The Bluffton news. [volume], March 17, 1949, Image 1

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BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Trade
VOLUME LXXin
COLLEGE DEAN IS
FOUND GUILTY ON
DRAFT LAW CHARGE
Larry Gara Convicted by Jury
in Federal Court at
Toledo
History Instructor Out Under
Bond Pending New Trial
Motion
Larry Gara, 27-year old Bluffton
college history instructor and dean of
men was found guilty by a jury in
the Federal Court at Toledo, Monday
afternoon of knowingly having
counselled Charles Rickert, a former
ministerial student at the college to
refuse to register for the peacetime
draft.
The jury consisting of six men
and six women received the case
Monday morning at 11:06 a. m. and
returned their verdict at 3:58 p. m.
Maximum sentence is five years In
federal prison and a $10,000 fine.
The case, said to be the first of its
kind under the 1948 Selective Service
act attracted widespread attention.
Gerald P. Openlander, assistant U. S.
district attorney handled the prosecu
tion for the government.
Motion For New Trial
Gara was represented in court by
Attorneys Francis Heisler of Chicago
and Gustavus Ohlinger of Toledo, the
latter of whom immediately filed a
motion for a new trial before Judge
Frank Kloeb in whose court the case
has been heard, beginning last Wed
nesday.
Should Judge Kloeb not grant a
new trial, Gara said he was prepared
to appeal to the Federal Circuit
Court in Cincinnati.
Bail bond of $2,000 was continued
by Judge Kloeb and Gara was
released. He was meeting his history
classes at the college here Tuesday
morning and will continue pending
further developments. Gara has a
teaching schedule of 14 hours weekly.
Few Hear Verdict
In contrast to the numbers of
Bluffton college students and faculty
estimated at upwards of 100 which
daily attended the trial last week,
there were only a few spectators in
the courtroom when the jury filed in
Monday afternoon and W. M. Lutten
ton of Sandusky, the foreman, an
nounced that a verdict had been
reached.
Gara took the verdict calmly end
made no statement, but indicated he
W’ould have something to say if the
motion for a new trial is denied and
he is sentenced.
The trial precipitated a legal
battle in which the prosecution
argued that Gera was being tried for
draft law violation w’hile the defense
was that under the constitutional
guarantees of freedom of speech and
religion he had committed no crime.
Attorneys for both sides completed
their arguments Friday afternoon
and Judge Kloeb charged the jury
Monday morning.
Rickert, 21 year old college senior
studying for the ministry around
■whose refusal to register the case
centered, is in the federal prison at
Milan, Mich., serving an 18 months
sentence for violation of the draft
law. Rickert is a Presbyterian and
Gara a Quaker.
College Outlines Position
A college spokesman said the stand
taken by the two men was entirely
a personal matter and did not reflect
the position of the institution. He said
the college does not believe in non
registration and students have been
so informed by the president on a
number of occasions. However, it
does stand for the principle of free
dom to express opinions and freedom
to act in a sympathetic way toward
one who is living according to his
conscience.
College authorities said the institu
tion and the Mennonite church have
consistently recommended that con
scientious objectors comply with pro
visions of the Selective Service act
and claim the privileges provided
thereunder.
However they further urge those
granted exemption under terms of
the act that they volunteer for relief
work or similar service which they
can perform consistent with their
pacifist beliefs.
BLUFFTON MARKETS
Wednesday Morning
Grain (bushel prices) Wheat
$2.10 corn $1.18 oats 70c soys $2.07.
Poultry—Heavy hens 38c leghorn
hens 30c.
Eggs—Large whites 41c large
browns 40c medium whites 37c
medium browns 36c.
Butterfat—61c.
Dr. Rodabaugh Named
To Board Of Health
Dr. Franklin D. Rodabaugh, Bluff
ton physician, was named to fill the
unexpired term of Dr. M. R. Bixel
on the Allen County District Board
of Health at a meeting of the ad
visory council last week in Lima.
Dr. Rodabaugh previously had
been named by the board to serve
until the advisory council meeting,
held once yearly.
Other members of the board are
Dr. F. A. Young, Delphos W. H.
Young, Harrod Samuel Smith,
Cairo, and Walter Burget, Amanda
township.
ROUTE 69 IN UNION
ANO ORANGE TWPS.
TO BE RESURFACED
More Than Seven Miles of High
way Included in Summer
Program
Bids to be Received by State
Highway Department This
Month
State Route 69 in Orange and
Union townships will be re-surfaced
this summer as a part of the state
highway department’s 1949 road im
provement program.
A total of 7.21 miles of the high
way will be given bituminous treat
ment in the summer program, em
bracing all of the road in Orange
township and a part of it in Union
township boundaries.
In addition, 2.72 miles of the same
highway will be re-surfaced in
Liberty township, Hardin county,
near Ada.
Bids on the Route 69 project will
be received by the highway depart
ment until 10 p. m. Tuesday, March
29, after which the contractor will
be named. Re-surfacing of the high
way must be completed before next
August 1, according to the contract
terms.
Other projects in the summer pro
gram in this area will include re
surfacing of State route 81, Jackson
township. In this improvement 3.01
miles of the highway will receive
bituminous treatment.
Named Professor At
Massachusetts Tech
Ivan Geiger, Bluffton native who
a year ago became head of the de
partment of physical education at
Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology in Boston, has been advanced
to the rank of full professor, it was
announced the first of the week.
Geiger was graduated from Bluff
ton college and later coached ath
letics at Van Buren high school in
Hancock county and at the Coast
C-’nrd academy in New London,
an.
His wife is the former Winifred
Thompson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
J. A. Thompson of Spring street.
He expects to spend the coming
summer in Columbus studying for
the Ph. D. degree at Ohio State
university.
Thieves Break Into
Pandora Milling Co.
Thieves found 12 cents when they
pried open the cash register of the
Pandora Milling company, Monday
night. The 12 cents together with
$2 in candy comprised the total loot,
according to Edgar Pifer, manager,
following a check-up.
Entrance to the building was
gained through a back door. Office
desks were ransacked and the con
tents strewn over the floor but the
safe was unmolested.
Trio On College
Course Tuesday
The Blafka Instrumental trio will
appear as the fourth number on the
Bluffton college music course in
Ram seyer chapel next Tuesday night
at 8 o’clock, it was announced the
first of the week.
The company is headed by Miss
Agnes Blafka, concert pianist to
gether with a violinist and cellist.
MARRIAGE LICENSES
Ronald Keith Kirtland,1 finisher,
Bluffton and Pauline Rosemary
Pursell, clerk typist, Col. Grove.
Donavin Wendell Moser, student,
Bluffton and Ruth Mae Diller, Col.
Grove.
Quaker History Instructor Resumes
Classes Here Pending Court Decision
Gara is Native of Reading,
Pennsylvania Wife Senior in
College Here
Served Three Years in Prison
For Refusal to Register
For Draft
Larry Gara, 27-year-old Bluffton
college history instructor and dean
of men was meeting his classes as
usual Tuesday apparently unmindful
of the fact that he was the central
figure in a precedent-setting trial in
the Federal court at Toledo last
week which attracted attention thru
out the country as the first viola
tion of its kind under the peacetime
draft act.
The slightly-built, red haired
Quaker who served three years in
prison for refusing to register in
1940, showed no apprehension at the
out’ook of facing a possible sentence
of five years in federal prison and
$10,000 fine. He is now out under
bond pending arguments next week
for a new trial before Judge Frank
Kloeb in the court at Toledo.
This is Gara's first year as an
instructor in Bluffton college. A na
tive of Reading, Pa., he came here
with his wife at the opening of the
college term last September. The
couple reside in Ropp hall where he
serves as dean of men. They have
no children.
Mrs. Gara who enrolled in the col
lege as a member of the senior class
has been with her husband through
out the trial and was in the court
room when the jury’s verdict was
announced Monday afternoon.
Gara is a graduate of Penn State
college and this is his first year of
college teaching. He has 14 hours
of classes weekly. Since his ar
rival in Bluffton last fall he has
been active in the cause of Euro
pean relief.
College sources indicated Tuesday
that Gara will continue his teach
ing duties here so long as he is per
mitted to do so under pnesent cir
cumstances. There has been no indi
cation relative as to his successor.
O. S. V. Glee Club
Sings Here Monday
I
The, 47-voice men’s glee club of
Ohio State university will present
a concert at 8:30 p. m. next Mon
day night in the Bluffton High
school auditorium, during the or
ganization’s annual spring tour of
Ohio cities.
In its appearance here, the glee
club will be directed by Prof. Dale
V. Gilliland, its young conductor,
who has been in charge of the group
since 1939.
One of the most popular of Ohio
State’s musical organizations, the
glee club has grown with the uni
versity it represents. Originally a
quartet, the club has developed to
its present membership of nearly
half a hundred voices.
Annual Farm Bureau
Meet Tuesday Night
Annual meeting of the Allen Farm
Bureau Co-op association will be
held at Beaverdam high school audi
torium next Tuesday night at 8
o’clock.
Two directors will be elected at
the business meeting after which the
evening’s program will include an
address by Ray Hobson of Colum
bus, director of field supervisors of
the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
Hobson, Wilmington college gradu
ate, is a former manager of the
Montgomery County Fann Bureau
Co-op.
Entertainment will be provided by
Jack’s Xylophone 18-piece band of
Richmond, Ind., including four tap
dancers and performers on marim
bas, electric vibraphone and Swiss
bells.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Loren Redd, Jenera,
a girl, Sara Lou, Thursday. Mrs.
Redd is the former Ladonna Deppler.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Basinger,
Bluffton, a girl, Cai-ol Louise, Thurs
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Donavin Diller,
Pandora, a girl, Laura Jean, Sun
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Baughman,
Ada, a girl, Janet Louise, Tuesday.
Mrs. Baughman is the former Mar
jorie Welty.
Mr. and Mrs. Morris Amstutz,
Ada, a boy, Jerry Lee, born last
Wednesday at San Antonio hospital,
Kenton.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1919
INSPECT COLLEGE
AND SCHOOLS HERE
FOR FIRE HAZARDS
Safety Provisions* in All Build
ings Are Said to be
Adequate
State Inspection Of All Schools
Follows Disastrous Kenyon
College Blaze
Adequate fire escape protection is
afforded in Bluffton public school
buildings and at Bluffton college, ac
cording to the opinion of local school
officials voiced this week following
announcement that the state industri
al relations department has ordered
an immediate inspection of all school
and college buildings in Ohio.
Fire inspection of scholastic
structures follows in the wake of a
disastrous fire last month at Kenyon
college which resulted in the death
of nine students.
A force of 21 inspectors has been
assigned to the school inspection pro
gram, with orders to issue im
mediate, mandatory directions for
correction when they find building
code violations which might become
fire hazards.
In commenting on the approaching
inspection, Bluffton college officials
this week said that all buildings on
the campus are equipped with ade
quate fire escape facilities.
Fire Escapes Installed
College hall, oldest building on the
campus, has new outside fire escapes,
installed last summer, and other
structures have modern inside fire
proof, fire exits. These include Lin
coln and Ropp halls, women and men
dormitories, and Science hall. All
Bluffton college buildings are three
story structures.
Bluffton High scnool also has in
side fire exits in fire-proof stair
wells. The grade, school building,
oldest of the town’s?school structures,
has outside fire escapes.
An inspection of both grade and
higfiYO^o"0l buildings was made by
the state for fire hazards during the
1947-1948 school year, Supt. Ralph
Lanham said, at which time fire
fighting equipment was found to be
in order and no major changes were
ordered.
Fire drills are practiced at regular
intervals in the public school build
ings, to make students familiar with
the procedure in emptying buildings
quickly. Regular fire drills also
lessen the danger of panic breaking
out in student ranks, for pupils have
no way of knowing if an alarm
signals another practice' or a rest
fire, school authorities said.
700 Enrolled In
Hospital Auxiliary
Bluffton Hospital Women’s Auxil
iary has enrolled 700 in its biennial
membership drive, it was announced
the first of the week by officers of
the organization.
Proceeds of the membership cam
paign totalling $724.80 will go into
a fund toward the purchase of a
walk-in cooler for the hospital af
fording facilities for storage of
larger quantities of foodstuffs and
economies in operating costs.
Mrs. Gilbert Fett, chairman of the
membership committee expressed
thanks of the organization to all
contributors and solicitors taking
part in the canvass.
Officers of the auxiliary are:
Pres., Mrs. Hiram Huser 1st vice
pres., Mrs. Millen Geiger secretary,
Mrs. Wilford Steiner.
Phillips Road Open
After Bridge Repair
Bridge on the Phillips road over
Big Riley creek northwest of Bluff
ton, formerly known as the Mullet
bridge, was repaired by Allen coun
ty commissioners this week.
The road, in vicinity of the bridge
closed last week is now open to
traffic.
In New Locations
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Sommer will
move this week into their newly pur
chased residence on Grove street,
the former Moses Amstutz property.
Don Moser has rented the Staater
apartment above the Rice dry goods
store to be vacated by Mr. and Mrs.
Sommer.
Rev. and Mrs. Merrell Boggs and
daughter of Lima are occuyping the
Mrs. Noah Niswander residence on
South Lawn avenue. Rev. Boggs is
a student at Bluffton college.
Schools Close Here for Two
Days as Storm Isolates Rural
Districts
Blanket of Snow will Prove
Help to Wheat Stand Thru
Critical Period
Vagaries of the weatherman ap
peared to be establishing a new sort
of pattern with last week's six-inch
snowfall which blocked country
roads and caused a two-day shut
down of Bluffton public schools, for
it was the third year in a row that
this district has seen mid-March
produce the heaviest snowfall of the
winter.
The belated wintry assault during
the second week of March this year
was nothing new. Last year the
same week brought an 8-inch snow
fall, the heaviest in five years, and
in 1947 a six-inch snowstorm isolat
ed some rural areas for a two-day
period.
Tag End of Winter
Coining at the tag-end of a winter
of record-breaking mildness, this
year’s snowfall found local residents
unprepared for the assault.
Previously there had been only
three skifts of snow, barely cover
ing the ground, and the drifts which
followed the six-inch snowfall last
Wednesday night and Thursday
morning were the first seen here this
winter.
The snow will prove of distinct
benefit to the wheat, giving it need
ed protection through the critical
period of March when freezing and
thawing frequently wreak havoc
with the stand.
No classes, were held in Bluffton
schools on Thursday or Friday, when
bus drivers found they were, unable
to make their rounds, and stalled
cars were a common sight even on
downtown streets. Mail carriers on
rural routes were as much as four
hours late in making their rounds,
and they found many roads impas
sable.
Snowfalls In Mid-March For Past
Three Years Are Heaviest Of Winter
All highways were slippery and
treacherous, and although there were
no serious accidents many cars went
into ditches. Dixie highway traf
fic was blocked for more than an
hour Thursday afternoon when a
big truck-trailer skidded sideways
across the road near Swiss Inn,
three miles south of town.
Anniversary of Big Snow
The snowstorm came just one day
earlier than the 8-inch snowfall of
last year, which also was accompan
ied by sub-zero weather. Highway
travel, however, was not affected as
much by the 1948 storm as by this
year’s 6-inch snowball, for there was
no drifting last year.
This year’s snow more closely re
sembled that of three years ago, also
in the second week of March, which
oddly enough also resulted in the
closing of schools for two days
when rural roads were blocked with
drifts.
Mid-March snowstorms are noth
ing new, however, for oldtimers re
call the blizzard of March 12, 1888,
which is said to have been the most
severe ever visited on this area.
In the snowstorm that year country
districts were isolated for more
than a week.
Bluffton High Class
To Make Soil Tests
Free soil tests will be made this
spring for area farmers by the
Bluffton High school agriculture
class, it was announced this week
by the instructor, Gerhard Buhler,
school principal.
Soils will be tested by the class
for acid, nitrogen, phosphate and
potash content, if samples are
brought to the school.
Josephine Steiner, daughter of
Mrs. J. S. Steiner, of S. Main street,
is enroute home from Venezuela on
a two-month furlough from her
duties as head of the Goodwill hos
pital in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Flying back from her South Amer
ican post, Miss Steiner expects to
be in Bluffton the latter part of
next week. Enroute home her plane
will stop at Haiti, Porto Rico and
Havana.
After spending a two months’ va
cation in this country, she plans to
return to her duties in the Mara
caibo hospital where she has been
in charge for two years.
The hospital was built and is
maintained by the Rockefeller found
ation.
Checker Championship
Game This Wednesday
Bluffton checkers championship
will be determined this Wednesday
night in finals match of the city
tournament to be played in the
Swank Barber shop between Lester
Niswander and Carl Burkhart.
Niswander and Burkhart qualified
as finalists in the opening round of
the tournament Monday night in
the council room. Harley Burkhold
er finished in third place in the
competition.
Youngest player entered in the
tournament was 13-year-old Arlin
Campbell, of Jackson street.
Josephine Steiner Flying Home On
Furlough From Venezuelan Hospital
FURTHER STUDY TO
BE MADE OF SITE
FOR COLLEGE GYM
Parking Problems, .and Building
Entrances, Basis of Addition
al Survey
Present Plans Call For Erection
of New Building At Rear of
Science Hall
Before starting work this spring
on construction of Bluffton college’s
new $250,000 gymnasium-auditorium,
additional surveys will be made to
determine the Dost possible location
of the structure and its parking
areas for automobiles.
Altho present plans call for the
gymnasium to be built in the space
immediately at the rear of Science
hall, between Lincoln hall and the
present gymnasium, a decision has
not been reached as to the exact site.
•Further survey of the area has
been ordered by the building com
mittee in the interest of providing
adequate parking facilities and other
features directly affecting location
of the quarter-million-dollar struc
ture.
Facing and arranging the building
and its approaches for efficiency and
convenience is another matter of con
'cern to be decided to the additional
surveys to be made by school author
ities and their Cleveland architectal
firm of Ward and Conrad.
Altho construction of the gymnas
ium-auditorium will be started this
spring, work will continue only until
the building fund is exhausted.
Various details of the building
facilities will be completed only as
funds are available, college authori
ties have pointed out.
Progress of the campaign to raise
funds for construction of the build
ing have been sufficiently satis
factory, however, to indicate that
many of the building’s facilities may
be ready for use during the coming
school year.
Rites Tuesday For
Infant Schumacher
Clyde Donovan Schumacher, five
day-old infant son of Mr. and Mrs.
Clyde L. Schumacher, of near Mt.
Cory, died Monday morning in Bluff
ton Community hospital.
In addition to the parents, sur
vivors include a sister, Betty pa
ternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.
Reuben Schumacher, Pandora and
the maternal grandfather, Daniel
Walters, also of Pandora and the
material grandmother, Mrs. Louise
Langley, of California.
Funeral services were held Tues
day in the Diller funeral home. Rev.
Ernest Bohn, Pandora, officiated.
Burial was in Pleasant View ceme
tery.
Concert Pianist With
Findlay Orchestra
Allen P. Dudley, concert pianist,
will appear as soloist with the Find
lay Symphony orchestra in its con
cert in the Bluffton high school gym
nasium, Monday night, March 28, it
was announced the first of the week.
Dudley is a graduate of Oberlin con
servatory.
The 60-piece orchestra is directed
by Clifford Hite with Oliver Schu
macher, formerly of the Bluffton
Pandora district, as concertmaster
and includes a number of local mu
sicians.
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live
NUMBER 49
LIGHT PLANT WILL
USE NEW TURDINE
IN EARLY APRIL
Municipal Plant’s $225,000 Ex
pansion Program Completed
This Spring
Turbine on Line in April New
Boiler Will Be Put In Use
In May
Bluffton municipal light plant’s
$225,000 expansion program, launch
ed three years ago, will be com
pleted by mid-May of this year, with
an additional turbine and a new
boiler increasing generating capacity
of the plant by nearly two-thirds its
present output.
Altho there have been some recent
delays in installation work, the
plant’s new 2,000 KW turbine will be
ready to bo put on the line approx
imately April 1, Supt. John Swisher
announced this week.
Pipe connections to the new 600
HP boiler now are being made, fol
lowing completion of boiler installa
tion, and it is expected that the
equipment will be placed in use
sometime early in May.
Wiring Turbine
Wiring the 2,000 EW turbine to
switchboard controls will be complet
ed in about two more weeks, the
plant superintendent said, and after
the end of that work the new instal
lation will be ready for use.
The wiring is being done by H.
Wray Steiner, Pittsburgh consulting
electrical engineer.
All work on installation of the
new boiler has been completed by
workmen from the Babcock and Wil
cox Co., of Barberton, and plant
workmen, directed by Supt. Swisher,
now are making pipe connections to
the plant’s system.
When the 2,000 KW turbine is
placed in operation, Bluffton’s peak
load troubles, experienced over the
last 18 months, will be eliminated,
and the plant will have two genera
tors capable of adequately supplying
demands of the patrons,
Handle Peak Loads
Present peak load demands range
from 1,000 to 1,100 KW, Supt.
Swisher pointed out, and only one
of the plant’s two present operating
turbines can carry the load.
The larger turbine in the existing
installation has a 1,250 KW rating,
but the smaller one has a rated out
put of only 75OKW.
When the new 600 HP boiler is put
into use in early May, the plant will
have adequate steam power to handle
its increased load, and the post-war
expansion program launched in 1946
will be completed.
Parents To Form
Cub Scout Troop
Bluffton’s Cub Scouting program
will be reorganized at a meeting of
interested parents at 7:30 p. m. next
Tuesday in the Bluffton High school
cafeteria.
All parents with sons between the
ages of nine and 12 are urged to at
tend the session. Bob Changnon,
field executive of the Shawnee Area
Boy Scout council, and other scout
executives will be on hand to assist
in the reorganization program.
Ralph T. Stearns, neighborhood
scout commissioner, announced that
a list of more than 50 boys has been
obtained with the assistance of Bluff
ton grade school teachers. Letters
will be mailed to the youngsters in
viting them to become members of
the new pack.
The cub scouting program is un
denominational, and motion pictures
showing various phases of troop
activity will be shown to parents at
next Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioner Stearns also an
nounced that Herman Hilty has been
named Scoutmaster of Boy Scout
Troop 56, and boys 12 years of age
and older are invited to join the
troop. Meetings are held every
Monday night in the basement of
the First Mennonite church.
Evan Herr Is On
Scholarship List
Evan Herr, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Nelson Herr, of Lawn avenue, placed
on the Dean’s List, honorary schol
arship rating, at Bowling Green
State university for the last semes
ter, it was announced this week.
To qualify for the honor, stu
dents must have an average of “B”
or better in grades.
Making Flour Whiter
Dark blue lining is put in paper
flour bags so that the contrast will
make the flour look whiter. Some
wheat is quite gray.