1957-04-04; Saline Observer

              !• 1
All-Fools Day Foolery "
Hi, Neighbor!
By Ella V. MacQueen
What's happened to all the old pranks and tricks that
were used by yesterday's pranksters to trip up the unwary
on All-Fools Day, April 1 ? We neither saw nor heard of any
trick-playing Monday. What's happened to the classic salt
in the sugar bowl, purse-on-a-string, there's a bug on your
collar routines ? We remember one time when a group of
farm boy neighbors made a nightly tour of homes on All-
Fools Eve, and left a string of "Chic Sales' Specials" flat on
their backs buggies on wagon sheds and rotten squash on
doorsteps. The young culprits were caught and punished by
irate fathers while irate victims stood by and gloated.
* ■*       =:;
i
Our most memorable recollection of an April Fool
trick of Avhich we were victims was really self-inflicted,
but ably aided by a well-remembered finicky female member of our livestock family. Old Lady the Cow. She was
a cow, true, but certainly ho lady!
She hated to be milked, and warily eyed ariy person
. who approached with "a pail and stool. She kicked up a
fuss, the milk pail, stool and the milkman or maid. The
only method of handling Lady was to force her close to
one side of, her stall, scrounge your head deeply into her
side, kick the stool into position, then grab on and pull'!
Even that didn't subdue Lady. She'd lash and pound
her tormentor with her tail from the time the first milk-
stream hit the pall until the last stripping was completed.
So, one All-Fools Day, during said lashing i:nd pounding we
joined the Fool categorv. We took shears from the tool shed
and cut all the hair off her tail, thinking we would be rob-
))iiiQ- Lady of her "troublesome 'defensive; weapon, But, Alas
and Alack! Did you ever get hit on the head with, a baseball
bat, or a hockey stick ? One crack across the head' with that
club of a tail, shorn of its cushion of thick hair, and we realized we'd provided1 Lady with a really lethal weapon. We
made a three-point landing'in the midde of the stall, a sadder
but wiser milkmaid an overturned milk pail and one-three-
legged milk stool, minns" one leg. while Lady moced "April
Fool" or a reasonable, facsimile thereof.
We had to confess our deed to Dad before he got
clobbered and he echoed Lady's "April Fool" and Barn-
um's "'There's one born every minute," and then rigged
up a strap to hold the cow's lethal weapon to her leg,
disarming her effectively. ,
Later in the Spring, when the flies started to pester
the cattle, strangers passing our cow pasture used to
stop and stare at Lady and exclaim about her appearance, which was very chic. A sympathetic brother had
rigged up a synthetic tail for Lady by cutting narrow
strips of colored canvas, and anchored it to her stub of ,
a tail with sticky tape and kite string. '
Lady was the only cow we ever saw who could boast .
of a two-foot long, redv yellow and.blue fly-switching
accessory. „■„",■■ -
«
Everyone's been talking about the Motion Picture Academy's Oscar awards which were presented to "the choice of
the trade',' last week. At first we tore our hair at some winners named, but when they named Yul Brenner as best actor,
we forgot all our disagreements'with selections. We loved it!
Even better than last year's selection of, Ernest Borginine.
"   * * *        ■: J
As we watched Yul stride up the aisle with lights
reflected grandly on his hairless pate we knew that a
lot of our contemporaries whose hair is in the going-
going-gone category would have a new birth of jaunty
youthfulness!
*>H^ and Dad have- been-'*"'
strolling around majestically, hands locked behind their
backs, ala Yul in ."The King and I," whistling "Let's
Dance" slightly off-key.   Bless the award selectors!
* .   *.     *
In this week's 'Thinks We Didn't Know 'til Now' department, and things you might like to read we have the
story of the execution of a Rebel spy during the Civil War
by a Salineite Union soldier,who was an eyewitness of the
hanging—which was really a double-hanging. Seems to us
that the Rebel Texan should have been set free, for isn't it
against the law to put an individual in "double jeopardy?"
* « :|:
And did you know that a Saline farmyard contained
a station for the "^Underground Railroad" for aiding escaping slaves to reach Canada? And did you know that
Saline's Superintendent of Schools, Leo Jensen once spent
a week in "solitary confinement?" For details read Barbara Barnes Spotlight column; the story on Saline's Union soldiers and their letters, and the history of Saline's
first frame house. It's all in this week's Observer.
And who ever said that "Beggers Can't Be Choosers?"
Just look at Egypt's Nasser. He. came begging aid-niidn't
get it—grabbed the Suez Canal—was sent scampering- by
the Jewish forces—lost all the battles—but won everything
he asked'for. ,_ ~
He was nobody's April Fool. Who was ?
Mrs* Everett Woifin
*■ t
on Board of Directors
of County Polio Unit
Mrs. Everett S. Woifin of Saline was elected to the
Board of Directors of the Washtenaw County Chapter of the'
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at the annual
meeting in Ann Arbor on March 26.
Mrs. Carl Rehberg, of Ann Arbor,
was elected chairman tof the executive -committee of the board,
and "Mrs. Joseph H, Cox of Ypsiianti and Mrs. Floyd Wakefield of
Ann Arbor were named first and
second vice-chairmen.
Other executive comfittee members elected were "Mrs. Richard
Warner of Ypsiianti, secretary;
and Ann Arbor residents' Michael
Adelstein, treasurer; Mrs. Lawrence Zieler and Mrs. Arthur Van
Duren, publicity co-chairmen; Mrs.
Ruth Davidson, social service * and
"Robert Luzius, labor representative.
Members of the board elected included Mrs. Paul Hogg, Mrs/Bernard Brown, Mrs. George Lowry,
Leroy Cappaert, Mrs. John Goslee.
and Arthur Gallagher, all;of Ann
Arbor; Alfred Uecker of South Lyon and Mrs. James Cathy of Pleasant Lake.
Others 'were Mrs. Harold Niel,.
son, Mrs. E. B. ThrerkelSon and
Mrs. Simon Eaglin, all of Ypsiianti;
Mrs. Norman Ratcliff and Mrs.
Homer "Xhul of Chelsea, Mrs. Raymond C. Kerr of Manchester; and
Leo Hoey of Dexter.
Mrs. Robert Langford, executive
secretary of-the chapter, reported
toe chapter spent $45524 for patient
care during the past year. She ex-
. (Continued oa page 2)
THE SALINE OBSERVER
A WEEKLY  NEWSPAPER   DEDICATED TO PUBLIC SERVICE, CIVIC     ENDEAVOR AND AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN THE SALINE AREA
VOL. LXXIV (Member of Saline Chamber of Commerce}
SALINE, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1957
5c PER COPt
Farm Property Selected
Fo
r
County Farm Site
Old Briggs Residence, Saline's First Home, Was Built In 1829
Washtenaw's New
Farm Center Will
Locate In Saline
The Washtenaw Farm Council's board of directors Friday voted to locate a planned County Farm Center on 20
acres of land on the Henry Leutheuser farm on tlie Ann Arbor-aline Road*2 miles north of Saline. -
^.-.-ni-a.^;.*.^—i*- --t^—>.
Saline's first frame residence, -once known as the old
Briggs farm, is' still an attractive home today after
J28 •yeafsrTIrt'Sti-ueture wa originally buiffin lg.29
by Orrin Parsons^ one of Washtenaw County's first
settlers. The home, now owned and occupied by Mrs.
Freda Schumaier and her family, is located on the
outskirts of Saline. A portion of the original pronerty
now includes the Saline airport. Upper photo is a
drawing of the old Biggs farm during the period prior
to the Civil War. Lower photos show the home today,
front and rear." At left is the original foundation of
the barn shown ait left of drawing and the' barnyard
where the 'Underground Railroad' station for escaping* slaves was concealed.
Price of the Leutheuser
to the Farm Council, plus .an estimated $100 for a driveway culvert.
Leutheuser also offered to sell
the council ah adjacent 20-acre
.parcel of land for a total of $18,-
000 but this would require an, additional $4,000 for filing in -a swail.
Seven of the council's board voted for the location, -one voted
against it -and one abstained. Vote
was by show of hands at the directors' meeting in the County
Building.   '
The other piece of property considered by the council was a 20
acre strip of land on the Wagner
farm on Zeeb road, south of Jak-
son Road. The total ipriee for this
land would have been $14,000 for
the acreage plus $1,500 to level a
cornfield, $2,000 for field tile and
$200 .for two driveway culverts.
"From the standpoint of natural
drainage, the cost of "making the
Wagner site comparable to the Leutheuser site would' be prohibitive,"
an engineer's report to the board
property was $1,000 ah acre
Washtenaw-Wayne county Pamonia
executive board and the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.
The Site" they believe is accessible to all parts of the county
easily ^and was believed to be in
an area which will not urbanize
fast because of the zig-zag (Saline-Ann Arbor) road.
-The council had been instructed
by a 3^to-l 'majority of the council's general membership in January to break the 99-year lease
the council holds -with the i-ity of
Ami Arbor on sis .acres' of land iat
Veterans Mcmor.dl Park and
search for a site -outside the city.
A sire committee of the council
recommended iwo parcels on Zeeh-
road, of which the Wagner property was one. Instead of voting oh
Hie properties at the time, Hie
time, the general .membership gave
its board of directors' authority tb
locate a site. '*-
Rusing controversy over location
of 'the Farm Center came to light
at  the December meeting- of the
.saidje'3$e-found .that botii^he.LeUT.J1SP.'y*<J;,,pf-1S.u»ejiv4sa*.-s^'\v]u*n Super-
S. E. Lindsley
Is Reelected
Supervisor
All Saline Township officials
were reelected to office without
opposition at -Monday's election.
-One hundred twelve voters cast ballots.
S. .-Ellsworth Lindsley was reelected to serve his thirteenth term
as supervisor, polling 108 votes.
Raymond M. Streiter was reelected
clerk with 105 votes.
Others, lall Republicans, elected
Monday were:
Albert Bredernitz, treasurer, 106;
Norman Bohnett, trustee, 101" Mi-
cah Robinson, trustee, 104; Bruno
Papsdorf, -justice 'of the peace, 105;.
Duncan Robison, board of review,
105; and Constables, Albert E. Gall,
106; Elmer Glatz.104; Walter Graf,
104, and Arthur Wiedmayer, 105.
The proposition to spread a general assessment for building an
addition to the Washtenaw County
jail was rejected by Saline Township voters, 77 to 32.
Vera D. Curtiss
Funeral Service
Held on Sunday
Funeral services for Mrs. Vera
Decker Curtiss, 74," wife of Carl A.
Ci-rtk',;,. president of tha Citizens
Bank of Saline, were held -Sunday
at 2 p.m. at the Lockwood Funeral
Home'with the Rev. R. R. F-uell
•and the Rev. Frank Benish officiating". Burial was in Oakwood
Cemetery.
Mrs-. Curtiss died Friday mornii-g
at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital an
Ann Arbor. She had been a rest
dent of Saline for the past 48
years.
Prominent in -civic and church
affairs', Mrs. Curtiss was trustee
and treasurer of the Saline library
.Association far many" years and
was a life member of the Washtenaw Historical Society.
She was a member .of the Saline
Methodist Church; the Women's Society for Chrisaan Service of the
church, the' Willing Workers -group
and the Saline Woman's .Club.
Mrs. Curtiss was ib'orn on July
3, 1882, the daughter of Andrew
and Lydia Duff Decker. She married Mr. Curtiss at Larange, Indiana on May 1<), 1905.-
Survivors in addition to her hus-
•band include a son, Bliss Curtiss of
Saline; a sister, Miss Josephine
D->cker of Saline and two- grandchildren. .
Board of Education
Approves Adoption
of New Curriculum
The members of the Saline Board of Education at a
weeial meet&g Fridav night, approved a change m the ba-
lir-? Area School's iunior and senior high curriculum which
will change the required graduation credits frpm 16 to ZO-
increase students' work load in science and mathematics and
divide each class into three ability
levels. •"
Each class of slow, average and
gifted -students will be lengthened
to 67 minutes, a 37 minute period
of class instruction, \and 30 minutes of supervised, study.
The change in the curriculum,
which wii-become effective in September, will not increase the instructional cost, Leo Jensen, superintendent of Saline schools said,
and the only students in senior high
school affected by the new required
20 cre'dit- system are those who'
will ^become' sophomores in September.
By changing to the three ability
levels for each class, Jensen .pointed out, -the slower learning student will net be in competttion
with faster learners, and will not
Cooperative Nursery
Group-Meeting: April 9
" A -neet'-ng af the Saline Cooperative Nursery group will be held
Tuesday evening, April 9, at eight
o'clock at the Saline Elementary
School, it was" announced this
week.    -      ; „ ,-    _' ■
All pre-school .parents interested,
in the program are welcome to attend, it was stated.
Federated Church
Board Meetings
In Sunday, April 17-
The April meeting of the Feder-:
.ated Church Couricilwill be held at
the .Church on Sunday afternoon,
April 7, at 3:OQo'clock.
The imeeting or the Board of
Trustees -will be held previous to
the Council meeting, according to
announcement of ithe Chairman,
Benjamin Uphaus. .
Social   Meetings
The .Friendship Class of the Federated Church was entertained
at 1:30 p.m.- dessert, March 27, at
the home of Mrs. Ethel Spike, followed by the usual business and
social meeting.
foe challenged beyond his capacity
to learn, thus-causing him to los'e
interest, and perhaps drop out of
school.
,. The "gifted, student is also benefited an this program which 'will
enable instructors to give him
added subject matter to challenge
his' -mental ability and give .a better preparation for further study
in his -chosen field.
The added instruction in science
and math will better prs-pare, all
students for the ever increasing
fields opening up in scientific and
electronic pursuits.
The new curriculum for the estimated 450 junior and senior students -will require students to take
one 'more subject each year. After
additional science and niathematic
requirements are fulfilled, the students' -will be permitted to elect
courses in vocational, academic
and commercial fields"."
It "will take three years to put
the new system, into 'total effect,
Jensen said. Jn September about
95 sophomores will b& affected by
the new curriculum..
The Saline Area School Board
of Education as the first in Washtenaw County .to (adapt the ne'w
curriculum, which is now in use
in • the East Lansing Public
Schools.
Fun for a Penny
Qub Scouts to Hold
Penny Carnival
April 10th
A 'penny'1 carnival sponsored by
the members of the eight dens of
Cub Scouts' of the Saline Area will
be held at the Saline Elementary
School on Wednesday, April 10 at
7:30 p.m.
Each den,will have a game or
concession on "The Midway" and
each game •will require a ticket.
Mothers of the Club Scouts are
doEiating cakes for an .auction during "the evening.
The public is invited to attend.
theuser fields were well drained
and contained enough gravel so
that surface wafer had no trouble
in getting away.!''
The engineer's report was' -made
by George P. Frisinger of Lew.is
and Frisinger Company and a firm
engineer, who was reguested to
survey the' three parcels of land
by the council's' directors.
Before taking action the board
of directors of the council heard
resolutions favoring the Leutheuser
properties, which are at the eiid
Of "Pleasant Lake road in Lodi
township, from four other farm
.groups.
They were the Washtenaw-Hayne
County Holstein Breeders Society,
■pittsfield  "Union   range   No:   822,
visor Carl Mast of Webster towA-
ship said -there "is quite a bit of
dissatisfaction throughout the county."
At the annual meeting of- the
council in January the controversy broke into the open when
the general .membership voted; 67-
to-59 to have the directors reconsider their longstanding plans to
build the center at the Veterans
Park "    -        " -     :
So much interest was generated
by the dispute that nearly 400 persons turned out for the special
meeting in February and.voted
249-94 to "have the planned center
moved out of Ann Arbor.*-
The directsrs will meet Friday
to consider proposals for the typea
(Continued on page 4)
Guest Speaker
At the Lenten service, at the
Methodist Church, March 27, Dr.
John A. Marvin, Adrian, was
speaker. He is editor of the
Michigan Christian Advocate. > A
family potluck supper at 6:30 preceded the service..
School Planning
To Be Discussed
at School Tonight
The Saline Area Educational
Advisory Council will hold a meeting at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday,
April 11, in the high school study
hall. '
Major items,on the evenings
agenda will bo a discussion of the
needs of tlie .high school and proposed plans by architect Guido
Binda in correlation with the
School Board.
In addition to this, four instructors will discuss their departmental needs. The participating instructors will be George Bonicli from
the science department; "Bernice
"McCoy will cite needs in special
education; Dwight Reynolds -will
discuss problems of the industrial
arts department > and Alton Ealy
will discuss the study -of agriculture in the school ."
Band Member
. William Austin, son of Mr. Nand
Mrs. George Austin, was in East
Lansing March 25, and- 26 to try out
for the National F.F.A. Band. A
member of the trombone section of
the Saline High School Band, he
was accepted and'will play at the
national convention of- the Future
Farmers of America in October.  *
Saline Republicans;
Outpoll Democrats
By 3 to 1 Margin   j
With but one county proposition and noi,local issues on
the ballot only 222 voters visited the polls in* Saline at the
biennial Spring election, Monday.   - -     >
The county proposal, providing for an assessment for
construction cf an addition to the county jail, los locally.
witli 107 voters favoring the plan
Verne Dieterle,
Former Salineite,
Dies in Jackson
A 'former resident of Saline,
Charles Verne Dieterle, 36, died
Friday in Jackson where he has
been employed at the Kelsy-Hayes
plant for the past 16 years.
Mr. Dieterle, known as Verns
to residents of this area, was born
here on June 2. 1920. He attended
Saline schools and was a graduate
of the Saline Area High School.
He was in the Army for tyro years
and in the Marine Corns for a year
during World War II. He was a
member of the Mcose "-Lodge in
Jackson. __
He is survived by his ^widow;
Eva; three daughters, Rhoda, Dana and -Relene, all at hcaie; a stepdaughter, Carolyn West, and stepson, Roger West; four brothers,
Ernest and Raymond of Ann Arbor, Edward, of HiUsdale and Kenneth of Saline; his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Earl Clark*o£"Saline; agister,
Mrs. Dorothy Bredernitz »f Saline,
and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral rites were held at the
Cavanaugh Funeral Home in Jackson -with . the Reverend Charles
MfcKinney <Jf the Church of the
Nazarene officiating.' Burial was in-
HiUcreS* Cemetery in Jackson.
and 114 opposing- it. *i
' . '*'
Eighty-seven ballots were    cast
in Ward Two, the City Hall, and 135
at Ward One, Saline High School.
Results of the election in Saline:
Justices of the Supreme- Court
(Two to be elected)—Talbot
Smith, 137; Thomas M. Kavan-
augh, 101: Robert E. Childs.* S8;
Michael D. O'Hara, 7S. '
' Justice of the Supreme ."Court
(to fill vacancy)—John D. "Voelk-
er 11G; Joseph A. Moynihan,' 84.'
Regents of the University 'of
Michigan (two to be elected)—Alfred B. Connable (R) 162; /Ethel
.Tocelyn Watt (R) 1G1; Cari Brab-
lec (D) 53; Irene E. Murphy (D)
53: Helen D. Lowell (P) 2 j Ralph
C: March (PI 3. * "
Superintendent of Public Instruction—Edgar L. Harden (R) 159;
Lynn M. BarUett (D) 57; Oscar
C. .Griswold (P)  1. -     (
Member State Board of-  Education—George W. Dean    (R)    laS;
Chris H.* Magnusson (D)  58; Ot|ho.
Jennings   (P)  1.
Members State Board of Agriculture (two elected)—Frank Mjr-
riman (R) 161; Frederick H.Mufel-
Jan B. Vanderpleoff CD)- 50;
ler, (R) 161; Don. Stevens (D) 51;
William J. .Parsons (P) 3; Paul"
C. Mackie (D) 51,      **.
State Highway " Commissioner.
George M. Foster  (R)  169,- Jopu
H. Kyburcz, 2.
:'l
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