1950-04-27; Saline Observer

              O&MW&l
SIXTY-SEVENTH YEAR
NUMBER 30
SALINE, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN THURSDAY APRIL  27,   1950FIVE CENTS PER COPY $2.50 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE
Jaycees Protest Boost In Local Phone Rate
Along The
MainDrag
A Sparked by some long-time
study and investigative work on
the part of E. J. "Bus" Beasley.
Saline stands to receive, in the
reasonably near future, a new
rating from the Michigan Inspection Bureau, which should
result in a considerable savinesi
in fire insurance rates for policy holders here. A map of the
city's water system, showing
the location of fire hvdrants.
etc., presenting a complete picture of the citv's potential for
minimizing fire risks, is the bie
factor in securine a rate reduction, and the Inspection Bureau
now has the man which was
provided . them by City Clerk
Rogers. #Simonton & Widmayer on the Saline-Ann Arbor
road, are having an opening at
their store Saturdav when thev
will provide balloons for the1,
children, flowers for the ladies
and son-thing: for the men.
Merle Simonton and 'Russell
Widmayer are the proprietors,
the former having had over 20
years experience on golf course
maintenance. The firm handles;
hardware, paints, garden tractors, lawn equipment, etc.. has
a complete repair and service
department for lawn eauin-
ment. »The Michigan Associated Telephone Comnanv will be
making application for an increase in rates on Mav 5. On
business and residential rates
ihe hike is in the neighborhood,
of 40 percent. We may have
to adjust ourselves physically
to such a rate raise, but it is extremely hard for us, now, to
adjust ourselves to a hike of
that proportion, mental l'y.
% Washtenaw County Council
of High School Superintendents
met in Ypsilanti last week and
had members of the Board of
Supervisors and Tax Allocation;
Board as dinner guests. It appears that several school districts are having difficulty getting along with the funds available to them. Saline seems to
be in a very favorable position;
in this respect, but it is well to
remember that it was only a
few years ago that the eity
council under Mayor Gross had
a group of expert property appraisers go over the city and adjust the valuations.... and they
went upwards! On the basis
of that increased valuation, we
have greatly increased the tax
money  available   to  the    local
school   district and also
through our county tax are
contributing an i n c r e'a s e d
amount into the county treas
ury. It is just barely possible
that what the county needs is'
an honest equalization of the
values of properties throughout,
the whole county. It would appear not  digging too  deep
ly that we may be paying 3
wee bit toward the support of
schools elsewhere in the county, on top of supporting our
own, and that the fault lies with
those districts that are short
because their property values
are rated too low. This year
the assessed valuation of Saline
was increased by $90,000. The
Equalization Committee of the
Board of Supervisors submitted
a report of their equalizataori
figures Tuesday morning and
came up with $2,314,523, for
Saline. This means an increase
of $377,293 over our already
hiked-up total valuation. Over
a ten year period it would pay
more than Saline's estimated
share for a new County Court
House, and cut ten years off of
carrying charges. It might be
smart to get a prison located
here. Jackson has reduced its
assessed valuation by
$3,500,000.
Woman's Club
Program at the
Infirmary
The usually dull days at the
Washtenaw County Infirmary
have been noticeably ^brighter
the past months, with mem*
bers of the Infirmary Auxiliary arranging—and stimulating other groups to arrange
all sorts of entertainment for
the folks who live there.
Friday evening, April 28,
the Saline Woman's Club will
be in charge of the regular
monthly party at the Infirmary with Mrs. Edwin Hering,
president, Mrs. Ray Niles,
Mrs. Carl Moehn and Mrs.
Charles Kern, all of Saline, at
the helm. They, will bring the
ice cream and cake which they
will serve to the 100 residents
and hospital patients. The
cakes will be festive birthday
creations in h-fcior of those
residents having April birthdays. There 'rail also be entertainment, consisting of an
accordion rendition "by Mrs.
Michael Sheehan and singing by
Misses Mabel Gleason and Peg
Gleason. Accompanist will be
Mrs. Reuben Finkbeiner. Mrs.
Walter MacArthur will give a
reading.
Another new note on the
calendar of Infirmary residents is the monthly jstory-
telling hour by members of
the Ann Arbor Story Telling
League with Mrs. Karl Kar-
sian in charge. This will come
on the second Friday evening
in the month at 7 o'clock.
There are also weekly movies, given the fiflst three
Wednesday evenings in the
mon.h by the Auxiliary and
on " the fourth Wednesday the
Business and Professional Women's Club of Ann Arbor- is
the hostess group at the much
looked forward to "theatre
party". There is even popcorn, the gift of the Caramel
Corn shop on W. Liberty St.
Sunday afternoons Chaplain
Malcolm B. Ballinger of the
Methodist church holds a service on the sunporch of the
Infirmary; last Sunday the
Reverend Florence Teed conducted the service. There was
also1 a special Easter observance, with communion given to
protestant residents during
Holy week. Father McKinnon
administers to the Catholic residents and hospital patients.
There's A Look of Puzzlement and Doubt
What added spice to the Tuesday Night Bowling-League was
the keen competition that existed between Five Point Place and
Ed's Grocery. These two teams bowled Monday night, to hurry
the season along, and wound up with Five Points- the leader by
one point. On Tuesday night Michalke's outfit took four points
from Gross Implement, while Ed's Grocery -divided four points
with The Farmers. In Five Points' final game. Ted Ormsbv
rolled a total of 280. Ed's Grocery was up front practically all
through the season and there's still a look o_ puzzlement and
doubt on the faces of, left to right: Bill Dusterbeck, Anthony
Gordon, Marty Blair, Clyde Hoover and Frank Deede.
Blame The Horse Telephone Co.
To Petitibn For
Rate Increase
Detroit Presbyterial
Society To Meet
In Ann Arbor
Guest Speaker At
Federated Church
On (Wednesday, Kay 3, the Detroit Presbyterial Society will
convene in the iPirst Presbyterian
Church in Ann Arbor at 9:30
a.m. The membership is composed of the Presbyterian women
from all the churches in the Detroit area. Luncheon reservations
axe required by the hostesa
church and may be made with
Mrs. Henry McKenzi e. Mrs.
Brown announces that the May
meeting of the local group has
been postponed on account of
the meeting in Ann -Arttojr, and
will .be held on May lOth'at the
home   of Mrs.   Frank- Stilts.
Saline Child
Study Club
Hillis McKenzie, of Wooster
College, is attending an Inter-
Guild Retreat of University students at the Detroit Recreation
Camp, near Brighton this weekend. On Sunday morning he will
be the guest speaker at the Federated \Church in Saline. His father, the Rev. Henry McKenzie,
will preach in the Presbyterian
Church at Plymouth, Ohio," where
Hillis is the preaching supply.
The Rev. Henry McKenzie will
speak at the evening worship
service in (Federated Church.
On May 2nd at 3:00 p.m. the
Child Study. Club will hold its annual tea honoring the mothers
of the* children who will enter
kindergarten  in   September.
The place is the Saline high
school and the speaker will be
Colleen Witbeck, kindergarten
teacher, and her subject will be
"Ready  For Kindergarten."
Hostesses for the afternoon are
Mrs. bonald ISharkey, Mrs. John
Schild, Mrs. Michael Bennett,
Mrs. INathan Vans Osdol, Mrs.
Harry Cogar and Mrs. Meredith
Bixby.
The tea will follow the Study
Club's annual business meeting
and election of -officers. The members of the nominating committee
are Mrs..Hugh Keveling, Mrs. -Elvin Armbruster, Mrs. Edwin Hering, Mrs. Erwin Schmid and Mrs.
Harry Anderson.
For Food
Surplusses
Replacement of the horse by
the tractor, one of the major
technological advances in the
past 30 years, has helped farmers increase the supply of food
for human consumption faster
than the demand. This has been
true even .though our population
was increasing. The result has
had a depressing effect upon agriculture as compared with the
rest of the economy.
During the decade op the '20s
the number of horses and mules
on farms in-the XT. S. decreased
from nearly 26 million in 1920
to 19 million in 1930. During the
decade of the 13'Os the trend m
horse and mule numbers continued downward from 19 million
to  14% million. ~
It was generally assumed that
horse and mule numbers were
reaching the leveling off point
toy 1940, and that further replacement of horses by tractors would
not be a major factor in increasing our food supply. However,
during the past decade, under the
stimulus of high demand for agricultural products, horse and
mule numbers have actually declined even more than in the
1920s.
In 1940, there were 14% million horses and mules on farms
in the U. IS. Today there are but
7% million head. It took a lot
of land and other resources to
feed these 7 million horses and
mules. It is estimated that about
24 milion acres of average crop
land alone were required to produce feed for these horses and
mules which went to the glue
factory.
This land was released in the
past decade to produce human
food instead of horse feed. Despite impressions gained from
watching some of our acquaintances, few people actually eat as
much as horses. This amount of
crop land at average yield would
produce enough food for about
11 million peope.
Thus, this one technological advance—the substitution of gasoline-burners for hay-burnera—has
made possible the production of
enough more food to feed 55 per
cent of the estimated 20 million
population increase of the past 10
years. There are indications, that
the low in horse and mule num.
bers~has not yet been reached, although it is not possible for the
decrease in the next decade to
approach that of  the  '40s.
—Michigan Farm Economics.
 , __,—.	
At the Court of Honor in Ann
Arbor last week -Saline Scout
troop 46 was awarded, the covered wagon banner for having the
largest percentage of parents and
friends from a community outside   of  Ann Arbor,  present.
Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Jones of
Burlington, "Vermont and New
Symrna Beach!, Florida, sperit
the weekend Here visiting Mr.
and Mrs. Walter MacArthur, Sr.,
and family.
The Michigan Associated Telephone Company last week published the schedule of rates,
rentals and charges for telephone service and facilities furnished in the Saline area and
also a new schedule of rates
which the Company proposes to
ask the Michigan .Public Service Commission. fo# authority
to charge. K .-irfl
Application for the rate, boost
will be presented to the Commission on Friday, May 5, and
a date for a hearing will be requested at that time. Public
notice will be^ given of the hearing date, in* order that interested persons may attend. The
increase in rates aplies to all of
the territory which is serviced
by the Telephone Company.
According to the schedule the
monthly rate for a 1 party business phone would be increased
from $4.50 at present to $6.50,
a hike of over 40 per cent. A
two party business phone would
be increased from $3.85 to
$5.50. One party residence
phone would go from $2.90 to
$4.00 and a two .party phone
from $2.50 to $3.50 per month.
The raise reauested. according to H. R. Christianson, president of the company, will be
horizontal or "across the board"
affecting all major classes of
service at all exchanges, and
there will be changes in the
grouping of exchanges as to
size for rating purposes according to the company's legal notice published last week.
Mr. Christianson states that'
while the gross income of the
company was higher, increased
costs of labor, materials and
taxes have caused a greater increase in the company's operating expenses. The resulting
unsatisfactory net income does
not provide sufficient earnings
to pay an acceptable return on
the company's investment and
attract additional new tjapital
to improve and expand the service.
Michigan Associated Telephone Company owns and operates 72 exchanges serving oven
75,000 stations. Next to the
Michigan Bell Telephone Company it is the largest telephone
company in this state.
Miss Kathryn Luekhardt was
honored Tuesday evening at a
bridal shower, at the home c.
Mrs. William Finkbeiner, with
Mrs. Robert Harrison co-hostess.
Eighteen guests were present and
Miss (Luekhardt received many
lovely gifts. Games -were played
and refreshments were served.
100 Children In
Ypsilanti State
Hospital
Ivan A. LaCore, M. D., senior
staff physician at Ypsilanti State
Hospital, speaking before the Saline Rotary Club, Thursday, in
connection with the observance of
National Mental Health Week,
April 2Bv2S\ stated that there are
700,000 patients in mental hospitals throughout the country;
that 5,000,000 mentally defective
and psychotic people are living
outside of hospitals, and that
there are 6,000,000 borderline
cases who perhaps should be hospitalized.
Ypsilanti State Hospital, established in 1931, has a present population of 4,000 patients and nearly 1,000 employees. Among the
patients are 100 children between
the ages  of 7 and 16.
Dr. LaCore called attention to
the open house at Ypsilanti State
Hospital on Tuesday afternoon
and paid a tribute to Henry E.
Clark, chosen Psychiatric Aide
of the Year to represent the Hospital and who was given honorable mention by the National
Committee of the National Mental  Health   Foundation.
In his citation, Clark is mentioned as one of five attendants or
psychiatric aides serving in mental hospitals throughout the United States who merited Honorable
Mention and $50 awards in the
Psychiatric Aid of the Year competition   for 1949.
Excerpts from, the official supporting statements and records
made ■ in behalf of Clark's candidacy are the following:
"Through his untiring efforts,
and by directing his assistants
to take a more personal interest-
in all patients and to understand
their problems better, he soon
emptied  the   seclusion   rooms.
"When a new patient is admitted to his ward, he has _. talk
with him in order that he may
secure the patient's confidence
and gain some Insight regarding
his problems. He often brings to
the attention of the ward physician certain patients who have
particular problems.
"By his rehabilitation and family care projects, Mr. Clark has,
we believe, performed a great and
outstanding service to mental
patients. At the present time he
has seven male patients living at
ihis home. Most of these patients
were so ill mentally that they
were unable to have ground parole while at the hospital, and
had been confined to a ward for
chronically ill patients with an
extremely  guarded prognosis.
"When a patient enters his
home, Mr. Clark stresses to him
that he join in the family group
and become a member. His comfortable farm home is arranged
with every modern convenience,
and small luxuries are provided
for the patients. He places emphasis on the "small things -without
words" so dear to the hearts of
all men.
"The patients love the home,
the comfortable, friendly atmosphere and the feeling of security which they find there.
"In his selfless, quiet unassuming way he is doing work far beyond the line of duty. 'He uses
all of the facilities at his disposal; his farm, his home, his
family, and his own special abilities. He has brought a gleam of
hope into the eyes that were dull
and discouraged; he has given
these lost souls a feeling of self-
respect, of being wanted, and of
being useful members of society."
Will Attempt to Line Up
Subscribers For Solid
Front Against It
Marie Socks Wins
District Spelling:
Championship
Marie Socks of the Saline
public school won the spelling
contest held in Manchester on
Friday, April 21. Marie is in
the eighth grade and lives on
Saline, Route 1.
Delores Marion, 14 year old
eighth grader from the Hammond school was the runner-up.
The word which gained the
title of District Champion for
Marie was "occurrences".
She will now represent this
area in the Metropolitan Championship Bee to be held Friday,
May 12, in the Auditorium-Studio of WWJ, The Detroit News.
Chris Volz Named
New Cemetery
Superintendent
The Saline City Council has
given Chris Volz the position
of Superintendent of Oakwood
Cemetery, under contract agreement for the balance of 1950.
Volz replaces Frank King,
who has been in charge of the
cemetery work for several years
past. The previous arrangement with King was on a daily
rate of pay and it is expected
that under a contract rate a
definite savings in the maintenance of the cemetery grounds
will be effected. This arrange*
ment also operates to the advantage of the city in the fact
that the rate covers the per-
of the year when work is required by the superintendent in
maintenance, and when fixing
the annual city budget, a definite amount of money can be
allocated to that work with the
assurance that it will be sufficient to cover.
The Saline Junior Chamber of
Commerce will act in behalf of
the subscribers of the Michigan
Associated Telephone Company
in the Saline area, in protesting
the increase" in rates which the
Company is seeking to put into
effect through authorization of
the Publip Service Commission.
In order to make their protest effective they will require
the support of the telephone
patrons of the Saline Exchange.
The following is a statement issued Monday by the Saline
Junior Chamber of Commerce.
"In behalf of the Michigan
Associated Telephone Company
subscribers of this community
and in answer to the notice in
the Saline Observer, the Saline
Junior Chamber of Commerce
is planning to file a formal protest to the Michigan Public Service Commission against any increase in rates at this time.
However, not a great deal can
be accomplished without the actual support of the subscribers.
This will require each and every
subscriber to write a letter of
protest stating why he doejs
not believe Saline Community
rates should be allowed to be
increased. The better and more;
specific these letters are the
more weight they will carry.
"If there is not adequate response to this appeal there cannot be, an effective protest. Do
not forget to sign your name
and show your address and Saline exchange telephone number. Please forward these letters to the Saline Junior Chamber of Commerce, Public Ser-,
vice  Committee,  Saline,  Mich.
"Time is the important factor,
now, so please be prompt."
Nurses' Training
ram
Progi
Mrs. Emil Sattler, Sr., and her
son Emil, James Cook, and BoW
Klueter will attend a meeting
tonight at Mack school in Ann
Arbor, where information concerning the Jamboree at Valley
Forge, Pa., will be given.
Lance Rogers, Chester Leonard,
Bob Leonard and Arthur Zurlin-
den motored to Alpena, Saturday on a smelt fishing trip and
had  a fair  size catch.
Miss Eleanor Hertler was the
guest of honor at a bridal snower
given by Mrs. D. _3harkey and
Mrs. C. C. Crothers at the home
of the later on April 14.- Fourteen guests were present and
Miss Hertler received many beautiful gifts.
Mrs. Rosie Wbodbridge arrived home Sunday from Germany
where she has been during the
past two and one-half years. Mrs.
Woodbridge left Monday for Canada to attend a family reunion.
A house warming was held
Saturday in the new home, of
Mr. and Mr. Phillip Kellogg on
South Ann Arbor Street. Guests
were Mr. and Mrs. Theodore
Stimpson, Mr. and Mrs. E. D.
Wolfin, Donald Stimpson of Owos-
so, Mrs. Hazel Cook, Mr. and
Mrs. Ardis Heininger of Milan,
and Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Elsman. The couple was presented
•with a gift for their new home
and a pot luck' supper was enjoyed.
Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Royal,
Sr., Mrs. Clayton Royal and Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Royal attended
the Junior Class play at the Dye
School in Flint last week which
Robert  Royal   directed.
Miss - Joan Wondergem and
Mrs. Clarence Fritz were hostesses to the first graders at a
birthday party Friday, honoring
the birthday of Bonnie Jo Fritz.
Mrs. Fritz provided the refreshments.
Saline Sisters
To Appear In
Bach Programs
Misses Nancv and Jean Nichols, students in the departments
of arts and sciences of Oberlin
College, are members of the
Oberlin Musical Union and will
take part in its special Bach
programs on April 28 and 30.
They are the daughters of Mrs.
Harold S. Grav of Saline Valley Farms. Nancy is a senior
and chemistry maior. Jean is a
freshman.
The Oberlin Musical Union,
directed by Maurice Kessler of
the faculty of the Conservatory
of Music at Oberlin, will present the "Mass in B Minor" by
Johann Sebastian Bach in Oberlin on Friday - evening, April
28, and in Severance Hall in
Cleveland on Sunday. Anril 30.
The latter performance is
sponsored hy the Cleveland
Museym of Art as Dart of its
Bach 200th Anniversary Ob«
servance.
The centurv-old choral etoud
of three hundred voices will be
assisted by the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra and four soloists, Ellen Stuart, soprano, of
the Oberlin faculty; Vivian
Bauer, contralto, New York
City; Harold Haugh, tenor,
formerly of Oberlin and now at
the University of Michigan, and
John MacDoriald, bass, of Chicago.
The local interest committee
working with the Practical
Nurses' Training Program met
with Miss Edna Mae Doyle, <R. N.
of Ann Arbor, at the Saline High
School last Thursday morning.
A permanent organization was
evolved in that Mrs. Ray Niles
was ichosen as chairman, and
Mrs. Edwin Hering as vice-chairman. Miss Esther Landwehr will
act as secretary-treasurer. The
membership of the committee is
made up of a representative from
each women's organization in the
city, and these committee members 'Will in turn present the information about the program and
its needs to the organizations. It
will be the endeavor of the local
committee to recruit applicants
for both profssional and practical
nursing and to endeavor to provide financial assistance to those
entering the practical nursing
course who are in need of such
assistance. The committe'e will be
much interested in receiving applicant's names, and anyone desiring additional information may
contact either of the following
committee members: Mrs. Hugh
Austn, Mrs. George Austin, Mrs.
Harold Brown, Mrs. Harry Anderson, Mrs. Charles Kern, Mrs.
Charles Uphaus, Mrs. Niles, Mrs.
Hering  and Miss Landwehr.
Miss Ellen May Everett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Everett,
was home for a few days during the weekend of April 14, arid
returned to Chicago April 17:
Miss Everett is' in her senior
year at the Baptist Theological
Seminary and will graduate May
22.
Dr. Julia Wixted of Mishawau-
ka, Indiana, was a iSaturday evening guest at the home of Rev.
and Mrs, H L. Engel.
Mrs. Clara Pfeifle and Ira and
Ha Pfeifle were Sunday guests
of Mr. and Mrs. Alton Gehring-
er in Manchester.
The Saline Women's Club will
hold their annual spring luncheon May 9, at the home of Mrs.
Carl Curtiss. The guest speaker
will toe Dr. (Wilma Donahue, an
instructor in Human Adjustment
at the University of Michigan.
Reservations will be taken until
May 4. Those interested should
contact Mrs. Martin Blair or
Mrs. Max Fosdick.
Notice to all interested* in playing baseball
on the Observer team
this year. There will
fte a meeting at the Saline Park, 7 p. m. Monday, May 1. Bring
equipment* for light
work-out. If poor weather meeting will be
held at Legion Home
at 8 p. m.
Don Wiedman, Mgr.