The Bluffton news. [volume], December 31, 1946, Image 1

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

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Happy
New Year
VOLUME LXXI
_____________
Board Discards Revised
Schedule Adopted Early
in December
This rate was announced by the
board of public affairs following the
board’s decision to discard a revised
schedule of electric rates adopted
early in December. New and high
er water rates adopted at that time
will remain in effect.
Under the latest plan of rate in
creases, future bills for electric
service will be computed at the old
schedule which has been in effect
here for a number of years
which a flat 15% increase will
added.
This form of computation will
This form of computation will re
sult in a uniform Io% advance in
charges for current provided to
every user in every classification,
members of the board announced,
and eliminates variations which had
been
new
bills
been
three per cent and others would have
paid up to 20 per cent more for cur
rent.
4S
JANUARY 1 LIGHT
BILLS WILL SHOW_
ADVANCE OF 15%
Flat Increase Here Is An
nounced by Board of Pub
lic Affairs
Rate
to
be
found in the now discontinued
schedule of rates whereby the
of some consumers would have
advanced only approximately
Lack of uniformity in the schedule
set up early in December when the
rate increase first was announced
was the principal factor causing the
change in plans, members of the
board said.
Higher rates for water service
will remain the same as announced
at the board’s first December meet
ing. These rates provide for an in
crease of nearly 40% in the mini
mum charge for the first 1,500 cubic
feet, and a 20% boost in the cost of
water used in excess of minimum.
Raise Applies
to December
Bills
Increased rates for both electric
current and water will apply to De
cember bills, making them effective
as of December 1.
Members of the board also said
that a further revision of rates for
electric service is contemplated some
time within the next year, whenever
there is an opportunity to make a
careful study of the overall picture
in each classification, and then set
up a new rate schedule based on
the survey.
Rate Schedule
time rates for electric
be on the following
Until that
current will
schedule:
Domestic
KWH 5c per KWH next
4c per KWH next 40
First 30
30 KWH
KWH 3c per KWH next 100 KWH
21ic per KWH over 200 KWH 2c
per KWH.
Flat 15% will be added to total
of the bill
computed at above rates.
Commercial
KWH 5c per KWH next
4c per KWH next 200
First 30
120 KWH
KWH 3%c per KWH next 150
KWH 3c per KWH
2c per
over 500 KWH
KWH.
15% will be
bill computed
Flat
of the
added to total
at above rates.
General Power
per KWH
per KWH
KWH
KWH
KWH.
First 500 KWH 4c
next 2500 KWH 2^c
next 5000 KWH 2c per
1200 KWH 14c per
20,000 KWH lUc per
next
over
total
Flat 15% will be added to
of the bill computed at above rates.
Water Rates (Old Rate)
First 1500 cu. ft. $2.25 per quar
ter next 23,500 cu. ft. $1 per 1000
cu. ft. per quarter over 25,000 cu.
ft. 75c per 1000 cu. ft. per quarter.
Water Rates (New Rate)
First 1000 cu. ft. $2.50 per quar
ter next 24,000 cu. ft. $1.20 per
1000 cu. ft. per quarter over 25,000
cu. ft. 90c per 1000 cu. ft. per
quarter.
Dog Tar Sale At
Community Market
Mrs. Zelma Ingalls Trippiehorn, at
the Bluffton Community Market, will
issue dog tags for Allen and Han
cock counties again this year, it was
announced this week.
Deadline for the purchase of li
cense tags without penalty has been
set for January 20. Prices are the
same as in previous years: males
and spayed females, $1 females, $3,
and kennel license, $10.
Scout Movement
Raises $398 Here
The sum of $398.50 was raised in
Bluffton, Monday, in a one day can
vass for support of the Shawnee
area Boy Scout organization
which Bluffton is a part.
Announcement of results of th
campaign was made Monday nighy
after the scout alumni meeting of'
Troop 56 at the
church, attended
men, present and
First
Leo Gruss of
which
!n
Bills for electric service
Bluffton consumers will receive
the mail on Thursday morning for
current used during the month of
December will show an increase of
15% over the former rates.
Yuletide decorations will come
down for another year, and the
Christmas trees will be discarded,
symbolizing the end of another cele
bration of the community’s favorite
holiday season.
Bluffton High and Grade school
students will return to their classes
Thursday, Jan. 2, ending a 12-day
vacation, but Bluffton college will
not resume its regular scholastic
schedule until Tuesday morning of
next w’eek.
Marriage Licenses
The following marriage licenses
were issued during the holiday sea
son
Leonard A. Lombardy, 41, Lima,
artist, and Dortho McCullough, 36,
Bluffton, electrical worker.
Wilbur Dillon, Lima, laborer and
LaDonna Oberly, Bluffton.
William Burrage, Bluffton, labor
er and Lucille Gruber, Findlay.
Miss Catherine Gratz, daughter
of Mrs. Peter Gratz, of South Jack
son street, will leave New York City
via airplane next week to return to
the mission field in French Guinea,
French West Africa, where she
previously spent five and one-half
years as a missionary.
Preceding her departure next Mon
day from Bluffton, where she has
spent the last year on furlough, Miss
Gratz will be honored at 7:30 P. M.
Sunday at a special service in the
Bluffton Missionary church.
Her work in Africa is supported
by the church, and the special serv
ice set for
by Rev
Wayne,
Church
Year W111 Be)Sung By Serenaders
Mennonite
boys and
scouts.
by 40
former
Lima,
Shawnee
Council executive showed moving pic
tures of Camp Defiance, scout sum
mer camp and Kenneth Oberly,
Bluffton scoutmaster spoke on win
ter activities at the camp.
BLUFFTON PLANS
TO GREET THE NEW
YEAR WITH GAIETY
Watch Parties and Bands
Carolers Wil! Greet 1947
Tuesday Night
of
Coming as a climax to a st ason
unrestrained holiday gaiety, ringing
bells, shrilling whistles and tooting
horns will usher in the arrival of the
New Year in traditional fashion at
midnight Tuesday.
Watch parties in many homes will
add color and cheerfulness to the
New’ Year’s observance theatre par
ties are planned by some, and in
other cases the passing of the old
year will be observed by staying
quietly at home and listening to ra
dio music in keeping with the sea
son.
Bands of merry carolers are plan
ning their traditional rounds of
town and countryside sing
favorite songs of yesteryear, as
other colorful feature marking
debut of another new year.
the
the
an
the
General Holiday
will
New Year’s Day Wednesday
be observed as a general holiday,
with business and industrial^ctivity
of the town suspended. As* usual
there will be no postal deliveries on
town or rural routes.
With the passing of 1946, the gai
ety of the holiday season will come
to a close, and its color and cheer
soon will be absorbed in the rush of
everyday affairs.
Charming Old Custom to be
Observed in Bluffton Area,
Tuesday Night
One of Familiar Songs is Said
to Have Had Origin in Set
tlement Here
Singing the traditional
of
Business Places and Industries
to Suspend Operations on
New Year’s Day
The songs—there are only two of
them—are the same ones that have
been sung all thru the many years,
as young people, and older ones too,
have greeted the passing of the year
in song.
A bit old, perhaps, but like so
many of the treasured things in life,
the carols are always new at the
New Year’s season, and the passing
years have found them losing none
of their charm. Written in the
Swiss-German language, they are
ideally adapted to four-part singing.
They have no counterpart in the
English tongue.
The two carols, “Stimmt Lieder
an” and “Neujahrs Lied,” are at
tributed to one David Rothen, who is
(Continued on page 10)
Week Of Prayer
To Open Sunday
Catherine Gratz Will Return To
African Mission Post By Airplane
Sunday will be conducted
J. A. Ringenberg, of Ft.
president of the Missionary
Association.
After leaving here next Monday,
Miss Gratz expects to begin the air
plane flight to Africa later in the
weak.
Out of town speakers will appear
in pulpits of Bluffton churches dur
ing the annual week of prayer which
opens next Sunday night. Services
will be held at 7:30 o’clock every
night except Saturday and end on
the following Sunday night, Janu
ary 12.
The project is sponsored by the
Bluffton Ministerial association which
has announced the following sched
ule of meetings:
Sunday—Methodist church, Rev.
Paul Cramer, pastor. Speaker, Rev.
John Schmidt of St. Paul’s Evan
gelical and Reformed church, St.
Marys.
Monday Defenseless Mennonite,
Rev. Edgar Shady, pastor. Speaker,
Rev. Kent Welty of the Missionary
church.
Tuesday—Church of Christ. Speak
er, Rev. Harry J. Scheidemantle of
the Presbyterian church, Col. Grove.
Wednesday Missionary church,
Rev. R. R. Welch, pastor. Speaker,
Rev. Frank Harder of St. John Men
nonite church, Pandora.
Thursday—St. John’s Reformed
church, Rev. V. C. Oppermann, pas
tor. Speaker, L. L. Ramseyer, Bluff
ton college.
Friday—Presbyterian church, Rev.
Speaker,
Lutheran
E. N. Bigeloxv, pastor.
Rev. E. A. Lehman of
church, Leipsic.
When she came to this country
for a one-year furlough last fall,
she also made the trip by plane,
flying 1000 miles from her mission
station inland, at Kankan, to Mi
ami, Florida.
Because the war had disrupted
normal transportation facilities, the
Bluffton woman had remained at
her mission station 18 months long
er than the regular four-year term
of service.
Her post in Africa is with the
only Protestant mission at Kankan,
a sizable citv and the major trading
point in the
operated by
ary Alliance
keeper in th*
NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERE
.. -..........- ..... .....
1""
New
Year’s carols in the Swiss language,
one of the oldest customs of the vi
cinity, bands of serenaders Tuesday
evening made their rounds of the
town and countryside, to provide a
fitting musical setting for the wel
come of 1947.
New Year’s caroling is a custom
at present observed in only a few
American communities, and Bluff
ton’s tradition is a unique one. Altho
the singing of Christmas carols is
almost universal, the custom of
heralding the New Year with songs
is rare.
Bluffton’s New Year serenading is
the survival of an ancient Swiss
custom
settlers
century
pioneer
their own against the encroachments
of modem life.
brought here by the first
of that nationality nearly a
ago and is one of the few
traditions that have held
Songs Are Old
BLUFFTON, OHIO TUESDAY, DEC. [31, 1946
WOMAN MAKES
TRIP BY PLANE
FROM GERMANY
Mrs. Wayne Yoakam Arrives
Here After Trans-Atlantic
Flight
Body of Late Husband,
of Accident Expected
Week
Mrs.
After spending Christmas Day at
the home of Lt. Yoakam’s parents,
Mrs. Yoakam then went to her
home near Jenera Wednesday night.
She was the former Luella Smith, of
that place.
Upon her arrival here, Mrs.
Yoakam confirmed information pre
viously given in a letter that internal
injuries suffered when a jeep he was
driving was struck by a train at a
railroad crossing caused the death
of Lt. Yoakam at an Army hospital
in Kitzingen, Germany, where he
was stationed with American forces
of occupation.
Mrs. Yoakam’s trip home was
delayed when her plan* was held up
at Labrador for two days because
of bad weather.
the air only 23 hours u its trip
fnrn Frankfort to Spr $F eld, Mass.,
from where Mrs. Yoakam made rail
road connections to return home.
Her death
Mennonite
Sunday, Jan. 12—First
church, Rev. J. N. Smucker, pastor.
Speaker, Dr. J. Ira Jones of Trinity
Methodist church, Lima.
is
area. The mission
the Christian
She works a
office.
Mission
a book-
Natives of the region are
well proportioned and very
French is the official language
the region, altho the natives speak
several dialects.
large,
black.
The plane was in.
Remains Enroute
From Los Angeles
Mrs. Emma Scoles, 93, widow of
the late Rev. W. H. Scoles, former
residents of the Bluffton area, died
on Christmas Day in Los Angeles,
where she has made her home in re
cent years.
she suffered
The body
for burial,
ments will be completed after its
arrival here. Services will be held
at the Pleasant Hill Methodist
church, and burial will be in the
church cemetery. Iler husband, who
died 19 years ago, also is buried
there.
When they were residents of this
area, the Scoles family lived
Beaverdam on what is now the
Leatherman farm.
OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
Victim
This
waiting
Three weeks of ar. „ous
to return to home and relatives fol
lowing the accidenu death in
Germany of her husband, whom she
had joined there last May, ended at
midnight on Christmas Eve for Mrs.
Wayne Yoakam when she arrived
at the home of his paunts, Mr. and
Mrs. Vernon Yoakam, northwest of
Bluffton.
Yoakam returned to this
via Army Air transport,
Frankfort, Germany last
then came by railroad from
country
leaving
Friday,
Springfield, Mass., to Lima where
she arrived late Christmas Eve.
When she left Frankfort Friday
night, the body of her husband, Lt.
Wayne Yoakam, was at Bremer
haven, Germany, to be shipped home
by boat. It is expected here this
week, she said.
near
Bert
Paul
a
Survivors include a son
Scoles and daughter Mrs. Zoe Scott,
both of Los Angeles.
Clayton Bixel New
License Registrar
Clayton Bixel, Bluffton automobile
dealer, has been endorsed by the
Allen county Republican executive
committee as deputy registrar of
motor vehicles, and will handle the
sale of automobile tags for this area
during the coming year.
Among other recommendations
made by the Republican committee
last week was that of O. C. Kohli,
of Lima, as state highxvay engineer
for the second district. This will
restore Kohli to the position he held
during the administration of the
last Republican governor, John W.
Bricker.
Bixel also was deputy license reg
istrar during the last two terms of
the Bricker administration, and was
succeeded by Harold Montgomery
when Frank Lausche was elected
governor.
K i nsi ng er Leases
Produce Station
Charles Kinsinger announced the
first of the week the leasing of his
North Main street produce station
and Robert M. Reynolds
to Kemp B.
of Jackson
The new firm will take over oper
ation of the establishment on Janu
ary 1 and the business will be oper
ated as a partnership,
has announced no plans
ture.
Center and Newark.
Kinsinger
for the fu-
//v
New Year's Day in Russia and
Greece Comes on Janu
ary 13
Celebration of Arrival of
Year Goes Far Back
History
New Year's Celebrated At Different
Times Thruou History Of Mankind
New
in
Year’s
Uniform celebration of New
Day on January 1 throughout the
world is a phenomenon of rather an
cient historical development.
However, the uniformity has cer
tain exceptions as in the case of
Russia and Greece, which use the
Julian calendar instead of the Greg
orian calendar commonly used in
most
of the remainder of the world,
the Gregorian calendar, the
of January is 12 days earlier
in the Julian calendar, and
In
followed a fall in which
a fractured hip.
is enroute to Bluffton
and funeral arrange-
first
than
hence Russia and Greece celebrate
New Year’s Day on what to us is
January 13.
Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians
and Persians began their year at the
autumnal equinox, on September 22,
and the Greeks of the time of Solon
nt the
21.
winter solstice, on December
Roman Celebration
Romans reckoned the
The
begin
inter
ning of the year from the
solstice until the time of Julius Cae
sar, who in his reform of the cal
endar changed it to the first day of
January. The Jews began, and still
begin, their civil je-ar with the tir.-t
of the month Tiser, which roughly
corresponds to our month of Sep
tember.
In England, December 25 was New
Year’s Day until the time of William
the Conqueror. His coronation hap
pened to occur on January 1, hence
(Continued on page 10)
Funeral Sunday
For John Manges
services were held at the
Christ Sunday afternoon
W. Manges, 89, former
Funeral
Church of
for John
state legislator from Allen county,
for two terms speaker of the house
of representatives in the Ohio Gen
eral assembly and former mayor of
Beaverdam.
Officiating at the funeral services
was Rev. Grant Speer of Toledo and
burial
tery.
was in the Beaverdam ceme-
Manges died at his
township east of
Mr.
He was a former
Northern university,
school for 17 years
at one time as u
Beaverdam town
township clerk, tru
board member. He was
of the Church of Christ he
home in
Bluffton,
Union
Thursday evening.
He was born March 1,
Perry county and married Elizabeth
Plowright. Following her death he
married Margaret Jane Ewing, also
deceased.
1857 in
student
at Ohio
taught
served
of the
and was
a school
member
He ala.a
i member
council
Surviving are one daughter, Mrs.
Flo Cunningham, Bluffton, and three
sons, Layton, at home Byron of
iiffton ami George of I’indlay. A
brother, Charles Manges of Bluffton
ami .-won grandchildren also sur-
•W
MOVING DWELLINGS
INTO TOWN EASES
HOUSING SHORTAGE
Houses Moved Here Principally
from Rural Districts in
Past Year
Expedient Provides Economical
Answer to Quick Housing
Problem
Buying houses already built on
sites outside the town, moving them
here and remodeling to fit them for
occupancy is a new development in
Bluffton’s housing shortage situation
that gives evidence of becoming al
most as popular as erecting
fabricated homes.
V
X—■
the
Principal advantage of
“moving-in” practice is the fact that
the builder not only avoids scramb
ling for hard-to-get materials, but
also there is a tremendous saving
in labor in these days of high-priced
carpenters.
Empty Houses Elsewhere
Houses being purchased are
ready built, usually of modest sizes,
and standing emptj in
areas they can
fraction of the
ing into a new
al-
the rural
be purchased at a
cost involved in go
building.
make moving of
simple matter, there
Good roads
houses a fairly
are no delays in obtaining lumber,
and the only thing necessary is to
put in a foundation and set the
house on it.
Once the house is in place, re
modeling of the interior can be done
either before or after the family
moves in, depending on individual
circumstances.
Quick Housing Expedient
As soon as it is set on the founda
tion, the house represents a place to
live, for it is complete except for a
heating
furnace
a stove
niceties
toilet facilities can await availability
of materials without barring oc
cupancy of the structure.
plant and plumbing. If the
isn’t immediately available,
will serve, and the modem
of bathroom, lavatory and
Speed in getting a roof overhead
is another advantage of the plan,
for it is necessary only to wait for
construction of the foundation before
the occupants can take over.
A growing tendency toward con
verting barns,
en houses
combining
structures,
the same
required
arrives.
idsheds and chick-
b:
sometimes
three sn
variation
into homes
two or
represents
idea, altho more work
before “moving-in”
of
is
day
HOSPITAL
of South Main
patient in Lima
because of a
REMOVED TO
Donavon Conrad
street is a surgical
Memorial hospital
recurrence of a former stomach ail
ment.
NEW YEAR TO SEE
LITTLE CHANGE IN
TOWN OFFICIALS
Majority of Officeholders Will
Begin Second of Two Year
Terms
Appointments at Council Meet
ing Monday Expected to
Continue Incumbents
In contrast to the dilemma of a
year ago when Bluffton’s municipal
office picture was in a highly unset
tled state, the advent of 1947 will
see no major changes and only a
few minor ones in the makeup of
Bluffton's official family.
With all elective, municipal offi
cers seated for two-year terms last
January and with many appoint
ments for the same length of time,
most town officials automatically will
enter a second year of service.
By contrast, the situation a year
ago found the entire municipal office
picture in an unsettled muddle.
There were many new incoming offi
cials, and in addition the problem of
who would fill the mayor’s position
was an unanswered question that
(Continued on page 10)
Betty Steinman Home
From Japan Jan. 15
Miss Betty Steinman, enroute to
this country from Japan is expected
here about January 15, according to
word received by her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Forrest Steinman of South
Lawn avenue.
She sailed December 18 from
Yokahoma on the liner Arcadia and
will stop enroute at Honolulu, Seat
tle and San Francisco, the
said. Miss Steinman has
Red Cross service in Japan
past year.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Augsburger,
Bluffton, a boy, Thomas Everett,
Tuesday.
Rev. and Mrs. George Klinefelter,
Mechanicsburg, Pa., a girl born at
that place, Friday. Mrs. Klinefelter
is the former Josephine Niswander,
daughter of Mr.
Niswander north
-*A I
NUMBER 37
message
been in
for the
Births
Bluffton
The following births at
rht»pitaU
Mr. and MrtT .Clair Withrow,
Findlay, a girl, Barbara Jean,
Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shook, Ada,
a boy William, Jr., Thursday.
Mrs.
Mr. and
pre­
Ben
here
Started early last summer by
Shafer, who moved a house
from Benton Ridge, the idea is
being adopted by an increasing
number of Bluffton families desper
ate for a place to live.
Wayne Lehman,
Wayne, Jr., Sat-
a boy,
Beaverdam,
urday.
Mr. and
Lima, a boy, Jerome Lester, Satur
day.
Mrs. Jack Graymire,
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brodine, Ben
ton Ridge, a girl, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. David Houtz, Lima,
a girl, Monday.
and Mrs. Edwin
of Bluffton.
Marjorie Buckland
Weds David Scudder
Marjorie Buckland, daughter of
Mrs. Elsie Buckland, North Main
street, became the bride of David B.
Scudder, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy
Scudder, South Lawn avenue, in a
double-ring ceremony Friday after
noon at 4:30 o’clock in the home of
the bride’s mother.
Receiving the vows of the con
tracting parties was Rev. A. B. Mc
Daniel,
church
bride,
before
with white and yellow pompoms and
evergreens and flanked by candela
bra.
of the United Brethren
of Maumee, a cousin of the
The ceremony was conducted
an improvised altar banked
A program of musical numbers by
Mary Katherine Bauman included
“The Lord’s Prayer,” “Ah, Sweet
Mystery of Life” and “I Love Thee.”
The bride was given in marriage by
her uncle George St rock of Water
loo, Indiana.
Joan Buckland, sister of the bride,
was maid of honor, and Paul Mc
Daniel, of Bowling Green, attended
the groom.
For the occasion the bride wore a
street length dress of rose wool,
with tight-fitting bodice, high neck
line, side drape and three-quarter
length sleeves
ial bouquet of white pompoms.
She carried a colon-
supper was
A wedding buffet
served for 25 relatives and friends
cen
cake
used
who attended. The table was
teggd by a four-tier wedding
and the Christmas theme was
in decorations
trip,
Following a short wedding
the couple will reside at Bowling
Green where the groom is a student
at Bowling Green university.