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May 5-12 BLUFFTON A Good Place to Trade VOLUME LXXIV Scrub and Paint Brush Brigades to Attack at Dawn, Thursday Pickup of Trash and Rubbish to Come at Close of Drive, May 12 Bluffton’s eight-day concentrated campaign to make the village clean er, healthier, safer and more attrac tive will be launched Thursday morning as the town’s Clean up— Paint-up—Fix-up drive gets under way. Private individuals, community organizations, business men and industries have been urged to co operate in the campaign running through Thursday of .next week. In the drive aimed at making Bluffton a cleaner, more healthful community, sponsors have mapped intensified efforts to guard against a repetition of last summer’s polio out break. Rubbish Collection Regular April rubbish collection will be delayed until Thursday, May 12, to give patrons of the municipal service an opportunity to participate in Clean-up week before the village trucks begins its rounds. Rubbish will be hauled only for those who subscribe for the municipal collection service. Retail stores here are cooperating in promoting the clean-up campaign, advertising special items and em phasizing the advantages of united community-wide effort to assure success of the program. Help Available Bluffton college students will be available to work for residents who want assistance in cleanup of their premises, and calls for help may be made to the college administra tion office. In cooperation of Bluffton public schools, the grade school pupils will be dismissed at intervals from class to aid in cleanup of the school grounds, it'was announced by Supt. Ralph Lanham. By cleaning up deposits of cans and other rubbish, residents will be assisting in the control of mosquitoes and flies, the mayor said this week, both of which have been described as carriers of disease germs, possibly including polio. Gains High Rating In Music Contest Rath Diller, Bluffton high school junior, won a No. 1 rating for piano solo at the state high school instru mental solo and ensemble contest at Capital university, Columbus, Satur day. Miss Diller is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Diller of South Jackson street. She qualified for the state contest in the district meeting held early this spring at Bowling Green State university. Births The following births at Bluffton hospital: Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Houck, Arling ton, a boy, Ronald Paul, last Wed nesday. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Johnson, Bluff ton, a boy, Richard Lee, Thursday. Mr. and Mrs. Derol Monday, Ben ton Ridge, a girl- Mary Rosella, Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brodine, Benton Ridge, a boy, Gary Robert, Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Wade Shook, Defiance, formerly of Bluffton, a boy, Roger Kevin, born at Defiance hospital last Wednesday. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Marshall of 'Walnut Hill farm, Lexington, Ky., formerly of this vicinity, a boy, •Christopher Eric, bom at Good Samaritan hospital, Lexington, April 28. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Augsburger, Ashtabula, a "boy, Harold Craig born at General hospital, Ashtabula. Mr. Augsburger is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Augsburger south of Bluffton. Mr. and Mrs. Karl Schultz of Los Angeles, a boy, Karl Gordon, bom in that city. Mr. Schultz is the son of Dr. and Mrs. J. S. Schultz of South Lawn avenue. In New Location Eugene Basinger and family have moved here from Mt. Cory to the former Noah Zuercher property on South Main street which he re cently purchased. Bluffton Mobilizes For Clean-up Week Cleanup Elk Restaurant Changes Hands Mr. and Mrs. George Schantz of Lima have purchased the Elk Res taurant from Mr. and Mrs. Chris Mullenhour in a deal completed over the week end. The new management took over operation of the restau rant Monday morning. Mr. and Mrs. Schantz formerly operated a Lima restaurant. Associated with them will be their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Theis. Mullenhour who lives at South Main and Kibler streets has announced no plans for the future. COUPLE INJURED IN THREE-AUTO CRASH IN HOSPITAL HERE Tennessee Man and Wife Injur ed in Highway Accident near Bluffton Passenger Car is Badly Damag ed in Collision With Two Trucks A Tennessee man and woman have been in Bluffton Community hospital for six days, suffering from injuries received last Thursday evening in a three-vehicle collision north of the Swiss Inn on the Dixie highway. Hurt in the mishap involving two trucks and one automobile were Lacey Hammitt, 47, and his wife, Mrs. Edmona Hammitt, 52, of John son City, Tenn. Ham mitt suffered fractures of the oelvis and left leg and his wife was •ut and severely bruised. She is ible to be up part of the time at the hospital, but her husband remains confined to his bed, hospital attaches reported. The Ham mitts were enrouW from Johnson City to Pontiac, Mich., when the mishap occurred. State highway jatrolmen, who investigated, report 'd that the northbound Hammitt car vas involved in an accident with an F. J. Egner gasoline truck operated y Roy Jacob Wilkins, of Findlay, xnd a beer truck driven by Frank Mauceri, of Lima. Neither of the .ruck drivers was hurt. The Hammitt •ar was badly damaged. The Diller ambulance of Bluffton removed the injured Tennessee :ouple to the hospital here. 13 In High School Scholarship Test ______ Bluffton high has entered 13 pu pils in the district scholarship test to be held at Bowling Green State university, Saturday. The school here is competing in Division 3, for enrollment below 200 in the four upper grades Bluffton pupils and the subjects in which they will compete are: Margaret Stratton, biology John Bauman- chemistry Howard Miller, general science Marilyn Oberly, 1st year algebra Lynn Carmack, plane geometry Howard Landes, Ameri can history Roger Linden, senior social studies Charles Hilty, 9th year English Barbara Lewis, 10th year English Ruth Diller, 11th year English Susanna Kempf, 12th year English Robert Wenger, 1st year Latin Louise Reichenbach, 2nd year Latin. With The Sick Mrs. D. C. Bixel is seriously ill at her home on Lawn avenue. She is suffering from a fractured rib, pleurisy and complications follow ing a fall. Some improvement is reported in the condition of Sidney Hauenstein who has been under treatment at Bluffton hospital for a heart ail ment the past three months. Condition of Mrs. E. C. Ludwig, patient at St. Rita’s hospital, Lima, is reported unchanged. Mrs. A. J. B. Longsdorf of South Ijawn avenue is a medical patient at Bluffton hospital. Couple To Wed In Harrod Thursday Wedding of Mrs. Ruth Trippie horn of West Elm street, Bluffton, and Lee Richey of Lima will take place at the home of Rev. Thomas in Harrod, Thursday. The couple will reside in Lima where Mr. Richey is in business as a heating contractor. Charles Hardwick, Oil Executive and Bluffton Native Ad dresses Lions Modern Equipment Would Have Expanded Oil Boom Here Fifty Years Ago How Bluffton’s oil boom of a half century ago provided the training ground for men who later attained positions of prominence in the oil industry was recounted in an address by Charles Hardwick of Findlay, speaking at the dinner meeting of he Lions club in the Walnut grill, Tuesday night. Hardwick, vice president of the Ohio Oil company,, is a Bluffton native, the son of .Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hardwick of Railroad st* and is well known here. His formal address of the place occupied by the oil industry and its products in present day commerce was interspersed with numerous informal references to his early ex periences as a youth in Bluffton back some thirty years ago when as a delivery boy for the late Albert “Dutch” Benroth, who operated a co operative grocery delivery service he knew virtually every kitchen in Bluff ton. Hardwick’s association with the oil industry began when after graduat ing from high school and completing a business college course he was of fered a position as secretary to the late Arthur Warren in Louisiana. Warren, originally from Orange township and brother of John Warren was prominent in the oil industry in the south. Others who went ou* from Bluffton to make a success in a larger way in the oil fields were the Trippiehorn brothers Jacob and Dave, now in Texas, brothers of Fred and Dan Trippiehorn and J. S. “Mack” McCullough who went to Mexico and later to South America. Hardwick said that in his travels around the country he frequently meets men in the oil business who at one time lived in Bluffton or were employed in the oil fields in this area. In his own career which began as a secretary in Louisiana, he was later assigned to the company’s refin Bluffton area farmers may join others of the nation in establishing new total crop production records this year, according to information gleaned in a survey by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Despite a 14 per cent drop in the general level of farra prices during the past 12 months, most farmers apparently are planning for in creased acreage in farm crops, and some agriculture department officials expect that new records may be set. Men Prominent In Oil Industry Got Early Training Here, Speaker Says A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY All-Time Crop Records Expected From Nation’s Farms This Year Heavier planting schedules are spurred principally by the fact that this may be the last year during which producer prices of major crops will- be supported by the gov ernment at wartime levels. New’ farm legislation scheduled to go into effect for the 1950 crop year authorizes lower support prices, and most farmers expect to cash in on the last w’ar-level payment by seeding as many acres as possible this year. An additional factor entering into the forecast of a record crop output is the fact that this may be the last BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, MAY 5. 1919 ASKING Combustible rubbish like the above is a stupid invitation to disaster. FIRES thrive on trash Join “The Spring Clean-up” and get rid of it. ing division at Robinson, 111., and from there transferred to Findlay, where he is vice president in charge of marketing. His wife is the form er Constance Wise, of Bluffton. Referring to Bluffton's oil boom at the beginning of the century, Hard wick said that equipment in use at that time made possible the pumping of only about forty per cent of the available supply of oil. Had it been possible to follow soon thereafter with modern equipment, there could have be»'n another oil boom here, fully equal to the first one. Since that tinn however, the underground supply Jias deteriorated and it would be too date now to at tempt to obtain it. Sgt. E. Burkholder Gets Two Medals Sgt. Elmer E,. /Burkholder, Jr., son of Mr. and^frs. Elmer E. Burkholder, Sr., West Elm street, has been recently awarded the Army of Occupation Medal and World War II Victory Medal. He is a member of the 34th Infantry Regi ment, a unit of the 24th Infantry Division. The famed 24th Division, popular ly known as the “Victory” Division, now occupies the entire island of Kyushu, third largest and southern most of the Japanese home islands. Sgt. Burkholder, re-enlisted in the services in 1947, and arrived in Ja pan in February, 1948. Prior to this enlistment, he served in the European Theater of Operation dur ing the War. Engage Orchestra For Alumni Dance Music for dancing at the Bluffton high school alumni reunion on Fri day night, May 27, will be furnished by Mack Finch’s 10-piece orchestra currently playing at Green Mea dow’s at Piqua, it was stated by the committee in charge this week. Ad vance sale of tickets will be start ed during the coming week. Modern farm equipment includes suitable first-aid kits located in the home and in convenient points about the farmstead, or on certain equip ment. year for some time when such crops as wheat, corn, cotton, etc., may be planted without being subject to gov ernment controls. The prospect of heavy surpluses of these crops is beginning to appear, and controls likely will be the picture by the time another year rolls around. A third factor is the weather, for except in a few southwestern areas there is a plentiful supply of sub soil moisture, a condition extremely favorable to maximum crop output. In addition, farmers are equipped to expand production still further, for much farm machinery has been added on countless farms during the last year. Farm labor supplies also are improving, and more and more farmers are using fertilizer to in crease their yields. The agriculture department has recommended a total crop acreage of about 365,000,000 acres. This is ap proximately the Same as the acreage planted last year, but at present there is every indication that a new record will be established this sum mer. Pai nt up Fixup Week in Bluffton BLUFFTON NEWS FOR IT BY HAR.R.Y L. MALI Editor’s Note—This is ons of a series of articles to appear in ths Bluffton News dealing with early Ohio history. Others will appear in forthcoming issues. A Bride At Ninety Nineteen-year-old Ann Sargent danced lightly over the cobble stones of a Liverpool, England, street, swinging her school books gleefully at the end of a strap. This was to be her last year at school—and then her dreams of a rosy future would be realized. That day something happened. Ann never knew just what it was but a heavy cloth was thrown over her head and she. was quickly pulled into a carriage. It was a genuine old English kidnapping, only too com mon in 1719, and Ann landed on the James River in Virginia, where she was sold “for the expenses of her passage.” Ann was born in 1700. Her father was a soldier in Queen Ann’s wars and named his daughter for the queen. When 14 Ann had gone with her mother to London and had seen Lord Lovett beheaded. In America Ann was married to John Trotter, who was killed at Point Pleasant in 1774. After that she joined the army and remained in the garrison until the Indians w’erv driven from the neighborhood. That was where Charleston, on “the Kanawha,” now is located. Once in the face of an Indian at tack she rode 100 miles through the wilderness to Lewisburg after am munition for the garrison and got [yack with it before the powder ran out. It was through a trackless savage infested foreSt but Ann made the trip safely. Ann was a good soldier. Only five feet tw’o inches tall, squat and Strong, she shot bears and deer like a man, rode her black horse, “Liver pool,” like an Indian and was much feared by the savages, who said she was insane and therefore under special protection of the Great Spirit. Hence she was called Mad Ann. Once, closely pursued by the In dians, Ann rode into an impenetrable thicket where she was forced to abandon Liverpool to be captured by the savages and crawl into a hollow sycamore log as a hiding place. The savages took the horse and while searching for her sat on the log where Ann was concealed without suspecting her presence. After the Indians were gone Ann followed their trail and in the night recovered her horse, gave a war whoop of her own and rode away. She was not followed. After 16 years of widowhood Ann Trotter became lonesome and in 1790 married John Bailey, a soldier, and went to live with him at the fort on the Kanawha. There, soon after, Bailey was murdered. Again a widow, Ann went to live with her son, William Trotter, who in 1818 moved into Gallia County and became an extensive landowner and was for 21 years a justice of the peace. Ann did not like the life and soon left to build her own cabin and live alone. She was too wild for the conventionalities. Cabin Near Gallipolis Ann Baily’s shack was high on the Ohio River hills four miles below Gallipolis. She built the one-room, floorless hut from fence rails and roofed it with black oak clap-boards, four feet long and held down by eight poles. It had one door and a single window with four little square (Continued on page 12) May* Close Buckeye Lake Swimming Orange Tivp. Sunday School Convention Semi-annual Orange township Sun day school convention will be held at Bethesda E. U. B. church four miles east of Bluffton, Sunday. Afternoon session will open at 2:17 o’clock with Rev. Bateman of Bethel Church of Christ as the principal speaker. Mrs. Frederick Lauriat of Bluffton will speak at the evening session opening at 8 o'clock. Music ad other numbers on program will be provided by participating Sunday schools. MUNICIPAL PLANT New 2,000 KW Unit is Pro nounced Satisfactory After Trial Runs Installation Work on Additional Boiler Also Reported Well Under Way Trial runs of the new 2 000 KW turbo generator at Bluffton’s muni cipal electric light and waterworks plant conducted during the past week have proven satisfactory, it was stated by John Swisher, plant super intendent, and the unit is now in routine service at the plant. The turbine was originally a navy surplus unit taken from a destroyer and rebuilt for use in the plant here. Its installation gives Bluffton two generating units either of which is sufficient to supply all present needs for electric current Supt. Swisher said. Installatioji work on the new boil er rated at 36,000 pounds of steam per hour is progressing satisfactorily and the unit should be in service within a month, he added. Dr. Cliff WetheriU Former Resident Dies Funeral services were held Satur day at Weston for Dr. J. Cliff WetheriU, 65, practicing physician at that place for 40 years and a former Bluffton resident. He died unexpectedly at his home in Weston, Tuesday night of last week follow ing a period of failing health. In terment was in Weston cemetery. Born in Beaverdam he came as a youth with his parents to Bluffton where his father, the late Dr. I. R. WetheriU was for many years a practicing physician. He was a graduate of Bluffton high school, Central Mennonite col lege, forerunner of Bluffton college and Starling Medical college, now Ohio State university. A veteran of World War I, he was also vice president of the West on Citizens Banking company, mem ber of Masonic bodies, including the Scottish Rite, a former member of the Wood County Republican Execu tive committee and formerly served as coroner of Wood county. Surviving are his wife, Frances son Robert by a previous marriage stepmother, Mrs. Ora WetheriU and stepsister, Mrs. Edith Biery, the latter two of Bluffton. Matthey Rites Held Here On Saturday Funeral services were held Satur day in the Basinger funeral home for Mrs. Marie Matthey, 77, wife of Charles Matthey, who died last Thursday at her home in Orange township. Death was attributed to infirmities. Daughter of Benjamin and Marie (Tribolet) Hubscher, she was born in Switzerland, February 17, 1872. In addition to her husband she is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Frank Weinhold, Bluffton Mrs. J. H. Thompson, Mt. Cory Mrs. Ken neth Alspach, Detroit and a foster daughter, Mrs. Vincent Holmes, Elida. Also surviving are six brothers and sisters: Mrs. Louis Gaiffe, Bluff ton Mrs. J. F. Steiner, Arlington, Va. Mrs. Sophie Thomas, Charles, Emile and Louis Hubscher, all of Switzerland. Burial was in the Clymer ceme I tery. Council the the The convention has been meeting regularly ever since its organization, October 24, 1875. APPROVE TURBINE AFTER TESTS AT z PAGE THREE BL A Good Place to 0 •. Final Decision! sion of Prr^ID bpot at Buckeye make it im- Higher water level lake this summer may possible to operate the municipal swimming pool, a focal point in community recreation for more than three decades, according to opinion expressed Monday night at a meet ing of the town council. Even should water recede suffi ciently to permit use of the pool, the swimming season, wlli be ma terially shortened, perhaps enough to make it impractical to clean up the premises and operate the ven ture. Counnl pessimism regarding use of municipal swimming facilities this summer came after an inspection of the, grounds, and was reflected in thoir decision not to hire a pool manager at this time or make plans for opening of the pool until pres ent conditions may be relieved. Grounds Vn®r Water I With water in Buckeye quarry at its highest stage in history, all of (the grounds up to the raised land 6’j .which the buth house sets is un der water and thicK growths of algae in shallower depths are be coming noticeable. Walks are submerged under sev eral feet of water, the floating beach is cocked into the air, with all ap proaches by land cut off, and the fence and walk which formerly bordered the water edge are ap proximately three feet under water. Higher water at the lake has re sulted from ti decision by the Cen tral Ohio Light and Power Co., own er of the property, to raise the level as much as possible as an additional safeguard for adequate water re quired for cooling purposes in the nearby former National quarry used by its rapidly expanding electrical generating plant. Quarry Inter-Connection With the two quarries only a lit tle over 200 yards apart, power company engineers have learned that maintaining a high level of water in the larger quarry also requires more water in the Buckeye, because of underground connections between the two lakes. Obtaining sufficient cool water for plant purposes has become a major problem for the utility, as the local generating installation continues a rapid pace of expansion. Among other recourses adopted by the Cen tral Ohio has been installation of an extensive system of sprays along the east bank of the main lake serving the plant, but a higher water level also is a necessity. Cannot be Lowered In offering the town renewal of a lease on the Buckeye for the coming year, officials of the utility pointed out last month that water in the lake must be maintained at a high level as possible. One of the pro visions of the lease is to the effect that a drainage valve in the quarry cannot be opened therefore any loss of water can come only through natural means. It was the opinion of Central Ohio engineers that the Buckeye water level will recede with the advent of hot weather in a normal summer, probably enough to permit operation of the swimming pool by early July. Councilmen renewed the lease^for the Buckeye grounds, despite the un certainty of swimming pool opera tions, so that all preliminaries will be out of the way if it is possible to plan for summer swimming, and also to make it possible to continue using the community park installed at the opposite end of the quarry. Real Estate Deal Rolland Stratton has purchased the 160 acre farm of Mrs. Lydia Burkholder two miles west of town opposite the Ebenezer Mennonite church. Stratton expects to occupy the place, moving from his present quarters in the Stratton apartments. BLUFFTON MARKETS Wednesday Morning Grain (bushel prices) Wheat $2.12 corn $1.24 oats 70c soys $2.10. Poultry—Heavy hens 31c leghorn hens 26c heavy fryers 3 lbs. up 30c under 3 lbs., 28c. Eggs—Large white 46c large brown 44c medium white 38c medium brown 37c. Butterfat—59c.