers and business men. RUTTER AND SUGAR STOCKS DISAPPEAR COAL HARD TO GET Lack of Sugar Restricts Home Canning Operations in Bluffton Area Butter Sales Limited Coal Deliveries Uncertain Few Haulers Wartime scarcities hit Bluffton hard er this week, with butter and sugar supplies in stores exhausted most of the time and coal becoming increas ingly difficult to obtain. Local retailers have been unable to supply enough butter to meet normal demands here for more than a week, and from Saturday noon until Mon day noon there was no butter in town. In an attempt to spread the small supply on hand, store operators are limiting customers to one-half pound purchases. Grocery operators also have been unable to obtain sugar, and in the midst of the canning season house wives cannot buy sugar for their needs. Wholesalers report that labor short ages in sugar refineries and in trans portation systems make it impossible to move sufficient stocks in to Ohio and the shortage probably will con tinue until the canning season has ended. Local labor conditions represent the principal factor in present inability of coal dealers to make deliveries. With winter in the not too distant fu ture there is an ever-increasing de mand for coal, but dealers have been unable promptly to make deliveries of the reduced volume they are ob taining under rationing from the mines. The coal situation presents difficul ties both in the matter of supplies and service. With winter in the not too far distant future there is a steady mounting demand for coal with deal ers confronted w’ith restricted ship ments from the mines. Scarcity of coal haulers poses new difficulties in local deliveries with half of the local dealers without reg ular truck operators. Reports were current the first of the week that two dealers were considering closing their coal business because of lack of haul- Wife Of Thos. Fenton Fatally Hurt In Fall Mrs. Wilmina Smythe Fenton, 32, of Massillon, died Tuesday in that city as the result of injuries which she sustained in a fall last Satur day. She was the wife of Thomas Fenton, Bluffton native. His par ents are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fen ton of South Lawn avenue. Word of her death was received here Tuesday night. Besides her husband she is survived by two sons John William aged 6 and James Richard, 3, of Massillon. Also sur viving is her father, William Smythe of Kansas City. Funeral services will be held in Massillon on Friday afternoon. Illustrated Lecture On India Friday Night Miss Martha Burkhalter of Berne, Ind., returned missionary from India will give an illustrated lecture at the Ebenezer Mennonite church, Fri day night at 8 o’clock. Miss Burk halter is now home on furlough. The service is under auspices of the Women’s Missionary society and Girls’ Missionary band of the church. Bluffton Man Has Tv o Sisters Whose Husbands Are In German Labor Camps Two Month Marked Beginning Farmers were beset day and night by agents seeking to sign leases for drilling rights and the familiar 64 foot derricks sprung up like magic. At night flickering oil lamps marked their location as the drilling crews "ran tower” 24 hours daily putting down wells in search of the black gold. 500 Wells Pumped Veteran oil men estimated that at the height of the boom which was about 1900, there were more than 500 wells being pumped and 30 strings of tools engaged in drilling for new wells. Some wells proved unusually good while some were dry holes, but by and large results were satisfactory. Orange township was the center of Smash of Yank Armies Raises Hopes of Robert Potts, Na tive Belgian Has not Heard from Sisters in Ghent and Antwerp Since Start of War When American soldiers passed through Ghent last week in their whirlwind “blitz” of East Belgium it brought memories of World War I to Robert Potts, 36-year-old employe of The Triplett Electrical Instrument Co., who was an eight-year-old boy in Ghent when the Yanks liberated it from the German yoke in 1918. Potts recalls that German occu pation in the other war brought only hardship and suffering to the Bel gians. During much of the time the Germans were in control he and his brothers and sisters were forced to live as best they could by the help that neighbors and relatives provid ed. It was a gala day of rejoicing when the Americans marched thru Ghent on that fateful day in World War I, and Potts knows just how thankful the Belgians must have been on the second day of liberation when soldiers from far-away Amer ica again threw back the German hordes of oppression. in Belgium Today, all of Potts’ family reside in the United States, with the ex ception of two married sisters. One sister, married to a railroad en gineer, resides in Ghent, and the other whose husband is a tugboat (Continued on page 8) Wedding Solemnized At Methodist Church Marriage of Miss Gladys Dalby of Chicago to Harold R. Steiner, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Steiner of Thurman street was solemnized at the Bluffton Methodist church, Thursday afternoon at 4 o’clock. Rev. J. A. Weed officiated at the ceremony in the presence of close friends of the couple. White gladi oli were combined with floor candela bra in the decoration of the chapel. The bride wore a brown afternoon dress and a single orchid was her only adornment. She was attended by her sister Miss Vivian Dalby of Dayton who wore a rust dress with corsage of baby mums. Preceding and during the cere mony, Mrs. Ida Hinson, sister of the groom played appropriate nuptial selections. Mrs. Eulalia Baltzell, an other sister of the groom sang Goy d’ Hardelot’s wedding song “Be cause”. Homer Lee Steiner, brother of the groom served as best man. Following a reception in the home of the groom’s parents after the ceremony the couple left for a short wedding trip. They will be at home after Octo ber 1 at 423 Surf Street, Chicago, where Mr. Steiner is employed by the Army Signal Corps. Soldier On Atlantic Island Is Returning Sgt. Francis Geiger, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter D. Geiger who has been stationed on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic will arrive here shortly according to informa tion received the first of the week. The island, a small rocky spot be tween South America and Africa is used as a stopping point for trans Atlantic planes. Geiger, who was an industrial chemist in civilian life is believed to be engaged in the op eration of a chemical process condi tioning sea water for human use. He has been stationed on the island for over a year. THE BLUFFTON NEWS A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, SEPT. 14, 1944 Oil Discovered Near Bluffton Fifty Years Ago This of Phenomenal Boom the oil boom with the Ohio and Sun oil companies holding the greater part of the leased acreage. Development of the oil field brought a flood of prosperity thruout the area originating in the form of royalties to farmers and top wages to workers which was reflected in a business boom in Bluffton The town soon be came widely known in oil circles thru out the country as one of the focal points of Northwestern Ohio’s oil field and one of the first in Middle West. Oil Men Flock Here Oil men, many of them from the older field in western Pennsylvania CAN’T SOFTEN CITY WATER NOW, SAY TOWN OFFICIALS Public Support for Movement Grows Council Turns Down Idea Light Plant Will Make Major Outlay for New Boiler Soon, Says Chairman Gaining in public support is a move ment, apparently spontaneous, for the softening of Bluffton’s city water sup ply despite the fact that the proposal has not been formally considered by the board of public affairs which would be in charge of such a project and statements by officials that such a project cannot now be undertaken. Agitation for a water softening system sprung up recently when a representative of the State Board of Health was called here in connection with an offensive odor and taste which developed in the city water supply. An analysis of the water showed it to be pure and the he recommended a cleaning of the reservoir and recon ditioning of the aereator to remove the excess sulphur taste and odor. State Health Report His recommendation also pointed out that if these measures did not sof fice clorination of the water or soften ing of the city supply would accom plish the purpose. Cleaning of the reservoir and re conditioning of the aerator accom plished the purpose, officials of the board of public affairs stated, without resorting to the more expensive pro cesses of clorination or softening. In connection with agitation for softening of the water supply, Harry Barnes, president of the board pointed out that increased demand for eletric al current soon will require a major outlay of funds for the purchase of a new high pressure boiler which he indicated will be added as early as conditions permit. Council Against Measure Members of the town council which informally discussed the matter of softening of the city water supply at their meeting last week were opposed to the proposition as being too costly to w’ater consumers since it would in crease rates on an average of about $5 a year. Council members also took the po sition that water softening could be taken care of more satisfactorily by individual installing the necessary equipment in their own homes. Housewives, however, who constitute the bulk of support for the movement insist they would be willing to pay the added charge for the privilege of hav ing soft water. Many cisterns, they claim, have been cracked by heavy blasting and for that reason are dry’ much of the time during which periods those households not provided with in dividual water softeners are obliged to use the hard city water supply. Bluffton Man Takes Internal Revenue Job W. A. Amstutz, former Bluffton high school instructor has accepted a position in the federal department of internal revenue it was announced the first of the week. He assumed his new duties Monday and is as signed to the Lima office. Amstutz, residing north of Bluff ton, resigned his position in the schools here last summer after teaching for 19 years. He is the second former Bluffton school man to take a position with the internal revenue department in recent months, the other being A. J. B. Longsdorf, who resigned as superintendent of schools last spring. flocked in and many a farm woman earned a tidy sum of extra money boarding oil field workers. This period marked the inception of a Bluffton tradition—the five o’clock whistle, blown every morning at the waterworks plant to awaken team sters employed in the oil field. Altho the reason for it has long since dis appeared, the custom of blowing the whistle every week day morning con tinued until recent years. The boom continued for about ten years after which it rapidly tapered off as production decreased and oil workers moved on to larger fields which were opening farther west. Of the wells in this section a few’ are Employers Seek Workers in Manpower Shortage Ex perience Unnecessary Traditional Jobs of Furnace and Baby Tending Find Few Takers Jobs aplenty’ are available this fall for Bluffton high school and college students, and local residents and employers are hopeful that part time help by students may aid in solving the headaches of the current manpower shortage. This year’s demand for student labor is the heaviest in Bluffton his tory, and those interested in work have unlimited opportunities for jobs. Present conditions are in marked contrast to those prevailing about 10 years ago when jobs w’ere scarce and few students could find work un less they had the necessary qualifi cations in the form of previous ex perience. Now’, anyone w’ho wants to w’ork his w’ay thru college or earn pocket money for high school expenses can find plenty of job opportunities in the town’s industries, business places, restaurants, filling stations, etc., with work available for as many hours as they care to work. The jobs that one time w’ere most ly confined to student help—such as firing furnaces and caring for child ren, are going begging now. Better paying jobs are open, with few’ tak ers, and many persons w’ho never fired the family furnace now’ are doing it themselves. Families with small children report it is practically impossible to find anyone tp stay with them during the day or in the evenings. Births The following births at Bluffton hospital: Mr. and Mrs. Ray Luginbuhl, Findlay, a daughter, Wednesday morning. Mr. and Mrs. John Rower, Ft. Jennings, a daughter, Wednesday morning. Mr. and Mrs. Ray Schumacher, Bluffton, a son, Tuesday. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Evans, Leip sic, a daughter, Thursday. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Cle ments, a son, Rodney Gene at Lima Memorial hospital, Monday. Mrs. Clementse is the former Miss Cleda Binkley of this place. Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Kauffman of Riley street and Mrs. Bessie Bur goyne of Lima w’ere called to Oak Harbor the first of the week to at tend the funeral of their brother E. A. Weirich. Melvin Wayne Deter, 11, grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Noah Geiger of near Bluffton, w’as one of two Find lay youths drowned in Eagle creek near Findlay, w’hose bodies were re covered Tuesday afternoon. Students Have Big Selection Of Part Time Jobs As School And College Open The youth is the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Deter of Findlay. His mother w’as formerly Lillian Geiger whose parents live onchalf miles east of Bluffton. The other youth, w’hose body was rtcovered from waters of the creek, w’as James Mallory, 8 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mallory. Dr. Byron Vorhees, Hancock county cor oner gave a verdict of accidental death by drowning. still being pumped, several of which are on the William Leiber farm south of Bluffton on Bentley road. Grandson Of Bluffton Couple Drowned In Creek Near Findlay The boys left their homes Monday noon, presumably returning to school. When they failed to return home in the evening an inquiry revealed that High Quality Crude The crude oil found here was of a high quality, but prices were low, ranging from 15 to 20 cents a barrel. The industry in those days was in its infancy and there was but little pub lic demand for its products. Coal oil used in lamps for illumin ating purposes was the principal use found for the product. A small por tion of it became lubricating oil—and gasoline, a byproduct for which no one could find any use, was dumped into the creeks. RESURFACING MAIN STREET WILL END WITHIN NEXT WEEK New Surface Being Applied from Bentley Road to Al len-Hancock Co. Line Contract for Asphalt-Concrete Application Let to Lima Construction Firm Re-surfacing of Bluffton’s Main street, w’hich was started last Thurs day, will be completed within the next week. A new’ surface of asphaltic con crete ranging in thickness to one and three-quarters inches is being applied to a one and one-half mile stretch of the street starting at the Bentley road intersection and con tinuing north to city limits at the Allen-Hancock county line. Traffic is continuing without in terruption over the street as vehicles can operate over the “hot-mix” sur face tw’o hours after it has been applied. Asphaltic concrete material used for the re-surfacing goes on the street at a temperature of about 250 degrees. It is brought to Bluffton from Lima in trucks with insulated beds which retain the heat at about 300 degrees. Cost Is $27,000 Approximately 3,800 tons of the asphalt concrete will be needed to complete the project. Cost of the work will approximate the estimate of $27,000, with the town paying $5,000 and the state highway de partment being responsible for the remainder. There are tw’o phases of the sur facing project, according to State Highway Engineer Joe Chambers. (Continued on page 8) Leaving For College Mary Elizabeth Stearns, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Stearns of Spring street left Sunday for Tiffin where she is a junior at Heidelberg college. Barbara Jean Triplett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Triplett of Cam pus Drive will leave Sunday for Rochester where she is a sophomore in the Eastman school of music. Mary Margaret Basinger, daugh ter of Dr. and Mrs. Evan Basinger of Spring street will leave Sunday for Wooster to enter the freshman class in Wooster college. they had not been in school during the afternoon. Two pairs of shoes with the boys’ bright striped socks in them were found on the creek bank, Tuesday morning. Several Findlay residents saw them playing on a raft in the creek Monday afternoon. Mrs. Deters collapsed when her son's body was recovered and is un der the care of a physician. Funeral services will be held Friday after noon at 2 o’clock in the Barnhart funeral home in Findlay. Rev. Seth Adamson, pastor of the Central Church of Christ will officiate and burial will be in Pleasant Hill ceme tery. Bodies of the two youths were re covered at almost the identical spot where David Lee, eight year old Findlay youth was drowned three years ago. NUMBER 21 MORE GIRLS, FEWER MEN ENROLLED AT BLUFFTON COLLEGE Effect of War Conditions Seen As Institution Opens for Fall Term Enrollment At College Is About One-half of Normal Girls Dormitory Filled Bluffton college opened its doors for the fall term this week, with the campus more than ever taking on the aspects of an all-girl school because of a wartime shortage of men stu dents. Enrollment of women has moved upward for the second successive year, but war conditions have cut deeper into the number of men incomplete registration of about 100 includes only 15 male students. The Women’s dormitory’ will be filled and in contrast there will be only a handful of men living in Lincoln hall. No Football Football will be discontinued at the college for the second successsive y*ear, and most of the activities on the camus will have exclusively a wom an’s touch until present war conditions have been alleviated. No mixed singing groups will rep resent the institution this year, and Prof. Russell A. Lantz, director of the music department, said that the prin cipal activity in this field will be an all-women’s choir. Incomplete registration figures on Wednesday morning showed the en rollment of about 85 women and 15 men, which differs very little from last year. There will be a freshman class of 35. Enrollment is about one-half the normal number. Classes Open Thursday Registration, orientation of students and freshman tests were completed Monday’ and Tuesday, and opening chapel exercises were held W’ednesday morning. Classroom instruction will start Thursday. (Continued on page 8) South Pacific Veteran Home From Hospital Pfc. Jerome Herr, veteran of the South Pacific war theatre, now’ in the army hospital at Cambridge, Ohio, spent the week end visiting his mother, Mrs. Alice Herr of Bentley road. He arrived last month in San Francisco to undergo treatment at Letterman General hospital for a skin ailment and later was trans ferred to Cambridge. Before en tering the army he was a school bus driver here. Solemnize Wedding In Toledo Monday In a quiet ceremony at St. Fran cis De Sales church in Toledo, took place the wedding Monday morning at 7 o’clock of Treva, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wilkins of Bluff ton and Harold Eugene Bilby of Toledo. Rev’. L. E. Webber officiated using the single ring ceremony. The cou ple was attended by Mrs. Catherine Bondy of Toledo, niece of the bride groom. They will make their home in Toledo. Real Estate Deals The South Lawn avenue property of the late William Lightner was purchased at sheriff’s sale, Saturday, by Mrs. Bernice Deerhake of Bluff ton for $3,100 which was $100 above the appraised value. The property was sold by court order in connec tion w’ith the settlement of the es tate. Ross Irwin has purchased from Willis Cummins a building lot at South Law’n avenue and West Kibler street. Three tracts of land in Orange towmship belonging to heirs of the Chase Ewing w’ere sold at public auction, Tuesday afternoon. The buyers w’ere: Robert Matter, bidding for Russell Amstutz purchased a tract of 55 acres, one-half mile east of the Al len-Hancock county line on the Ewing road for $6,500. The place is occupied by Harry Ewing. Am stutz, who resides on Mound street will move on the farm this fall. Wilson McBain, residing on an adjoining farm purchased a 44 acre tract without buildings at the in tersection of the county line and Ewing road for $3,350. Edgar Montgomery of Orange township purchased a 40 acre tract opposite Thompson cemetery for $2, 400.