The Bluffton news. [volume], July 06, 1950, Image 1

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BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live
VOLUME LXXV
ORANGE TOWNSHIP
YOUTH INJURED IN
TWO CAR ACCIDENT
Marvin Miller Receives Back In
juries in Collision Monday
Night
Two Structural Steel Workers
in Crash Were to Work on
College Gym
Three men were hospitalized in
the Bluffton area’s most serious holi
day mishap when two cars on the
Lincoln highway collided Monday
night at 11 o’clock at the Dally
school corner in Orange township,
six miles east of Beaverdam.
Treated in the Bluffton Community
hospital following the crash were
Marvin Miller, 22, Bluffton Route 1,
and Orville Harter, 40, and Chester
Crump, 31, structural steel workers.
All three were hospital patients.
Crump’s condition is reported as
fair. He suffered severe scalp lacer
ations and bruises of the back and
.shock when he was thrown from the
car in the mishap.
Miller has severe lacerations of
the back and Harter suffered
lacerations of the face and head.
The condition of both is good. Both
were discharged from the hospital
Wednesday.
In the car with Miller were his
two younger brothers, Max, 17, who
was driving and Jerry, 11. They
escaped unhurt. The three are sons
of W. J. Miller, or Orange township.
When the crash occurred both cars
were eastbound on the Lincoln high
way. The Miller auto was struck
as it was turning left at the corner.
The two structural steel w’orkers
had been employed at Oakwood and
were enroute to Marion w’here they
were going to work on a new job.
Later this Summer, both were
scheduled to do steel work on the
new Bluffton college gymnasium.
Following the crash, the three in
jured men were taken to the Bluffton
hospital in the Paul Diller am
bulance.
Large Delegation
At Council Meeting
Bluffton municipal council at its
meeting Monday night entertained
one of the largest delegations in re
cent years when a group of nine
persons from new additions on Har
mon road attended the session to
air their troubles.
An error in plans originally sub
mitted to the village when the Mrs.
Caroline Matter addition was plat
ted resulted in difficulties over the
sidewalk lines, w’hich were solved
without too much trouble.
It was a different matter, how
ever, when a request was made to
vacate four unopened alleys in the
addition Council finally decided
against vacating the alleys, but
agreed to grade and stone them
back into lots as far as the entrance
to garages on the various properties.
Firemen’s Meeting
Pay Is Increased
Bluffton volunteer firemen in the
future will be paid $4 for each
monthly meeting, as the result of a
new wagescale established Mon
day night by municipal council.
The boost from the previous rate
of $2.30 was partially occasioned by
the recent increase in telephone
rates. Firemen’s pay for attending
monthly meeting also includes an
allowance for charges for telephone
service. The first fighters are no
tified by phone in case of fires.
Beaverdam To Hold
Festival July 12-15
Beaverdam will hold its annual
homecoming, Wednesday to Saturday
July 12 to 15, inclusive with a
street carnival every afternoon and
evening. Special restricted areas on
the town’s thorofares will be reserv
ed for the carnival attractions which
include rides, concessions and re
freshments.
The affair is sponsored by the
Beaverdam Volunteer Fire depart
ment and all net proceeds will be
used to purchase fire equipment for
the department.
Auto Crash in Fourth of July
Traffic Lands Three in Hospital
Continuing a general community
vacation period for the seventh con
secutive year, most Bluffton residents
who plan to take time off from work
this summer are on vacation this
week, either at home or out of town.
Success of a Fourth of July com
munity vacation week collaboration
procedure, inaugurated in 1944 dur
ing World War II, has found the plan
continuing into the post-war period
just as popular as ever.
To make it a semi-official vacation
week for the town, two of the prin
cipal industries are at a standstill
and a number of retail business
operations have closed their doors
for the same period.
Industries Close
Industries suspending operations
Freakish aspects of this year’s
weather were in the news in Bluff
ton this week, ranging from the
season’s first ripe tomato on June
21 to frostbitten tomato plants on
the morning of July 1.
First Attraction of Its Kind in
Nearly Two Decades Draws
Big Crowd
Attractions Locally Manned
with Proceeds Going to
Swimming Pool Fund
Bluffton’s first carnival in nearly
two decades was a hit with residents
of the town and community during
its three-night stand on the grade
school grounds last Thursday thru
Saturday for benefit of the munici
pal swimming pool fund.
Sponsored by the Bluffton Recrea
tion committee, the carnival gained
its largest measure of public appro
val from the fact that it was man
ned entirely by local operators rep
resenting various organizations in
terested in the drive to raise funds
for the pool.
Despite its local flavor so far as
operation was concerned, the gala
three-day show embodied all the fa
miliar carnival attractions.
In addition to the usual gamut of
booths for the adult trade, Bluffton
kiddies found the carnival a mecca
of pleasure, with its pony-ride, mer
ry-go-round, airplane ride and ferris
wheel.
Concession operators came up with
some new ideas of their own dur
ing the course of the carnival, one
of the most popular of which gave
participants a chance to take home
a live duck for dinner, if he could
be successful in tossing a ring
around the neck of one of several
swimming around in a water tank.
Joining with the Recreation com
mittee on conducting the carnival for
the benefit of the swimming pool
campaign was the Junior Chamber
of Commerce, the American Legion,
Legion Auxiliary, Mother’s club,
school groups and other interested
in the venture.
Motorist Injured As
Auto Strikes Bridge
Dan Walter of near Pandora suf
fered a hand injury when a car
driven by Willard Dillman of Bluff
ton hit a bridge on the Base Line
road, three miles southeast of Gilboa
at midnight, Monday.
Industries And Stores Close This
Week In Community Vacation Plan
Dizzy Weather—Early Tomato Ripens
In June! July Frost Hits Later Crop
Limiting purchases was necessary,
BLUFFTON TAKES
FLING AT THREE
CARNIVAL
for the next two weeks in the vaca
tion observance are The Triplett
Electrical Instrument Co. and the
Boss Glovee Co.
In some business places which
remain open, operations are on a
curtailed basis, with many members
of the usual staffs of workers tak
ing their vacations at this time.
With the holiday falling on Tues
day, a few business places which are
not closing for the week suspended
operations from Saturday night until
Wednesday morning.
Many of those who left on vacation
got away from Bluffton last Friday
or Saturday, to squeeze a few extra
days into their schedule, and there
was another exodus from the town on
Wednesday morning, following Tues
day night’s gala rodeo.
Bluffton’s first home grown to
mato of the summer was picked on
June 21 in the garden of Edgar
Chamberlain, who later sold it to
Dave Risser, local restaurateur for
(Continued on page 10)
War Scare Starts Run on
crowd, ladies,
Don't
A Korean war-scare run on sugar
by jittery housewives brought in
formal rationing by Bluffton grocery
operators the first of this week, to
keep sufficient supplies on hand for
legitimate canning needs.
the shop keepers reported, because
it simply would have been impossible
to get replacement sugar rapidly
enough from wholesalers’ ware
houses to keep up with the demand.
There is plenty of sugar in store
houses but the transportation prob
lem of getting it here offered com
plications, especially with the rush
coming during the holiday season.
Most grocers were regarding the
buying rush with amusement, for
The war scare has shoved up
prices on the Cleveland livestock
market, where most of the hogs
raised in the Bluffton area are
sold. Quotations the first of the
week were the highest in a year.
In July 1949 they hit $24.
Monday’s figure on mixed butch
er grades were only 25 cents
less per 100 pounds.
they said the national supply of
sugar is quite adequate for all
needs, and that the war-scare de
mand was not only premature but
unnecessary.
Out-of-town buyers were among
those besieging Bluffton grocers
with demands for large-scale purch
ases, indicating that many persons
are foraging the country to hoard
sugar as a safeguard against the
possibility of wartime rationing.
One grocer told of carrying a
large sack of sugar to a car for a
woman purchaser, and found she
already had several sacks in the
back seat which she had bought
elsewhere.
-Despite the buying rush, sugar
prices were continuing to hold
steady, with a 25-pound sack selling
for $2.29.
A pickup in demand for coffee
also has been noticed by storekeep
ers, and the price has gone up two
cents a pound in the face of the
rush.
Other merchants reported an in
creased interest in tires and other
auto accessories, perhaps due to the
war scare.
Scouts Benefit Ice
Cream Social Saturday
Bluffton Boy Scout Troop 56 will
hold an ice creiyn social Saturday
night. Tickets are being sold this
week by the Scouts in a house to
house canvass. Proceeds from the
social will be used to help finance
a summer camp trip for the local
troop.
Oil Fire Follows
Pipe Line Break
The Bluffton fire department was
called Wednesday morning at 9:15
o’clock to the Dr. V. H. Allman
farm one mile south of town to ex
tinguish a fire fed by oil from a
break in a line of the Buckeye Pipe
Line company. There was no
property damage reported.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
Rodeo Draws Big Fourth o£ July Crowd12NUMBER
Five baby pheasant chicks
hatched by a hen on the Harley
Marquart farm, four miles north
west of Bluffton, afe attracting
a lot of attention this week in
The Bluffton News window.
Mowing clover on his farm
last month, Marquart ran over
two pheasant nests, fatally in
juring the mothers. There were
20 eggs in the two nests, which
he put under a sitting hen, and
five pheasant chicks were hatch
ed Monday. These apparently
were from one of the nests,
farther along than the other at
the time the mishap occurred.
Marquart plans to feed the
chicks until they are large
enough to release, and thinks he
will have others for the hen is
continuing to sit on the rest of
the eggs. For the time being
the hatched chicks will remain
on display in the News Window.
While mowing in the same
field, Marquart ran over a rab
bit’s nest, and noticed that the
mother did not move. Later
when in the field with a buck
rake he again noticed the mother
rabbit on the nest and investi
gated.
The mother hopped a short
distance away when he approach
ed, and Marquart found eight
baby bunnies in a for-lined shal
low depression. He put some
hay over the nest and later the
mother returned aryl is raising
the babies unmolested.
PARADE ATTRACTS
HUGE CROWD FOR
COLORFUL EVENT
Line of March 10 Blocks Long
Witnessed by Estimated
7,000 Here
Bands, Floats and Horsemen
Provide Gala Spectacle on
Main Street
A crowd of more than 7,000
spectators crowded the 10-block long
Main street parade route last Satur
day evening to witness a variety
spiced Frontier Day parade, ac
claimed by all as one of the out
standing events in Bluffton history.
Both sides of Main street were
lined with spectators along the en
tire line of march, and lawns and
porches in the residential sections
were turned into improvised grand
stands and filled with chairs and
campstools.
Even the weather cooperated with
the frontier days flavored event, one
of the major features of Bluffton’s
holiday weekend, with mild tempera
tures and an unclouded twilight sky
providing a perfect setting for the
14-block long parade of entertaining
attractions.
Many Features
It was a display of sparkling bril
liance, as good as anything produced
in this part of the state, with variety
marking the long procession of
paraders in their route thru the
downtown area.
Cheers and applause from specta
tors punctuated the snappy tempo of
band music at what seemed to be
an interminable procession of
costumed frontinersmen, rumbling
prairie schooners, gaily bedecked
floats, horsemen and other entries
marched along the jammed parade
route.
Attracted by the reputation Bluff
ton has in these parts for putting
on an outstanding Fourth of July
parade, three radio stations were
here to broadcast descriptions of the
event. WIMA, WLOK and WFIN
each had a separate broadcast plat
form in the downtown sector, near
the judges’ stand in front of the
Presbyterian church.
Prize Winners Galore
With 61 entries in the parade,
some of which had several units, it
took more than half an hour for the
colorful procession to pass the
judge’s stand.
Unable to narrow down outstand
ing competitors to the five prizes
(Continued on page 4)
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1950
v ___________________
Five Baby Pheasants Hatched By Hen
Find Home In Bluffton News Window
BURGLARS CRACK
SAFE FOR $350.00
AT FARM BUREAU
Succeed in Fourth Attempt to
Loot Office Near Town,
Thursday Night
Robbers By-Pass Combination
of Safe Connected with
Tear Gas Bomb
Persistence finally paid off last
1 hursday night for burglars who
cracked the safe at the Allen Coun
ty Farm Bureau Warehouse, two
miles south of Bluffton on the Dixie
highway, and escaped with $350 in
cash, after having failed in thi*ee
previous burglaries two months
apart.
Operating on a schedule which
has spaced burglary attempts at
two-months’ intervals since last De
cember, safe crackers were balked
on their first three tries by an auto
matic locking device and exploding
tear gas bombs which were set off
when the combination knob was dis
turbed.
Last Thursday’s safe-crackers,
however, indicated they had learned
from experience when they disre
garded the combination knob, which
would have again flooded the office
with tear gas, and opened the safe
by prying the huge door off the
front.
In most other respects the latest
burglary followed the same patteern
as its predecessors. Burglars broke
into the warehouse from the rear,
by prying the corrugated steel sid
ing loose from wall post§.
Force Door
Once inside the warehouse they
forced their way into the office thru
an inside door and being careful
to leave the “booby-trapped” com
bination knob undisturbed, pried the
heavy safe door open.
First attempt to loot the Farm
Bureau office was made late last
December to be followed by a sec
ond try in February. The third
safe-cracking venture was in April.
On all three of the first attempted
robberies, burglars were routed by
the choking tear gas which filled
the office when the combination knob
was knocked loose.
In the April attempt, the burglars
took $1.50 in cash from a soft
drink vending machine, which up
until last Thursday night had repre
sented their only monetary return
from the sortie of burglaries aimed
at the establishment.
INFANT DIES
An infant son born to Mr. and
Mrs. Raymond Guzman of Pandora
at Bluffton hospital last Wednesday
died seven hours after birth.
Bluffton’s campaign to raise funds
for a new municipal swimming pool
received a substantial impetus dur
ing the week end with the receipt
of more than $1,100 .representing
proceeds from the Bluffton Recrea
tion committee’s three-day carnival
held last Thursday, Friday and Sat
urday.
Other unexpected financial contri
butions to the fund came when a
number of parade entry winners
contributed their cash prizes to the
pool fund.
Among those who turned over pa
rade awards to the pool fund were
N. P. Steiner and Son, the Amer
ican Legion, The Triplett Electrical
Instrument Co., Moyer Refrigera
tion and Heating, and Geiger & Dil
ler.
In addition to contributions al
ready received, a part of the pro
ceeds from the rodeo held Tuesday
night will be turned into the swim
ming pool drive, and all fees from
parking concessions operated Tues
day by the Junior Chamber of Com
merce will go into the fund.
Committees in charge of the car
nival and rodeo Wednesday morning
extended their thanks to all who as
sisted in sponsoring the various
events and for the near-record turn
out of participants and spectators.
Births
Mr. and Mrs. James Gratz, Bluff
ton, a boy, Reed Howe, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Fenster
maker, Jenera, a boy Paul Alan,
Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Emmet Augsburger,
Bluffton, a girl, Martha Jane, Sun
day.
Mr. and Mrs .Chas. Lemley, Pan
dora, a girl, Joan Marie, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Anderson,
Rawson, a girl, Linda Lee, Wednes
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Houtz, Provo,
Utah, a boy, Larry Robert, born June
19 at- that place. Mrs. Houtz is the
former Helen Schnegg of Bluffton.
COUNTY EARMARKS
$12,883 FUND FOR
TOWNSHIP ROADS
Commissioners Approve 19-MiIe
Program for Richland Twp.
Highways
Township and County Funds
Pooled to Reach $20,883
for Improvements
Richland township will get a break
from Allen county authorities in the
allotment of funds for work on town
ship roads this summer, county of
ficials disclosed this week with the
announcement that $12,883.53 is ear
marked from the county road fund
for work on 12 roads in the town
ship.
Total cost of the program, embrac
ing improvement of more than 19
miles of township roads, is estimated
at $20,883.53. Of this the county will
pay $12,883.53 and the township
$8,000.
Cooperative road pre Trams in the
county’s 12 townships Manned for
this summer, find Richland’s
$12,883.53 project second only to a
$13,924.18 program set for Perry
township, the county report shows.
13 Improvements
In the extensive Richland township
program there will be 13 re-surfacing
projects on 12 roads.
Projects planned for the summer
are as follows:
Bentley road—1.02 miles of seal
surface, from Route 30N to Jackson
township line.
Rockport road—2.05 miles of seal
surface from Route 696 to the Phil
lips road.
Schifferly road—1.02 miles of seal
surface from Hardin county line to
the Bentley road also 2.33 miles of
mat surface from Bentley road to the
Phillips road.
Yant road—1.77 miles of mat
surface north from Route 30N.
Lugibihl road—.75 mile of mat
surface east from Route 696.
(Continued on page 10)
Carnival Proceeds Add $1,100 to
Fund for Bluffton's Swimming Pool
Reminiscent of the days when
Bluffton’s Main street was a streak
of mud or a cloud of dust, depending
on the weather, and downtown stores
were little frame structures with
false-front second floors, a series of
window displays in the business dis
trict over the last weekend vividly
recreated the Bluffton of 75 years
ago.
With virtually every downtown
place of business cooperating in the
antique display, relics harking back
to the pioneer days in this community
provided a fitting setting for the
Frontier Day parade and rodeo dur
ing the Fourth of July season.
All in all, it was one of the most
complete shows of early Bluff toniana
that the community has ever seen,
and a tour of the business section
gave an excellent picture of what life
was like here three-quarters of a
century ago.
Original Treatment
Prizeed antiques owned by the
many collectors in this community
were drawn on for some of the dis-
4,000 See Feats Under
Harmon Field Lights
Bluffton 6f Old Days On Parade In
Window Displays Of Business Section
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Trade
Seventh Annual Attraction of
Horsemanship Staged Here
Tuesday Night
Fireworks Adds Zest and Diver
sion to Gala Northwest Ohio
Horse Show
Closing Bluffton’s holiday weekend
celebration, the most successful old
time Wild West rodeo ever held here
attracted a crowd of more than 4,000
spectators at brilliantly lighted Har
mon field Tuesday night.
In the sixth annual Fourth of July
rodeo presentation, the weatherman
again lent his fullest cooperation, for
skies were fair after threatening
weather early in the day and despite
the fact that a heavy rain Sell in
Beaverdam while the show was in
progress. Temperatures were in the
upper seventies, hot enough to make
area residents glad of the chance to
see the gala outdoor presentation.
Rain never has spoiled Fourth of
July rodeo plana her in fact this
was the first year in v nich there has
been as much as tl 'eatening weather
on rodeo day.
Crowd Field
Attracted by the gala horse show
and the added attraction of a fire
works disfky, all available seating
space was taken and hundreds lined
the fence around the arena for the
night-time spectacle which proved it
still holds plenty of appeal for com
munity residents.
With typical Fourth of July tem
peratures prevailing, the crowd kept
concessionaires on the run in dispos
ing of huge quantities of ice cream
and cold drinks. A pony ring for
kiddies was another popular attrac
tion for those who came with chil
dren.
In the nine-event rodeo, $280 in
cash, trophies and ribbons were pre
sented to competing horsemen from
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and a single
competitor from Colorado Springs,
Colo.
100 Horses in Entry
There was a total of 100 horses in
the Grand Entry, a new record for
the Bluffton rodeo.
The balloon race, always a feature
of the rodeo here, was first, seen in
this area at Harmon field, and since
has been widely adopted.
Continuing Bluffton’s reputation
for organizing and presenting one of
the finest rodeos in Northwestern
Ohio, new chutes built by Herr Bros,
were in use, and Bill Watkins, of Ft.
Wayne, was here with a portable
horse shoeing outfit.
Rodeo Prize Winners
Rodeo event winners included:
GRAND ENTRY Plain Tack,
Booger Red, Toledo, first Pee Wee
Ketner, Bowling Green, second
Jackie Dailey, Toledo, third Dewey
Baker, Toledo, fourth Silver Mount
ed, Guy Foltz, Ft. Wayne, first
Wanda Breda, Lima, second Ott
Reimund, Findlay, third Beverly
Spurbeck, Lima, fourth.
GREAT PLAINS PONY CLASS—
R. A. Nichols, Ft. Wayne, first Ivan
(Continued on page 10)
plays, and cherished relics in the
homes of residents also were contri
buted for showing during the holi
day period.
Photographs of early Bluffton also
added their bit to recapturing the
early history of the town, and many
window displays showed well
handleed touches of originality, add
ing to the popularity of the showing.
First prize in the window display
competition was won by Rice Dry
Goods Shop which had on display an
old-fashioned black wedding dress
owned by Mrs. Albert Benroth a
coverlette, sewing baskeet, high-back
rocking chair and rag rug, owned by
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bogart an old
time small hand sewing machine
owned by Mr. and Mrs. George
Combs, and an old lamp with fancy
iron base and globe owned by Mrs.
Harold Montgomery. The prize wag
provided by Greding Hardware Co.
Truck crops producers in general
have received lower prices for their
crops this year than last year.