BUY
UNITS*
•TATSt
OTAMU
VOLUME NO. LXX
FARM HISTORY IS
ASSURED BY CROP
RECORDS THIS YEAR
Banner Season For Production
Of Practically Every Crop
Will Be Remembered
Phenomenal Grain Harvest Fol
lows Good Hay Crop Corn
Prospects Much Brighter
Farm history is being made in the
Bluffton area this summer, and
record yields either already assured
or in prospect will long be remem
bered as a banner season for the
production practically everything
put in the ground by farmers.
Years in which one or two farm
•crops establish records are not un
usual, but this summer for the first
time in the memory of the oldest
old-timer yields for every crop,
without exception, are ranging from
above average to record marks.
Hay, the first crop to be harvest
ed this summer, was said to be 25%
above the pre-war 10-year average
for this district. Favored thruout
the spring by abundant rainfall and
cool weather, the hay crop was the
second best in all history here.
This year’s wheat stands are giv
ing an average return of more than
40 bushels to the acre, a mark which
is double the long-time average of
20 bushels which farmers regard as
a fair crop.
60-Bushel Wheat
Yields are running upwards from
30 bushels to the acre this summer,
with most fields yielding 40 bushels
•or better. Fred Mueller, north of
Bluffton, had an average of 51
bushels to the acre, and Roy Cherry,
of near Pandora, established a record
for the district with 60 bushels per
acre.
With the success of the wheat
crop assured, farmers are now wor
ried by the storage situation which
is assuming all the proportions of a
major problem.
Coincident with harvest of the
phenomenal crop, a serious shortage
•of freight- cars available for ship
ping purposes is now in its third
week.
Elevators are jammed with over
flow quantities of grain, and can buy
from farmers only sporadically when
railroads allot them a few cars to
move a part of the supply on hand.
Most farmers have all their farm
storage space filled to overflowing,
and there are reports of others who
have put their grain in chicken hous
es, silos or on barn floors.
Straw Unwanted
Straw from grain crops is an un
wanted product on nearly every
farm, and its disposal is complicat
ed by the fact that there is no de
mand for it and balers will not bale
it and take it away even when offer
ed to them without cost.
Every indication points to a
record-breaking oats crop. Complica
tions also enter this picture, how
ever, due to the fact that the straw
is so heavy that many fields have
broken down. In cases where the
crop has gone down, farmers plan
to cut the stand with mowers and
thresh.
Preliminary tests indicate high
quality oats on a plane commensur
ate with the quantity. A sample
recently tested 44 at one of the local
dealer’s, in comparison with the
general average of 32 in past years.
Com which started under a decid
ed handicap because of delays in
seeding has made a spectacular
comeback, and there is every indica
tion of a bumper crop being harvest
ed in the fall. The stand has made
heavy gains during the last two
weeks of hot, humid weather, aided
by frequent rainfall, and most fields
now are in tassel.
Potatoes Look Good
Potato prospects are bright, and
farm observers report the yield to
the acre will be good. The amount
of land planted to potatoes in this
area, however, is less than in nor
mal years, because of the acute
shortage of farm labor.
Soybean yields this fall should
surpass those of last year, with the
crop looking very promising at this
time. Acreage devoted to beans also
has been reduced on most farms
this season.
This is the best summer in seven
years for milk production, largely
because of the fact that abundant
rainfall and cool weather have kept
pastures in unusually good condition.
Bluffton’s dairy plant operated by
the Page Dairy Co. is receiving
155,000 pounds of milk daily in mid
summer, a mark that ordinarily is
reached only during peak production
in the spring. This mark of over
•75 tons daily is approximately 15
Two Pass Test For
Registered Nurses
Misses Helen and Ruth Soldner,
nurses at Bluffton hospital have suc
cessfully passed the examination for
registered nurses, it was announced
the first of the week.
They took the examination for
nurses at Emporia, Kansas, following
their graduation from the nurses’
training course last spring. Since
that time they have been added to
the nursing staff at the hospital here.
Helen Soldner is the daughter of
G. T. Soldner of Cherry street, while
Ruth is from Berne, Ind. Both at
tended Bluffton college before enter
ing on their course of nurses train
ing.
STRAW CLUTTERS
FARMS THRUOUT
BLUFFTON AREA
Stacks in Barnyards Are
Record Size With Much
Left in Fields
THE BLUF
Lack Of Freight Cars And Makeshift
Storage Facilities May Cut Wheat Yield
of
No Demand For Straw Farm
ers Vainly Oller Straw Free
For Bailing
Straw which six months ago was
selling for 20 cents a bale is now the
unwanted orphan of the farm crop
family, and so much of it is laying
in fields that its disposal represents
a first-class headache for area farm
ers.
With too much straw on hand, de
mand has reached the zero point, no
price is quoted on the market and
balers can’t be induced to bale it and
haul it awhy even when it is offered
to them without cost.
Farmers who combined their wheat
don’t want to leave the straw in the
field as they normally do, for it is so
heavy they fear it may choke out
next year’s clover crop
up thru the stubble.
now coming
BARS
cutter bars
Set Up Cutter
In combining wheat,
were set higher than usual this year
to reduce the amount of straw spread
on fields as much as possible, but
even under those conditions the thick
layer of straw presents a serious
problem.
Farmers who cut wheat with bind
ers have one advantage this season,
for the straw at least is off their
fields, and in threshing the crop the
straw can be put in a stock, but
even they will have more on hand
than they want.
Because of the heavy straw many
who combined likely would have cut
with binders this year if the current
shortage of far mlabor had not
forced them to use the other method.
Some farmers, on the other hand,
struck a compromise by combining a
part of their crop and using binders
on the remainder.
Big Straw Stacks
With threshing under way, straw
stacks on farms are the biggest in
history, and old-timers say they have
never seen so much straw. The situ
ation is in direct contrast to last
summer when straw was short, and
this year’s crop is twice as heavy
as that of 1944.
Favored by unusual growing weath
er, wheat, rye and barley this year
produced straw between four and five
feet high, a record stand for this
district, and oats straw also is much
taller than usual.
A deep blanket of snow protected
wheat thruout the winter, the stand
was not exposed to freezing and
thawing last spring, and cool weath
er with plenty of moisture produced
heavy crop unique in local history.
a
Home From England
Pfc. Ulysses Reichenbach is spend
ing a 30 day furlough with his wife
and son of Cherry street and his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Amos Reich
enbach.
tioned in England for the past 15
months with the ground ciew of the
Eighth Air force. He wears the
presidential citation, good conduct
and European theatre of operations
ribbons with six campaign stars.
Pfc. Reichenbach was sta-
tons more than generally received
at this time of the year.
On the unfavorable side of the
ledger, strawberries were virtually
a failure and there are few rasp
berries and blackberries. Cherries
were shorter than usual and apples
will not begin to approach a normal
yield this fall because of alternating
warm and cold spells in early spring.
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE
Transportation Bottleneck For
ces Emergency Measures
on Farms
Damp Weather Likely to Dam
age Wheat Held in
Emergency Bins
the
Rains Tuesday interrupting
wheat harvest which has continued
steadily for the past two weeks
brought a temporary respite to the
flood of grain which has been pour
ing into elevators from one of the
district’s largest wheat harvests.
The lull in wheat receipts however,
was only temporary, dealers declared
as there exists thruout the surround
ing farming district a huge backlog
of stored wheat ready for marketing
when transportation facilities are
available.
The freight car situation has
shown no improvemept it was stated
the first of the week by dealers here.
The number of cars available for
wheat shipment is less than
year when the crop was only
as large.
last
half
May Cut Yield
year
Altho the wheat crop this
was of record proportions, the lack
of freight cars may cut heavily into
the actual final yield, grain
cautioned.
dealers
solution
hold as
only immediate
for farmers to
as possible in their own
While the
in sight is
much wheat
bins, it is pointed out that much of
the grain being held on farms be
cause of the transportation bottle
neck is being held in makeshift bins
unsuited for storage purposes.
With regular storage bins filled
early in the harvest season, farmers
have been dumping grain into silos,
chicken houses and barn floor or any
other temporary storage facilities
available.
Liable
to
Damage
Such practises, grain men pointed
out are apt to result in damage to
the crop, especially in damp weather.
In view of the present shortage of
freight cars, however, there is no al
ternative.
Because of the unprecedented back
log of w’heat now’ being held on
farms, dealers here estimated the
first of the week that elevators will
be filled to capacity for the next
month.
Some shippers predicted that wheat
carloadings would not be completed
before the soybean crop comes in.
Bluffton Area Wheat
Is Sent To Holland
Farmers of the Bluffton district
are being given their first opportun
ity to aid in European post-war re
construction, by sending a ship load
of wheat to aid Hollanders whose
lands were flooded when the Nazis
broke their dikes.
The project is being undertaken by
the Churches of the Brethren in the
Northwestern Ohio district, who plan
to donate a carload of grain.
J. J.
cock
said
nate
Rev.
Anglemyer, pastor of the Han
county church at Williamstown,
he expects the district will do
at least two carloads.
The project, denomination wide,
originated with the Brethren Service
committee in Elgin, Ill.
Those interested in making dona
tions of grain or money to be
in buying grain may contact
Anglemyer at Williamstown.
used
Rev.
Births
following births at Bluffton
The
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Orville Basinger,
Bluffton, a boy, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Orvell Crates, Je
nera, a son, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Florintine Sanchez,
Mt. Cory, a boy, Tuesday.
In New Locations
Lendon Basinger has moved from
the Mrs. John Nonnamaker farm to
the Philip Basinger farm south of
Bluffton on the Dixie highway which
he recently purchased.
Arthur Nonnamaker has moved
from the Mrs. Anna Koontz farm in
Orange township to the Mrs. John
Nonnamaker farm vacated by Lendon
Basinger.
Real Estate Deals
Property of the late George Lewis
on Spring street was sold by Miss
Gertrude Lewis of Ashley, Mich., to
Edgar Bixel, former Bluffton resi
dent now living in Richmond, Ind.
Mrs. Josephine Carnahan of Bluff
ton has purchased a residence prop
erty on West High street in Lima.
The deals were handled by Mrs. H.
W. Althaus of Bluffton.
BLUFFTON, OHIO, AY, AUGUST 2, 1945
NEITHER
FILLED
CAUCUSE
I
P"
Eight Present ^township and
School Board Officials Will
CAUCUS NOMINATIONS
Democratic Republican
SCHOOL BOARD
(Three to elect)
Donivan Conrad Ralph Badertscher
Leland Diller Paul Diller
W. M. N is wander B. W. Travis
TWP. TRUSTEES
(Two to elect)
Fred C. Badertscher Walter Marshall
Walter Hochstettler Matson Steiner
JUSTICE OF PEACE
(Two to elect)
CONSTABLE
(Two to elect)
Harry Homer R. E. Griffith
Charles Lora
Lagging interest in this year’s po
litical picture, the rush of farm w’ork
because of harvest demands and light
attendance at Democratic and Repub
lican caucuses last Friday night in
the Bluffton High school building re
sulted in neither
filling their tickets
tion.
Charles Lora, Democrat, and R. E.
Griffith, Republican incumbents, were
re-nominated for constable.
Altho neither party completely fill
ed its ticket, there are sufficient can
didates for every office to give elect
ors their choice of returning present
officials whose terms expire or elect
ing new men to replace them.
Nominated for the board of educa
tion are four candidates who have
never held chat office. These are Dr.
B. W. Travis and Paul Diller, Re
publicans, and Donivan Conrad and
Leland Diller, Democrats. The lat
ter is now serving as clerk of the
board.
Other candidates seeking office for
the first time are Walter Hochstet
tler, Democrat, and Watson Steiner,
Republican, nominated for trustee
and Harry Homer, Democrat, con
stable.
Attendance at caucus meetings
Friday was limited principally
cause farmers are busy day
night in their harvest fields."
TS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
KETIS
PARTY
FRIDAY
terest Evi
ight Turn-
Lagging Politi
denced Again li
out For ucuses
Stanley Vertner
party completely
for the fall elec­
no candidate for
Democrats have
justice of the peace and Republicans
named only one candidate for that
office and one constable candidate
with two to be elected to each office.
Two present members of the board
of education were nominated for re
election. They are Dr. W. M. Nis
wander on the Democratic ticket and
Ralph Badertscher on the Republican
slate. John Tosh, a third member,
whose term expires, stated this week
that he would not be a candidate
next fall.
Two Richland township trustees
w’hose terms expire were nominated
for re-election—Fred Badertscher,
Democrat, and Waiter Marshall, Re
publican. s
Also renominated was Stanley
Vertner, Beaverdam Republican, for
justice of the peace. A. D. Gratz,
Bluffton Democrat, present justice of
the peace vrhose term expires at the
end of this year was not a candidate
for renomination.
last
be
and
Weinhold Elzay
Nuptials At Home
Miss Betty Weinhold, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Weinhold of
Bluffton became the
Elzay, son of Mr.
Elzay of Ada, in a
home of the bride
noon at 4 o’clock.
bride of Howard
and Mrs. B. F.
ceremony at the
Saturday after-
Rev. Milton Fronsoe read the dou
ble ring w’edding service amid a col
orful setting of baskets of
flowers.
seasonal
in mar
a street
The bride, who was given
riage by her father, wore
length dress of white eyelet with a
matching half-hat. Her corsage
sisted of red rose buds and blue
get-me-nots.
con
for-
the
Mrs. Rolland L. Stratton,
bride’s sister was matron of honor.
Her dress was of pale yellow and
her corsage was made up of coral
gladiolas and blue spray. Mr. Strat
ton served as best man.
near rela
enjoyed a
home. A
Following the ceremony,
tives and intimate friends
reception at the Weinhold
tw’o-tiered w’edding cake fully decor
ated adorned the table.
Mrs. Weinhold chose for her
daughter’s w’edding a blue crepe
dressmaker’s suit. Her corsage was
of white carnations.
For the present the newly-weds
plan to make their home in Lima.
ON NEWS
Bluffton elect ic current and light
consumers who for the past 2" years
have made their monthly payments
at the Hauenstein pharmacy, began
ednesday making payments for the
past month’s service at the Mayor’s
office.
At the same time Paul Augsburg
er, returned war veteran, recently
appointed clerk of the Board of Pub
lic Affairs took over the duties of
that office succeeding Edgar Hauen-
Details of Death of Local Air
man Are Not Learned Until
IS Months letter
Memorial Services Will Be Held
Sunday In Ebenezer
Mennonite Church
Temporary Headquarters Of Board
Of Public Affairs In Mayor's Office
Sgt. Gerald Caris In Bomber When
It Exploded Over Germany In 1944
at
Memorial services will be held
2:30 p. m. Sunday in the Ebenezei
Mennonite church west of Bluffton
for Staff Sgt. Gerald R. Caris, 21,
complete details of whose death over
Germany more than a year ago were
not obtained until last week by his
wife, the former Veldean Moser.
Rev. A. C. Schultz, of Chicago,
former pastor of the church, will of
ficiate at the memorial rite. He will
be assisted by Rev. J. J. Esau and
Rev. Irvin Kauffman. The family
has requested that flowers be omitted.
Details of the death of Sgt. Caris
on March 8, 1944, were not learned
until the last week, thru word re
ceived by his widow from Captain
Norman Thomas, pilot of the Flying
Fortress on which the Bluffton man
was a gunner, and from Staff Sgt.
Paul Ritchie, another member of the
crew.
Capt. Thomas is from Birmingham,
Ala., and Sgt. Ritchie’s home is Mul
lins, West Virginia.
Sgt. Caris* death occurred when
the Flying Fortress to which he was
assigned was shot down near Dum
mer Lake, close in Hanover in north
western Germany, while returning to
its base in England.
Nine members of the crew of 10
parachuted safely to the ground
were taken prisoner, but Caris
in the plane when it exploded
no trace was found of the body.
and
was
and
Sgt. Caris was the only son of
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Caris, of Orange
township. His mother is employed
in war work at The Triplett Elec
trical Instrument Co.
From the time he was reported
missing in action by the war depart
ment in the spring of 1944, no de
tails could be obtained to establish
his death until the other crewmen
were released from a German prison
camp in the closing days of the
European war.
Mrs. Cans received the Air Medal
and two Oak Leaf clusters awarded
posthumously to her husband last
October at Baer field, Ft. Wayne.
Completes Course
At Summer Camp
Miss Mary Elizabeth Stearns,
daugter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph
Stearns of Spring street who is at
tending the American Youth Founda
tion camp at Shelby, Mich., for the
fourth summer, will be graduated at
that place on August 12.
near Lake
years’ sum
and nature
situated
a four
Bible
The camp
Michigan, offers
mer course in
study.
school
year, Mffes
During the
Stearns is a student at Heidelberg
college at Tiffin.
Francis Kohli, son of Mrs. Eva
Kohli, Bluffton war plant worker,
served with the D. S. Navy on one
of the “Mighty Midget” assault boats
in leading the offensive in American
landings on Okinawa, it was learned
this week.
Assault craft of the type to which
Kohli is assigned form a powerful
blocking offensive line in front of
landing craft carrying personnel,
troops and equipment, and creep in
close to beaches to lend much needed
firepower support in landing opera
tions.
These small craft carry numerous
varied calibre guns, and their fire
power is complemented by powerful
rockets, a powerful barrage of which
always is laid down just before as
sault troops hit the beaches.
stein who resigned after a quarter
century of service.
The board will maintain its head
quarters temporarily at the Mayor’s
office until its new quarters on Vine
street at the rear of the Basinger
furniture store are ready for occu
pancy', where it will maintain a per
manent office.
The clerk will maintain daily office
hours from 8:30 to 11:30 a. m. and
from 12:30 to 5:30 p. m.
FIVE FROM AREA
GET NOTIFICATION
FOR EXAMINATIONS
Preinduction Physical Examina
tions In August For Group
Of 27 Selectees
Notifications Sent From Draft
Board No. 3 To Allen
County Registrants
Francis Kohli On Mighty Midget
In First Wave Of Okinawa Assault
Designers of'the “Mighty Midget”,
in
No Bluffton men are included
the August preindue', ion call for
physical examinations made this
week by Allen County Draft Board
No. 3.
However of the 27 notified to
report for examination, five regis
trants are from this area, including
three from Lafayette, one from
Columbus Grove and one from Ada.
Notified to report for the pre
induction physicals were the follow
ing:
Columbus Grove—Byron M. Mc
Dowell.
Lafayette—James J. Spurr, Rich
ard A. Oder and James Coolidge.
Ada—James C. Clum.
Lima—Bruce L. Goodenough, Clay
ton E. Johns, Walter Joseph, Cary
Reichman, William Reser, Ralph
I Riegle, Paul Little, Joe Wireman,
Robert E. Price, Robert Sellers, and
Cleatus Dotson.
Elida—Paul P. Ponzuric, Gene E.
Wright, Vernon W. Heatwole, David
S. Brenneman and Milton D. Ramer.
Spencerville—Robert E. Monfort
and David P. Shaffer.
Del phos—Donald
and Melvin Haas.
L. Baumgarte
Harrod—James R. Williams.
Wapakoneta—Robert C. Wise.
Pvt. Merl Habegger
Gets Army Discharge
Pvt. Merl Habegger, 36, son of Mr.
and Lira. Henry Habexger of Riley
street has received a discharge from
the army. Pvt. Habegger, veteran of
32 months’ service in the Southwest
Pacific area has been in this country
since the holidays serving as a guard
at prisoner of war camps in Camp
Perry and Marion.
Orange Twp. G. O. P.
Caucus Friday Night
Orange township Republicans will
hold a caucus Friday night at 9
o’clock at the Orange Center Com
munity house for the purpose of
nominating a township ticket for
November election.
the
BLUFFTON MARKETS
Wednesday Morning
Grain (bushel prices) Wheat
$1.55 com $1.12 oats 60c soys
$2.04.
known officially as the LCS (L) (3)
combined in them all the advantages
of a ship that can navigate in the
shallowest water. With their many
guns, the small ships are a menace
to short, air and surface targets.
In the Okinawa invasion, the craft
formed the most powerful and long
est offensive lines ever to precede
ground troops onto the beaches of in
vaded territory, and just before
troops landed the heaviest rocket
barrage in history was laid down.
Other equipment of the “Mighty
Midgets” include powerful water
pumps that can extinguish any blaze.
Another use is to tow small amphib
vessels that have broached on the
beach.
Seaman Kohli now is at a naval
rest camp in the Pacific, according to
word received recently by his mother.
BUY
owrru
MVDHMtatss•
NUMBER 15
ESTIMATE $69,006
COST TO OPERATE
SCHOOLS FOR YEAR
Expenditures in 1916 Will In
crease $8,000, Budget
Indicates
Much of Increase Will Be Pro
vided by Daniels-Cramer
Bill Funds
Bluffton public school expenditures
in 1946 will be $69,006.22, nearly
$8,000 more than in 1945, according
to estimates in a budget approved
this week by the board of education.
Included in the budget figures is
an outlay of $9,300 for retirement
of bonds and $2,718 for interest on
the school’s bonded debt, w’hich will
stand at $60,900 on January 1, 1946.
Estimated total expenditure of
369,006.22 in 1946, compares with
$61,652 as the estimated total for
this year, and $59,497.14 in 1944.
More Money
Receipts in 1946 will be $72,469.61,
according to the estimates in the new
budget, an increase over the 1945
school income of $68,412.10. Most of
the additional money expected in
1946 will come from the state, as a
result of the Daniels-Cramer bill en
acted by the legislature this summer.
In 1945 Bluffton schools will re
ceive a total of $17,511 from the
state foundation fund, but increases
provided under the Daniels-Cramer
bill will give them $22,698 during the
next year.
Principal item of expenditure in
1946 will be $39,804.72 for teachers*
salaries, the new budget shows, as
compared with $37,825.33 spent in
1945.
A total of $6,880 will be required
for janitors and engineers in 1946
$4,000 for superintendent and admin
istration, and $2,070 for bus trans
portation. The remainder will repre
sent money spent for supplies, im
provements, etc.
Bluffton Native
Succumbs In Lima
Mrs. Esther Ream Harmon, 40,
Bluffton native, died at her home in
Lima, Monday morning. She was
born in Bluffton, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Roy Ream and moved to
Lima with her parents 38 years ago.
Surviving are her husband Harry
K. Harmon, daughter Mrs. Dortha
Rotroff and son Jack, a grandson
and her father and mother all of
Lima also three sisters, Mrs. Ethel
Carr of Union township, Hancock
county Mrs. Hazel Clough of Day
ton and Mrs. Myron Faust, Akron,
and a brother Herbert Ream of Se
attle, Wash.
Funeral services were held at the
Lima Central Church of Christ, Wed
nesday afternoon with Rev. Paul
Hunk officiating. Burial was in
Lima Memorial park cemetery.
________
Reunions
The 18th annual reunion of the
Paulding Center (Rayl) school will
be held at the school, Sunday, Aug
ust 5. Pres., Lyman Barnes Sec.,
Vern Dardio.
The 23rd annual reunion of the
Rote and Zearbaugh families will be
held at the Orange Center school,
Sunday, August 19. Pres., Levi
Gable Sec., Mrs. Levi Gable.
The Black school of Orange town
ship will hold its 36th annual re
union on Thursday, August 9. Pres.,
Mildred Klingler Sec., Fern Koch.
The Huber family reunion will be
held Sunday, August 19 at the
Paulding Center school south of
Bluffton on Bentley road. Pres.,
Russell Huber Sec., Mae Huber.
Rationing Calendar
So that you may keep in mind the
numerous important war-time ra
tioning dates, the Bluffton News is
publishing this weekly reminder:
MEATS, RUTTER. CHEESE,
CANNED MILK—Boojt 4 red
stamps Q-2 thru Z-2 and A-l
thru K-l good for 10 points
each. Q-2 thru U-2 expire
August 31.
PROCESSED FOODS—Book 4
blue stamps Y-2 thru Z-2 and
A-l thru T-l good for 10 points
each. Y-2 thru Z-2 and A-l
thru C-l expire August 31.
SUGAR—Stamp 36 is now
good for 5 pounds thru August
31.
GASOLINE—Stamp A-16 good
for 6 gallons thru Sept. 21.
SHOES—Airplane stamps 1, 2
and 3 in Ration Book No. 3 good
indefinitely.