BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live
VOLUME LXXI
BLUFFTON SCHOOLS
HAVE ENROLLMENT
OF 486 THIS FALL
Student Registration Drops For
Ninth Time in Last Ten
Years.
Grade School Total is Up With
247 High School Has 239
in Six Classes.
After reversing a downward trend
in enrollment last fall for the first
time in nine years, Bluffton public
school registration dropped off again
this year, with five fewer pupils en
rolled than during the 1945-46 term.
Marking the ninth year out of 10
that enrollment has dropped from
that of the preceding fall, Bluffton
grade and high schools had an ag
gregate of 486 students on Tuesday,
the opening day of school. Last fall’s
first-day registration was 491.
Principal decrease in enrollment
this year is in junior and senior
high school classes, with 10 fewer
students than last fall’s mark of
■249.
In the first six grades, enrollment
went up for the second consecutive
year, with 247 registered this fall as
■compared with 242 in 1945.
Another drop in the upper grades
may be expected next fall, for a
class of 56 seniors will graduate this
year and the sixth grade, which will
advance to junior high school in an
other year, has only 41.
Bluffton’s downward trend in en
rollment started in the fall of 1937
when the public schools had 669 stu
dents. This represents 183 pupils
more than the schools have this fall.
Top enrollment in the grade school
this fall is in the third grade where
there are 50 students. In the second
grade there are 49, but first grade
enrollment this fall dropped to 32,
after standing at 42 in 1945.
In the high school this year the
largest enrollment is in the senior
class with 56 pupils. Of these four
are
Ami
land and Kenneth Finton.
School enrollment totals vfrere an
nounced Tuesday afternoon by Supt.
Ralph Lanham as follows:
Grade School
■Grade Teacher Total
1 Meredith Stepleton 32
2 Mrs. Clayton Murray
and Mrs. Dwight Spayth 49
3 Minerva Hilty and
Mrs. Clayton Murray 50
4 Robert Ewing 40
5 Mrs. Adella Oyer 35
6 Theola Steiner i 41
Total 247
High School
Grade Total
7 32
8 28
Freshman 47
Sophomore 28
Junior 48
Senior 56
Total 239
Two From Here Get
OSU Master Degrees
Two Bluffton college graduates
received masters degrees in a class
of 530 graduated Friday at Ohio
.State university, Columbus.
R. Emerson Niswander was grad
uated with a degree in master of
science, and Robert Schaeublin re
ceived a master of arts degree. Both
nre graduates of Bluffton High
school.
Niswander will continue his stud
ies at the university this fall where
he will also be assistant in the
zoology department. He is a mem
ber of Gamma Sigma Delta honor
scholastic society.
Schaeublin has accepted a posi
tion as educational program super
visor with the Veterans administra
tion at Dearborn, Michigan.
Former College
Students Married
Wedding of Paul Sauder and
Miss Esther Habegger, former Bluff
ton college students, took place in
the Mennonite church in Grabill,
Ind., Sunday of last week.
Sauder, recently discharged from
the Marine corps after active service
in the Pacific area will be associated
with his father in the hatchery
business. The couple will live in
Grabill.
Those from Bluffton attending the
wedding included Mr. and Mrs. Silas
Diller, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Benroth,
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Niswander, Mr.
and Mrs. Ulrich Amstutz, Miss
M’Della Moon and Mrs. L. L. Ram
seyer.
Bluffton’s coldest Labor Day on
record brought frost and a low tem
perature of 36 on Tuesday morning,
as August’s unseasonable cool weath
er continued into September.
No frost damage was reported in
the Bluffton area because of the
extreme dryness of ground and vege
tation, but farmers are expressing
fears that their corn crop, already
late, may be materially reduced un
less a turn to warmer weather is
experienced soon.
A killing frost any time during
the first three weeks of September
can ruin many fields, and those who
fear frost damage in a continuation
of cool weather experienced here for
nearly a month are hoping that
forecasts of a warm wave the latter
part of this week will bring higher
temperatures.
Respite from mosquitoes, however,
has been one favorable result of
continued low thermometer readings,
but with creeks full of wrigglers
(mosquito larvae) infestation can
be the heaviest of the summer w’ith
a few days of warm weather.
Registration To Add Inter
national Flavor To Campus
Atmosphere
Three From Holland Others
From Syria, Italy, Mexico,
Puerto Rico
Adding an international flavor to
the campus atmosphere, Bluffton col
lege will include in its student body
this fall 12 men and women from
six foreign countries.
Enroute to Bluffton for the open
ing of the school term next week
are three students from Holland,
two from Puerto Rico, one from
Syria, one from Mexico, one from
Italy, and four from Canada.
They will be among 150 new stu
dents expected on the campus this
fall, approximately 130 of whom
will be freshmen. Enrollment from
this country will bring students from
12 states, according to pre-registra
tion figures.
From Holland Bluffton will have
Anetta de Graaf, 24, of Haarlem,
Pieter Verhulst, 21, of Hilversum,
(Continued on page 8)
Drivers9 Licenses
Go On Sale Monday
Automobile drivers’ licenses, re
newal of which js required by mid
night Sept. 30, will go on sale in
Bluffton next Monday at Montgom
ery’s News Stand.
To receive a 1947 license, a 1946
permit must be presented. Fee for
a regular operator’s license remains
40 cents. Chauffeur’s license costs
90 cents.
Applicants for 1947 licenses who
do not have a 1946 permit must ob
tain a temporary instruction permit
and present himself to the State
Highway patrol for examination.
Chas. Hankish Sails
Enroute To Syria
Charles Hankish w*ho left early
last week on a trip to his home
town in Syria sailed Friday from
New York, according to word re
ceived by his family here. Hankish
is making the trip with a party of
three other men from Toledo.
Bluffton Native
Dies In Canada
Farmers Fear For Corn Prospects As
Continued Cool Weather Brings Frost
12 Students From Foreign Lands To
Be On Bluffton Campus This Fall
Will H. Steiner, 70, Bluffton na
tive who for the past 33 years has
been a farmer residing near Strat
ford, Ontario, Canada, died at his
home there Tuesday morning. His
death followed a two months’ illness.
He was born in Riley township,
the son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
John J. Steiner and moved to Can
ada in 1913.
Surviving are four daughters,
Mrs. Mabel Weaver, Ft. Colbourne,
Ontario Mrs. Odulla Roth and Mrs.
Aletha Cook, Gadshill, Ont., and
Miss Alice Steiner at home.
Brothers and sisters surviving are
Clarence Steiner and Mrs. Arthur
Miller, Bluffton Harvey Steiner,
Kenmore, N. Y., and Mrs. Frank
Weaver, Port Colbourne, Ontario.
Mr. and Mrs. Steiner, Mr. and
Mrs. Miller and Miss Sylvia Bieder
man of Bluffton will attend funeral
services to be held at Stratford,
Thursday afternoon. Interment will
be at that place.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Balmer,
Bluffton, a girl, Beth Anita, Wed
nesday morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Dunlap,
Beaverdam, a boy, Tuesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Deppler,
Bluffton, a girl, Shirley Elaine,
Monday.
Mr. and Mrs, Francis Devier,
Bluffton, a girl, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Bame, Je
nera, a boy, Laverne Ray, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Edinger,
Bluffton, a girl, Jean Ann, Satur
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Steinman,
Mt. Cory, a boy, Allen Leroy, Fri
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Emans,
Bluffton, a boy, Gregory Dean,
Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bame, Wil
liamstown, a girl, Linda Jeanne,
last Wednesday.
Visitors Here In Auto
Crash Enroute Home
Enroute by auto to their home in
Virginia after visiting here, a party
of relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar
Wenger and Roland Flythe of Spring
street was involved in a traffic ac
cident near Wooster, Thursday
noon.
Members of the party were Mr.
and Mrs. Russell Flythe and child
ren Compton, Sarah, Iris and Bar
bara of Hilton Village, Va., and
Lane Hubbard, a nephew, of Nor
folk, Va.
The accident occurred when their
automobile collided with a cattle
truck. The automobile was badly
damaged. Russell Flythe, driver of
the car suffered some chest injuries.
Other occupants escaped with minor
bruises.
Mr. and Mrs. Wenger drove to
Wooster, Friday and brought them
back to Bluffton from where they
left by train Saturday for their
home. Mr. Flythe is a son of Rol
and Flythe and a brother of Mrs.
Wenger of this place.
New Sugar Stamp
Valid This Week
A new sugar stamp, spare stamp
No. 51 in Ration Book IV, was vali
dated Sunday for the purchase of
five pounds of sugar thru Decem
ber 31 of this year.
At the same time, OPA announced
that the life of the preceding stamp,
No. 49, had been extended to Sep
tember 30 because of inability to
provide adequate sugar to cash ra
tions during the period that was to
have closed on August 31.
Spare Stamps Nine and Ten, al
lotted for canning sugar, each are
good thru October 31 for five pounds
of canning sugar.
Leave For Schools
Miss Ruth Steiner has left for
Cleveland Heights to resume her
position as librarian in the high
school.
Miss Luella Luginbuhl will leave
this week for Cincinnati to resume
her studies in ministerial-secretarial
work at Cincinnati Bible seminary.
Miss Rita Hankish has resumed
her duties as instructor in music in
the Whittier school in Lima.
Miss Dorothy Schumacher left the
first of the week for Rochester,
Mich., where she is instructor in
the high school.
Miss Theda Hankish has returned
to Glandorf where she is instructor
in the schools.
Miss Marceile Steiner will contin
use this year as instructor in Salem
high school near Upper Sandusky.
Earl D. Luginbuhl who has been
spending the past two weeks with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gideon
Luginbuhl of West Elm street will
leave for Cincinnati this week where
he is a student in Cincinnati Bible
seminary.
Miss Ruth Hankish has left for
Cridersville where she has accepted
a position as instructor in the
schools.
Scouts To Gather
Waste Paper Here
Bluffton Boy Scout troop No. 82
will gather waste paper Saturday.
Newspapers and magazines in bun
dles on the front porch will be col
lected by the Scouts in the after
noon.
rHE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY’
BLUFFTON, OHIO THURSDAY, SEPT. 5, 1946
... .... ........
OFFICES OF THREE
FIRMS RANSACKED
ON TUESDAY NIGHT
Fingerprint Experts Here Wed
nesday Busy Obtaining
Clues.
Loot Obtained is Small Work
of Juveniles, Authorities
Aver.
Finger print experts from the Al
len county sheriff’ll office were in
Bluffton, Wednesday for the purpose
of obtaining clues to identify per
petrators who broke into three Bluff
ton establishments Tuesday night.
Places entered were the Bluffton
Milling company, the Farmers Grain
company and the Steinman Lumber
company, all located on Cherry East
Cherry street near the Nickel Plate
railroad.
Offices of all three firms were ran
sacked and contents of drawers scat
tered over the floor. Loot obtained
by the robbers was small, consisting
of the contents of chewing gum and
candy vending machines in offices of
the Milling company and the Farmers
Grain company and a tan wool jacket
belonging to Miss Emma Dickman
employed in the office of the Stein
man company.
I------------------------------------------------
Enter at Rear Window
Entrance to the Milling company’s
building was obtained by smashing a
rear window and forcing the inner
door leading to the office.
At the Farmers Grain company a
rear door was pried open and en
trance to the Steinman building was
thru a rear window.
The robbery was discovered when
the places opened for business Wed
nesday morning. There was no evi
dence that safes of the three firms
had been tampered with. Authori
ties here attributed the depredations
to juveniles. i
Return From Three
Months In Canada
Prof. John Klassen of Bluffton
college together v Mrs. Klassen
and two children Anita and Karl of
South Jackson street have returned
from three months spent in Can
ada wherp they were sent by the
Home Mission board of the Men
nonite General conference to visit
Mennonite settlements during the
past summer.
Most of the time they were in the
provinces of Ontarion and Saskatoon
where colonies of native Russian
Mennonites reside. Mr. and Mrs.
Klassen are also of that nationality.
During their absence their home
here was occupied by Carl Lehman
and family. Mr. Lehman, business
manager of the college, recently pur
chased the Mrs. W. F. lutzi prop
erty on Grove street where he and
his family moved the past week.
Thursday Afternoon
Closing Continues
Bluffton stores which were closed
on Thursday afternoon during the
past summer will continue the half
day closing for the coming fall and
winter season, it was announced the
first of the week by officers of the
Bluffton Business Men’s association.
Couple Is Wed In
Kentucky Ceremony
Miss Jeannine Stewart, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Madison Stewart
of Orange township, became the
bride of Floyd Hartman, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Purl Hartman of near
Bluffton in a ceremony at Gretnup,
Ky., last Thursday.
Rev. W. H. Muncy of the Metho
dist church of that place officiated
land attendants were Mr. and Mrs.
Maurice McClish. The bride wore a
white dress with black accessories.
Mr. and Mrs. Hartman will live
east of Bluffton where he is en
gaged in farming.
Flower Show At
Pandora Saturday
The Pandora Garden club will hold
a flower show and bazaar at Pan
dora high school Saturday from 2 to
10 p. m. Dinner table arrange
ments will be judged and summer
miniatures and winter bouquets also
will ‘be on display. Admission free.
The public is invited.
With Service Men
Cpl. Robert Poe who has been in
Yokahama, Japan, for the past year
is enroute home, according to a
cablegram received by his wife,
Mrs. Frances Jean Poe of Route 2,
Bluffton.
The Page Dairy Company’s Bluff
ton plant is served by a fleet of 21
trucks covering an area within a
40-mile radius of Bluffton, Harry
Turner, manager of thep lant, told
members of the Lions club at a din
ner meeting Tuesday night in the
Walnut Grill.
In addition, the local plant re
ceives 50,000 pounds of milk daily
from a receiving station at Bellefon
taine, to further boost its supply of
the raw product.
Powder and condensed milk are
processed in the Bluffton plant,
Turner said. One barrel of con
densed milk is equal to two tons of
whole milk, and 100 pounds of powd
er represents 1,050 pounds of the
liquid, he pointed out
Summer Projects Closing This
Week After Notably Success
ful Season
Plans for Winter Season of
Activities are Outlined by
Committee
With an extensive program of
successful summer achievement near
ing completion, the Bluffton recrea
tion committee sponsored by the
Business Men’s association is point
ing up plans for winter activities of
varied scope for young and old alike.
After a decade of neglect, Bluff-1
ton’s summer recreation program
was revitalized this year under di
rection of the committee, and much
of the enthusiasm of bygone years
when the town annually won prizes
for its activities was recaptured in
three months of intensified work.
Among the milestones passed on
the “comeback trail” were establish
ment of a full-time recreational di
rector at Harmon field putting back
into condition three abandoned clay
tennis courts at the field re-sodding
the badly worn central portion of
the football gridiron and hard-sur
facing the playground at the grade
school building, and the apron under
the stadium.
Many Children
21 Trucks Cover 40 Mile Radius Daily
To Supply Bluffton Plant With'Milk
Recreation Program
Be Revamped And Continued This Winter
at
Field
Under the direction of High
School Coach Kent Cotterman, Har
mon field was a beehive of activity
during the summer. Registered for
playground activity were 95 child
ren, and the only drawback to the
well-rounded program was the fact
that new playground equipment for
tots could not be delivered for the
summer months. Daily average at
tendance was about 75.
The playground will be established
early next spring, however, with its
location moved from near the rail
road, to a site adjacent to College
avenue, west of the stadium.
Softball play recaptured in a
large measure its popularity of the
“twenties,” with 12 teams competing
in three leagues. There were 60
players in a midget league 60 in the
junior league and 75 in the senior
league at the field during the sum
mer.
Hard Surfacing Projects
A stone chip-asphalt surface on
the grade school grounds will pro
vide a playground suitable for use
in inclement weather the year
around, and hard surfacing the area
under and in front of the stadium
is an improvement long needed.
Softball play on a diamond in
front of the stadium had wreaked
havoc with the football field over
the last several years, but re-sod
ding completed by the committee last
week will give Bluffton one of the
best playing fields in this part of
the state for the approaching sea
son.
Planned for the winter are activi
ties embracing use of the college and
high school gymnasiums for basket
ball and volley ball leagues. Sug
gestions for a recreation center for
youths are being studied and a rol
ler skating project also is under
consideration. Flooding a part of
Harmon field for ice skating is an
other project on the program of
proposed winter activity.
Former Bluffton
Man Is Married
Wedding of Edgar Flack, form
erly of Bluffton and Mrs. Mary Pin
nicks of Fredericksburg took place
in the latter city, Saturday, accord
ing to an announcement made by
the couple who visited at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Lora of South
Main street, Tuesday afternoon.
Mr.’ Flack roomed at the Lora
home for four years while he was
employed on the Nickel Plate rail
road section here.
In a move to assure the market
ing of dean milk, rather than
“cleaned” milk, the dairy company
now is conducting an extensive edu
cational program among its farm
suppliers.
Manager of the Bluffton plant
or the last 12 years, Turner said
he has seen a continuing improve
ment in the business volume handled
by the local establishment. Prin
cipal product of the company is its
ice cream output with a goal of
5,000,000 gallons a year expected to
be attained before long.
Importance of dairy operations is
the fact that milk is nature’s com
plete food and man has never im
proved on its value to the human
race, Turner said.
Of Past Summer To
Ropp Triplett And
Mary E. Cassel Wed
Wedding of Ropp Triplett, young
er son of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Trip
lett of Campus Drive and Miss
Mary Emma Cassel, daughter of
Rev. and Mrs. Joseph Cassel of
Fairview Village, Pennsylvania, took
place in the Church of the Brethren
at Fairview Village, Sunday after
noon at 3 o’clock. The custom of
open church was observed.
Rev. Frank Cassel of Lancaster,
Pa., brother of the bride officiated
in a single ring ceremony before a
background of ferns, palms and
lilies.
Miss Bertha DeGray, New York
city harpist and friend of the bride
played the musical prelude and also
the Lohengrin wedding march for
entrance and exit of the bridal
party.
The bride wore a white satin dress
with long pointed sleeves. The neck
line was of inlaid marquisette with
lace trim and her floor length veil
was trimmed with lace. She car
ried a shower bouquet of roses and
i white delphiniums.
Miss Katherine Cassel, maid of
honor and sister of the bride wore
an aqua taffeta dress with sweet
heart neckline and three-quarter
i length sleeves. Her bouquet was yel
low roses.
Miss Barbara Jean Triplett,
bridesmaid and sister of the bride
groom wore a peach taffeta dress
fashioned similar to that of the maid
of honor and carried a bouquet of
pink roses.
Morris Triplett, brother of the
bridegroom was best man and ush
ers were Warren Weise of Philadel
phia, college friend of the bride
groom and Paul Cassel, brother of
the bride. Men of the wedding
party wore white rose boutonnieres.
Following the ceremony a recep
tion was held at the home of the
bride after which the couple left on
a ten days’ wedding trip motoring
thru the Adirondack mountain re
gion. On their return they will
live at the Triplett farm north
west of Bluffton.
The bride was graduated in 1943
from the University of Cincinnati
School of Nursing. Following her
graduation she was engaged in so
cial work in New York city and
later served for a year as an Army
nurse.
Mr. Triplett, who was graduated
from Bluffton high school, received
his degree in electrical engineering
in 1942 from the University of Cin
cinnati and will be associated with
his father in the Triplett Electrical
Instrument company. He served
three years in the Army, 11 months
of which were in Europe with the
signal corps and held the rank of
first lieutenant at the time of his
discharge from the service last
mont\
Among those attending the wed
ding were Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Trip
lett, Morris Triplett and Miss Bar
bara Jean Triplett of Bluffton and
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Vincent and
family of El Paso, Illinois.
Salesman Molests
Girl In Home Here
Police here are looking for a door
to door magazine salesman who mo
lested a nine year old girl in her
home here. The incident occurred
in the afternoon when the salesman
was admitted into the house by the
girl who had been left alone mo
mentarily while her mother was on
an errand in the neighborhood.
The stranger attempted to make
advances to the girl but hastily left
when she resisted. Her mother re
turned home shortly after the inci
dent occurred. A description of the
man has been obtained by authori
ties here.
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 20
BLUFFTON YOUTH
FLYING TO CHINA
TO TEACH FARMING
Robert Pannabecker Enroute by
Plane This Week to
Shanghai
To Demonstrate Power-Farming
Methods 800 Tractors
Purchased
Robert Pannabecker, son of Dr.
and Mrs. S. F. Pannabecker, formerly
of East Kibler street, now living in
Chicago, has been selected to take
part in the first organized effort to
teach the Chinese modern power
farming methods.
The Bluffton youth will leave for
China this week with nine other
young Americans chosen by the
Church of the Brethren Service com
mittee in cooperation L'NRRA as the
nucleus of an instruction staff of 50
to teach the Chinese modem agricul
tural methods.
Eight hundred tractors have been
purchased for extensive farming op
erations planned in the reclamation
of 2,000,000 acres of the Yellow river
valley, which were flooded by the
Japanese.
Flying to Shanghai
Pannabecker is going to China
with the first group of specialists
assigned to the project. The trip
will be started this week with the
unit scheduled to fly from Ontario,
Calif., to Shanghai.
Preliminary to leaving for the Ori
ent, the men completed an intensive
six-weeks training course in one of
America’s finest tractor factories.
The Bluffton youth’s early years
were spent in China when his par
ents served there as missionaries,
and he has a knowledge of the lang
uage and the Chinese' people, fitting
him for the selection as one of the
group assigned to the Far East re
clamation project.
He is scheduled to remain in China
until the end of 1947.
Harvey Zimmerman
Funeral Services
Funeral services for Harvey Zim
merman, 74, were held at Pleasant
Hill Methodist church south of
Bluffton Saturday afternoon. Rev.
L. D. Fauver of Beaverdam officiat
ed and interment was in the church
cemetery.
Mr. Zimmerman, a retired farmer
living four miles south of Bluffton,
died in the hospital here following
a three ■weeks’ serious illness.
He was born December 8, 1871,
near Harrisburg, Pa., and moved to
Ohio in 1918 after living in Illinois
and Indiana. He was a member of
the Church of Christ at Youngs
town, Illinois.
He was married to Anna Walter
who died January 2, 1938.
Surviving are two sons: Oscar at
home and Wayne of Bluffton, and
one daughter Mrs. Gertrude Long of
Beaverdam. Two sisters surviving
are Mrs. Daisy Cutting and Mrs.
Ella Blaine, both of West Chester,
Pennsylvania.
Couple Weds At
Defiance Church
An informal ceremony in the
Zion Lutheran church in Defiance,
Saturday morning at 11 o’clock unit
ed in marriage Naomi Irene, daugh
ter of the late Sylvanus and Mrs.
Welty of Bluffton and Paul E.
Fitsch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed
ward Fritsch of Defiance. Rev. W.
H. Shepfer officiated in a double
ring ceremony.
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Fritsch at
tended the couple and Omar Welty,
a brother, gave away the bride.
She wore for the occasion a brown
suit with brown accessories and cor
sage of yellow roses together with
two clusters of yellow roses in her
hair.
Following a wedding dinner at
Bradford’s restaurant in Ft. Wayne
the couple left on a honeymoon trip
after which they will make their
home at Sherwood, Ohio.
The bride is a graduate of Bluff
ton high school and the Betty Jean
School of Beauty Culture in Ft.
Wayne. She has lately been em
ployed at Vel’s Beauty Box in Bluff
ton.
Mi*. Fritsch graduated from Defi
ance high school. Later he served
for six years in the Navy and is
now employed at the American
Steel Package company’s plant in
Defiance.
Laying houses should be thorough
ly cleaned before the new poultry
flock is installed for the 1946-47 lay
ing season. Hot water and lye solu
tion can reduce danger of disease in
I fection later.