The Mail-Journal, Volume 17, Number 32, Milford, Kosciusko County, 27 August 1980 — Page 4

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., August 27,1980

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Editorials Labor Day Labor Day, the Ist of September, has become one of the nation’s major holidays. It was first suggested by Peter McGuire in New York in 1882. McGuire was then president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and an active leader in the Knights of Labor. McGuire chose the time for the holiday — he selected the first Monday in September because it was about mid-way between July 4 and Thanksgiving. Both his suggestion of a special day and the time it should be observed were eventually accepted in all the states. By 1894, thirty states had begun the observance; and in that year, Congress made the day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and in U.S. territories. It soon became a national day and is now observed by the federal government and all the states. On Labor Day in 1980, all Americans should keep in mind the salient facts concerning this nation, its past and its future. It was an American work ethic, the will to work hard, among the vast majority of Americans of all races and creeds (in labor and management), that built the industrial wealth of the nation in the late eighties and early twentieth century. By the time of World War 11, this industrial strength had made America the envy of the world, the most powerful nation on earth. Today, however, thirty-five years after U.S. industrial power did so much to win a world war, the productivity of American workers has fallen below that in foreign countries 5 . Our industrial plants are, in many cases, now obsolete. As we observe this venerable day, all Americans should resolve to do what they can to increase the productivity of the average American laborer, and to help modernize our industrial plant. That should be the theme, and dedication, of Labor Day, 1980. School time It’s well to take stock of our local schools every so often; the beginning of the new school year is a good time. Capable school administrators — from the superintendent and principal down — are not easy to find. Really good officials in this field are the subject of much competition. < Parents of children — some of whom have been raised on progressive theories now partly discredited — have an obligation to cooperate with school authorities in every way possible, to make their task easier as they attempt to guide, train and educate the children of this community. Children must be disciplined, as well as educated, for if they are not disciplined they cannot be educated. September, 1980 There was that nameless splendor everywhere, That wild exhilaration in the air ... Longfellow. September is the month of the harvest moon (this year on the 24th) — the moon which appears above the horizon at about sunset for several days, giving enough light for farmers to harvest their fields after the sun is down. Hitler marched into Poland, September 1,1939, and began World War 11. Labor Day falls on the Ist this year. The first Continental Congress met on the sth in 1774 — in Philadelphia. James Fenimore Cooper, the great novelist, was born on the 7th at Burlington, N. J., in 1789. The famous Galveston hurricane struck that Texas city on the Bth in 1900. The 9th is Admission Day in California — dating from 1850 when California became a state. The British defeated George Washington and his army at Chadd’s Ford in Pennsylvania on the Uth, in 1777, and took Philadelphia two weeks later as a result, in their third try. The 12th is Defenders’ Day in Maryland, dating from the War of 1812 with the British; John Barry, the father of the U.S. Navy, died on the 13th in 1903. First graders Six-year-olds who are beginning school are often offered a series of immunization shots. Frequently a complete physical examination will uncover defects which have been unnoticed. It’s important, of course, that parents and teachers know about such defects — so they can help the child overcome the handicap. These examinations will undoubtedly mean healthier and happier children; take advantage of them. 0 The hope Weary of the gas and filmflam of this election-year, from politicians who have almost wrecked the national economy in recent years, the average voter longs for November — and the end of 1980 s political commotion. The hope is clouded by the possibility that November 4th’s voting won’t finally determine the outcome. Either in December, by the electors, or in January, by House members, the final outcome could be determined. Thus the fervent hope is that by mid January the furor, gas and hokum will have subsided — and that, at last, the nation will have enough thrifty lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get the economy, the dollar, and international trade on the rails again, and inflation under control. Will they do it? What others say — FTC in the way The mobile home industry needs the help of Congress to restrain the Federal Trade Commission from adding mobile home warranties to its regulatory empire. Both Indiana senators have promised their help. Thursday Rep. John Brademas added his weight against the FTC’s eagerness to hang more regulation on the industry. The FTC wants to involve itself in writing the terms of warranties and enforcing them. A 700-page staff report recommends that the commission issue a new regulation policing warranty service —a move that Walter I. Benning, president of the Manufactured Housing Institute, says could add up to $2,000 to the price of a mobile home. If the FTC is permitted to move into this area, it will duplicate enforcement of construction standards by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mobile homes must be built to meet HUD standards and pass government-authorized inspection during manufacture. This already is more federal supervision than is given to conventional, site-built houses. There is, of course, no federal warranty supervision for site-built homes — an area where warranties are still unusual, although mobile home manufacturers commonly offer them. The sources of the FTC report just issued go back eight years. Collecting warranty complaints began before regulation by HUD was passed by Congress in 1974. Many of the complaints offered to support new regulation are out of date. The builders of manufactured housing know they need to produce good quality products for the sake of their reputation with buyers. What they do not need is to have their consumer relations complicated through costly and troublesome new regulation. Now, when the industry is striving to shake off the effects of recession, is surely the wrong time for the FTC to put another obstacle in the way.- THE ELKHART TRUTH

Pjiu/ Schermerhorn, Leesburg, is shown at Chore-Time Equipment, Inc., Milford, he is representative of all workers who will be honored on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1. Voice of the people A column on the opinions of the people of the Lakeland area . . .

QUESTION: "Whal do you plan to do over the Labor Day week end?"

38*' W (.LORIA ji arez Wrv '’few* New Paris B B ( “Mh Eentur . v Bkßestaurant) bbl ** “Hopefully, going camping.” SANDI BODDIGER Milford (20th Century Restaurant) “I’m going to the nationals in Indianapolis.” Bf MRS. ROSS yX (ft*. 1 n.MMONs W--’’ B| Milford (homemaker) “We are having company and I think we’ll just stay home.”

Court news

The following couples have filed for dissolution of their marriages in Kosciusko County Circuit and Superior Courts: Holderread — Thomas Holderread vs JoLene Holderread, r 1 box 1608 Milford. The couple was married February 2, 1966 and was separated August 8, 1980. The plaintiff seeks a dissolution. Moser — Kenneth Moser vs Wanda Moser, r 3 box 667 Syracuse. The couple was married Jtine 17, 1951 and was separated May 26, 1977. The plaintiff seeks a dissolution and an equitable division of the property. The following claims has been filed in Kosciusko County Circuit Court, Richard Sand, judge: Reciprocal Mary D. Isaacs vs Ronald L. Isaacs, r 4 Greenhaus No. 61, Syracuse. Plaintiff asks support The following residents of Kosciusko County have had fines assessed and have paid those fines in Kosciusko County Court, James Jarrette, judge: Speeding — Michelle Paradis, 19, Syracuse, s3s;'&ryan Bowen, 17, North Webster, $45 Conversion — George Ditton, 35, Milford, $95: John Haffner, 20, Milford, S7O plus six months at Indiana State Farm suspended and restitution ordered Furnishing alcohol to a minor — Stephen Eppert, 23, Syracuse. $129 plus 180 days at Indiana State Farm suspended and formal probation

NOTES—--COMMENTS Too much talk loses most arguments. ** * * Conscience is what makes easy money uneasy. ** * * The best friends are those who seek nothing. **** When a go-getter gets going, the going is rough.

JACKIE COOK Lake Wawasee (merchant) “Relax. Working six days a week, I relax every chance I can get. ” DEB MANGAS t’ Syracuse ■ J (travel agent) » “I’m going to rest, relax and enjoy my family.” I ELIZABETH I *** RUNGE Ea ke Wawasee HL <BaR Bt •"W B student) “Work. It depends on the store I work at, if we’ll be open ail the time, if I can go somewhere.”

of $75 per month and arrears of $5,400 for the minor child of the parties. The following couples have filed for marriage licenses in the office of Kosciusko County Clerk Jean Messmore:. Barnes-Wolferman James A. Barnes, 26, r 3 Pierceton and Marla K. Wolferman, 18. r 5 box 442 Syracuse Neher-Trobaugh Duane K. Neher, 25,. r 1 Claypool and Kathy L. Trof>augh, 21, r 1 box 476 C Leesburg Classen-Reisman Keith A. Classen, 20, r 1 box 235 Etna Green and Venessa Reisman, 25, r 1 box 235 Etna Green Alexander-Renz Jay Alexander, 21, r 4 Warsaw and Jeanett L. Renz, 19, r 1 Urbana Shadday-Heierman David A. Shadday, 22, 1324 N. Harbison, Indianapolis and Sherry E. Heierman, 21, P.O. Box 184 Leesburg The following claims have been filed in Kosciusko County Superior Court, Robert Burner, judge: On Account Pentek Corp, vs Ag Best Inc., P.O. Box 723 Syracuse. Plaintiff seeks $7,635.84 plus interest on account.

THE MAIL JOURNAL (USPS 325 840! Published by The Mail Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office at Syracuse, Indiana 46547. Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main Street, Syracuse, Indiana 44567 and at additional entry offices. Subscription: ST) per year in Kosciusko County; sl3 outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of add ress forms to The Mail Journal, P.O. Box 188, Miltord, Indiana 46542. rO

ICI3IZIN around CUSfc

IT ISN’T often that this column writes about the same person in two consecutive weeks, but in the case of Lulu (Seider) Francis we’ll make an exception. Mrs. Francis will be moving soon from her home of 63 years at 400 South Huntington Street to Apartment 1 in the Rose Garden Apartments on Dolan Drive. Her moving gave occasion for an interview at her home one day last week. Among other things, Mrs. Francis noted the Chamber of Commerce effort to bring new business and industry into the community. She said, “Syracuse has been doing this for a long time,” and produced a sheaf of stock certificates that her late husband. Lewis Seider, a well known Syracuse grocer in his day. had from his purchases of stock in local firms. Among them were the following: Stock in the Syracuse Table Company, capitalized for 1100.000, dated December 1, 1919: the Syracuse Electric Tablet Co., capitalized for >30,000, dated September 19, 1907; the Advance Radiator Company, capitalized for 1100,000, dated Decmeber 23. 1909: and the Wawasee Cedar Chest Company, capitalized for $50,000, dated August 23, 1924. She had other stock certificates to show us from purchases her husband made out of state. Then Mrs. Francis reminded us of a community drive made in 1952 to raise $30,000 to bring the Weatherhead Company into Syracuse. This proved a worthy project, sufficient to provide employment to a good many, people since then. She said the Wawasee Cedar Chest Company, of which the late Wakefield M. Wilt was a partner, was a predecessor of Wilt Industries, Inc., located on Medusa Street, in the plant that now houses Syracuse Industries. She went further; she showed us two cedar chests that figure among her prized personal possessions that were from the cedar chest firm. These are heirlooms she wants kept in her family. Wakefield later entered the novelty business on his own when his partner wasn’t interested in the manufacture of the miniature cedar chest commonly used as a jewel chest. This was Wakefield’s “baby” and he promoted it nation-wide through 5 & 10 cent stores. (Note: Mr. Wilt was the father of Marian (Mrs. Charles) Rock of 506 South Front Street, Syracuse.) When Wakefield passed away his son Joel acceded to the helm of the local firm. Joel had an avocation — refereeing high school basketball games — at which he acquired a wide and favorable reputation. At one time Wilt Industries figured among the area’s leading employers and the little miniature cedar chest was seen in many homes throughout the country. And so, according to Mrs. Francis, it would appear the residents of the Syracuse area have been generous in their support to bring new employment to the Syracuse community. This job is an ongoing task, and it would appear the present generation has picked up the cudgel to run with it. Mrs. Francis seems to like that. — O-f THE COLUMNS of The MailJournal hardly ever escape the close scrutiny of one of its Warsaw readers, one George (“Gordy”) Bumbaugh, a well Known and plain spoken accountant of that city. He took exception to our editorial that now, during a strike, is hardly the time for NIPSCo to ask the Public Service Commission of Indiana for a rate increase. To win our confidence, he calls the UPI, AP, NY-Times, Washington Post “all a bunch of crooks,” adding, “That’s why I read The Mail-Journal.” Among his comments supporting a utility rate increase he sends along a 3rd 1980 Interim Report of NIPSCo, covering three months, six months and twelve months ending June 30,1980. It notes the following under Revenues and Earnings: “Although total operating revenues for the 12 months ended June 30, 1980 were nearly 20 per cent higher than for the corresponding period in 1979, due largely to fuel and purchased gas adjustment clauses, net income for the period was lower, totaling approximately $70.1 million compared with a net imcome of $76.9 million for the same period in 1979.

“On a per share basis, earnings for the 12 month period declined to $1.54 from $1.98 in 1979. with approximately 4.2 million more average common shares outstanding. “For the first six months of 1980 per share earnings fell to SI.OB from $1.46 while earnings per average common share during the second quarter of 1980 totaled $0.43 compared to $0.54 in 1979. ” — O'MAN Y TV viewers who pay attention to credits note the name of Dean Jagger. He recently received the Emmy outstanding individual achievement award in religious programming, from the International Lutheran Laymen's League, the TV Academy Award in the “This Is Your Life” series. What they don’t know is that Jagger attended school at Collins, a Whitley County country school, and graduated from Larwill High School in 1921. His parents are the late Mr. and Mrs. Albert Jagger of that area. There are a lot of Jaggers in the Larwill community. Dean previously received two Academy Awards. He starred in “The Robe," a movie made from a book by Lloyd Douglas who hailed from Wilmot (on Road 5) and Columbia City, in "Twelve O’clock High”. "Brigham Young” and as Mr. Novak. — o — IF YOU’VE noticed that clean, sleek 1929 Dodge Brothers Six two-door coach making the rounds, albeit slowly, on Syracuse streets, you probably also noticed the satisfied smile on the face of the man behind the wheel. They (the car and the smile) belong to Wilfred Holder, r 1 Wawasee. He’s chugging along at 25 to 30 miles per hour, powered by a 27.35 h.p. engine. Hodler delights in saying. "The head of the motor has not been off in 51 years.” adding. "I bought the car from a fellow near Dewart Lake, and when I got it. it was a basket case.” Hodler’s wife Gloria confirms this. She was, oh. so disappointed when she first saw the “junk” her husband brought home, but eventually turned her considerable skills toward rebuilding the car. In the front window is a small, printed sign: Owned Bv A Little Old Lady Who Beat Hell Out Os It. — o — SOMETIMES PINNING down dates when local memorable events occurred can be a difficult task. Such was the case in this column last week when we tried to pin down the date the South Shore Inn burned. Our source in this event would normally have been John Sudlow, a neighbor to the tragedy, but John and Ann were on vacation and could not be reached. After diligent inquiry, Syracuse librarian. Roselyn Jones, traced it down in old newspaper files. She and Bob came to the community in 1964, when Bob signed on as bank president. With the year at hand, the date easily followed. It turned out to be in the dark early morning hours of Wednesday, October 29, 1964. It was a spectacular fire, of unknown origin, and drew spectators from miles around, but so few remembered the date, including this scribe who witnessed the inferno. Then comes a call from Bill and Jean Jones who have a photo file on the fire. They, like the Sudlows, are neighbors to the popular Inn and lamented the tragic fire. Recalling history can be such an elusive art. — O'REV. PAUL Steele, pastor of the Calvary United Methodist Church, located on SR 13 south of Syracuse, had his eye on a seat on the Lakeland School-Board when it was made known that Third District board representative Philip R. Payne of North Webster might not seek re-election.

SARGENT’S HOTEL... part of a vanishing era.

However, when Payne let it be known a week ago that sufficient friends had urged him to run again to make the race plausible. Pastor Steele backed off in deference to Payne. “Phil’s a good man,” says Steele of his former parishioner when he pastured the North Webster United Methodist Church. Steel’s son. Paul, Jr., was top honor student of the Wawasee High School graduating class of 1980 — o — PERHAPS THE biggest single residential development ever to be undertaken in the Lakeland area is being announced this week in an advertisement in this issue of The M-J. Miller Brothers Realty, builders and developers, are announcing the platting and sale of 54 lots in an area south of Syracuse and partially fronting on South Shore Golf Course, to be known as South Shore Green, selling above the promotional line of “Unique Golf Course Home Sites in a Planned Community.” Included in the development will be a picnic and playground s area, tennis courts, shelter, vehicle storage area and a fitness trail. It is being developed by C. T. Realty, 11550 North Meridian Street, Carmel, Ind. The C. T., incidentally, stands for Carl (Dick) and Tom Tuttle. Dick is becoming increasingly well known in Indianapolis financial circles while brother Tom is owner-operator of South Shore Golf Course and manager of Deer Creek Country Club, Deerfield, Fla. MRS. GEORGE (Ruth) Clindaniel, r 4 Syracuse, might call herself a “strict constitutionalist.” and she’s rooting for Dan Quayle in the fall election. We re thankful to her, though, that she did call out attention to the fact that the Sunday, Aug. 31. outing for Quayle at the South Shore Pavilion will cost SSO per couple — not-SSO per person. * Mrs. Clindaniel says there “are just a few of us (the strict constitutionalists) left,” and adds, “it seems like all is lost.” Her views against U.S. involvement in the United Nations and against gun control are well documented in her letters to the editor in this and several area newspapers. She clinches her arguments with this: “I believe one should have a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other.” Wow! That’s strong medicine! —o— LISA LOGAN of Gulliver’s Travel Agents, returned late Sunday evening from a three-day “fam” trip to Colorado. Flying to Denver, the group she was with traveled by motor bus to Winterhaven. a ski resort. The summertime features of the ski resorts in Colorado include river rafting, horseback riding up mountain trails and camping, Lisa reported. —o— THE ITEM and photo of the old South Shore Inn that headed this column last week brought back many fond memories for many area residents and comments were many. Another “old photo” from the file of Lenora (Mrs.' Larry) Jones, 112 North Shore Drive, is the one of the old Sargent’s Hotel on the north shore of Lake Wawasee, razed some years ago. (Note: Darrel Grisamer and John Nemeth recently razed the pavilion across the road from the hotel shown below.) This old frame structure provided a mecca for summertime residents, and it, too, evokes many fond memories. Several months ago Bill Spurgeon, who has gained something of a reputation as a lake 'historian, wrote an interesting and informative article on the Sargent’s Hotel which appeared in these columns. Os interest are the old chairs that visitors are using in this photo.