The Bluffton news. [volume], July 28, 1949, Image 1

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i.
A Good Place to Trade
VOLUME LXXIV
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EX-MAYOR AGAIN
WILL HEAD PARTY
TICKET THIS FALL
Consents to be Candidate on
Plea of Local Precinct
4 Leaders
Has Had Long Career Here as
Municipal Mayor and
Councilman
W.‘ A. Howe, former Bluffton
mayor, will head the Republican
ticket as a candidate for that office
at the November election. An
nouncement to this effect was made
by Bluffton Republican precinct
committeemen following a meeting
at the mayor’s office Monday night
in which the former mayor was
drafted to fill the vacancy caused by
the withdrawal of Richard Davies,
last spring's caucus nominee, who
withdrew from the race in early
summer.
Party chieftains in making the
annoucement said that Howe had
agreed to run and that papers qual
ifying him as the Republican candi
date would be filed with the Allen
County Board of Elections the last
of this week.
Howe, when contacted at his home
on Spring street confirmed the an
nouncement that he would be a can
didate, but had no other statement
to make at this time.
To Oppose Swank
As a candidate for his sixth term
as Bluffton mayoralty candidate,
Howe will oppose Gerald Swank,
Democratic nominee in next Novem
ber’s municipal election.
With Davies’ withdrawal from the
race, the way was opened for pre
cinct committeemen to select a re
placement candidate whose name
will appear on the ticket next fall.
Committeemen who drafted Howe
for the race were Forrest Mumrna,
William Amstutz, John A. Thomp
son and Armin Hauenstein. The
committee was unanimous in their
(Continued on page 8)
Produce Firm Buys
New Site For Station
The McCabe Egg & Cream com
pany which two weeks ago sold
their North Main street location ad
joining the town hall have purchased
the site for a new produce receiving
station on Vance street in a deal
closed the first of the week.
The lot, purchased from Clayton
Bucher is at the rear of the Slus
ser and Henderson properties. A
barn on the place will be remodeled
by the, produce firm.
The McCabe interests with head
quarters at Attica, Mich., sold their
present location on North Main
street to Clayton Bixel, Bluffton
automobile dealer.
Bixel who will get possession Aug
ust 1 has announced that he ex
pects to remodel the business place
into a modern salesroom for home
appliances. Bixel-is associated with
Kimmel Marshall in the operation
of a home appliance business con
ducted from the Bixel Motor Sales
on Cherry street
STREET PROGRAM
IS NEARLY DOUBLE
EARLIER ESTIMATE
Appropriation Goes Farther as
Costs are Less Than
Anticipated
Twenty-one Blocks Resurfaced
Instead of 15 as Originally
Planned
Bluffton’s summer street program
this week was expanded into one of
the largest single improvement pro
jects in the town’s history, with re
surfacing of 21 blocks of 15 village
streets included in work completed
Wednesday afternoon.
In preliminary planning, work had
been earmarked for only 11 blocks
of new streets, but expansion was
made possible thru lower costs of ap
plying tar than originally estimated,
Street Commissioner H. L. Coon an
nounced.
With $4,000 available for re
surfacing, the repair program was
nearly doubled, and completion of
the work will give the town its best
streets in years, the street com
missioner said.
In the expanded project, resurfac
ing was completed on four, blocks of
Jefferson street, three blocks of Cher
ry street, and one block on each Hu
ber and Jackson street, in addition to
work done on 12 blocks of Mound,
Spring, Elm, Garau and Jackson
streets College and Lawn avenues
and Harmon road in the initial phase
of the program.
Major re-surfacing projects includ
ed in the work directed by Street
Commissioner H. L. Coon have been:
Mound street from Huber street
to College avenue.
(Continued on page 8)
A 17 2
Republicans Draft Wilbur Howe as Candidate
Joe Fisher has made a lot of friends dur
ing the 16 years he has served as watchman
at the Cherry street crossing of the Nickel
Plate railroad, and if the protests which have
followed a proposal to abolish his job have
any effect chances are he will remain at
the post.
Joe's friends—and they are legion—have
been busy, urging municipal officials to pro
tect his crossing watchman status, ever since
announcement was made last week of a
Nickel Plate proposal to install flasher lights
at the College avenue crossing in exchange
for council permission to dispense with the
watchman at Cherry street.
Season’s Record
Wheat Yield Is
51 Bushels Acre
LARGEST reported wheat
yield this summer was 51 bushels
per acre from the Orville Frantz
farm in Orange township.
Frantz lives at the intersection
of Route 103 and Rawson road.
The wheat was marketed at the
Jenera elevator.
0
"You Cant Do That to Joe" Friends
Cry as Watchman's Job is Periled
New Faculty Members Are An
nounced For Coming School
Year
New Bookkeeper Also Will Take
Over Duties in Business
Office
Three new instructors will be add
ed to the Bluffton college faculty
this fall, marking changes in the
music, mathematics and political
science staffs of the institution.
New members of the faculty will
be George Thielman, instructor in
history and political science: Laurel
Dirks, instructor in mathematics and
physics and Laurence Burkhalter,
instructor in violin and band and
orchestral instruments.
Thielman, of Toronto, Canada, will
replace Larry Gara, who was an In
structor at the college for the first
time last year when he got into
trouble with federal authorities over
the draft registration law. Thielman
is a graduate of Bluffton college.
Dirks, who will be in the mathe
matics-physics department, has an
M. A. degree from Kansas State
university. He and his family will
live in the Ross Bogart apartment
on Cherry street.
Burkhalter, replacing the late
Sidney Hauenstein as instructor In
violin, also will be in charge of bana
and orchestral instrument instruc
tion. He and his family will live on
Jackson street in the Kirchhofer
sisters’ property, formerly owned by
Mrs. Henry Badertscher.
Burkhalter is a gradiAte of Bluff
ton college and last spring received
his M. A. from the Northwestern
University school of music.
In the business office, John
Weaver, former instructor in the
Goshen, Indiana, high school will be
bookkeeper, replacing Mrs. Donna
Harnish. Weaver, a widower, ana
his daughter will live in the property
at North Jackson and Elm streets
now occupied by Jerome Herr. Herr
and his family will move soon into
their new home on the County line,
now nearing completion.
Columbia University was first
known as KingsC ollege.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO. THURSDAY. JUIA
1 BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF NEW COLLEGE GYMNASIUM
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Artist’s Sketch of the New Gymnasium-Auditorium being built on the Bluffton College campus. It will have a sealing capacity of 2,000.
Councilmen took no action on the pro
posal when it was read at last wek's meet
ing, and the matter was tabled for consider
ation at a later dater.
In urging retention of the Cherry street
watchman, residents east of the railroad also
have pointed to additional protection provid
ed for school children crossing the railroad
by having Fisher on the job.
But another reason, perhaps equally im
portant, is the fact that motorists and pedes
trians using the crossing wo^ld miss Joe's
friendly smile and wave of his hand, which
have become established as one of Bluffton's
principal landmarks over the last 16 years.
College Names New Personnel
On Faculty And Business Office
ORANGE TWP. AUTO
CRASH TAKES LIVES
OF FATHER AND SON
Robert Clinger, 23, Dies In
stantly In Collision at Riley
Creek Church Corner
Two-Year-Old Son Succumbs In
Hospital Seven Hours Later
Three Others Hurt
A 23-year-old Williamstown father
was killed instantly, his three-year
old son died in Bluffton Community
hospital seven hours later, and three
other persons were in the local hos
pital with serious injuries, the result
of a two-car highway accident at the
Riley Creek Baptist church corner in
Orange township, at 8:30 p. m. last
Wednesday.
Robert B. Clinger, 23, died of a
skull fracture, and his three-year-old
son, John Franklin, became the
second fatality early Thursday morn
ing in the Bluffton hospital. The
boy’s death was caused by head,
chest and internal injuries.
A $100,000 damage suit as the
result of the accident was filed
Tuesday in the Hancock county
common pleas court against
Grismore by attorneys represent
ing the administrator of Clinger’s
estate.
Also seriously hurt in the two-car
crash were Mrs. Mary Clinger, 23,
who sustained lacerations of the fore
head and contusions of both knees
another son, Donald Lynn Clinger,
seven-months-old infant, who has a
fractured left leg and the driver
of the other car, Henry Grismore,
43, of Jenera, suffering from frac
tured ribs, a lacerated forehead,
and abrasions of both knees. All ex
cept the Clinger infant have left the
hospital.
The Clinger car, northbound on the
Rawson road, was in collision with
the Grismore auto, eastbound on
Route 27, at the Riley Creek Baptist
church corner. The church on the
(Continued on page 8)
1949
i s
1
For Mayor
To Nominate
Candidates In
Party Caucuses
Bluffton and Richland township
Democratic caucus in the class
room at the rear of the high
school library, Friday night at 8
o’clock.
Bluffton and Richland township
Republican caucus in council
room, town hall, Wednesday
night, Aug. 3 at 8 o’clock.
Orange township Republican
caucus at Orange Center, Friday
night at 8 o’clock.
BUCKEYE PIPE LINE
CLOSES MT. CORY
BOOSTER STATION
Action Follows Installation of
New 22-Inch Oil Pipe
line
Three Employees Living in
Bluffton Assigned to New
Locations
Operations have been suspended
at the Buckeye Pipe Line Company’s
booster station located near Mt.
Cory, as an aftermath to laying a
22-inch line between Lima and Cyg
net this summer.
Although the plant, which em
ployed 14, will not be dismantled,
it will remain closed and only main
tenance men will remain on duty.
Most of the operating crew of 14
have been transferred to Cygnet,
with others assigned to new posi
tions in Lima, including two Bluffton
residents.
With the new 22-inch line in use
and carrying a greater volume of
oil than the smaller lines which the
booster station served, pumping is
no longer needed to speed the flow
of oil, company officials announced.
Oil will continue to move through
the Mt. Cory lines, but it will be
pumped direct from Lima to Cygnet,
since slower movement of the fluid
will not interfere with company op
erations.
Three Buckeye employes living in
Bluffton affected by closing of the
pumping station are Robert Geary,
Vine street Harold Dicus, Spring
street, and Forest Harmon, Lawn
avenue.
Geary and Dicus have been as
signed to positions with the com
pany at Lima, and Harmon has been
transferred to Cygnet.
The Mt Cory pumping station has
been operated by the Buckeye Pipe
Line Co. for many years. During
the war it was expanded and mod
ernized when the demand for oil
reached record proportions.
To Teach In Perry
Township Schools
Gail Rakosky of South Main
street has accepted a teaching posi
tion in a Lima district school in
Perry township. Rakosky who was
graduated from Bluffton college last
spring is attending Ohio Northern
university at Ada this summer tak
ing courses in elementary adminis
tration.
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Editor’s Note—This ia one
of a series of articles to appear
tn the Bluffton News dealing
with early Ohio history. Others
will appear in forthcoming
issues.
Old Cornstalk Town
It is a long look back to two years
before the Revolutionary War and
the Ohio picture then was a strange
one. In 1774 Ohio was a part of Bo
tetcourt County, Virginia, with the
county seat at Fincastle.
Botetcourt County was a big one—
until cut up in 1778 it included all
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota and what now
is West Virginia. After Botetcourt
County was divided. Ohio was part of
Illinois County, with county seat at
Vincennes.
In even rows of pole-and-bark huts
on either side of a narrow street
along the northwest bank of Scippo
creek. Old Cornstalk Town was the
captial of the Pickaway tribes of the
Shawnee nation and most important
the Indian towns on Pickaway
Plains, a few miles west of Circle
ville, Pickaway County. At one end
of the village a larger pole council
house stood, and there Chief Keigh
tughqua, known to the whites as “Old
Cornstalk,’’ met with his braves and
decided momentous questions of
foreign policy.
Indians Burn Captives
Just across .Scippo creek was
Grenadier Squaw Town, ruled by Old
Cornstalk’s sister, the Grenadier
Squaw, but under the chief's direc
tion. There the narrow gauntlet path
of the tribe was located and at the
edge of town, the “burning ground,"
where captives of the Shawnees over
most of lower Ohio were taken to be
burned at the stake.
Other Shawnee towns and villages
were along the Scioto River and on
Congo creek, but Old Cornstalk Town
was most important—-the chief lived
there.
Such was the background in Au
gust, 1774, when the Rt. Hon. Lord
Dunmore, with 3,000 picked men
started an expedition to “wipe out the
Indian towns on the Scioto.’’ About
half of Dunmore’s army had been
raised in Botetcourt and Fincastle
counties and the balance, from ad
joining counties. About 1,100 of them
were commanded by Col. Andrew
Lewis and were to advance in a dif
ferent column and from another di
rection.
Lewis’ troops started on September
5 from Green Briar and followed the
Kenhawa River to the Ohio. Dun
more’s troops came through the
mountains at the Potomac gap and
came to the Ohio River somewhere
above Wheeling. The plan of Dun
more and Lewis was to join forces
before reaching the Indian villages
and on October 6 Lewis halted his
army at the mouth of the Kenhawa,
where Point Pleasant now stands,
and waited for Dunmore to arrive.
It was about four miles north of
(Continued on page 8)
Noah Bixel Dies At
Home In Pandora
Noah Bixel, 80, Pandora produce
dealer died suddenly of a heart at
tack at his home Wednesday after
noon several hours after be had
been removed from Bluffton hospital.
Funeral probably Friday.
A Good Place to Live
NUMBER 15
$20,000 RECEIVED
FROM LARGE GIVER
AS WORK STARTS
Power Shovel Begins Operations
Wednesday Excavating for
Building
Quarter-Million Dollar Structure
to Be Modern in Every
Detail
Construction of Bluffton college’s
quarter-million dollar gymnasium
auditorium was begun Wednesday
morning when Robert Miller, Colum
bus Grove contractor started a pow
er shovel digging footings for the
new structure which will be erected
on the north portion of the campus
a short distance east of Lincoln hall.
Workmen were busy Tuesday clear
ing away debris /torn the site.
In connection with the start of
construction, Dr. Lloyd Ramseyer,
president, announced an additional
contribution of $20,000 to the build
ing fund. The donor, Mrs. C. H.
Musselman of Biglerville, Pa., bene
factress of the institution has pre
viously given large sums to the col
lege here.
This contribution brings to a total
of $185,000 the amount pledged for
the new building, President Ram
seyer said.
Large Donors
With the latest donation of $20,000,
Mrs. Musselman and her family have
contributed a total of $95,000 to the
building fund. In previous donations
Mrs. Musselman had given $65,000
and her daughter, Mrs. Louella Ar-_
nold, had contributed $10,000.
The Musselman family has been
substantial supporters of the college
since 1928 when the late C. H. Mus
selman donated funds to erect the
beautiful Musselman Memorial liK.
brary on the campus.
The family controls the large Mus
selman canning industry in Bigler
ville.
Large Building Project
Erection of the new building will
be the largest construction project
in the Bluffton area this summer.
It will be modern in every respect
for use Iwith as a gymnasium for
college athletics or an auditorium
for large assemblages. Both in de
sign and appointments it will com
pare favorably with any structure
of its kind in the state.
Plansf or the building were draft
ed last winter by Ward & Conrad,
Cleveland architects in conjunction
with Oliver Davidson, Pandora ar
chitect and approved by the College
board of trustees at their meeting
here in April.
Facing south, entrance to the
building will be reached by drive
ways re-located to provide adequate
approaches to the structure. Area
at the rear of the building will be
graded for parking space.
Modernistic Design
Modernistic in design, the new
(Continued on page 8)
Bluffton Couple
Wed Sixty Years
Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Murray,
Bluffton’s oldest married couple, will
observe their 60th wedding anni
versary, Thursday. They were mar
ried here July 28, 1889 and for many
years have resided on Cherry street.
Mrs. Murray, an invalid, has been
a patient in Bluffton hospital since
November 20, 1946, with little
change in her condition in recent
months.
Real Estate Deal
Ralph Patterson of Riley street
has purchased the Mrs. Elizabeth
Diller property on North Jackson
street and will take possession Sep
tember 1.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Noah Zimmerman,
Jr., Bluffton, a boy, Kenneth Mich
ael, last Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm Amstutz,
Jr., Bluffton, a girl, Pauline Reigh,
Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Baier, Bluff
ton, a boy, Thomas Craig, Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Burkholder,
Lima, a girl, Pamela Kay, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Bendele, Otto
ville, a girl, Lind# Jane, Monday.
IMr. and Mrs. Orville Basinger,
Bluffton, a girl, Jane Ann, thia
W’ednesday.