The Bluffton news. [volume], June 06, 1946, Image 1

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’THURSDAY. JUNE 6, 1946
BUY
VX1TM
•TATM
VOLUME LXXI
UTILITY’S MILLION
DOLLAR EXPANSION
BEGINS HERE SOON
Plant Addition And New Unit
At Woodcock Plant Estimat
ed At $1,100,000
Central Ohio Light and Power
Company Markets Stock
To Finance Program
A project involving more than one
million dollars for enlargement of
the Woodcock electric generating
plant in Bluffton operated by the
Central Ohio Light and Power com
pany of Findlay will be financed by
an offering of stock the company
disclosed in a registration statement
filed Tuesday with the securities and
exchange commission in Philadelphia.
Extension of the building of the
Bluffton plant and addition of a
fourth generating unit are the ma
jor items in the proposed program.
Cost of the tw’o projects is esti
mated at $1,100,000.
The plant, built here ten years
ago has been enlarged uince that
time and is rated as one of the most
efficient of its kind. Its present
three units with a generating capac
ity of 17,500 kilow’atts are running
to capacity more than fifty per cent
of the day, it wras stated.
Begin Work Next Month
Work on addition to the plant
here will be started July 1, accord
ing to the present plans and the new
generating unit is expected to be in
operation in from six to nine
months. This will increase the
plant’s capacity to 27,500 kilowatts.
The stock offering proceeds of
which will be used to finance im
provements here and also for other
purposes, according to the company’s
statement covers 30,000 shares of
$10 par value common stock which
will be offered to common stockhold
ers on the basis of one new share
for each 2.8 shares now held. Un
subscribed shares, the company
said, may be sold for cash to under
writers or to other parties.
Crescent Public Service Co., form
er Central Ohio parent and holder
of 3,000 common shares, waived its
right to subscribe to additional com
mon.
Last Rites Saturday
For Belle Augsburger
Funeral services were held Satur
day afternoon at the residence on
College avenue for Mrs. Belle
Augsburger, 71, who died Thursday
morning in the Bluffton Community
hospital, after a two-years’ illness.
Rev. J. A. Weed, pastor of the
Methodist church, of which she was
a member, officiated at the rites.
Burial was in Maple Grove cemetery.
Daughter of William and Eliza J.
Lewis, Mrs. Augsburger was born
in Bluffton October 11, 1874. She
was married on May 3, 1895, to
William C. Augsburger, wrho died
November 15, 1940.
Survivors include two daughters,
Mrs. Hazel Marshall, Rockport, and
Mrs. Elnora Augsburger, Ft. Wayne,
and a son, Donald L. Augsburger,
Williamsport, Pa.
Community Band To
Play This Summer
An organization meeting and first
practice of a Bluffton Community
band will be held at 8 p. m. next
Monday in the Bluffton high school
music room.
Altho the band is sponsored by
returned servicemen, anyone inter
ested is invited to play with the
group.
The band is preparing to play for
the Fourth of July rodeo, and plans
to present occasional Wednesday
night concerts thruout the summer.
William Holtkamp will be conductor
of the organization.
Former Residents
Leg Is Amputated
E. M. “Mike” Balmer, 65, former
Bluffton resident w’ho has lived for
many years in Fostoria underwent
an operation for amputation of his
right leg above the knee at a
Fostoria hospital, Sunday afternoon.
Balmer received injuries including
a fracture of the leg on April 3
when a scaffold on which he was
working as a carpenter broke and
he fell some 20 feet to the ground.
He has been in the hospital since
that time. His condition the first of
the week was reported satisfactory.
He is a brother of Henry Balmer,
Mrs. Mel Long, Mrs. John Marquart
and Miss Alice Btalmer, all of Bluff
ton.
Pay Raises Granted
For Town Workmen
Pay raises for Bluffton village
w’orkmen w’ere authorized Monday
night at a meeting of the municipal
council, with the increases becoming
effective as of June 1.
Rates for semi-skilled labor em
ployed by the town were increased
from 63 to 75 cents an hour, and
the common labor scale wras boosted
from 55 to 65 cents an hour.
At the same time the monthly
salary of Lee Coon, w’ho holds the
combined jobs of chief of police and
service supervisor, was increased
from $163 to $175. Coon’s pay as
police chief was raised from $50 to
$75 per month, and his salary as
service supervisor was adjusted from
$112 to $100 per month by council
action.
DRIVE FOR HARMON
FIELD FUNDS WILL
START NEXT WEEK
Full-Scale Program Of Recrea
tion Must Be Financed Thru
House-To-House Canvass
Organized Activity Gets Under
Way This Week New Equip
ment Is On The Way Now
Resumption of full-scale recrea
tional activity at Harmon field this
summer will be tied in with a
house-to-house canvass of Bluffton
homes starting next week, to raise
$2,500 needed to finance a year
around program including winter
recreation.
For the first time in more than a
decade Harmon field has a full-time
summer director, new playground
equipment has been ordered, the
field tennis courts are being put
into shape, and many new phases of
recreational activity for young and
old alike have been planned.
To finance the extensive program,
which also will be projected into
the fall and winter seasons, $2,500
must be raised in the house-to-house
canvass of the town.
More than 50 children of grade
and high school age participated in
activities at the play center Monday
and Tuesday of this w'eek, at the
start of the' season, and others are
invited to participate in the organiz
ed activity.
Girls Participation Urged
Girls particularly are urged to
turn out in greater numbers, and
they will find many games and
other forms of activity are planned
for them at the field this summer.
New playground equipment al
ready ordered includes a set of four
swings, a stainless steel slide, a
four-board teeter-totter, two sand
boxes, two pairs of circus stilts, a
trapeze and set of swinging rings,
horseshoes, soccer, softball, paddle
tennis, and croquet.
With the recreational center out
of use for so many years, equipment
Softball League
Softball league piay for adults
will be resumed at the Harmon
field diamonds next Tuesday
night, with teams to be selected
this Friday. Anyone interested
in participating is urged to give
their names to Kent Cotterman,
field director.
that once was on a par with that
in the largest cities has deteriorated
to the extent that almost 100 p£r
cent replacement is required.
Realizing the field cannot be
completely re-established in one
season, rehabilitation of \ts equip
ment is planned over a three-year
period, with projected programs in
cluding lighted croquet and horse
shoe courts, blacktopped tennis
courts, a blacktop combination,
volleyball, tennis and roller skating
court on the grade school grounds,
shuffle board courts and picnic
tables.
Winter Activity Too
In the winter it is planned to
flood a section of Harmon field for
ice skating and hockey, and basket
ball and volleyball leagues will be
organized for play in the Bluffton
college and Bluffton High school
gymnasiums, which have been made
available to the recreation commit
tee.
Goal of the committee is to pro
vide year-around recreation for
people of all ages, and all funds
donated to the program stay in the
community.
Bluffton’s Second English War Bride,
Mrs. Charles Hankish, Here This Week
In charge of the Harmon field
(Continued on page 8)
I
Abundance Of Food And Cloth
ing Are In Contrast To
English Shortages
Bluffton Man Meets War Bride
In New York Couple Ar
rives Here Monday
Bluffton greetedi ts second British
war bride when Mrs. Charles Hank
ish, Jr., arrived here Monday with
her husband who met her in New
York city last Thursday where she
debarked from the liner Erickson
after a trans-Atlantic voyage from
England. She is the former Louise
Hart of Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
The charming English bride of the
Bluffton ex-service man says she
already feels at home in America
but has not yet become accustomed
to the relative abundance of every
thing in comparison to Britain’s re
stricted post-war economy.
In England there still is insuffi
cient food and clothing to fill the
demand, in marked contrast to condi
tions in the United States, she said.
Bananas and oranges are available
for the first since the outbreak of
war, and food generally is short.
Strict rationing still prevails, and
the English must cut corners to
make their ration stamps reach. If
you get enough of one item, such as
shoes, for example, you have to do
without something else, such as
dresses, she pointed out.
Mrs. Hankish lived in Tetbury, a
small town about 100 miles south of
London, and altho the village was
near the Channel there was no bomb
damage. Her husband was stationed
with American forces about 30 miles
from her home when they met
They were married in Tetbury
last November 3. Hankish later was
stationed in Germany, then returned
to this country last January after
30 months service overseas.
The young couple will make their
home in the Hankish apartment over
the Allen County Co-op Farm Bu
reau store on South Main street.
Bluffton’s first English war bride,
Mrs. Harry J. Shrider, arrived here
more than a month ago.
Frank Swank Rites
Held Here Sunday
Funeral services were held Sunday
afternoon in the Basinger funeral
home for Frank J. Swank, former
driller and contractor in Orange
township during the oil boom days.
Swank died at a hospital in Tyler,
Texas, Monday morning of last week,
and the body was brought here for
burial. His wife, the former Zoe
Black, died in December, 1933. There
are no children.
Born in Houcktown, Swank was
the son of Jefferson and Nancy
Swank. Surviving uncles include
Anson Swank, Arlington Scott
Swank, Findlay Charles Swank,
Mansfield and Loring Swank, of
Michigan.
Swank was a member of Bluffton
Masonic Lodge, and the Masonic
ritual was conducted by local lodge
officers at Maple Grove cemetery.
In addition to his Bluffton lodge
affiliation, Swank was a member of
the Commandery and the Valley of
Peoria Scottish Rite, and the Shrine
of Peoria, Illinois.
Rev. A. S. Lenhart of the Church
of Christ was the officiating pastor
at the funeral service.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Montgomery,
Jr., of Orange township, a girl,
Jean Ann, Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Vandemark,
Ada, a girl Jo Ann, Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stanley, Pan
dora, a boy, Ben Hall, Tuesday.
With Service Men
Fred Fritchie, Jr., of the Navy
stationed at Norfolk, Va., is home
for a short leave.
Pvt. Morris Hartman of Ft. Mon
mouth, N. J., spent the week end
with his parents, Mr and Mrs.
Archie Hartman of Orange town
ship.
Films At Methodist
Brotherhood Meeting
“Now the Peace”, a film feature
will be shown at a meeting of the
Men’s Brotherhood of the Methodist
church, Thursday night at 8 o’clock.
The discussion following will be led
by A. J. B. Longsdorf. Refreshments
will be served.
BLUFFTON NEWS, BLUFFTON. OHIO
rHE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO THURSDAY, JUNE 6. 1946
THREE VACANCIES
IN PUBLIC SCHOOL
TEACHING STAFFS
Annabelle Weed, Paul Stauffer,
Resign At High School
One In Grades
Robert Ewing Returning To
Grade School Revamp
Music Setup Planned
Consideration of steps to be taken
in filling three vacancies resulting
from resignations in the public
school teaching staff will be made
Wednesday night of next week at a
meeting of the Bluffton Board of
Education.
Three instructors have submitted
resignations two from the high
school staff and one at the grade
school, it was announced this week.
Miss Annabelle Weed has resigned
as home economics instructor Paul
W. Stauffer will not return next fall
as speech and dramatics instructor,
and Mrs. Robert Koenig, the former
Floy McBain, has resigned from the
grade school teaching force.
Accompany Parents
Miss Weed will accompany her
parents, Rev. and Mrs. J. A. Weed,
to their new location at Mechanics
burg, where Rev. Weed has been as
signed to the pastorate of the First
Methodist Episcopal church.
It is understood a number of ap
plications for the home economics
post have been received, and will be
considered by the board.
Whether a successor will be
sought for Stauffer’s post is uncer
tain, inasmuch as the speech and
dramatics department has been men
tioned as one that might be dropped
in the board’s economy program. It
is believed unlikely, however, that
there will be a replacement as a
speech and dramatics instructor ex
clusively.
Possibilities that no successor may
be required for Mrs. Knoenig in the
grade school is seen in the fact that
Robert Ewing, former grade teacher
in the Army for the past three
years, will return to the teaching
staff next fall. In addition, Mrs.
Clayton Murray, who has been
teaching in the grade school and who
resigned effective for the coining
year, has been re-employed and will
remain in the schools.
One Music Teacher
A new policy of consolidating pub
lic school music classes under one
instructor will be put into effect
during the coming year, it was
learned this week.
During the past year instrumental
music was directed by Carl Twining,
of Findlay, and vocal music by Mrs.
Wilbur Hoon, the former Harriet
Brate. The music position has been
offered to Mrs. Hoon, but so far
there has been no indication as to
whether she will accept.
Teachers, whether hired for the
coming school year or carried over
under provisions of the teacher ten
ure act, have until July 31 to re
sign. After that date they must ob
tain a release from the board of
education before accepting any Ohio
teaching position.’
Orange Twp. Farmer
Injured By Cattle
D. D. Williamson, 73, Orange
towmship farmer received several
fractured ribs when he was trampled
by cattle Monday morning. He was
standing at a door of his barn when
a number of young cattle rushed out,
knocking him to the ground and
trampling him. He is at his home
where his condition is reported satis
factory.
R. E. Griffith New
Night Policeman
Temporary appointment of R. E.
Griffith, S. Lawn avenue, as night
watchman, was announced Monday
night by Mayor W. A. Howe at a
meeting of the municipal council.
Griffith’s appointment came after
resignations had been submitted by
two college students who temporarily
had filled the post during the regu
lar college term.
Noon Closing Will
Start On Thursday
Majority of retail stores in Bluff
ton will start this week closing
every Thursday afternoon during
the summer season, it is announced
by the Bluffton Business Men’s as
sociation. Most stores here have
closed on Thursday afternoons dur
ing the summer season for several
years past.
A house of native stone will be
built this summer by H. W. Berky,
Bluffton college instructor, it was
learned the first of the week as ex
cavation for the structure was be
gun.
Stone, plentiful in the Bluffton
area, will be used for exterior walls
and wherever possible as a substi
tute for building lumber which is
difficult to obtain. The stone will
include limestone from the local
quarry and other stone from the
surrounding area.
The new structure consisting of
two stories will face South Spring
street and is at the rear of the
residence now occupied by the Berky
family which they sold to Bluffton
college. The college will convert
the residence into a dormitory for
girls at the opening of school next
fall.
Hay May Equal Last Year’s
Record Yield Feed Crops
Will Be Good
Prospects For Wheat, Oats and
Potatoes Are Good As Rain
Aids Crops
Alfalfa harvest was started this
week in the Bluffton district with a
good yield in prospect, the first
tangible return in a summer which
finds the early-June crop outlook
fully as favorable as that of last
year when bumper harvests were
the rule.
Leading off with alfalfa cutting,
hay prospects generally are as good
as in 1945 when one of the largest
crops in years was harvested. Red
clover and mixed hay also give every
indication of a bumper yield later
in June, and timothy cutting, which
comes in July, should be equally as
good.
Wheat, Oats, Potatoes Promising
Pastures which virtually dried up
during the April drought have re
vived, and prospects are good for
milk production continuing on a
high level.
Virtually all vestiges of the un
seasonably dry weather of early
spring have been erased by May’s
cool wet weather, and the month was
unusually favorabe for wheat, oats,
potatoes and grass.
Soy Bean Acreage
Late corn planting was delayed
somewhat by May’s almost contin
ual rainfall, but most farmers got
much of it done before the rains
set in and others finished seeding of
the crop during the last week. Any
acreage remaining unplanted likely
will be diverted to soy beans, which
can be planted as late as the middle
of June.
From present prospects it is fairly
evident that feed for livestock will
be plentiful in the Bluffton district
for the coming year, even though it
is too early to determine what the
corn outlook may be.
Barbers Raise Price
Of Haircuts, Shaves
Bluffton barbers announced Wed
nesday a raise in the price of hair
cuts from 50 cents to 65 cents.
Shaves advanced from 25 cents to
35 cents.
Enrollment of 160 students in
Bluffton’s vacation Bible school,
which opened Monday morning for
a two weeks’ term, is one of the
most successful in the history of the
summer activity here.
Classes are arranged for beginners
thru the eighth grade, and children
enrolled are from 12 churches in the
Bluffton community.
On the closing day, Friday of next
week, parents are invited to attend
a program in the grade school, fol
lowed by a picnic at Harmon field.
Rev. E. N. Bigelow is dean of the
school which is sponsored by the
Bluffton Ministerial association.
Will Build House Here Of Native
Stone As Lumber Shortage Pinches
Wheat, already well headed and
betokening an early harvest, is grow
ing rank in lowlands, and a portion
of the crop is down because of the
heavy straw. Oats likewise looks
promising, and potatoes are expected
to be materially better than last
year.
Summer Harvest Season Opens
With First Cutting Of Alfalfa
The staff of instructors includes:
Beginners—Mrs. Nelson Steiner, as
sisted by Miss Ada May Oyer and
Mrs. Harold Younkman.
160 From H2 Churches Enroll In
Bluffton Vacation Bible School
In New Locations
Rev. E. G. Steiner and family
have moved to Lafayette, Ind., where
he has accepted the pastorate of a
Defenseless Mennonite church. Mr.
and Mrs. Chas. Sheridan who pur
chased the Steiner property on South
Jackson street are moving from
apartments which they occupied in
the Ross Bogart property on Cherry
street.
Rev. J. A. Weed, former pastor
of the Methodist church here who
has been assigned to the First Meth
odist church at Mechanicsburg will
move with his family to that place
Friday. Rev. Paul Cramer who has
been assigned to the pastorate of the
Bluffton church will move here Fri
day.
NICKEL PLATE
RESTORES THRU
TRAIN SERVICE
Cleveland-St. Louis Trains
Resume Former Schedules
On Monday
Bluffton’s Mail Service Disrupt
ed During Strike, Back
To Normal
Nickel Plate fliers operating thru
Bluffton twice daily resumed opera
tions on Monday of this week, bring
ing a restoration of normal mail
service to the town after a month of
curtailment.
Both trains resumed their runs
Monday evening, leaving the termin
al cities of Cleveland and St. Louis.
Trains ran in both directions thru
Bluffton on Tuesday, arriving here
at 6:02 a. m. bound for Cleveland,
and 9:16 p. m. enroute to St.
Bluffton’s mail delivery service
was generally disrupted during the
three w-eeks’ period the two trains
were discontinued because of ODT
restrictions on rail traffic as a re
sult of the coal strike.
With the resumption of normal
rail service, the two local trains
that ran between Fostoria and Pe
oria, Ill., will be discontinued so
far as Bluffton and other points to
Fostoria are concerned.
These trains in the future will
run on their normal schedule be
tween Lima and Peoria. Their runs
were extended north to Fostoria only
during the period of emergency be
cause of discontinuance of the thru
trains.
With The Sick
Miss Ocie Anderson, in charge of
Bluffton’s public library is a sur
gical patient in Bluffton hospital
where she underwent an operation
for appendicitis.
Mrs. Wilson Hawk of South Jack
son street is a patient in Bluffton
hospital.
Mrs. Albert Deppler of South
Main street, a patient in Bluffton
hospital with a fractured hip re
ceived in a fall last winter, is con
valescing.
C. D. Amstutz of South Jackson
street is a patient in Lima Memorial
hospital.
Pre-school—Mrs. W. A. Howe, as
sisted by Misses Marilyn Fett and
Louise Soldner
First Grade—Miss Louella Lugin
buhl, assisted by Miss Dora Jean
Luginbuhl.
Second grade—Mrs. Carl Derring
er, assisted by Miss Margaret Gro
man.
Third grade—Mrs. W. O. Geiger,
assisted by Miss Eleanor Linden.
Fourth grade—Mrs. Charles Lau
by, assisted by Mrs. Lee Clauss.
Fifth grade- Mrs. N. A. Triplett,
assisted by Misses Pegg} Ecken
wiler and Phyllis Marquart
Sixth thru Eighth—Rev. V. C.
Oppermann.
The various ministers of the com
munity are alternating in appearing
on assembly programs at the school.
BUY^
UNITS* 4
•TAT*»
NUMBER 7
AWAIT WORD ON
COAL DELIVERIES
AND NEW PRICES
Slight Prospect of Filling Bins
Of Householders Until Late
Summer
Advance Of About 35 Cents
Per Ton Expected Enough
Coal At Light Plant
When Bluffton householders will
get their winter’s coal supply and
what the price of the product will
be comprise two major questions
that are going unanswered this week,
despite the end of the coal strike.
Dealers here the first of this week
professed to known neither answer,
and about the only certainty in the
matter is the accepted fact that coal
will be higher in price, altho no one
yet can tell how much of an increase
will be applied.
There are virtually no prospects
for an early resumption of coal de
liveries for domestic heating next
winter, and many householders who/
normally fill their bins in April and
May may have to wait until late
summer at the earliest before they
get even partial delivery.
No Coal Now
No coal is available yet in deal
ers’ yards, and if past custom is fol
lowed shipments from the mines
after they resume production this
week will be diverted by government
directives to the upper lake regions.
If that practice is in effect this
year, little coal for domestic heating
will be available here until late sum
mer, with the exception of that
trucked in from “wagon” mines in
Ohio and West Virginia.
Coal pricing now that the strike
has ended is uncertain, and altho
dealers assume there will be an in
crease in price there has been no an
nouncement so far. In many quart
ers there is the belief that coal will
advance in price about 35 cents per
ton, but there has been nothing offi
cial to date.
Enough Coal
at
Light Plant
Coal is coming into the municipal
light plant and waterworks in suffi
cient quantities tr fissure operation
,ou a wmal ba^tf Jfcgther fkrwM
received last Satu£|#» the second in
ivoR^F****”
Altho shipments are coming thru
to the light plant, billing is on an
open account basis, with the price to
be set later. Deliveries to utilities
are not being held up because of the
uncertainty of prices, but invoicing
will be on the basis of new prices,
once they are set.
Whether the boost in coal prices
may be great enough to cause an in
crease in light and power rates will
have to be determined when the
Board of Public Affairs gets the
new coal prices.
Mrs. Ed Scheele Dies
Funerdl On Thursday
Mrs. Lydia Scheele, 58, died at
her home on South Main street
Tuesday afternoon. Death followed
an operation which she underwent
several weeks ago.
Funeral services will be held
Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock at
the Lutheran church with Rev. W. L.
Harmony, the pastor, officiating.
Burial will be in the McComb ceme
tery. The body is at the Paul Diller
funeral home where it will remain
until the services on Thursday.
Born March 25, 1888 in Pleasant
township, Hancock county, she was
a daughter of Samuel and Sarah
McConnel Stateler.
She was married October 20, 1920
to Edward Scheele who survived.
The couple moved from McComb to
Bluffton four years ago, living since
that time at their present home.
Mrs. Scheele was a member of the
Shawtown Methodist church.
Besides her husband she is sur
vived by a step-son Arven Scheele
of North Spring street, a sister'Miss
Mabel Stateler and brother, Mack
Stateler, both of McComb.
Past-Master's Dinner
At Masonic Lodge
A pot-luck dinner at 6:30 p. m.
and work in the Master Mason’s de
gree will be features of the annual
past master’s night of the Bluffton
Masonic lodge, next Monday.
Among past masters who will ap
pear on the program are Stanley
Basinger, D. B. Conrad, Ross Bo
gart, Charles Aukerman, Dr. B. R.
Herring, Harold Beals and George
Rauenbuhler.
All members of the lodge are
urged to attend the pot-luck dinner
and the meeting following.