1948-02-05; Saline Observer

              Lk
The Saline Observer
VOLUME 65
SALINE. WASHTENAW COUNTY/M*« HIUAM.        THURSDAY, FEB. 5, 1948
NUMBER 18
Consider
Removal Of
County Seat
By William R.  Kelley
In the very. near future the
voters of Washtenaw County will
be. asked to provide funds for the
erection of a new court house.
The need fcr such a structure is
apparent, but such questions as
the awarding of the bid, structural details, and (in view of the
present high construction costs)
the opportuneness of the time
have yet to be passed upon by
the Board of Supervisors. Another question of primary importance which should be settled
in the event that funds are made
available for a new county build-
jng is whether to construct the
iiew building on the site of the
present courthouse or to select
an entirely new location." "A'eilri-
inittee of the Board of Supervise
■§TS is UQV._enga.ged, in investigating the advantages and disadvantages of constructing the new
edifice on the 88 acre piece" of
land Owned by the County on
Washtenaw Road, surrounding
the  County   Infirmary.
In order to give the * problem
its proper perspective we must
approach it with a picture in
mind of the growth and development of the Ann Arbor-Tpsilan-
ti metropolitan area projected
fifty or even a hundred years
into the future. From all present indications Ann Arbor is
developing eastward far more
rapidly than in any other direction. From four to eight hundred new housing units are
now under construction or
-planned for the immediate future
in areas adjacent to Washtenaw
Road. Plans for new large retail establishments in this area
are being brought closer to
fruition. Whether or not. the
city of Ann Arbor extends its
limits to include these areias cannot alter the trend toward a
shift of the population center to
•jthe east. The moving <C t^j.
«Ourt house site would accelerate
ihis trend.
The direct monetary advantages to be gainfed from moving
-cthe location of the courthouse
Would be considerable. The value
of the present site is estimated
variously at between $175,000 and
$300,000. But that is of comparatively minor importance. If
the sale of this tract of land
is properly handled it could be-
Used -for a major development,
such .as a hotel surrounded by
Retail, mercantile establishments.
A Suitable parking garage is another possibility. One thing is
pertain, it should not be cut up
Along The
MainDrag
into small parcels to be sola
piece-meal. It is reasonably certain that sufficient investment
money could be found in this
county to finance such an undertaking. Then, instead of
having a very valuable piece ol
property in the heart of Ann
Arbor tax-free, the county, city,
state and school district would
be receiving additional revenue
from an assessed valuation oi
one to two million dollars* In
the course of years the tax return from this piece of- land
would pay for the new courthouse.
If the new county building is
constructed on the site of the
old it would mean that every
county office would have to be
moved to temporary quarters (ii
they could be found) and then
moved back again at considerable
expense. Rental in downtown
Ann Arbor for a period eighteen
months to two years for all
county functions would cost between $25,000 and $50,000. Moving to a new location would permit the present court house to be
used until the new one is ready
"to" beT moved' into.—
The County is contemplating
spending in the neighborhood. of
$50,000 for a new heating plant
for the County InfirmajVi' By
moving the court house to the
site near the County Infirmary
one central heating system could
"be used, materially reducing the
cost of installation and maintenance.
There is little doubt that East
Ann Arbor would benefit from
having the County building in
its proximity, but the rest of the
county outside of Ann Arbor
would also reap advantages. At
present anyone having business
in the courthouse is confronted
with the parking problem. The
proposed location would have
ample parking space and relieve
the congestion ih downtown Aim
Arbor. It could be approached
from any direction except due
north without becoming involvfed
in city traffic.
As to its disadvantages, there
would., of course, be some inconvenience to Ann Arbbr merchants
and lawyers. The sheriff's department wduld probably- have,
to' be   provided   with   a   "Black
'TMaxipC-1to.  trMfspdrt .^risoi^eis'
'back' and forth "irom t£e County
jail. To the majority of Ann
Arbor citizens it Would be merely a question of which bus to
take pr jn which direction to
drive their cars.
Ann Arbor has been the "county seat since Washtenaw County
came into .being-, but tradition
should not be. allowed to impede
progress.    To move   the county
-seat requires a two-thirds vote
of the Board of Supervisors and
a majority vote of the qualified
electors voting on the question.
It is for us to determine for future generations whether or not
we revert back to the pioneer
conception of the courthouse in
the commercial center of an already cramped, confined and congested city, or in keeping with
modern times, place it where it
is readily accessible to the entire
county with a minimum of problems to its users and a maximum
of advantages to the overladen
taxpayer.
'SMALL BUSINESSMEN' . . . Five hundred delegates representing the National Small Businessmen's
Association converge on Capitol Hill to pledge congressmen their support of free enterprise and offer
assurances that the group is interested primarily in .national welfare and not special privilege.. The busi- ■
nessmen, here from all parts of the country, 'are shown as they met on the steps of the V. S. capitol
building.
Homet§ Move To Appear Here
.     '■'' In Recital
Out of Cellar
Position
Coach Joe Colby's 'Saline Hornets at last came thru with
their first basketball victory of
the current season Friday night
at Ypsilanti—a 31-20 triumph
over Art Walker's Tpsilanti
Roosevelt quintet which liftec"
them out of the Huron League
cellar.
The victory-starved Hornets
outscored the hapless Roughriders, who extended their losing
streak to twenty-eight straight—
thirteen to eight from the- field
and five to four from the charity
line to win handily—a certain
sign that the Colbymen are an
improved five.
Hornets  Start Fast
Starting fast ta clicking offensive and. utilizing, a. defeflsivg.
pfitctj^pt -x^ehi^ft the ^-Roughriders
could * never* qiiite figure out,
the Hive grabbed a 7-2 first
quarter lead. By halftime the
Blue and White increased their
margin .to 17-9 and led 24^-13
as the third period became history. Then they went on to
win easily by the impressive ten-
point margin of victory even tho
the Saline subs allowed, the Walkermen seven last quarter points.
Clements and Merce Star
Big Wayne Clements, converted from center to guard by
Coach Colby because of a knee
injury sustained in football, paced
the Hornet attack as he sank
five of the thirteen Saline buckets and a free throw for eleven
counters. Don Merce added nine
more points to the Hive total
to take second place honors ior
the night.
Mark Wilson and Paul Benson
shared Red and Grey point-making laurels with eight and seven,
respectively.
^j
A MUsicr Forum. has been 'of-^
ganize'd iff-Salin?: -and .-tv?cr fiift-
length recital's will be presented
here this winter, featuring Lyman
Lauder and Robert Hoffman, professional pianists, in programs of
works from the old masters as
well  as modern music;
The-fir^t program will be given
Sunday^ afternoon^ February 15,
beginning at 3:*30 at the studio
of Mrs. J. H. Knight, 100 E.
Michigan avenue.,, Lynn Lauder
appears then in a program to be
announced. Sponsors of the Music
Forum are Mrs. Hugh. Keveling
and Mrs. Don Ford and the program chairman is Mrs. Clyde
Lawson of Milan.        _
Attendance will be by membership only. and anyone interested
may secure membership by contacting Mrs. Knight or Mrs.
Keveling.
Will Be Married
> 0 "Ted" ormsby, bowling with
i-Five Point team crossed out 11
squares in a row Tuesday with
five strikes in the last of his
first game and six in the first
of his second game with a tolal
of 563 pins for three  games.
$ Speaking of post-war aviation, it's developing faSt and the
laymen have a lot of confidence
in these new flyers' wings. Clarence Haarer took a chance with
Don Ford, pilot, and Doc Miller
and Everett Esch co-pdloted to
Pinconning, perch fishing, during
the weekend—no casualties.. O At
the Legion Hall tonight . . . N.
R. Wiedmayer, post adjt. notified
members of the regular monthly
meeting at 8:30. 1948 dues delinquent; '0 Jaycee monthly meeting
at the Saline Hotel a week from
today . . . special program provided' by President Schmid.. Dinner' at seven sharp. Don't forget
the Community Auction, Thurs.,
feehruary 19.
9 Glenn Hart, Saline's first
city manager, who resigned his
Job the first of the year, and-
yrhich took effect February 1, is
vacationing with Mrs. Hart for
two  weeks in  Florida.
According to Mayor Gross,"
there are several applicants for'
the position who are being considered 'and a selection will ,be:
forthcoming shortly. The name
•of Charles Kern, local contractor
and builder, has been suggested as
one-who could adequately fill the
bill, but. it is extremely doubtful
if any local person will get the
job. Trouble is with a local man,
everyone knows his little idiosyncrasies and" can point out his
faults. The newcomer's you find
out gradually.
0 Saline Lodge, F. & A. M., will
give the degree of Entered Apprentice to two candidates at 8
o'clock Tuesday,  February 10.
World Wide
Against a background of
extreme world need; of bitter
tragedy, hunger and "cold
war," Christ calls to the
Church to do His will today!
St. Paul's chUrch will be
open on the evening of February 13—first Friday of
Lent—at 8 p.m., when World
Day of Prayer will be observed
by the churches of Saline.
HOSPITAL NOTES
Little   Hornets Lose   to
Roughrider   Seconds,   31-25
Saline High's' tough Little
Hornets—-who have had. a successful season until their return game with Milan—dropped
a listlessly played contest to the
Roosevet High second, team Friday night, 31-25.
Unable to get started .the Little Hornets trailed all the way
in a game which featured
roughness, wild passing, and inaccurate shooting by both quints.
Roosevelt led 8-2, 12-7, 23-12,
and 31-25.
Ted Fasing led Coach Andy
Brusea's lads with 12 points,
while Harry Anderson copped
Little Hornet scoring honors with
seven.
William McCalla left the hospital Monday. —Mrs. Homer
Kuebler entered as a medical patient, Sunday. —Shirley Miller of
Ann Arbor had an appendectomy
on Tuesday. —Donald Wilson of
pregory underwent an operation
Wednesday. —William Kinsley is
much improved. —Clarence Feldkamp left the hospital Monday.
Word has been received here of
the death of LeRoy Rundel in
Holly. He is a cousin of the.
Wilbur Rundels of Saline.
Huron League   Standings
Milan 5   0   1000
Romulus 4    0    1000
Flat Rock 4   1     8""**
Chelsea 2   2     500
IT   High 2   2      500*
Lincoln 2   3     400
SALINE 1   3-    250
Dundee 0   4     000
Roosevelt 0   5     000
Results Last Week-
SALINE   31—Roosevelt   20
Milan  37—Dundee  27
U High 38—Flat Rock 27
Lincoln   3&—Chelsea  36
Romulus   52—Wyandottee   A.  E.
24
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wahl and
Alvin called, on Mrs. Lorrin
Bauer and family, Sunday after-
Mrs. Violet Collins, employee
of the Tpsilanti State Hospital,
is in serious condition in St.
Joseph's Mercy Hospital, Ann
Arbor, as the result of injuries
sustained* when her automobile
over-turned at the- intersection of
the Wagner and Saline-Milan
roads, Monday.
Rev. R. S, Hocking, Randal
Coates, Bob Klueter. Walter Mac-
Arthur and Walter Towler attended a laymen's banquet at the
Methodist church in Tpsilanti on
Tuesday, night.
•The fire department was called
to the BebecrOss borne on Washtenaw Ave., Saturday afternoon,
where a fire had started from a
blow torch used to thaw frozen
water pipes, Small damage resulted..
Miss Beverly Ann Thomas of
Saline and Robert Skingley bf
Grayling will .be .married in
June. '."■        '"" ,
Miss Thomas To Wed
;Graylir»3 Man In June
SALINE — Announcement has
been made of the engagement of]
Beverly Ann Thomas, daughtervof
Mrs. Helen Thomas of Saline, to
.Robert Skingley, son of |&. and:
'Mrs. George Skingley of JSrayliiig.
: Mr. Skingley is a senior in the-;
jUniversity of Michigan Engineer^
.ing School. *'_,<-'     .'___    7   ,
I   The couple will be Tmattled the!
early part of June.      &  ■
c 7t !4"'
Mrs. Daniel Hall, Mrs. pax'
Fosdick, Mrs. Thomas Shurtz,
Mrs. J. N. Lewis, Mrs. Charles
Kern, Mrs. Luther Briggs, Miss
Esther Landwehr and Mrs. Bessie Collins attended the County
Federation of Women's clubs at
the International Center in Ann
xArboi' Friday  afternoon.
Woman's Club
Have Guest
Night Speaker
Annual Guest Night was- observed by . the Saline Woman's
Club on Tuesday evening, Jan.
27, in the Fellowship rooms of
St. Paul's Church. A sumptuous
potluck supper was enjoyed by
about fifty persons, members and
their guests, at tables centered
by a lovely bouquet of white
gladioli, white mums and yeL-
low daffodils in a glass bowlf
The bouquet was flanked on
either sjde by candelabra with
yellow tapers. The service during the meal was supervised by
the social committee headed by
Mrs. Reuben Finkbeiner.
Mrs. Ray Niles, president of the
club, called the meeting to order,
but a motion to dispense with
business, -was: «ntertaiiied nndr ad--
jouijime^t..3Kas. $% qr&e^' Mrs.,
Walter' MacArthu/^was chairman
of the program for the evening
and introduced Mrs.*' Robert
Merchant who gave a lovely rendition of one of Chopin's nocturnes. Miss Lucile Wilson accompanied by Miss Nancy Hayes,
'both of Detroit, sang a group of
three, pleasing numbers. . Dr.
Herbert A. Robb, a practicing
physician in Belleville, was then
introduced and talked to the
nssembly on "The State of the
Nation."
As 'a physician Dr. Robb traced
the ills of the day to biologic
origins. He believed that the
health of the citizens of the
world, was more or less the basis
on which outlooks are founded.
Adequate physical health promotes adequate mental health,
thus promoting higher* morals,
higher degree of harmony in the
home, community and nation as
well as the world at large. High
divorce rates, juvenile delinquency, broken homes, mental
illnesses and similar problems
are in many cases causefl by
disharmony in the home which
again reverts to the state of
health of individuals involved.
He cited many cases within his
own experience to prove his
points." Since all these factors
pertained to the home, Dr. Robb
placed tche responsibility for theft-
solution in the laps cf the wo^
men and challenged them to action.
In discussing the problems of
the nation and. the world at
large, which are eventually the
outgrowth of home and community environment, . Dr. .Robb
placed a great deal of blame for
the evils of the day on the indifference of the citizens of the
world to the problems facing
them. We are too much system
minded. We rely on organizations to force the issues to con
clusion rather than trying to put
forth any individual effort. We
trust tlie constitution to straighten things out. We depend on
pressure groups to do our thhfis-
ing and fail to come to any personal conclusions. We are worshippers of the ballot and depend
upon electors to solve' situations
"either by retaining the old forms
cr electing new administrations.
We fail to think things through
and to rely on our own conclu-^
sions tto control our balloting.
Unless we accept these responsi-,
bilities ourselves and ignore the"
interpretations of these pressure
groups, we shall drift rapidly
into dictatorship and totalitarianism. He believed that the
election year 1948 would be the
crucial point in the history of
the nation. Unless we awaken
to the problems before us and
understand, the purposes and
workings of the. pressure groups,
we shall unwittingly vote away
our freedom in 1948 and it will
never be   regained.
Politics, he said, are such
that aspirants to the high of-;,
fice of president court these'
groups in order to win their
votes. Having won the election
they are under obligation to these
groups and to a "great extent
must follow their dictates.
These groups, which are most
prominent in the large cities,
are composed of racial, religious,
political, etc. interests. The
groups having chosen their favorite candidate set out to prop- .
agandize him and put him in a
more favorable light than his
opponent in order to win. the
votes of the citizens of the nation. Thus the citizen who does
no investigation on his own behalf is tern between these conflicting propagandizing groups,
and finally having chosen - the
one which best suits his taste,
he votes accordingly. In reality
he is voting for a pressure group
which may ultimately gain control of the affairs of thp nation
and make it a totalitarian government or   dictatorship.
.Dr. Robb laid much of the
blame for the confusion on the
lack of leadership in the, Protestant branch of the Christian
Church. All other major religious- -^forces -- have - •leadership"
which may help to; awajte%rjthe'
public to the dang§5s involv'ed
from the standpoint-of their own
religious interpretations. Protestantism is., suffering from disunity and lack of common leadership partly because it has
never been called upon to face
issues, .in America as it has been
forced, to do. in Europe sstA. other
countries of; the world throughout the proceeding centuries.
Protestantism as a force for
good is still new in America.
He believed that Christians in
general had been giving too much
time and effort to the explanation of why they believe in
Christ rather than in demonstrating that they believe by
simply accepting the truths ut-
lered by Jesus without explanation or apology. Only by following these truths can the nation
and the world, be saved from destruction which is inevitable sinless people awaken to the dangers
lying   before  them.
Dr. Robb also • warned that
many movements afloat in the
world conflict with biologic
truths and are contrary to nature. By slides of statistical
graphs he proved that- certain
movements propagandized :ll a s
health movements, i.e. plashed
parenthood, etc. might, eventually
lead to an increase of cancer,
and similar slides showed the
prevalence . of veneral diseases
among certain social and racial
groups. The movement to accept
Military Training was not so
much for the purpose of defense,
as stated., or even for health, as
it would be a measure to eliminate youth from floodinjr the already overcrowded ranks o f
labor.
By showing slides and quoting
from    numerous    contemporary
articles • from   newspapers   and
magazines,    Dr.     Robb     demon-
Con't on   page' 7
Farm Bureau
In Township
Organization
Members of the Farm Bureau
from Saline township gathered
sat the Saline High School, Tuesday night and formed a Township
Unit with Raymond Girbach as
their president; Clarence Hall,
vice-president; Mrs. C. D. Fink.-
beiner, secretary-treasurer; and
Mrs. Max Ross, recreation chairman. Glen Weber was elected as
a member of the Board of County
Directors.
Ceilon L. Hill, Washtenaw
■County Drain Commissioner,
gave an interesting talk on county drains and Olen R. Wanty,
County Building Inspector, explained the building code fcr one
and two family dwellings. Bert
Amrhein, of Tpsilanti, county
Organizational Director for the
Farm Bureau, gave a brief talk
on his work in the area.
Milan Plant
Has Heavy
Fire Loss
The explosion of an acetylene
tank in the pattern department of
the American Foundry & Boiier
Works at Milaiv Monday afternoon, caused a disastrous fire
damage to that section of the
plant. Fire departments from
Saline," Dundee, State Hospital,
Tpsilanti and Ann Arbor were
called to assist the Milan department fight the blaze.
At 8 o'clock that same evening
the local department was called'
to the Douglas Hall home on,
Hack road to extinguish, a fire-
which burned a sjnalLJhqlg in^the.
roof.
Former Saline
Resident Dies
Word has been received here
from Beaumont, California, of
the death of Mra Eva Ridsdale,
a former resident of Saline. She
was the sister of Dr. Elmer Sanford, a practicing physician here
in Saline years ago.
Mrs. Rridsdale died January 7
at the age of 94.
The Child Study club is sponsoring a   bake sale   Saturday.
Emanuel Cook,. Robert Ouster-
hout and Armine Westphal are
among those who are ill.
Mrs. Sam Boyd was hostess to
the Tuesday afternoon • bridge
club at her home this week.
Mrs. Mamie Schrader and Mrs.
Harry Feeman of Ann Arbor and
Mrs. Delmar Schrader were in
Jackson,   Tuesday.
Mrs. Walter MacArthur was
hostess to a group of women on
Tuesday afternoon at her home on
W.  McKay street.
Mrs. Harry Friis, Mrs. Martin Fuoss, Mrs. Cecil Davenport,
Mrs. R. .S. Hocking, Mrs. Myron
Gallagher, Sr.. and Mrs. Walter
MacArthur attended the officer's
training program conducted by
the district officers of .the WSCS
at the Milan church Thursday.
Dr. Esther Wellman, missionary
from Mexico and Porto Rico and
Dr. Donald, pastor of Tpsilanti
Methodist church, were the afternoon speakers.
***\x»^x^j&*,Z$&
DEATH RODE THE RUNWAY . . . Nose sheared oil by the impact, a C^47 transport of the District of
Columbia national guara lies on the roof of the parachute rigging building at Andrews Field, Md. The
plane crashed into the building after taHng off from the field. The pilot, Lt. Charles Ryerson, was killed.
Three other persons aboard the plane were injured and one person inside the building was also hurt.'