The Bluffton news. [volume], December 21, 1950, Image 1

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

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Merry Christmas
VOLUME LXXV
WOULD ABOLISH
GRADE CROSSING
WATCHMAN’S JOB
Kailroad’s Spokesman Repeats
Former Proposal at Council
Meeting
Flashers Would be Installed at
College Avenue Under
This Proposal
Another Nickel Plate railroad
offer to install electrically operated
warning signals at the College
Avenue crossing—if the town govern
ment will consent to the removal of
watchman service at the Cherry
street crossing—was aired Monday
night at a meeting of municipal
council.
Representing the railroad at the
session was Trainmaster G. A.
Hecker, of Lima, whose proposal
was the same as one initially of
fered by the railroad in the fall of
1948, and again in late summer, 1949.
If the municipality should agree
to removal of Watchman Joe Fisher,
the railroad agrees to not only erect
warning flashers at College avenue,
but also to install new signal stand
ards at the College Avenue crossing.
Railroad Proposal
After councilmen had indicated
they were not interested in being a
party to removing Fisher from the
watchman post he has held for 17
years, Hecker suggested that the
village consent to presenting the
matter to the Public Utilities Com
mission for final decision.
Council deferred making an answer
to the request for arbitration before
the PUCO, preferring to first check
the matter with City Solicitor John
Romey.
Changes suggested by the railroad
for the Cherry street crossing should
the watchman be removed, include
a new system of warning lights at
each side of the street, eliminating
the existing standard in the center
of tl\e street.
New Circuit
A proposed new circuit would be
actuated so that cars standing on
the track during switching operations
would not cause the lights to flash,
and warning precautions would go
into operation only when the loco
motive would approach either cross
ing, it was explained.
Acceptance of the railroad proposal
by the council would result in auto
matic protection devices at all Nickel
Plate crossings within the city limits,
it was pointed out.
Discontinuance of the crossing
watchman’s position here would not
mean that Fisher would be out of
work,»the railroad official said, for
his seniority is such that he can
claim a pdsition elsewhere on the
road.
Edna Hanley And N. E.
Byers Wed In South
Wedding of Miss Edna Hanley of
Decatur, Ga., formerly of Bluffton
and Noah E. Byers, Bluffton college
emeritus professor of philosophy,
took place in the chapel of North
Avenue Presbyterian church in At
lanta, Ga., Saturday.
The ceremony was performed by
Dr. Wallace Alston, vice president
of Agnes Scott college, in Decatur,
an Atlanta suburb, where the bride
is librarian. Attending the couple
were Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wood
bury of Decatur.
Following the ceremony a break
fast was held at the Biltmore hotel
in Atlanta after which the couple
left on a wedding trip to Ohio. They
will be here during the holidays, re
turning to Decatur where they will
reside at 334 Adams street.
Both were formerly connected with
Bluffton college, Mrs. Byers as li
brarian and her husband as dean
and professor of philosophy. For
the past year he has been visiting
professor of philosophy at Bethany
Biblical seminary in Chicago.
Adult Farm Class
Starts Meetings
Enrollment remains open for aji
adult farmer’s class which will meet
every Wednesday night in agricul
tural rooms at Bluffton High school,
it was announced this week by Lo-
In addition to its traditional role
as the centerpiece for the Christmas
dinner menu, turkey at prices lower
than the better cuts of meats will
be more popular than ever with
price-conscious Bluffton householders
this year.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Core, Pandora,
a boy, David Ray, last Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Beach, Ada,
a girl, Karen Kay, last Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Schoonover,
Findlay, a girl, Sue Ellen, Thurs
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Baumgart
ner, Pandora, a boy, Robert Wayne,
Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. John Herrmann,
Bluffton, a boy, Joe Michael, Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Decker, Find
lay, a girl, Janet Beth, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Porter, Mt.
Cory, a boy, Mark Eugene, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Grant, Bluff
ton, a girl, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Neuenschwan
der, Bluffton, a girl, Susan Elise,
Monday.
CHRISTMAS MAIL
RUSH SUBSIDES
AT POST OFFICE
Peak Reached Monday When
Volume Becomes Three Times
Normal Size
Greeting Cards and First Class
Mail Make up Much of
Holiday Volume
Peak of Bluffton’s annual Christ
mas mail rush was reached at the
local post office Monday when a
total of 16,840 cancellations were
processed in handling a record
volume of 161 sacks of outgoing
mail and 139 sacks of incoming
letters and parcels.
A previous record was set on the
Monday preceding Christmas last
year when the post office received
131 sacks of incoming mail and dis
patched 106 sacks of outgoing mail
Normal Monday morning mail
barely reaches one-third of the
volume handled in the Christmas
rush of this year, post office attaches
reported.
Bulk of the record volume of mail
consisted of greeting cards and first
class letters.
Rush Subsiding
Incoming and outgoing mail both
slumped slightly on Tuesday and
Wednesday, with near-normal condi
tions expected by the end of the
week.
Mail for the eight days preceding
Tuesday flooded local postal workers
who were on the job from early
morning until late at night to handle
a staggering total of 936 sacks of
outgoing mail and 648 sacks of in
coming letters and parcels. In ad
dition to the sacks, 457 loose parcels
also were processed in incoming and
outgoing mail. Cancellations for the
eight-day period reached a total of
77,037, not counting metered mail
dispatched by two local business
concerns.
For a comparative eight-day
period last Christmas there were
842 sacks of outgoing mail and 592
sacks of incoming mail.
rain Basinger, instructor of the
group.
Organization of the class was ef
fected at the first session last Wed
nesday night, with Maurice Criblez
elected president.
The group will meet for a 10
weeks’ course at 8 p. m. each Wed
nesday.
Nickel Plate Seeks To Make Deal With
Council On Cherry Street Crossing Here
White Christmas Is In Prospect
For Bluffton Area This Season
Marketwise Bluffton Housewives Find
Turkeys Best Buy for Christmas Dinner
If you can use a large turkey, over
14 pounds, you can get it for the
Christmas table at 49 cents a pound
dressed, well under current quota
tions of 55 cents for ham, half or
whole.
Smaller hen turkeys, under 14
pounds, carry a price tag of 65 cents
a pound dressed, but menu planners
short on ready cash after the
customary Christmas buying spree
still consider the birds a good buy
in comparison with the prices for
beef and pork roasts, steaks and
other choice cuts.
Poultry Popular
Chicken prices also are popular
BARRING unforeseen delays,
the new Bluffton college
gymnasium-auditorium now under
construction will be completed by
commencement next spring, it
wmb
On the basis of DUfTton Yuletide
weather conditions over the last 3’0
years, the odds favor a White
Christmas, perennial hope of the
holiday season.
Over the span of nearly four
decades there have^been 22 Christ
mas Days with snow and 17 holiday
observances in a green setting.
For the last two years Bluffton has
had no snow for the Yuletide, altho
there was snow here for the four
holidays prior to 1948. Having snow
on Christmas during the preceding
four years, however, apparently had
reversed a trend established begin
ning in 1936 when there was no
snow on the Yuletide for six con
secutive years.
This year’s early winter, with
snow on the ground almost continu
ously since the last week in Novem
ber, is another indication that the
area this year is likely to have a
white covering for its festive Christ
mas scene.
Heaviest snowfall of the 39-year
period was in 1916 when a roaring
blizzard brought a 12-inch blanket
of snow. In 1935 Bluffton had eight
inches, the heaviest holiday snowfall
in recent years, altho seven inches
of snow fell in 1944.
Weather Records
The all-time warm weather record
for Christmas here was set in 1932
when the thermometer reached a
mark of 61 degrees shortly before
noon.
Bluffton’s 39-year record of Christ
mas weather is as follows:
1911, no snow 1912, no snow
1913, trace of snow 1914, seven
inches 1915, three inches 1916, 12
inches 1917, seven inches 1918,
trace of snow 1919, one inch 1920,
no snow 1921, no snow 1922, trace
of snow 1923, no snow 1924, five
inches 1925, one inch 1926, three
inches 1927, no snow.
1928, one inch 1929, five inches,
1930, no snow 1931, no snow 1932,
no snow 1933, no snow 1934, three
inches 1935, eight inches 1936, no
snow 1937, no snow: 1938, no snow
1939, trace of snow 1940, no snow
1941, no snow 1942, two inches
1943, no snow 1944, seven inches
1945, two inches 1946, two inches
1947, two inches 1948, no snow
1949, no snow.
Xmas Cantata At
Methodist Church
“The Wondrous Story,” a Christ
mas cantata will be presented at the
Methodist church, Thursday night at
7:30 o’clock by the Friendly class.
The program arranged by Mrs.
Charles Steiner, Mrs. Earl Stober
and Mrs. James West will be given
in song and pantomime?
Special music will precede the pro
gram and a social hour afterward
will be held in the church basement.
The public is invited.
New Bluffton College Gymnasium
Scheduled For Completion In Spring
stated by Robert Miller,
general contractor who is in
charge of construction.
Structural work is completed
and lighting, heating and plumb
ing have been roughed in, leaving
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, DEC. 21, 1950
Bluffton Aglow With Christinas Spirit
with the Christmas dinner shopper,
and those who prefer the smaller
fowl will find equally attractive
prices prevailing. Roasting chickens
and fryers were quoted from 50 to
55 cents a pound dressed.
Dressed ducklings at 65 cents a
pound and young geese at 69 cents
also add to the popularity of poultry
as the principal dish for the holi
day dinner.
Cauliflower, brocoli and other fresh
greenstuff’s are carrying price tags
slightly higher than at Thanksgiving,
but additional trimmings for the
Christmas table will cost about the
same as for the November holiday.
most of the finishing work to be
done this winter.
Total cost of the new building
as of November 1 was $174,063,
it was announced by college au
thorities. On that date the build
ing fund stood at $213,000 in
cash and $3,50Q in’ pledges. Ap
proximately $63,000 in additional
funds will be required to meet
the estimated cost of $280,000,
it was stated.
Reflecting all th1' magic of the
Christmas sea a?' /, illuminated
decoration of Bluffton’s homes this
year tops by far anything ever at
tempted here before in the way of
Yuletide lighting successfully mark
ing the culmination of the Junior
Chamber of Commerce residential
Christmas decoration contest.
In providing a fitting setting for
the holiday season, the town has
taken on a cloak of fairy-like beauty,
achieved thru myriads of twinkling
colored lights and other decorative
schemes in keeping with the Yule
tide.
Decoration of Bluffton homes
covers a wide scope—with residential
cooperation in the Jaycee program
ranging all the way from the
customary lighted tree in the window
to large elaborate “spectaculars”,
some of which have moving parts
and striking combinations of flashing
lights.
With residents of the community
demonstrating with lights and other
decorative effects their keeping of
the Yuletide, judges in the Christ
mas decoration contest will have a
difficult task in selecting the win
ners. Jaycees are elated with success
of their campaign to dress up the
town for the holiday, and thanked
residents for their cooperation as
all the beauty of Bluffton’s Christmas
garb was coming into reality by
midweek.
Must File Entry
residents filling out
in entry blanks will be
for the five cash prizes of-
Only
SANTA CLAUS IS A
NATIVE OF HOLLAND!
THE YULE LOG WAS
SCAN PANAVI AN
and
con-
mailing
sidered
fered by the Jaycees for the best
decorative themes. Entries should
be addressed to the Junior Chamber
of Commerce.
Officers of the organization this
week again pointed out that all
entries must be postmarked on Dec.
22, this Friday. Judging of contest
entries will be done Saturday night,
Dec. 23 Sunday night, Dec. 24, and
Christmas night.
Contest judges include Mayor W.
A. Howe, Grover Soldner and Mrs.
Gordon Bixel, representatives of the
Bluffton Garden clubs Prof. John
Klassen, of the Bluffton college art
department and Mrs. Russell Lantz,
Who’d Ever Thot It—Winter Won’t
Arrive In Bluffton Until Friday
You probably didn’t know it, but
winter isn’t here yet—fact is, it will
not arrive until Friday morning at
11:01 o’clock according to astrono
mers who know all about such
things. All that ice and snow we’ve
been having for the past month is
autumn—usually a sort of preview
of the real thing.
Although winter will begin offi-
Town Cay With Outdoor Lighting
A similar gift offered for twins
last year went unclaimed, for the
town was twinless in 1950. The
Baby Derby last year also faltered
at the start, for the town’s first
baby of the New Year was not born
until one week and two hours had
elapsed, one of the longest babyless
stretches on history here.
Gifts offered in this year’s baby
jackpot will include cash and mer
chandise, with the lucky father and
mother also sharing in the awards.
A complete list of prizes and donors
will appear in the Bluffton
next week.
hristms^~l95o
All peoples have shaded in the
LEGENDS AND CUSTOMS OF CHRISTMAS
THE TRAPmON OF THE
Christmas
tree goes
SACK, TO GERMANY
Many Gifts Awaiting Arrival Of
Nearly 50 Bluffton business places
will cooperate this year in providing
a truckload of gifts for the first
baby born at the Community
hospital, in a New Year’s Baby derby
contest for the town and surround
ing area.
An additional feature of the pro
gram honoring the first baby will be
an award of additional gifts by
Vance’s Gulf Service for both the
first boy baby, the first girl baby
and the first set of twins born in the
New Year.
News
Youth For Christ
Rally Wednesday
Monthly rally of the Bluffton
PandoraYouth for Christ will be
held in St. John Mennonite church,
east of Pandora next Wednesday
night, Dec. 27 at 7:30 o’clock.
Rev. Arthur Killam, pastor of
Highland Parkside Baptist church,
Joliet, Ill., will be the speaker. He
is a son-in-law of S. S. Bixel, north
west of Bluffton. Special music will
be provided by the Ebenezer Male
quartet.
Bluffton artist.
In determining winners judges will
consider general artistic effect, in
genuity in utilizing the surroundings,
conformity to the Christmas spirit
and size of the displays.
cially on Friday, the sun will set
later each day for the remainder of
the month while it will be rising
three minutes later.
Thus the daylight, at the end of
the month, will be three minutes
longer than when winter begins offi
cially.
The moon, too, will be in on the
holiday celebration at full stage
Christmas eve.
w'rC
CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS
WERE FIRST FILLED IN
BELGIUM AND FRANCE 2
THE CUSTOM OF SINGING CHRISTMAS CAROLS
IS UNIVERSAL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
-AND THE GIVING OP PRESENTS AT CHRISTMAS IS, WE KNOW,
COMMEMORATIVE OF THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI TO THE INFANT JESUS
TOWN COUNCIL AND
PAGE DAIRY WILL
TALK SEWER PLAN
Conference Set Tentatively for
January 8 in Council
Chamber
Attitude of Dairy Will De
termine Type of Disposal
Plant Here
Conference of municipal officials
with representatives of the Page
Dairy Co. to determine the course
to be taken in planning action on
state orders to proceed with a clean
up of stream pollution here
tentatively scheduled for a special
council meeting on Monday, Jan. a.
Engineers representing the munici
pality and the dairy concern will
have the major responsibility, how
ever, in shaping plans for Bluffton’s
sewage and industrial waste disposal
problems, and town action will await
engineering recommendations.
Whether the dairy plant will in
stall its own system of disposal
treatment or make use of the city
sewage disposal plant will determine
the future of the town’s sewerage
system planning, Mayor W. A. Howe
pointed out.*
Smaller Plant
If Page should handle its own
treatment, the municipal plant would
be smaller than originally anticipat
ed, for planning to date has been on
the assumption that the dairy plant
would be included in the town
system.
In state orders relative to stream
pollution in Bluffton, Page was told
that it had a choice in either install
ing its own treatment facilities or
tying in with the municipal disposal
plant
So far there has been no official
indication of Page’s attitude in
matter.
the
BLUFFTON MARKETS
Wednesday Morning
Grain (bushel prices) Wheat
$2.25 corn $1.67 oats 95c soys
$2.91.
Poultry—Heavy hens 21c leghorn
hens 19c heavy springers 30c heavy
stags 13c leghorn stags 12c.
Eggs—Large white 50c large
brown 49c medium white
medium brown 44c pullets 42c.
45
58c.
Butterfat—No. 1, 63c No. 2,
Merry Christmas
NUMBER 36
SNOWFALL GIVES
WHITE YULETIDE
HOLIDAY SETTING
Shopping Season Drawing to
Close May Have Set New
Record Here
Churches to Observe Christmas
with Programs Over Coming
Weekend
With the rush of pre-Christmas
activity drawing to a close, Bluffton
area residents this .Thursday are
putting finishing touches to plans
for their annual celebration of Amer
ica’s best-loved holiday season over
the coming weekend
Garbed in brilliant holiday raiment
and aglow with lights of the season,
the town’s homes, lawns and busi
ness places provide a colorful set
ting for the observance of the Yule
tide.
The busy rush of holiday activity,
reaching a peak this week, will cul
minate on Christmas Eve and Christ
mas Day with the usual children’s
programs in churches of the district
and special musical programs in
observance of the season.
Busy Shoppers
A rush of Christmas buying, set
off two and one-half weeks ago after
Bluffton had dug out from under
“the big snow,” has kept merchants
on the double-quick thruout Decem
ber and what may be a record
volume of holiday trade has been
reported by local merchants.
For the convenience of shoppers
who have been delayed in making
their rounds .downtown places of
business will be open every night
this week. Stores also will be open
on Thursday afternoon, merchants
postal employes,' with the
heaviest
this week, partly because of the
usual seasonal rush and partly be
cause of a wildcat strike in many
rail terminals for a short time last
week which held up mountains of
parcels which now are flooding into
the town. Despite the rush every
effort is being made to deliver let
ters and packages promptly.
To cope with the heavy volume of
Christmas mailing, windows at the
Bluffton post office were open last
Saturday afternoon, and special
deliveries of mail and parcels are
being made this week throughout
the town.
MusK^KYfcograms
Musical presentations in keeping
with the season are being given this
week by grade and high school and
Bluffton college groups.
Opening the musical observance of
the Yuletide, the annual rendition of
Handel’s “The Messiah,” Christmas
oratorio, was given last Sunday in
the high school gymnasium by the
Bluffton College Choral society.
Church observances of Christmas
will be featured in the customary
childrens’ programs, principally on
Christmas Eve, with special holiday
attention in the regular worship
services Sunday.
Bluffton business and industrial
establishments will suspend opera
tions next Monday in the usual holi
day observance. Bluffton public
schools and Bluffton college will
suspend their scholastic schedules
this week for a holiday recess which
will continue unti lafter New Year’s
Day. Both school vacations will
start Thursday night.
On Christmas Day, Bluffton postal
workers also will enjoy a well
deserved day of rest, coming at the
end of what may prove to be a
record Christmas mail rush.
Ivan Geiger Named To
Athletic Conference
Ivan Geiger, athletic director at
Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology, Boston, and a graduate of
Bluffton High school and Bluffton
college, last week was elected vice
president of the Eastern College
Athletic association.
In the Eastern conference are 86
colleges and universities on the east
ern seaport as far south as Mary
land.
Geiger also is president of the
Eastern Association of Rowing Col
leges. He and his family live in
Newton, Mass., a Boston suburb.
His wife is the former Winifred
Thompson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
J. A. Thompson of Spring street