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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