The Bluffton news. [volume], June 12, 1947, Image 1

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BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live
VOLUME LXXII
NO PAY RAISE FOR
TEACHERS BEFORE
LEGISLATURE ACTS
School Board Unable To Take
Action On Salaries At Reg
ular Meeting
Legislatures Delay On School
Aid Bill Holds Up Proposed
Increases
_______
Bluffton board of education at its
regular June meeting this Wednes
day night will be unable to proceed
with proposed plans for setting up
a schedule of increased salaries for
public school teachers because of
•state legislature delay in voting a
new school aid bill.
There had been hope of working
out the new salary plan at the June
meeting so that Bluffton teachers
could be notified by July 1, set as
a deadline by the state for boards
to advise instructors what amount to
expect for the coming year.
Delay of the legislature in draft
ing a new school bill consequently
means the board of education can
do nothing this Wednesday night
toward drafting an increased salary
schedule promised teachers last
January on a basis if and when the
legislature made additional school
funds available.
Can’t Take Action
If legislature action is delayed
until late this month or after July
1, the Bluffton board will be in a
position where local teachers must
be notified they will receive the
salaries in effect at the close of the
school year, plus any increase that
might be made available by state
legislative action.
Passage of a state measure soon
would bring a special meeting of the
board of education to determine a
new salary schedule before July 1.
Bluffton teachers received a salary
boost last January when funds vot
ed by the town in a special two-mill
levy the preceding November be-
instructors were told further in
creases would be applied if addition
al funds for that purpose were voted
by the legislature.
Average Salary $2,165
Under the schedule in effect when
schools closed last spring, 17 full
time and three part-time teachers
in the public school system receive
an average annual salary of $2,165.
This included a flat increase of $100
for each full-time instructor, plus
one per cent of the previous salary
for each year of service in the local
system, up to a maximum of 14
years.
Those increases were made avail
able thru approximately half of a
$10,000 yearly fund made available
to schools thru the two-mill levy.
Teachers have until August 1 to
resign, one month after the dead
line on which they must be notified
what their salaries will be for the
coming year.
This provision affects all teachers
in the system with the exception of
Calvin Leimback, instructor in voca
tional agriculture, and Coach Kent
Cotterman, who heads the athletic
department.
These teachers have been hired
under contract for the coming year.
Half of the salary of the agriculture
teachers is paid by the federal
government. IF
Band Concerts
This Summer
Three band concerts will be given
this summer, it is announced by the
Bluffton Band Mothers who are spon
soring the project. The band will be
directed by John Martin, instructor in
public school music.
Membership in the band is open
to all musicians who have had ex
perience in this field. Rehearsals
are held every Wednesday night at
8 o’clock in the high school band
room.
Make Tax Collections
Here July 8 And 9
Deputies from the Allen county
treasurer’s office will be in Bluffton
at the Citizens National bank, Tues
day and Wednesday, July 8 and 9
for collection of real estate taxes
for the last half of 1946.
Deadline for paying the tax is
Saturday, July 26.
OCCUPIES HOME HERE
Mrs. Gladys Baumgartner of near
New Stark is occupying her residence
property on Spring street, the form
er Byers property.
Hofer To Be Rawson
Nickel Plate Agent
Fred Hofer, Bluffton agent for the
Nickel Plate railroad, has resigned
here to accept a similar position at
Rawson. He began his duties in
Rawson, Wednesday morning.
Hofer who has been absent on
sick leave since March 12 said that
ill health prompted his resignation
here in favor of the Rawson post
where duties are less arduous.
Hofer was previously agent at
Rawson, coming here from that
place 17 years ago. He and his
family will continue to live in Bluff
ton.
Leo Pavey of Indiana is temporar
ily in charge of the Nickel Plate in
terests here.
FARMERS ABANDON
HOPE OF PLANTING
NORMAL CORN CROP
Water Standing in Furrows of
Farms In Bluffton
District
Acreage This Year Will Be
'Sharply Below Normal, Is.
Estimate
Farmers of the Bluffton district,
unable to work in sodden fields this
week have virtually abandoned hopes
of planting anything near a normal
acreage of corn. Corn planting
ordinarily is finished here by the
end of May.
Many farmers report water still
standing in the furrows as an after
math of last Friday night’s cloud
burst.
How restricted the corn acreage
will be, farmers hesitate to say, how
ever, rough approximations put the
total planting in the Bluffton dis
trict from one-third to one-half un
der normal.
The shortage of corn acreage is
particularly significant in this area
where corn and hogs form the back
bone of farming operations.
Higher Feed Costs
Large scale hog raising, currently
practiced in this area requires vir
tually all of the corn crop for feed
ing. In view of the current situa
tion, higher prices and reduced hog
marketing with consequently higher
pork prices are forecast.
With oats and corn acreage short,
because of unfavorable weather
conditions there would be a large
acreage available for soybean plant
ing, provided sufficient seed is avail
able. Because of the current situa
tion the seed supply is reported ex
tremely scarce and prices according
ly high.
Missionary Speaker
Here Tuesday Night
Miss Edith Shimmel, returned mis
sionary from the Philippines will
speak on the work in that county at
the Church of Christ here next
Tuesday night at 8 o’clock. She ex
pects to return there soon.
Preceding the meeting Miss Shim
mel will be entertained by women
of the church at a covered dish din
ner at 6:30 o’clock.
Notice
Electric current will be shut off
next Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4
p. m., while repairs are being made
to generating equipment at the
Bluffton Municipal plant. Patrons
are asked to plan their Sunday use
of electrical current accordingly.
Worst Flood Since 1913 Strikes Here
As Streams Go On 24-Hour Rampage
Board of Public Affairs
To finance a continuation of
Bluffton’s resurrected year-around
recreation program, which got away
to a successful start early last sum
mer, a house-to-house canvass will be
made here from June 18 to 30 by
the Bluffton recreation committee.
Continuation and further expan
sion of the recreation program de
pends on the community’s response
in the drive necessary to finance ex
penditures, regarded by the sponsors
as an investment in health, happi
ness and a better community.
Under the direction of the recrea
tion committee, an organized pro
gram was revived at Harmon field
last summer for adults and children,
with a full-time recreation director
House-To-House Canvass This Month
To Raise Recreation Program Funds
Half of Town’s Basements Are
Flooded Following Friday
Night Downpour
27-Acre Quarry of Bluffton
Stone Co. Is Filled by
Rampaging Waters
Bluffton’s worst flood since 1913
wreaked widespread damage here
last Friday night and Saturday as
rampaging water spilled over the
banks of Big and Little Riley creeks
for nearly a 24-hour period.
A torrential downpour of rain
shortly before dusk Friday set the
stage for the flood, although there
was no indication when the storm
began that it was anything more
than the usual rains which have
been falling almost daily here.
With the earth already soaked by
this spring’s unusually wet weather,
the water in creeks came up faster
than at any time in years, and
flooded conditions were here before
anyone had time to realize the dan
ger.
Water
in
Basements
By 9 p. m. it was estimated that
roughly half the basements in Bluff
ton had water in them, as over
loaded storm sewers were unable
to handle the inundation.
With basements flooded to a depth
of as much as four feet, numerous
instances were reported where power
washing machines in basement laun
dry rooms were covered with water.
Electric motors were damaged gen
erally on the washing machines, and
on automatic coal stokers and motor
powered oil burning systems. In
some instances the water rose so
fast it covered motors while house
holders were hunting tools to re
move them.
Flood Spreads
Before midnight, Big and Rilley
Riley creeks were out of their banks,
reaching a flood crest about 7 a. m.
the following morning, but there was
little recession in the height of the
flood stage until late Saturday
|H Little .nW the l4-
lands along its entire route from
the Mrs. S. S. Matter farm down
creek to its junction with Big Riley.
The college baseball diamond was
knee-deep in water, and the foot of
Riley street was impassable because
of high water at the junction of Big
and Little Riley creeks.
Most of the Big Riley flood dam
age was centered at Harmon field
where the water came up to the
ticket windows in the stadium. Rush
ing across College avenue, the flood
closed the street until late Satur
day, broke down the Hannon field
fence adjoining College avenue, and
gouged out huge gulleys in the Har
mon tennis courts across the street.
Bluffton tennis club courts also
were under water, and one block
further downstream Cherry street
was blocked by water which flooded
business places in the creek area.
Quarry Is Flooded
The Bluffton Stone Company’s
seven-acre quarry was two-thirds
full of water, with a shovel in the
bottom of the pit sompletely sub
merged.
Raymond Conrad, manager, said it
will take about two weeks to pump
the water from the 27-foot deep
quarry. The company has enough
stone on hand to take ?are of orders,
he said.
Many gardens in lowlands along
the creeks were washed out by the
flood, and on higher ground gulleys
were washed in some gardens by
the heavy downpour.
In rural areas, livestock stood
body-deep in water in many fields,
rural roads were blocked, including
the College road, and what crops
farmers have in fields suffered from
flood damage where parts of farms
were under water.
on the job to supervise field activity.
Unused Harmon field tennis courts
were reworked and put into shape,
and the grade school playground was
hard-surfaced to provide a suitable
play spot when other ground is too
wet
An addition to Harmon field equip
ment has been a new playground
for kiddies, complete with swings,
teeter-totters, a slide and sandboxes.
Picnic tables also have been placed
on the field for family use. Lighted
horse shoe and shuffle board courts
will be added this summer.
During the winter, the recreation
committee operated a winter pro
gram, including basketball leagues
for adults and children, which prov
ed very popular.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1947
MEAT PRICES UP
POULTRY DOWN IN
CURRENT MARKET
Divergent Explanations Given
for Sudden Advance in
Meats
Young Poultry Prices Steady
Quotations Lower for
Yearlings
Meat prices sharply rising while
poultry on the other hand regis
tered declines were divergent tend
encies in food markets Wednesday.
The sudden advance in meat prices
caught retailers off guard in a situ
ation for which there appeared no
clearcut explanation. Some reasons
given were higher cost of feeds, a
long cold spring which resulted in
more than average consumption of
meat and large scale buying for for
eign shipment.
On the other hand the market for
poultry has shown signs of sagging,
especially older grades, it was re
ported here Wednesday morning.
Choice young fryers are holding
steady in a market, the top of which
was quoted at 32 cents live weight,
an advance of one cent over the
price of a week ago.
Heavy hens, on the other hand,
are quoted at a top of 25 cents live
weight in the current market, a drop
of two cents under last week’s price.
400 Examined In
X-Ray Clinic Here
About 400 persons in Bluffton and
vicinity availed themselves of the op
portunity for examination provided
by the tubercuJ^Bis x-ray mobile
clinic of the Allen'County Red Cross
which was in town Monday and
Tuesday.
The unit waa^ocate! on the Grade
school grounds 1&d also made trips
during the noon Four to plants of
the Boss Glove^ fi^ctory and Triplett
Electrical ‘V company.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Deeds, Find
lay, twins, a boy and girl, this Wed
nesday morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul W’eirauch, Je
nerfa, a girl, Martha Jane, Thurs
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Cheney, Co
lumbus Grove, a girl, Judith Ann,
Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Jame§ Fawver, Ada,
a girl, Carol Ann, Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Clark, Ben
ton Ridge, a girl, Charlotte Elaine,
Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Montgomery,
Bluffton, a girl, Sharon Kay, Satur
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Kermit Boehm, Raw
son, a boy, Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Geiser, Bluff
ton, a boy, John Lee, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Shank, Ar
lington, a girl, Janel Kay, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Cherry, Pan
dora, a boy, Wednesday morning.
Rev. and Mrs. E. A. Albrecht,
Fortuna, Mo, a boy, David Allen.
Mrs Albrecht is the former Magda
lene Bixel, daughter of Mr and Mrs.
S. S. Bixel.
Birthday Dinner
In honor of the birthday annivers
ary of Robert Motter and other
early June birthdays in the family,
a dinner was enjoyed at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Montgom
ery of South Jackson street, Sunday.
Members of the family honored by
birthdays this month whose names
were inscribed on a large decorated
cake were: Jean Ann Montgomery,
Keith Klingler, Robert Motter, Edith
Montgomery, Junior Klingler and
Marjorie Montgomery.
Present were:
Mr. and Mrs. John Montgomery,
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Montgomery and
daughter Jean Ann, Mr. and Mrs.
C. E. Klingler, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde
Klingler Jr., and son Keith and Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Motter.
BLUFFTON MARKETS
Wednesday Morning
Grain (bushel prices) Wheat
$2.50 corn $1.85 oats $1 soys
$2.75.
Poultry—Heavy hens 25c leghorn
hens 19c heavy fryers, 4 lbs. and
over, 32c heavy fryers 3 to 4 lbs.
29c leghorn fryers 25c.
Eggs—Large whites 43c large
browns 41c.
Butterfat—62c.
Bluffton sweltered Tuesday in the
hottest day of the year. Accustomed
to chilly, damp weather all spring,
it was hard to convince residents
here that the temperature really
did n’t even get up to 90 degrees—
fact is, it missed by one degree,
reaching a maximum of 89 late in
the afternoon.
Suddenness of the heat, after long
weeks of wet and cool weather em
phasized its severity as the sun beat
down from clear skies all day.
Brisk winds from the southwest
kept plenty of air stirring and
made the heat more bearable. Show
ers and lower temperatures Wednes
day were apparently destined to
break the heat spell.
BY HARRY U HAL1
Editor’s Note—This is one
of a series of articles to appear
in the Bluffton News dealing
with early Ohio history. Others
will appear in forthcoming
issues.
Ohio’ Eleven Fathers
One rainy night in 1786 eleven
men sat around a great table in the
Bunch of Grapes tavern, Boston,
quaffed red wine and told stories of
their Revolutionary War experiences.
Amid their criticisms of Con
gress for its failure to allot them
their bounty lands for participation
in the war, plans were made to raise
money and buy lands for themselves.
Tuesday Was Hottest Day Of Year
With Temperature At 89 Degrees
Out of that rainy night conference
in a Boston inn enough money in
Continental certificates das raised to
buy 1,500,000 acres in what is now
southeastern Ohio.
SeU Lands U Paj War
Originally the government had
promised each officer in the Revolu
tion a parcel of land in appreciation
of his services. Reconsidering, how
ever, Congress decided that a good
way to pay the expenses of the war
would be to sell the land to the set
tlers instead of giving it to them.
The 11 men at the tavern wanted
to become settlers. Since they were
not to receive their allottment of
land free, they intended to buy it—
and so was planted the seed from
which the great Buckeye State
sprouted.
The men named their organization
the Ohio Company of Associates.
Rufus Putnam was made president
and Winthrop Sargent, clerk. These,
with four directors: Samuel H. Par
sons, Manasseh Cutler, James M.
Varnum and Putnam and Richard
Platt, treasurer, comprised the of
ficers.
Original Plan Sounded Good
The disappointing plan of the
government to award the military
lands had sounded very good. A
major-general was to get 1,100 acres
a brigadier-general, 850 a colonel,
500 and each non-commissioned of
ficer and private was to receive 100
acres of land free.
The fly in the ointment was that
the government did not own an acre
of land and the land comprising the
state which composed it belonged to
the states themselves. The govern
ment could not give it away. The
states were independent sovereign
ties.
After the purchase of the land
from Spain, the settlement of its
differences with England and pas
sage of the Ordinance of 1787 which
gave the government the right to
sell its newly acquired land, the Ohio
Company was ready to do business
and settle southeastern Ohio.
It had taken the combined efforts
of 288 Revolutionary officers, all but
50 from New England, to get the
deal through. The tract they wanted
was “bounded on the north by Lake
Erie east by Pennsylvania south
west and south by the Ohio River
and west on a line beginning at that
part of the Ohio which lies 24 miles
west of the mouth of the river Sci
oto, thence running north on a mer
idian line till it intersects the river
Miami which flows into Lake Erie,
thence down the middle of that river
to the lake.”
A meeting of the directors of the
Ohio Company in Bracket’s tavern,
Boston, November 23, 1787, fixed the
personnel of the 48 tnen who landed
from the Adventure Galley at Mari
etta April 7, next year.
The names of the men already are
known to readers of this newspaper.
However the party of 26 who start
ed from Hartford, Conn., was com-
,Maynard Coon Is
Named School Head
Jewelry Store Robberies In Area
Follow Pattern Of Bluffton Crime
Maynard Coon, son of Mr. and
Mrs. H. L. Coon of South Jackson
street has been appointed superin
tendent of Whetstone centralized
school in Crawford county, it was
announced this week.
The appointment of Milton Har
man, county superintendent will be
come effective July 1.
Coon has been an instructor and
athletic coach at the high school in
nearby North Robinson where he and
his family will continue to reside.
He succeeds Floyd Porter who re
signed to accept the superintendency
of the Bloomville schools.
Further Investigation of Leibejr
Burglary Made Following
Similar Findlay Theft
Authorities Seek To Establish
Connection In Crime Wave
Sweeping District
Further investigation of last
week’s $400 show window robbery of
the Leiber jewelry store here was
made last week by area police in
hope of establishing some connec
tion with a wave of looting follow
ing the same pattern in other cities
of the district.
Police activity so far, however,
has failed to bring any new clues
in the Bluffton theft, or provide any
connection beyond conjecture with
other burglaries.
One day after a broken show win
dow at the Leiber store yielded 10
watches, four diamond rings and
other valuables for looters, a front
show window was broken at the
Thompson jewelry store in Findlay.
In the Findlay burglary, watches,
more thk a $400 were taken
With pattern of the crime the
same as that committed in Bluffton,
Hancock and Allen county authori
ties are working together in the hope
of determining if there is any con
nection.
In the same week, a show window
was broken in a Delphos electrical
appliance store robbery and on
Thursday a lone holdup man robbed
a Van Wert jewelry store of $600
in rings.
posed of four surveyors and 22 men
to assist them—all part owners in
the company. The party that started
from Ipswitch, Mass., was composed
of six boatbuiiders, four house car
penters, one blacksmith and nine
common workmen.
Trek to Ohio on Foot
Each man had his tools, one axe
and one hoe, 30 pounds of personal
baggage, a gun, bayonet, six flints,
a powder horn, a half-pound of
powder, one pound of bullets and a
pound of buckshot. Their seed wag
furnished by the company but they
would have to make the trip on foot
as the supplies would load the
wagons to capacity.
So, from the rainy night at t’Jie
Boston Bunch of Grapes tavern,
through a raining, muddy trip on
foot over the Alleghenies to Sum
rill’s ferry and a week float down
the Muskingum river, mostly in the
rain, that is the history of Ohio up
to the time the Adventure Galley
docked at Marietta—also in a hard
rain. Ohio was to be a wet state, ap
parently.
When the 48 pioneers landed at
Marietta, besides the Indians and a
few soldiers at Ft. Harmar, they
found other company nearby.
Early Settlers There
Isaac Williams and his wif^, Re
becca, had built a small log cabin on
the Virginia side of the Ohiq River
just across from where Belpre, four
miles south of Marietta, later was
founded.
Will jams, a hunter and trapper,
had anticipated the influx of new
settlers and had devised plan to
profit by it. He became the first in
dependent real estate dealer in the
area. Already a few settlers had
built cabins around tfie U illiarns
shack in Virginia.
Virginia recognized “tomahawk
improvements” as entit »ng th- hold
er to 4)0 acres of !.'nti. Wi.h the
payment of a small additional sum
the settler also was given 1,000 ad
ditional acres adjoinii his claim.
Williams would stlect a desirable
tract, girdle a few trees, plant a
scanty crop of corr. and then claim
the property thr ugh "tomahawk
(Continued on page 5)
BLUFFTON
A Good Place /o Trade
NUMBER 8
MENNONITES URGE
SUNDAY OF PRAYER
FOR WORLD PEACE
July 6 Recommended As Day
by Conference Here
Tuesday
Churches From Four States At
Meeting On College
Campus
Recommendation that Sunday, July
6, nearest to Independence Day, be
set aside as “a day of prayer, seek
ing guidance from Almighty God in
regard to this threat to world peace”
was made Tuesday at the closing ses
sion of a four-day meeting of the
Middle District Conference of Men
nonite churches on the Bluffton col
lege campus.
The Day of Prayer dedicated to
world peace also was suggested as a
time of "confession and penitance
for our many sins.”
The 19 Mennonite churches from
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa,
represented in the conference, will
take individual action on the Day
of Prayer theme.
Resolutions drafted on the closing
day of the conference included in
structions to the conference secre
tary to send a telegram to United
States Senator Robert Taft stating,
“We, as conference delegates of the
•8th session of the Middle District
Conference, oppose peace-time mili
tary conscription.”
17 Churches Represented
Ninety-seven delegates from 17
churches were here for the four-day
conference. All sessions were held
in Ramseyer chapel on the campus
with the exception of Sunday meet
ings in the college gymnasium, be
cause of a large number of visitors.
In line with the Mennonite denom
ination’s congregational type of
church government, decisions of the
conferenc are advisory only and no
church is' bound by action of the
group.
New offerers elected by the confer
ee WlM- Oirn Krehbteh Berne,
Ind., president J. T. Neufeld, Chi
cago, ice-president Clarence
Schneck. Pandora, secretary and N.
N. Soldi er, Pandora, new member of
the conf-rence board of trustees for
a five-year term.
Othei members of the board are
Amos Hilty, Pandora Llewellyn
Geiger, Pandora D. W. Bixler,
Bluffton and Palmer Moser, Berne.
)r. Schultz Re-Elected
E. JN. Baumgartner, Berne, was
re-elected representative of the con
fererce on the Bluffton board of
trusiees, and Dr. J. S. Schultz, of
Bic fton college, was re-elected a
me iber of the conference education
committee.
Frank Harder, Pandora, was.
ejected to the Home Missions com
ifcittee, and Russell Mast, Wads
worth, was re-elected on the Peaee
^committee.
Officers of activities allied with
the conference included the follow
ing:
Women’s Missionary Society, Mrs.
Ira Sprunger, Berne, president.
Conference program committee,
Howard Landes, Bluffton, elected for
a three-year term E. W. Baumgart
ner, Berne, and Dr. I. W Bauman,
Bluffton, still serving.
Young People’s Society, Stanley
Hostettler, Dalton, president How
ard Krehbiel, Donnellson., Iowa, vice
president Phyllis Marquart, Bluff
ton, program committee Vera Sold
ner, Berne, district representative
Ferol Althaus, Bluffton, secretary
treasurer and Earl Lehman, Pan
dora, field secretary.
A new committee named to pro
mote Brotherhood organizations in
the conference includes Clifton
Sprunger, Berne G. T.Soldner and
D. W. Bixler, Bluffton.
MOTQR TO CALIFORNIA
Five Bluffton youths are enroute
on a motor trip to California where
they. expect to remain for an in
definite time. They are Kenneth and
.Harold Hartman, David Smucker,
•Gordon Bixel, Jr., and Herbert
Klassen.
ON TERMINAL LEAVE
Eldon McConnaughey, son of Mrs.
Lillian McConnaughey of West Col
lege avenue is home on terminal
leave after six years in the navy.
He was last stationed at Little
Creek, Va.
STUDENT RECITAL
Bluffton college department of
music will present in public recital
students of Prof. Sidney Hauenstein
and Mrs. Pearl Mann in Ramseyer
chapel, Friday night at 8 o’clock.