davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
BUTTER AND SUGAR
STOCKS DISAPPEAR;
COAL HARD TO GET.
Lack of Sugar Restricts Home
Canning Operations in
BlufftOn Area
Butter Sales Limited; Coal
Deliveries Uncertain;
Few Haulers

Wartime scarcities hit BlufFton hard
er this week, with butter and sugar
supplies in stores exhausted most of
the time and coal becoming increas-
ingly difficult to obtain.
Local retailers have been unable to
supply enough butter to meet normal
demands here for more than a week,
and from Saturday noon until Mon
day noon there was no butter in town.
In an attempt to spread the small
supply on hand, store operators are
limiting customers to one-half pound
purchases.
Grocery operators also have been
unable to obtain sugar, and in the
midst of the canning season house
wives cannot buy sugar for their
needs.
Wholesalers report that labor short
ages in sugar refneries and in trans
portation systems make it impossible
to move sufficient stocks in to Ohio
and the shortage probably will con-
tinue until the canning season has
ended.
Local labor conditions represent the
principal factor in present inability
of coal dealers to make deliveries.
With winter in the not too distant fu-
ture there is an ever-increasing de-
mand for coal, but dealers have been
unable promptly to make deliveries
of the reduced volume they are OBJ
tanning under rationing from the
mines.
The coal situation presents Difficult
ties both in the matter of supplies
and service With winter in the not
too far distant future there is steady
mounting demand for coal with deal
ers confronted with restricted ship
ments from the mines.
Scarcity of coal haulers poses new
difficulties in local deliveries with
half of the local dealers without reg
ular truck operators. Reports were
current the first of the week that two
dealers were considering closing their
coal business because of lack of haul
ers.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Grandson Of Bluffton Couple
Drowned In Creek Near FindIay

Melvin Wayne Deter, II, grandson
of Mr.. and Mrs. Noah Geiger of
near Bluffton, was one of two Find
lay youths drowned in Eagle creek
near Findlay, whose bodies were re-
covered Tuesday afternoon.
The youth is the son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Fl. ]. Deter of Findlay. His
mother was formerly Lillian Geiger
whose parents live one-half miles
east of Bluffton.
The other youth, whose body was
recovered from waters of the creek,
was James Mallory, 8 year old son
of Mr.. and Mrs. Arthur Mallory. DIR.
Byron Vorhees, Hancock county cor
oner gave a verdict of accidental
death BY drowning.
The boys left their homes Monday
noon, presumably returning to school.
When they failed to return home in
the evening an inquiry revealed that
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Name Religious
Education Teacher

Mrs. S. F. Pannabecker of College
road, recently named instructor in
religious education in the public
schools began her work, Tuesday.
She will teach classes in the first six
grades.
Her work is carried on under aus
pices of the Bluffton Council of Re-
ligious Education, composed of rep
resentatives of local churches which
also pays her salary.
Mrs. Pannabecker, formerly en-
gagged in foreign mission work in
China has been in this country since
the outbreak of the war. Her hus-
band, DR.. S. F. Pannabecker will re-
turn to China this fall to organize
a program of relief work among the
war stricken native population.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Wedding SOIemnized
At Methodist Church

Marriage of Miss Gladys Dalby
of Chicago to Harold r. Steiner, son
of Mr.. and Mrs. j. E. Steiner of
Thurman street was solemnized at
the Bluffton Methodist church,
Thursday afternoon at 4 o'clock.
Rev. J. A. Weed officiated at the
ceremony in the presence of close
friends of the couple. White gladi-
oil were combined with floor Candida
bra in the decoration of the chapel.
The bride wore a brown afternoon
dress and a single orchid was her
only adornment. She was attended
by her sister Miss Vivian Dalby of
Dayton who wore rust dress with
corsage of baby NUNS.
Preceding and during the cere-
mony, Mrs. Ida Hinson, sister of the
groom played appropriate nuptial
selections. Mrs. Eulalia Baltzell, an
other sister of the groom sang
Coy d Hardelot's wedding song "Be-
cause.
Homer Lee Steiner, brother of the
groom served as best man.
Following a reception in the home
of the groom's parents after the
ceremony the couple left for short
wedding trip.
They will be at home after Octo-
ber l at 423 Surf Street, Chicago,
where Mr.. Steiner is employed by
the Army Signal Corps.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Oil DISCOVERED Near Blufton Fifty Years Ago This
Month Marked Beginning of Phenomenal Boom

Farmers were beset day and night
by agents seeking to sign leases for
drilling rights and the familiar Cd
foot derricks sprung up like magic.
At night Pickering oil lamps marked
their location as the drilling crews
ran tower" "a hours daily putting
down wells in search of the black gold.
500 Wells Pumped
Veteran oil men estimated that at
the height of the boom which was
about 1900, there were more than 500
wells being pumped and 80 strings of
tools engaged in drilling for new
wells. Some wells proved unusually
good while some were dry holes, but
by and large results were satisfactory.
Orange township was the center of
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
MORE GIRLS, FEWER
MEN ENROLLED AT
BLUFFTON COLLEGE
Effect of War Conditions Seen
AS Institution Opens for
Fall Term
Enrolment At College Is About
0ne-half of Normal; Girls
Dormitory Filled

Bluffton college opened its doors
for the fall term this week, with the
campus more than ever taking on the
aspects of an all-girl school because
of wartime shortage of men stu
dents.
Enrolment of women has moved
upward for the second successive year,
but war conditions have cut deeper
into the number of men; incomplete
registration of about 100 includes only
Is male students.
The Women's dormitory will be
filled and in contrast there viii be only
a handful of men living in Lincoln
hall.
No Football
Football will be discontinued at the
college for the second successive
year, and most of the activities on the
camus will have exclusively a wom-
ans touch until present war conditions
have been alleviated.
No mixed singing groups will rep
resent the institution this year, and
Prof. Russell A. Lantz, director of the
music department, said that the prin-
cipal activity in this field will be an
all-women's choir.
Incomplete registration figures on
Wednesday morning showed the en-
rollment of about S5 women and Is
men, which differs very little from last
year. There will be freshman class
of 35. Enrolment is about one-half
the normal number.
Glasses Open Thursday
Registration, orientation of students
and freshman tests were completed
Monday and Tuesday, and opening
chapel exercises were held Wednesday
morning. Classroom instruction will
start Thursday.
Continued on page 81
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

This month marks the fiftieth an
niversary of the discovery of oil in
the Bluffton area, it is recalled by old
time residents and local oil men. 1t
was fifty years ago-in September,
1894-that the first we'll was brought
in" on the A. c. Ewing farm in
Orange township, now occupied by
Amos Klingler.
Discovery of oil started something
akin unto the California gold rush and
for a decade Bluffton was the center
of teeming, booming oil field where
fortunes were made and lost and bus
mess conducted in figures that ap-
peared fantastic to native residents,
who were small farmers and business
men.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
RESURFACING OF
CHERRY STREET TO
START next WEEK
Council Authorizes Improve
ment from Nickel Plate to
Jackson Street
Cost of Applying New Asphalt
Concrete Surface on Street
Will Be S4,296

Expansion of Bluffton's summer
street improvement program to in
clude the resurfacing of Cherry and
Church streets from the Nickel Plate
railroad to the Jackson street inter
section was authorized Tuesday night
by the municipal council.
Work on the project, which will
cost the town S4,296, will be started
early next week by the Churchill
Construction Co. of Lima, Immediately
following completion of the re-sur-
facing of Main street from the Bent
ley road to the north corporation linn
its at the Allen-Hancock county line.
The Lima contractors have all the
necessary equipment here because of
work on the Main street project, and
this made possible what Mayor w. A.
Howe and Council members said was
"a low quotation for the work on Cher
ry and Church streets.
Bluffton councilmen approved the
bid of the Churchill firm Tuesday,
and formal ratification of the re-sur-
facing program will be made as a
matter of record at next Mondays
meeting of the body.
Material used in re-surfacing the
streets will be the same as that ap-
piled on Main street, and the asphalt
concrete surface will be one and one
half inches in thickness. Total dis
tance involved in the work will be
one-third of a mile.
Present brick pavement on Cherry
and Church streets was laid in 1904,
and for a number of years it was
Bluffton's only hard-surfaced street.
Forty years of traffic have left their
marks on the street, and re-surfacing
has been badly needed for some time,
spokesmen for the council stated.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

they had not been in school during
the afternoon.
Two pairs of shoes with the boys
bright striped socks in them were
found on the creek bank, Tuesday
morning. Several Findlay residents
saw them playing on a raft in the
creek Monday afternoon.
Mrs. Deters collapsed when her
sons body was recovered and is un-
der the care of a physician. Funeral
services will be held Friday after
noon at o'clock in the Barnhart
funeral home in Findlay. Rev. Seth
Adamson, pastor of the Central
Church of Christ will officiate and
burial will be in Pleasant Hill ceme-
terry.
Bodies of the two youths were re-
covered at almost the identical spot
where David Lee, eight year old
Findlay youth was drowned three
| years ago.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

floeked in and many a farm woman
earned a tidy sum of extra money
boarding oil field workers.
This period marked the inception of
Bluffton tradition-the FIVE o'clock
whistle, blown every morning at the
waterworks plant to awaken team
sters employed in the oil field. Altho
the reason for it has long since dis
appeared, the custom of blowing the
whistle every week day morning con-
tinued until recent years.
The boom continued for about ten
years after which it rapidly tapered
off as production decreased and oil
workers moved on to larger fields
which were opening farther west. OF
the wells in this section a few are
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
In New Locations

Ralph Lanham, superintendent of
the public schools, together with his
wife and two daughters are occupy
ing the Ebenezer Mennonite parson-
age on Grove street since Monday
when their household goods arrived
from Mt. Victory in Harden county
where they formerly resided. They
will occupy the property during the
interim of pulpit vacancy at the
church or until they can-obtain a
more permanent location. The prop
erty was vacated last month by Rev.
A. C. Schultz who resigned as pastor
of the Ebenezer congregation to ac-
cept a teaching position in a Chi
cago theological seminary.
Mr.. and Mrs. George Rauenbuhler
have moved from the Hankish apart
ment above the former Siefeld bak-
cry to an apartment above the Jorg
hatchery on Cherry street.
Mr.. and Mrs. Cecil Kuhn and sons
who formerly resided on Cherry
street and later moved to Rawson
are occupying the apartment vacated
by the Rauenbuhlers.
Clyde Hauenstein is remodeling
the farm property south of Bluffton
which he purchased from his father,
the late Sam Hauenstein and ex-
poets to move this fall from a farm
near Columbus Grove.
Mr.. and Mrs. Paul Dietler are
moving. from Gilboa to the Huber
property on Cherry street which they
purchased from her grandmother
estate.
B. r. Shafer and family who
formerly occupied the Huber prop
erty on Cherry street have moved
to Rawson.
Gerald Hilty and family are NOV
ing from the apartment at the home
of C. F. Strat IN to the Erwin Long
property vaca by Mrs. Harry
Shalley.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Real Estate Deals

The South Lawn avenue property
of the late William Lightner was
purchased at sheriff's sale, Saturday,
by Mrs. Bernice Deerhake of Bluff
ton for $3,100 which was 500 above
the appraised value. The property
was sold by court order in connec-
tion with the settlement of the es-
tate.
Ross Irwin has purchased from
Willis Cummins a building lot at
South Lawn avenue and West Kibler
street.
Three tracts of land in Orange
township belonging to heirs of the
Chase Ewing were sold at public
auction, Tuesday afternoon. The
buyers were:
Robert Matter, bidding for Russell
Amstutz purchased tract of 55
acres, one-half mile east of the Al
len-Hancock county line on the
Ewing road for $4,000. The place
is occupied by Harry Ewing. Am
stutz, who resides on Mound street
will move on the farm this fall.
Wilson McBain, residing on an
adjoining farm purchased al acre
tract without buildings at the in
tersection of the county line and
Ewing road for $3.50.
Edgar Montgomery of Orange
township purchased 40 acre tract
opposite Thompson cemetery for ST.
400.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Students Have Big Selection Of Part
Time Jobs AS School And College Open
Employers Seek Workers in
Manpower Shortage; Ex-
perience Unnecessary
Traditional Jobs of Furnace and
Baby Tending Find
Few Takers

Jobs aplenty are available this
fall for Bluffton high school and
college students, and local residents
and employers are hopeful that part
time help by students may aid in
solving the headaches of the current
manpower shortage.
This years demand for student
labor is the heaviest in Bluffton his
tory, and those interested in work
have unlimited opportunities for jobs.
Present conditions are in marked
contrast to those prevailing about
10 years ago when jobs were scarce
and few students could find work un-
less they had the necessary qualifi-
cations in the form of previous ex-
perience.
Now, anyone who wants to work
his way thru college or earn pocket
money for high school expenses can
find plenty of job opportunities in
the towns industries, business places,
restaurants, filling stations, etc., with
work available for as many hours
as they care to work.
The jobs that one time were most
ly confined to student help-such as
firing furnaces and caring for child
rem, are going begging now Better
paying jobs are open, with few TAX
ers, and many persons who never
fired the family furnace now are
doing it themselves. Families with
small children report it is practically
impossible to find anyone to stay
with them during the day or in the
evenings.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

Mrs. Wilmina Smythe Fenton, 80,
of Massillon, died Tuesday in that
city as the result of injuries which
she sustained in a fall last Satur-
day. She was the wife of Thomas
Fenton, Bluffton native. His par
ents are Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Fen
ton of South Lawn avenue.
Word of her death was received
here Tuesday night. Besides her
husband she is survived by two sons
John William aged 6 and James
Richard, 3, of Massillon. Also sur
viving is her father, William Smythe
of Kansas City.
Funeral services will be held in
Massillon on Friday afternoon.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

the oil boom with the Ohio and Sun
oil companies holding the greater
part of the leased acreage.
Development of the oil field brought
a flood of prosperity thruout the area
originating in the form of royalties
to farmers and top wages to workers
which was reflected in a business
boom in Bluffton The town soon be-
came widely known in oil circles thru
out the country as one of the focal
points of Northwestern 0hio's oil
field and one of the first in Middle
West.
Oil Men Flock Here
Oil men, many of them from the
older field in western Pennsylvania
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Bmffton Man Has Two Sisters Whose
Husbands Are In German Labor Camps
Smash of Yank Armies Raises
Hopes of Robert Potts, Ma
tive Belgian
Has not Heard from Sisters in
Ghent and Antwerp Since
Start of War

When American soldiers passed
through Ghent last week in their
whirlwind "blitz" of East Belgium it
brought memories of World War |
to Robert Potts, 36-year-old employee
of The Triplett Electrical Instrument
Co., who was an eight-year-old boy
in Ghent when the Yanks liberated
it from the German yoke in 1913.
Potts recalls that German occu-
patton in the other war brought only
hardship and suffering to the Bel
gians. During much of the time the
Germans were in control he and his
brothers and sisters were forced to
live as best they could by the help
that neighbors and relatives provid-
ed.
1t was a gala day of rejoicing
when the Americans marched thru
Client on that fateful day in World
War l, and Potts knows just how
thankful the Belgians must have
been on the second day of liberation
when soldiers from far-away Amer
ica again threw back the German
hordes of oppression.
Two IN BELGIUM
Today, all of Potts family reside
in the United States, with the ex-
ception of two married sisters. One
sister, married to a railroad en-
gineer, resides in Ghent, and the
other whose husband is a tugboat
Continued on page 81
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Leaving For College

Mary Elizabeth Stearns, daughter
of Mr.. and Mrs. Ralph Stearns of
Spring street left Sunday for Tiffin
where she is a junior at Heidelberg
college.
Barbara Jean Triplett, daughter of
Mr.. and Mrs. R. L. Triplett of Cam
pus Drive will leave Sunday for
Rochester where she is a sophomore
in the Eastman school of music.
Mary Margaret Basinger, daugh-
ter of DR.. and Mrs. Evan Basinger
of Spring street will leave Sunday
for Wooster to enter the freshman
class in Wooster college.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
Soldier On Atlantic
Island Is ReturYlinQ

Sgt. Francis Geiger, son of Mr..
and Mrs. Peter D. Geiger who has
been stationed on Ascension Island
in the South Atlantic will arrive
here shortly according to informa-
tion received the first of the week.
The island, small rocky spot be-
tween South America and Africa is
used as a stopping point for trans
Atlantic planes. Geiger, who was
an industrial chemist in civilian life
is believed to be engaged in the op-
Grafton of chemical process condi-
tioning sea water for human use
He has been stationed on the island
for over year.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14

still being pumped, several of which
are on the William Leiber farm south
of Bluffton on Bentley road.
High Quality Crude
The crude oil found here was of a
high quality, but prices were low,
ranging from Is to 20 cents a barrel.
The industry in those days was in its
infancy and there was but little pub
lie demand for its products.
Coal oil used in lamps for illumin-
ating purposes was the principal use
found for the product. A small por-
tion of it became lubricating oil-and
gasoline, a byproduct for which no
one could find any use, was dumped
into the creeks.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
South Pacific Veteran
Home From, Hospital

Pfc. Jerome Herr, veteran of the
South Pacific war theatre, now in
the army hospital at Cambridge,
Ohio, spent the week end visiting
his mother, Mrs. Alice Herr of
Bentley road.
He arrived last month in San
Francisco to undergo treatment at
Letterman General hospital for
skin ailment and later was trans
ferred to Cambridge. Before en-
tering the army he was school
bus driver here.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
SOLen,1ize Wedding
In Toledo MOnddy

In quiet ceremony at st. Fran
els De Sales church in Toledo, took
place the wedding Monday morning
at z o'clock of Treva, daughter of
Mr.. and Mrs. John Wilkins of Bluff
ton and Harold Eugene Bilby of
Toledo.
Rev L. L. Webber officiated using
the single ring ceremony. The cou-
pie was attended by Mrs. Catherine
Bondy of Toledo, niece of the bride
groom. They will make their home
in Toledo.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
BIuftOn Man Takes
Internal ReUenue Job

w. A. Amstutz, former Bluffton
high school instructor has accepted
a position in the federal department
of internal revenue it was announced
the first of the week. He assumed
his new duties Monday and is as
signed to the Lima office.
Amstutz, residing north of Bluff
ton, resigned his position in the
schools here last summer after
teaching for 10 years. He is the
second former Bluffton school man
to take a position with the internal
revenue department in recent months,
the other being A. J. 3. Longsdorf,
who resigned as superintendent of
schools last spring.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
illustrated Lecture
On India Friday Night

Miss Martha Burkhalter of Berne,
Ind, returned missionary from India
will give an illustrated lecture at
the Ebenezer Mennonite church, Fri
day night at 8 o'clock. Miss Burk-
halter is now home on furlough. The
service is under auspices of the
Women's Missionary society and
Girls Missionary band of the church.
The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-09-14
RESURFAC!NG MAIN
STREET WILL END
WITHIN NEXT WEEK
New Surface Being Applied
from Bentley Road to AL
len-Hancock Co. Line
Contract for Asphalt Concrete
Application Let to Lima
Construction Firm

Re-surfacing of Buttons Main
street, which was started last Thurs
day, will be completed within the
next week.
A new surface of asphaltic con-
crete ranging in thickness to one
and three-quarters inches is being
applied to a one and one-half mile
stretch of the street starting at the
Bentley road intersection and con-
tinuing north to city limits at the
Allen-Hancock county line.
Traffic is continuing without in
terruption over the street as vehicles
can operate over the "hot-mix" sur
face two hours after it has been
applied.
Asphaltic concrete material used
for the re-surfacing goes on the
street at temperature of about $50
degrees. 1t is brought to Bluffton
from Lima in trucks with insulated
beds which retain the heat at about
300 degrees.
COST Is $4,000
Approximately $500 tons of the
asphalt concrete will be needed to
complete the project. Cost of the
work will approximate the estimate
of $4,000, with the town paying
$4,000 and the state highway de-
partment being responsible for the
remainder.
There are two phases of the sur
facing project, according to State
Highway Engineer Joe Chambers.
Continued on page 81