The Mail-Journal, Volume 12, Number 33, Milford, Kosciusko County, 10 September 1975 — Page 1

Phones: 658-4111 & 457 3666

VOLUME 12

' ’ w \ A *w3 '•*£ 1 t - * %:■/r\ LA V\ ■ • "’’’S > _ W2* ii' • NEW LICENSE PLATE — A new sample lt<6 state plate was received at the Syracuse License Branch this week and is displayed here by long time employee LaVada Dean, and the American '*** Bicentennial plate is displayed in back on the wall. The new plate is in keeping with the Bicentennial year with white background, blue numbers with Heritage Slate lettering in red letters in the lower right. A minuteman is also displayed on the plate. Jack V anderford is branch manager and Katherine (>reider to also a branch employee.

5-year-old law suit delays park progress

A law suit Tiled m Kosciusko superior court by heirs of the late Mr and Mrs Cleo W. Estep against the town of Milford and Mr and Mrs. C. D Barnes of Milford continues to haunt the residents of the community. The suit is thought to be one reason why the town does not have a functioning park board and large sums of money which were donated annually by individuals and corporations for park improvements have been stopped as donors await the results of the suit The suit was filed in Kosciusko superior court on March 25. 1970 and was signed by Janet Fisher. Joe O Estep. Francis E. Watkins and Eugene C. Estep Since that time a number of the heirs have signed off The suit was filed by attorney Lee F. Mellinger. Elkhart Mellinger is the son-in-law of Mrs Fisher The suit alleges the plaintiffs are the sole heirs of Cleo W and Elinor Estep, deceased It continues that on May 15. 1936. the Esteps and the defendants Carlyle D. and Bernice Barnes deeded the real estate now know n as Waubee Lakeside park to the town of Milford Junction and it was to be used for certain

Vicious vandalism to farmer's milk supply

Authorities are still continuing investigation into a vicious and potentially dangerous practical joke or severe act of vandalism last Wednesday evening to a bulk tank full of milk at the farm of Syracuse dairyman Hubert Kidder, Kidder told authorities that he and his wife were attending church services during the evening when someone apparently dumped nearly two gallons of a poisonous type substance into his bulk milk storage tank He told state authorities he discovered the substance after seeing the cap of the tank was not fastened securely Kidder tasted Kerry Prices in Iceland Mr, and Mrs, Kerry Price, r 3 Syracuse, left Friday for a two week trip to Iceland They plan to visit a family with whom Mrs. Price stayed with as an exchange student in 1967 and 196*. The couple is accompanied by Mr. Price's mother and a couple from Butler

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Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL )Est. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE-WAW ASEE JOURNAL fEst. 1907)

specified purposes in the deed which they listed as exhibit A and is to revert to grantors heirs upon breach of said conditions The suit states the defendant, the town of Milford, has violated the terms of said deed It states the plaintiffs and the defendants. Mr. and Mrs Barnes. are owners of the real estate The defendant, the town of Milford, claims an interest in said property adverse to the rights of the plaintiffs which is without right and is unfounded according to the complaint The plaintiffs claimed they were entitled to immediate possession of the real estate along with Mr and Mrs Barnes and the town holds possession without right and has unlawfully kept them out of possession of said real estate It further stated m the suit that the town has made profits from said real estate but plaintiffs have no way of determining the amount thereof The plaintiffs have, according to paragraph three of the suit, an undivided half interest therein and desire their interests therein partitioned and set off to them in severalty

the milk for spoilage and immediately experienced a burning sensation to the mouth and lips. A field inspector was called and it was discovered the milk contained enough acid to be lethal to a consumer It was thought that the acid came from the Kidder farm as the farmer said it is used to clean the bulk milk tanks Area dairy fanners were urged by authorities to check milk supplies as a precautionary measure . - ■ ■ .1 ' Election board appointed for town of Milford The election board has been appointed for the coming town election at Milford. Voters will be casting their ballots at the fire station on South Main street and need not be registered to do so AU that is required is that a person be 18 years of age or older and have proof that he or she is a resident of the town. Mrs. Herbert (Edith) Baumgartner is serving as the (Continued on page 4>

Board Resists At their meeting on April 6. 1970 town board members instructed attorney William I. Garrard to go ahead with legal procedures necessary’ for the town of Milford to resist the law suit Garrard has since been appointed a judge with the Indiana Court of Appeals and Rex Reed has been appointed town attorney Both men have worked toward getting the case into court Each time the plaintiffs ask for and receive additional time. At the time the law suit was Tiled park board members were instructed to “carry on park business as usual" until they heard otherwise from town officials The park is operated annually from Memorial day through Labor day with the facilities being available as long as warm weather holds Shortly after the filing of the suit Mr and Mrs. Barnes signed legal papers giving any property that might be due them over to the town The case was venued to Whatley county on December 27. 1974. Thousands Os Dollars Town board president Dr. T. A. Miller said Monday night at the board meeting the suit has cost the town thousands of dollars in legal fees over the past five years. The park board is no longer functioning Miller asked the lake association about its members serving on the board and said he had an indication they were interested. however, he has not heard anything from them. Anyone who is interested in the park and willing to serve on the board is asked to contact the town board. During the past summer John Martin, street, water and sewer commissioner, took Manpower crews to the park and much needed work was done However, vandalism damage has been heavy. The bath house • con cession stand was broken into several times with a mess reported each time. Miller said another big problem has been the weeds at the Scout Cabin He is hopeful something can be done about this area next summer. Emergency squad makes 14 runs The Milford Emergency Services. Inc., report for the month of August shows the volunteers made a total of 14 runs. Nine of the runs were for illness, four for accidents and one required no transportation.

WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 10. 1975

I Believe it or not ... I $ s I postage is going down | Believe it or net. K’s true! Effective at 12:M a.m. on Sunday. § S: Sept. 14. new permanent pasttl rates will go into effect and some $ § of them will be lower. According to information on a special bulletin received by £ $ area postmasters Tuesday the rates are the final results of a $ number of temporary rates which have been in effect since $ March of 1974. First class will go from IS cents per ounce to 10 cents for the <: first ounce and nine cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof. The rate for postal and post cards has been reduced to seven •< coats. This b a one-cent reduction. Norate change has been made fat second class mail. $ Single piece rate in third-ciass goes to IS cents for the first two & ounces and fraction thereof and eight cents for each additional :j two ounces er fraction. There is no change in computation for £: ? bulk rate. # Fourth class rates are up with the average being two cents per <• pound. There is no change in airmail postage. All area postmasters —Paul Kizer at Milford. Avon Bushong >: at Syracuse and Emmajean Menzie at North Webster — are hopeful that the new seven cent postal- cards will be in their hands by Monday morning. Unused eight cent cards can be <: $ exchanged for full value.

Kiwanis travelogues begin at Wawasee on October 9

Members of the Lakeland Kiwanis club are once again working on their annual travelogue program which will open its sixth season on October 9 at Wawasee high school. The "Travel and Adventure Series" will include six nationally known adventurers and explorers who are artists in the travelogue field. They appear on such major platforms as * National Geographic. Washington, D C.; town hall. New York, orchestra hall. Chicago; and town hall, San Francisco Each is a professional photographer with many years experience in traveling and filming the many beautiful and interesting places around the world. These personally filmed, all-color motion pictures are especially popular because the man who filmed the picture. Milford to join MACOG Members of the Milford town board voted Monday night to join the Michiana Area Council erf Governments Just recently Mentone's town officials voted to join the council u Board members signed the agreement, as prepared by attorney Rex Reed following discussions at the August meeting George L. Kruse. Jr., executive director of MACOG was present at the August meeting to explain the operations to the Milford board. Town board president Dr. T. A. Miller said there are several areas where Milford needs help, including the water system, sewers which have not been extended because of lack of funds and the water tower which is antiquated. Miller said be personally was in favor of joining the organization and. like it or not, the federal government was more likely to respond to the area council than to a small town. Board member Norman Lovell said it will cost the town $l2O per year to join and board members should get that much information. Board member Mrs. Bessie Sunthimer told visitors present at the meeting that if the county were to join MACOG the town would get its money back. Many county residents are hopeful the county will join an area planning council in the near future. Street and water commissioner John Martin said it would cost $1 per running foot to do sealing in town. This would be S4OO per block. With six blocks to be sealed on Henry street and six blocks on West street the total (Continued on page 4)

appears on stage, in person, and narrates his film. In addition to the thrilling motion pictures and the personal narration, many of the travelogues include a musical background and special sound effects for added enjoyment and realism. Each member of the family, young and old, enjoys the travelogues, for they are wholesome, educational and adventurous entertainment. Everyone has the urge to travel but only a few satisfy that desire. By attending the “Travel and Adventure Series” there is a joy and thrill in visiting those faraway places, such as these included for the coming season — Holland. California. Austria, Italy. Kentucky-Tennessee and Greenland. A season ticket is offered with each ticket holder having the satisfaction of knowing that the profit from the series will enable the club to continue its work on community projects. Additional ticket information appears in their advertisement to be found elsewhere in this issue. The Lakeland Kiwanis club assists the Brownies and Girl Scouts of the Lakeland area, the Cub and Boy Scouts and conducts a bicycle inspection throughout the Lakeland schools The club (Continued on page 4)

■FjTI J A , HE| Painted at Syracuse

SIO,OOO goal is reached by h Citizens for Law Enforcement

By MARY LEE WILLMAN Following a meeting held Tuesday night, the North Webster “Citizens for Law Enforcement’’ committee has announced that the Laurel Jean Mitchell reward fund has reached its goal of SIO,OOO. Members of the committee had stated that community response has been “unbelievable and terrific!” The “Citizens for Law Enforcement’’ committee was organized on August 19 when a group of 30 concerned North Webster residents met to decide on a course of action in the wake of growing public shock and outrage following the death of

Retired area printer J. Barton Cox is dead

Funeral services were held Sunday for James Barton Cox. 71. 112 Medusa Court, Syracuse, former area printer. Death came unexpectedly around 10:45 Thursday night at his home of an apparent heart attack. The deceased was born at Owensville on April 27.1904, a son of James P. and Sabra A. (Barton) Cox. His father was a newspaper man, owning a Baptist church weekly newspaper and a weekly local paper for 64 years at Owensville. He graduated from high school at Owensville in 1922 and attended Purdue university and was in the journalism department at Indiana university, worked on a Bloomington daily paper and then on the Indiana Daily Student, on a full time basis. Cox returned to Owensville as editor of the local paper there in 1928. He purchased the Kankakee Valley Post at Demottein 1933. In 1939, the time which he moved to the Syracuse community, he purchased the Journal at Syracuse and later the Syracuse News, combining them into the Syracuse-Wawasee Journal. Sold He sold the Journal in 1954 and entered the job printing business, first at the Farmers Exchange at New Paris and in the late 1950’s started a job printing plant of his own in Syracuse, the Syracuse Quality Printers In 1969, he sold the business to Jerry Ganshorn after suffering a heart attack.

Volunteers wanted for work at Milford While the painting of fire hydrants at Syracuse is all but completed, thoughts are just turning to painting hydrapts in Milford and it is hoped volunteers will step forward to help with the project. The subject has been discussed by various persons over the past several months but has never been a topic before the town board until Monday night’s meeting when Mrs. Robert (Maxine) Pifer asked why Milford's hydrants had not been painted. Board members agreed it was a good idea but said no one had volunteered to paint Milford’s 33 hydrants. After some discussion board members decided to seek volunteers to work on the project. Mrs Pifer said she would be glad to paint the two on her block. Persons wishing to volunteer are urged to call town board members. The painting at Syracuse, where there are 69 hydrants, was begun in the fall of 1974 and is nearing completion. Mrs. John (Ann) Nyikos is in charge of the colorful Bicentennial project. Youths volunteering services this summer have been Wendy, 14, Patrick, 10 and Erick, six, children of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Knight . Elaine, 12, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Karesh , and her daughter Joanna, eight.

Laurel Jean Mitchell. Disappears Laurel, 17-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs Richard Mitchell. North Webster, disappeared cm August 6 on her way home from a summer job at Epworth Forest. Her body was found the following day in the Elkhart river in Noble county. An autopsy showed that the girl had been raped. Cause of death was listed as drowning. Once organized, the “Citizens for Law Enforcement" committee immediately voted to raise SIO,OOO to be offered as a reward to anyone providing information leading to the arrest

J. BARTON COX and continued to work part time with Ganshorn. Mr. Cox was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Purdue university; a member since 19ffi oPthe Masonic lodge and also Fort Wayne Consistory He was a charter member of the Syracuse Rotary club; served for seven years as a member of the Syracuse town council; three years as clerk-treasurer for the town; four years on the Syracuse library board; and during World War II served as a member of the rationing board of Kosciusko county. He was a member of Saint Andrew’s United Methodist church at Syracuse.

WK?"' 11 KM I Kw ?.' Unpainted at Milford

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and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the Mitchell girl’s death. Offers Given Offers of help and support poured in from business and professional leaders, clubs, sororities, service organizations, the news media, fraternal organizations and individual citizens. As a result of the overwhelming public response, the SIO,OOO goal was reached in less than three weeks. Anyone having information pertaining to the Mitchell case should telephone collect to the Ligonier state police post. The telephone number is 219-894-3146.

First Place Mr. Cox said his greatest accomplishment was in winning first place in 1947 in a national contest of all newspapers in the United States for community service in editorial help for fire departments. His campaign took over three years and the present Syracuse and Turkey Creek township fire department is patterned exactly after ideas he brought forth. In his service on the Syracuse town board, he was a member when the uptown parking lots were purchased, when the present town sewage department was started, and also when it was completed. He was on the board when the present town plan commission was formed. J. Barton Cox was married in 1923 to Retta Jacquess and the couple had two children of whom Sabra Sue (Cox) Evans of Springfield. 111., survives. The son. Robert Barton, lost his life in 1954 in an industrial accident. He was married in 1944 to Edna Cecelia Disher who preceded him in death. His marriage to Marjorie (Barrick) Kleinknight took place November 23, 1974 and she survives. In addition to his widow and daughter, he is survived by two stepdaughters, Mrs. Marcia (Disher) Shipcott of Foster City, Calif., and Mrs. Clem (Suzanne) Lisor of Syracuse; (Continued on page 4)