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VOLUME NO. LXIX CONFIRM REPORT OF LYLE KOHLI’S DEATH IN FRANCE Word Received by Mother Ends Two Months of Uncertainty Memorial Service at Missionary Church This Sunday Afternoon Pvt. Lyle B. Kohli, 25-year-old son of Mrs. Eva Kohli, of N. Main street, died in France on June 8 from injuries received in action on the same day, according to a tele gram received by his mother from the War Department, Saturday. Official confirmation of his death ended two months of uncertainty which has prevailed here since the War Department originally reported that he had been seriously wounded, following which a schoolmate wrote home that he had seen Kohli’s grave in rance. Mrs. Kohli on July 25 was notified by the War Department that her son had been seriously wounded in France on June 8, the second day after the invasion. Conflicting Report The conflicting report was in a letter written on August 6 by Clay ton Weiss, in the Navy and son of Mr. and Mrs. Aldine Weiss, of Riley street, who mentioned that he had visited Kohli’s grave in France. This was the first indication of his death and Mrs. Kohli asked the adjutant general’s office in Wash ington, D. C., to make an investiga tion. War Department confirmation of the death was received by Mrs. Kohli last Saturday. Following Saturday’s telegram, the War Department forwarded a letter of confirmation which was received by Mrs. Kohli on Monday. It in formed her that Lyle had died on the same day his wounds were re ceived in the Normandy invasion. Infantry Man Kohli was in the infantry and had been in England nearly two years. He enlisted in March, 1942, and landed in the European theatre in September of the same year. His last letter to his mother was writ ten on May 25. He attended school here through the sixth grade, then was a student at McComb for two more. Follow ing that he enlisted in the CCC and was in a camp at Vail, Oregon. Memorial service for the youth ■will be held in the Missionary church, Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock with Rev. A. F. Albro of Swanton former pastor and Rev. Robert Wilch, present pastor officiat ing. The Bluffton Legion Post will assist. Last Rites Are Held For Mrs. Eliza Fett Funeral services largely attended were held for Mrs. Eliza Fett, 77, at her home on South Main street, Sunday afternoon. She was the widow of the late John Fett, Bluff ton hardware merchant, and her par ents Asa and Jane Stratton were pioneer residents of this section. She died in Bluffton hospital Thursday night after an illness of six months. She was born in Orange township January 9, 1868 but spent most of her life living in Bluffton. Her hus band died May 23, 1926. She was a member of the Lutheran church and its women’s organizations. Surviving are two daughters Mrs. Mabel Trippiehorn of Bluffton and Mrs. Ellen Stambaugh of Ada and two sons Clair and Gilbert Fett of Bluffton. Also surviving are five brothers, Orton, Horace, Charles, Cliff and Jesse Stratton all of Bluffton. Funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Rev. W. L. Harmony of the Lutheran church and inter ment was made in Maple Grove cem etery. Gerald Filhart Back From South Pacific Gerald Filhart of the Seabees, formerly of Bluffton, returned Tues day after service in the South Pa cific. He is now with his wife, Mrs. Glenna Amstutz-Filhart and family who live north of Bluffton on Route 12. Filhart, who was a shipfitter first class is the son of Jack Filhart of North Jackson street and a brother of Mrs. Fred Fritchie of South Jackson ,street. He was cited recently by Admiral Nimitz for meritorious and efficient performance of duty on Bougain ville island in the South Pacific war theatre. Masonic Anniversary Celebration October 5 Seventy-fifth anniversary of the Bluffton Masonic lodge and 30th an niversary of the Order of the East ern Star will be celebrated in a joint social meeting Thursday night, Octo ber 5, in the lodge hall. Members of the two organizations and their families are urged to at tend the session. An interesting program is being planned and there will be refreshments. Current Off Next Sunday Afternoon Electric current service will be suspended next Sunday afternoon beginning at 1 o’clock in parts of town principally west of Main street while changes are being made in high voltage lines, unless unfavor able weather prevents, it was stated by attaches of the municipal plant, Tuesday. 15 FARM DRAFT DEFERMENTS TO END THIS MONTH Men in 2-C Classification Be cause of Farm Re quirements Appeals Board Continues One Case in 1-A, Board 3 Announces Deferments of 15 selective service farm workers registered with the Al len County Draft Board No. 3 are ex piring this month, it was announced from offices of the board, Wednesday. The men were classified 2-C by the Draft Board of Appeals because of being engaged in farm work. None of the jgroup is from Bluffton. At the same time is was announced that Earl Dean Luginbuhl of Bluffton who had been classified 1-A by the local board at Lima who later carried his case to the Board of Appeals was continued in 1-A by the latter board. Luginbuhl is now enrolled in a Cin cinnati Bible seminary. Expiring Classifications Registrants with 2-C classifications which expire this month are: John Richard Basinger, Albert Frank Wright, Columbus Grove. Russell Mark Long, Ada. Hubert Elmer Elwer, George An thony Wienken, Delphos. Wilbur Vernon Bunke, Wapakoneta. Thomas Victor Fetter, Lloyd Ever ett Early, Gilbert Warren Breitigam, Harvey L. Hefner, Robert Gannon, Gerald Richard Downing, James Rich ard Moser, Paul Samuel Spallinger, Lima. Harold Eugene Stevenson, Alger. Radio Pastor Here For Singspiration Rev. Victor Paul Wierwille, radio pastor together with a group of mu sicians heard every Sunday noon on the Chimes Hour will conduct the evening service and singspiration at the Defenseless Mennonite church Sunday. The evening service will begin at 7:30 followed by the singspiration at 9 o’clock. In addition to his regular group Rev. Wierwille will be accompanied by Jack Stargel, an outstanding per former, who will be guest pianist on the Sunday noon broadcast of the Chimes Hour from Lima station WLOK. Attend Legion Convention Ralph Stearns and Quinten Burk holder of the Bluffton Legion post attended the national Legion conven tion in Chicago, the past week. Bluffton’s V-Day celebration mark ing the end of hostilities in Europe probably will be a spontaneous dem onstration much the same as that which occurred at the close qf World War I in November, 1918. So far the only announced formal plans for the day have been those drafted by the Bluffton Ministerial association, which has arranged to have churches of the town open dur ing the day for meditation and prayer. Worship services also will be held in the churches on the even ing of V-Day. Spontaneous Celebration Expected In Bluffton To Mark European V-Day A special chapel service will mark First Well Drilled Was Gusher That Spurted Higher Than The Tree Tops Lack of Capital and Curtailed Demand Stifled Initial Local Oil Venture Additional background in the his tory of the Bluffton area oil boom of the Nineties came to light this week with the disclosures that altho the lo cal field did not come into prominence until September, 1894, ojl actually was discovered in Orange township four years earlier. It was known that*bil could be found in the Bluffton district as early as September, 1890, when the first well in this vicinity was drilled on the Asa Stratton farm, now occupied by Mrs. Henry Niswander. Three additional wells were put down in the same area during the flurry of 1890, but only one proved to be a top-flight producer. Lack of capital in the hands of the promoter, a curtailed demand and inadequate facilities for handling the oil stifled the newborn oil field in its infancy, however, and renewed interest did not come until the boom of 1894, which has its 50th anniversary this year. Recalls First Well Drilling of the first well was recall ed this week by Horace Stratton, now residing south of Bluffton, an Orange township native, who helped on his father’s farm. In that first stirring of the infant oil industry in this district, an oil man, with experience in the Pennsyl vania field opened 20 years earlier, played a prominent role. Frank “Doc” Morical will go down in history as the first man to see the oil pricing possibilities of the Bluff ton area, shortly after he had come to Findlay with a small group of Pennsylvania oil men. Leases Three Farms Morical took leases on the Asa Strat ton, Silas Ewing and George Nonna maker farms in Orange township early in 1890, and the first well drilled by his crew proved to be one of the best ever struck in the Bluffton field. It was on the Asa Stratton farm, and it is interesting to note that the oil boom of 1894 was centered in the same area where Morical established his early leases. Horace Stratton recalled that when the first well reached oil, the drillers left the drill in the casing with wrench on the square to serve as a cap as an overnight safety measure before go ing home. Stratton was assigned to stay on watch all night and inasmuch as it Former Bluffton Girl Is Married In East Miss Kathryn Fenton, of Cleve land, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fenton of South Lawn ave nue was married to Lowell* Pike of Farmingdale, Long Island, N. Y., on September 2, it was announced by her parents the first of the week. The ceremony took place at St. Mark’s Reformed church in Balti more and the couple are living at 97 Laurel Street, North Port, Long Island, N. Y. Miss Fenton, previous to her mar riage was engaged in social work in Cleveland for nine years which she resigned effective the first of Sep tember. She is a graduate of Bluff ton high school, Bluffton college and Western Reserve university. Mr. Pike is connected with Re public Aircraft corporation in Farm ingdale. the V-Day observation at Bluffton High school, with Rev. V. C. Opper mann, pastor of the Reformed churches, appearing as the sjeaker. No announcement has been made relative to business hours but the town’s war industries may operate, depending on the need of their pro ducts in the Japanese war, it was announced. In the main the celebration prin cipally will be entirely spontaneous, and probably will be pretty much a repetition of that which occurred 26 years ago when Germany was beaten in the First World War. THE BLUFFTON NEWS A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY Oil First Was Discovered Here In 1890 Although Boom Did BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, SEPT. 28, 1914 Minard Deeds Dies Death of Hero in Fighting on Saipan Not Come Until 1894 was raining he was inside the derrick housing the drilling machinery. Gusher is Struck About 11 p. m. the pressure of the oil from the bed below was so great that there was a sudden uprush of oil in the casing which spurted from under the cap and sprayed the shack with crude oil. Stratton was forced out into the rain by the spurting oil. The folw of oil soon subsided, but about three hours later there was a (Continued on page 2) Couple To Hold Open House Sunday, Golden Wedding Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Phillips Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Phillips re siding six and one-half miles south west of Bluffton in Jackson town ship will celebrate their Golden wed ding anniversary at their home Sun day with a dinner for near relatives and open house in the afternoon from 2 to 4 o’clock and from 7 to 10 in the evening, when friends are invited to call. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have been known to successive generations here as makers of Phillips’ butter, one of the most sought for items on the Bluffton produce market. Mrs. Phillips, the former Mary Younkman, whose parents were Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Younkman, learned butter making as a girl of thirteen. Following the death of her par ents, she made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Allen Phillips, neighbors, uncle and aunt of her future hus band who was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Phillips. The couple were married October 3, 1894, at her home. After their marriage they sup plemented their farm income by supplying the Bluffton market with butter which they have continued for the past half-century. Recently it was announced that after their Golden wedding they would discontinue butter making. However, Mrs. Phillips stated Tues day that they will continue during the present emergency. “It would not be right to stop now, although we are pretty tired of it”, she added. Mr. Phillips is aged 71 years and his wife 68. They have been mem bers of Pleasant Hill Methodist church for many years. They have no children. Close Schools Oct. 5 For Ottawa Fair Bluffton’s public schools will be closed on Thursday of next week for the Putnam county fair, it is an nounced by Supt. Ralph Lanham. Schools here are closed one day every year to permit pupils to attend the fair. Births The following births at Bluffton hospital: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fruchey, Columbus Grove, a daughter, Clara belle Agnes, Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Gale Griffith, Mt. Cory, a son, Tuesday. Twin sons, Thomas Richard and James Ronald were born to Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Huber residing south of Beaverdam at St. Rita’s hospital, Lima, Sept. 19. Mrs. Huber is the former Hildegard Quiring of Bluff ton. Born to Capt. and Mrs. Joseph M. Parker of Long Beach, Calif., a son Joseph Messenger Parker V, August 14. Capt. Parker, now with the air corps in the South Pacific area, is the son of Mrs. Alice Parker of Washington, D. C., and a grand son of Chris Santschi of East Kib ler street. Company Commander Writes of Heroic Action of Bluffton College Graduate Memorial Services to Be Held at Rawson, Sunday After noon at 2:00 P. M. Details of how Minard Deeds, former Bluffton college athlete, died a hero’s death with the U. S. Ma rine Corps on Saipan were received this week by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Deeds, of Rawson. The complete account, written by Capt. L. M. Rulison, commander of the company with which Deeds served in the South Pacific, is as follows: “On the afternoon of 16 June 1944, “K” company was engaged in a ter rific battle with the Japs. A large blockhouse was holding up our prog ress and many of our men were pinned down by its fire. Several had already been wounded and it was imperative that something be dene. Deeds Volunteers “Your son volunteered to take a patrol around to one side of the blockhouse. This would divert the attention of the Japs and allow the other Marines an opportunity to es cape the murderous fire being placed on them. With your son in the lead the patrol moved thru the Jap fire and the mission was successful, sav ing the lives of many of our men. “But the Japs started firing at the patrol and a bullet struck your son, killing him instantly. He suffered no pain and was not disfigured. This all happened on Saipan. “At present your son has been recommended for a high decoration. Until it has been awarded I’m un able to tell you what medal he was recommended for. Buried on Saipan “His body was taken to the Ma rine cemetery on Saipan. He is buried in U. S. Cemetery No. 1, Grave No. 419, Row No. 1. He w’as given a religious burial. "It was my fortune to have him under my command. Several times we had talks concerning college and his future. He was always an ex ample to the other men. At all times he was courteous, polite and willing. In addition he had the courage which makes a man a true Marine. "He died a hero, fighting for his country. He sacrificed his own life to save several of his comrades. Y’ou indeed have every right to be proud of him, not only because of his conduct in combat, but because of his own sterling qualities. Your grief is shared by every man and officer of the company. May I ex tend to you all my heartfelt sym pathy for the loss of a great Marine and a fine son.” Deeds long will be remembered in Bluffton as the smallest lineman ever to become a regular on a Bluff ton college football team, but despite his lack of weight he starred on the gridiron for three years. Memorial services for Minard Deeds will be held at the United Brethren church at Rawson Sunday afternoon at 2 P. M. with Rev. Hil liard Camp in charge. Shortage Of Help And Points Force Closing Former Bluffton Nurse To Work With Children Of South American Lepers Janet Soldner Will Be in Charge* of Medical Care for Home less Youngsters Journey to Bogata, Colombia, Will Be Made by Airplane from New Orleans Miss Janet Soldner, former assist ant superintendent at the Bluffton Community hospital, will leave the United States this week to go by airplane from New Orleans to Bo gata, Columbia, where she will work as a medical missionary among children whose parents are the vic tims of leprosy. She will travel with a party of five which has the responsibility of inaugurating the first foreign mis sion work of the General Conference of Mennonite churches in South America. Arrangements have been completed for the group to leave by plane this Friday, providing their visas, re quired for foreign travel, are cleared by the state department. In case the visas do not arrive this week, the departure for South Wilch restaurant, Bluffton eating establishment, will be closed on Sun days, it was announced the first of the week. Shortage of help and ra tion points was given as the cause. The Risser Sandwich Shop also has curtailed hoursb ecause of help shortage. Beaverdam To Vote On Two Mill School Levy Electors of Beaverdam school dis trict will vote on a special two mill levy at the coming election on No vember 14, it was announced the first of the week. The Beaverdam board of education has filed application with the Allen County Board of Elections for per mission to submit the proposal to voters of the school district on the ballot at the election. The levy would be used to estab lish a bus replacement fund and to help defray general expenses. BLUFFTON MAN IS MISSING AT SEA, NAVY ANNOUNCES Clifford Thompson, 22, Is Lost When Ship Goes Down In September Hurricane Lost Seaman Had Served 20 Months In South Pacific War Theatre Clifford Thompson, 22, formerly of Bluffton, has been missing at sea since the hurricane of September 15 sank the ship on which he was serving as a seaman first class. Notification of his loss was received this w’eek from the Navy department by the father, Homer Thompson, of Garey, who until recently resided four and one-half mile southwest of Bluff ton. Details Lacking No details were contained in the telegram beyond the fact that Thomp son’s ship had gone down during the height of the hurricane, and that he was missing. Thompson entered the service in October, 1942, and spent 20 month in the South Pacific where he was in three sea battles. Before enlisting he was employed at the Lima Locomo tive Works. He was last home two months ago when he spent a furlough with his father and two brothers, Junior and Darrell Thompson. Raymond Thomp son, of North Main street, Bluffton, who is now in the Army at Camp Hood, Texas, is another brother. Kindergarten Will Open Here Monday Kindergarten classes will open in the Grade school building Monday morning with Mrs. W. A. Howe as teacher. Class sessions will be from 9 to 11 o'clock five mornings each w’eek. Parents interested are asked to see Mrs. Howe for enrollment of their children. America will be postponed one week. Establish Orphanage Miss Soldner and the other mis sionary workers with whom she will be associated will pioneer in relief work among the untainted children of leprous parents. These adults are inmates of three large leper camps maintained near Bogata by the Co lombian government, but there is no provision for the children, several thousand of whom are said to be wandering about obtaining food and shelter as best they can. The Mennonite missionaries will buy land and erect buildings to serve as an orphanage and school for the children. They plan to care for them from pre-school age until they are 15. Miss Soldner, who is a registered nurse, u’ill be in charge of the med ical care provided by the institution. Others in the Mennonite party in clude Mary Becker, of Newton, Kansas Rev. and Mrs. Gerald Stuckey of Berne, Ind., and LaVerne Ruchman, of Whitewater, Kansas. To make 1,000 board feet of lum ber would require 35 10-inch logs but only 10 logs which are 16 inches in diameter. BUY UNITS* STATSf NUMBER 23 TRUCK HITS POLE, SNAPS HIGH POWER LINE AND BURNS Highway Accident North of Bluffton Disrupts Electric Service Lima Truck Driver in Hospital Here Recovering From Injuries Electric service for Findlay and other cities in this area served by’ the Central Ohio Light and Power Co. from its Bluffton generating plant was disrupted for periods ranging from 40 minutes to four hours early Sunday’ morning when a large trans port truck loaded with steel bars snapped off a power line pole and broke high tension lines one and one half miles north of Bluffton. Robert Schindler, 26, of Lima, driv er of the truck, is in the Bluffton Community’ hospital where he is re covering from severe cuts, bruisesand factured ribs. He crawled from the crumpled cab of his truck as the vehicle burst into flames, and was taken to the hospital in the Diller ambulance. The truck was completely’ destroyed by fire. Schindler was driving southward toward Bluffton. He told investigat ing officers he became drowsy’ and the truck veered across the road and struck the power pole some distance off the pavement on the opposite side of the highway, about mile north of the county line. Three 34,500-volt lines were snapped in the mishap, cutting off the current for Findlay, Mt. Cory and other towns at 6:30 a. m. Most of Findlay’s es sential circuits had current within 40 minutes but it was 10:40 a. m. before the break was repaired here by pow er line crews. The truck was owned by the Huber Motor Transportation Co., of Toledo, and was loaded with ste?I shafting enroute to Lima. Funeral For Wm. Boothby Tuesday Funeral services for William C. Boothby, 78, retired stationary en gineer and former member of the town council were held at the Meth odist church, Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Boothby died suddenly at his home on Jackson street, Saturday night at 11 o’clock as he was pre paring to retire. Death u’as due to a heart attack. He was the last of a family of 10 brothers and one sister. Bom in Marietta, he resided in Bluffton for many years and was employed as engineer at several local plants. He served one term on the town council and was a member of the Methodist church. Surviving are his wife, the former Mary Rathbone whom he married December 25, 1889 and six children. They are: Charles of Long Beach, Calif. Clair, Donald and Lowell of Lima Mrs. Oscar Luginbuhl of Toledo and Mrs. Fay Isham of Bluffton. Fourteen grandchildren and one great grandchild also survive. Rev. J. A. Weed of the Methodist church officiated at the funeral services and interment was made in Maple Grove cemetery. State Agency May Buy Street Bonds A bond issue of $5,000 represent ing Bluffton’s share of the cost of re-surfacing Main street from the Bentley road to the north corpora will be purchased by the State tion limits at the County Line road Teachers Retirement system, if the municipal issue meets legal approval. Transcript of the proceedings in issuance of the bonds is being sent this week to the office of the Retire ment system in Columbus by City Solicitor Dan R. Trippiehorn. The State Teachers Retirement board is one of the state agencies to w’hich municipal bonds must first be offered for sale, before they can be made available to the public, it was pointed out by town officials. Total cost of re-surfacing Bluff ton’s Main street will be approxi mately $25,730 of this the town is required to pay only $5,000. The State highway department is financ ing the remainder. Union Service On Sunday Night Bluffton churches will hold their monthly union service at the Meth odist church, Sunday night at 7:30 o’clock. The speaker will be Rev. Charles Donaldson of Delta, interim pastor of the Bluffton and Rockport Presbyterian churches. His subject will be “Unity in Christ”.