The Mail-Journal, Volume 27, Number 46, Milford, Kosciusko County, 28 December 1988 — Page 2

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., December 28,1988

Roots of the Mail-Journal go back 100 years

(Continued from page 1) floor someone had crudely painted in white paint with a hand brush: The Milford Mail. Circulation 1,000. W The 1 / Mail-Journal y"7 Wloo‘fc (Z]Mr^ | This was a tribute to the journalistic talents of editor Groves. He was gifted at coming up with little one- or two-line witticisms, which he usually ran in a column on the front office. He was constantly relying on what was called “tramp printers,” a unique genre of people who went from job to job, traveling with the weather. It became a common joke about they would enjoy a heady weekend and simply fail to show up for work on Monday morning. Depending on tramp printers, who would rather be referred to as “itinerant journeymen”, was a shifty, unreliable business when one had to go to press once a week. WILLIAM (BILL) GROVES But this was the lot of editor Groves, until one day one Anthony J. (“Jack”) Forbing showed up. A gifted back shop man in what was known then as “the printing office,” Forbing liked • his job and he liked Milford, a growing, clean small town. And what’s more he met a local lady in Miss Florence VanAuken, and this gave him added reason to remain in Milford. It seemed only natural that Groves and Forbing would form a partnership. Particulary so since Forbing and Miss VanAuken were to be married. When Forbing met Florence VanAuken she was assisting her mother, Theodosia VanAuken in an uptown millinery (hat) shop she ran with the late Laura Rohrer, later Mrs. Fred Mathews. It should be said of Forbing, that although he was an itinerant printer prior to coming to Milford, he was never thought of as being a drinker. Forbing had a great deal of respect for Groves and for his ability to turn a phrase. Forbing put Groves’ Thistles into book form and had them published on March 3,1909. These witty sayings appeared in The Milford Mail during the years 1906,1907 and 1908. Forbing wrote that Groves’ Thistles was the first thing read in the paper each week. Here are several of them. — It is the dread to do a thing that makes it difficult. — You will never make your husband tender by keeping him in hot water. — What a savings it must be in neckties for the man who has long whiskers. — It is not the strange stories which frequently cause such a ripple in our society circles; it is the strange truths. — If you would get your hair cut twice a day for a month, the barber would always find a quarter’s worth to cut off, and, — When we go to parties and see so many good things to eat, we wonder why we were not made bigger on the inside. Forbing wrote that there were some 1,500 such sayings in the paper, yet the forward in the book published March 3,1909, is entitled “Three Thousand Thistles. Several copies of the old book remain in the community in private homes, but the public library’s copy has come up missing, according to librarian Mary L.

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(Baumgartner) Jurss. Editor Groves copyrighted the name “Thistles”, and it was his wish, Forbing writes, that the small red, hard back book not exceed 200 pages. Forbing writes, further: “It (TThistles’) is a book that should be on every editor’s table because there are times when the editor’s mind is thick and dull, and as each saying is suggestive, it proves to be a starter for an < editorial of great length. It is fitting for the library and home because it is free of pessimism and substitutes instead, a silver lining for the darkest cloud. While many Thistles may have a tinge of comedy, yet there are none but are foundations upon which may be built great super structures. It is food for the young people inasmuch as it tones the thinking power, and creates a greater desire for literature of deepest thought. In a • word, it is a book that should be on every table for it completes the library. This first edition of five hundred has already been subscribed for, but with our present facility for quick work we shall be able to supply all who want a copy.” It was big news in those early days for one to go to Warsaw, the Kosciusko County seat, or to Goshen to the north, the Elkhart County seat, both the distance of 12 miles. Prior to the automobile as a common conveyance, the only way to make these out-of-town trips was on the Winona Interurban, which made its regular stops in front of the Milford Hotel, located just across Main Street to the west from The Milford Mail office. The Milford Hotel, was a popular way-station for travelers and salesmen. It was said that “Billie” Groves would sit in the newspaper’s front window to watch townspeople embark or disembark on the Interurban, and he knew they were either “shopping” or visiting friends and relatives in these nearby cities, and their comings and goings were duly reported in the next issue of The Milford Mail. The Interurban, incidentally, was the mode of transportation for the popular and properly uniformed Milford city band as well. On summer Sunday afternoons there was usually a convergence of these city bands in one town or another where free afternoon concert performances were held. In Milford such affairs were held in the City park on the west side of town, now the location of the Milford Elementary and Junior High School. A manicured ball park was located in the northeast corner of that park and attracted visiting teams most Sunday afternoons. Editor more than a florid writer of his time; he was also an impeccable dresser. A photograph of Groves hangs in the offices of The Papers Incorporated on South Main Street in Milford and reveals his natty demeanor and dress. His silver hair sticks out from under a fedora resting at a cocky angle, under which are his bright, clear eyes. He has a full, gray mustache. He has the customary celluloid collar, a handsome coat, and one looks at this photo and gets an eerie feeling one is looking at Samuel Clemens of Hannibal, Missouri, who wrote under the name of Mark Twain — sans the cigar, however, Editor Groves was a total abstainer. Another photo of Groves at work hangs in the offices of The Papers Incorporated. He is at his roll-top desk, sitting on a swivel chair, much the same as the two office pieces now in the offices of Ronald Lee Baumgartner, president of The Papers Incorporated today. The dark wood panel walls provide a quiet retreat for an editor at work. We have no way of knowing, but Twain and Groves were contemporaries, and it seems reasonable to believe that Groves copied some of the mannerisms and writing techniques from the man from Hannibal, Missouri. Groves and his wife Isabella C. (Sept. 27, 1848-March 10, 1923) had no children of their own, but adopted three girls: Cora Myrtle, Mattie C. and Gladys Marie. They grew up in Milford for years. Cora Myrtle married a young man by the name of Young, and they lived in a large two-story brick landmark of a house on the southwest comer of Main and Fourth Streets in Milford. Mattie, to become known as Martha, never married, and continued to live in the Groves home on the northeast comer of West and Emeline Streets. She taught the fifth grade in the Van Buren Township Con-

solidated School, located just across the street to the west from the Groves home for many years, and many townsmen, including this writer, harbor fond memories of this dedicated teacher. The third daughter, Gladys Marie, married a man by the name of Langley, and lived her life out in the Sandusky, Ohio, area. An editorial on page 4 of the August 4, 1921 issue announces Groves’ retirement as active editor of The Milford Mail. It states, “He feels that already his health has been jeopardized, and to continue in the work would mean for him a complete physical breakdown. He has served the people long and well, and at this was the work of his choice, is reluctant to give it up.” It goes on: “For a number of years The Mail was published in the building on Emeline Street, now occupied by the F.(ord) E. Overleese Vulcanizing Shop, but about 15 years ago, Groves & Forbing still retains his interest. “We need not dwell on Mr. Groves’ good qualities as an editor — with those you are already familiar, and the fact that our mailing list, which has ever been good, gradually increased from year to year, proved to us conclusively, that the demands of our subscribers were met. “Not only was he an able editor, but a factor in the town as well, and also better than all else, a pillar in the church, which he served most of the time in official capacity — sometimes in the pulpit, sometimes at the Sunday School superintendent’s post, or perchance in the role of teacher, always doing his utmost toward the progression of the church and town he loves. We who remain feel that in Mr. Groves’ withdrawal, the office has lost a. valuable asset.” After all, editor Groves was 72 years of age, and had served his community well. It was time for him to turn the reins over to younger hands. His advanced age and declining health had begun to take their toll. Editor Groves died on August 13, 1926. His obituary reported he was 77 years, six months and six days old. The Thursday, October 21,1926, issue of The Milford Mail carried a long account of editor Groves’ life and times in its front right hand column, including the aforementioned photo of the editor. It was the 38th year, Volume 41, for the weekly newspaper he has nursed along from its humble beginnings to a vocal and respected voice in the area. It noted that he was born April 7,1849 —l2 years before the beginning of the Civil War! His final rites were held at the Milford Methodist Church on West Catherine Street, where he had been so active, at 2:30 p.m. Friday, October 15, 1926. Attorney Richard Vanderveer, who was also the high school principal, spoke at the final rites. Interment was in the Milford Cemetery. The item reported that Groves was an ordained Deacon and Elder in the United Methodist Church. ANTHONY (JACK) FORBING Jack Forbing’s work with editor Groves and his marriage to a pretty young lady of one of the community’s well respected families, and as co-owner of a thriving weekly newspaper, had brought him a respectability, even though all of editor Groves’ admonitions concerning alcohol did not spill over on his able partner. Forbing could be seen ducking into any one of the town’s several taverns for a glass of beer after the sale of beer became legal in 1933, but at that one never considered him “a drinker,” for he seldom spent much time in taverns. He did like to return to the printing office on Saturday afternoons. alibiing to his wife that he had some type to throw back, then would go out the back door to Method’s Tavern where spirited games of poker were in progress. Jack liked a good game of cards. He was forwamed one Saturday afternoon that Florence was “<m her way up town,” causing Forbing to duck out the back door and into the back shop of the newspaper. He quickly donned his printer’s apron and began to throw back some type.

The report made the rounds that Florence was “up to his game.” She pulled a small hatchet out of her oversized pocketbook and crashed it down in the center of the large round card table, to the utter surprise and amazement of the remaining players. In the 1930 s when some of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s so-called liberal policies did not set very well in a small midwest rural community like Milford, Forbing, who was a lifelong Democrat (and in this regard meshed with editor Groves’ political thinking splendidly), as a defensive ploy, referred to himself as a “Jeffersonian Democrat.” After Forbing sold his halfinterest in The Milford Mail on August 5, 1939 (more on this later), he remained around Milford. He became increasingly hard of hearing, but his interest turned to flowers and shrubbery. His North Main Street brick home was a fashionable residence, as it is today, the grass cut and the shrubbery properly trimmed. When his flowers were in full bloom — and Jack bursting with justifiable pride — he would make up small bouquets, take them up town and show them around, finally presenting the bouquet to some pretty, appreciative lady. Forbing understood the handsetting of type and could tolerate the one single 14-horse motor that ran the jack-shaft and belts to the firm’s two hand-fed presses, but anything more mechanical than that was a new world to him. He never owned nor ran an automobile, and for that matter never ventured out of Milford very often. . ' ■■ ■ Mm * 7 ' 7 ' x W MML CARYLE D. BARNES Enter Carlyle D. Barnes, Editor The August 4, 1921, editorial in The Milford Mail that so graciously announced the reluctant retirement of W. E. Groves, also served to introduce Carlyle D. Barnes as the new partner in the newspaper. Barnes was well and widely known, the article said, for his “having been in business here for a number of years, and for some time past associated with the Milford band and orchestra.” Barnes attended the Milford Public School, and in his adult life was a painter with his father, the late James Barnes. Carlyle was an expert musician and served for a time as secretary to the Honorable Jesse Eschbach of Warsaw when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Indiana General Assembly at Indianapolis. The editorial continues, “and with your cooperation (Barnes) hopes to continue to put out a good live news sheet — the kind your town and community need.” Barnes was well suited to fill the chair Groves had left vacant, if not quite with the flair for turning a good phrase. Barnes served as MilfordTs town clerktreasurer for a number of years, became postmaster when President Hoover was in office, and had his young brother, Delbert, fill in at the newspaper. In 1939 A. J. Forbing was 59 years of age and tiring from the grind of publishing the newspaper and doing most of the job printing in the community. C. D. Barnes has an opportunity to join the Citizens State Bank as its teller, a position that would provide a steady income and perhaps even to be less demanding. The Milford Mail, of all the weekly newspapers in Kosciusko County that had come and gone, proved to be one of the more stable and enduring. In its history, it had its founder, Harry M. Williams, W. E. Groves, who sat at the helm for over 30 years, Carlyle D. Barnes and A. J. Forbing, the durable printer, and finally this writer. This writer — Arch Baumgartner — purchased the handset Milford Mail from Carlyle D. Barnes and Anthony J. Forbing on August 5, 1939, at 21 years of age. Needless to say, his experience in journalism and the intricacies of typesetting and page makeup were meager to nonexisting. Two Papers Form The Mail-Journal J. B. Cox sold his remaining in-

DELLA AND ARCH BAUMGARTNER terest — which consisted solely of The Syracuse Journal’s second class postal permit — to Arch and Della Baumgartner in 1961, who published two papers, The Milford Mail and The SyracuseWawasee Journal for a brief period, then combined the two papers into one, dropping the name of the two towns, thus the Mail-Journal. It seemed the logical thing to do, inasmuch as by now both towns were in the new Lakeland School Corporation and had many common interests. Incorrect report The accident reported in last week’s issue that occurred on December 17 at SR 13 and Bowser Road in Syracuse incorrectly stated Deberal Rockenbaugh, Syracuse, was driving a vehicle •that struck the rear of a vehicle driven by Garin Voorheis, Syracuse. The narrative on the accident report had listed the vehicles incorrectly. The Voorheis vehicle struck the rear of the Rockenbaugh vehicle, when he could not get his vehicle stopped due to slippery road conditions. Cheese ripeness revealed The art of cheesemaking just got a boost from science. A new test helps cheesemakers determine if cheese is ripe and ready to sell. Only samples of cheese are specially treated so that they turn varying shades of purple, revealing if the cheese is properly aged. “We don’t expect the test to replace the judgment of master cheesemakers and experienced cheese graders who know the look, taste and feel of a perfectly ripened cheese,” says Mendel Friedman of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “But it should give them more precise information than they’ve had before about the changes in casein going on inside ripening cheese.” Casein is a milk protein that is an important component of cheese. Friedman, a chemist for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and colleague Kevin N. Pearce of the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute are the test’s developers. They say it could be used to check such cheeses as cheddar, Monterey Jack, Teleme, Gouda and feta. Casein, as it breaks down in a cheese sample, forms amino groups that react with a chemical in the test (ninhydrin) to produce a purple color. A faint purple means that casein is still largely intact, says Friedman. “For a cheese such as a mild Monterey jack, that might be just what you want.” A deep, rich purple signals extensive casein breakdown and a high concentration of amino groups. “That amount of ripening might be ideal for bringing out the best flavor of cheese such as a sharp cheddar,” he says. To use the new test, a sample of what the cheesemaker considers an ideally ripened cheese is exposed to the ninhydrin solution. “The purple color that’s formed would then become the cheesemaker’s ongoing standard or target for ripening that variety of cheese,” Friedman explains. (Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) Bit of wisdom for new year Charles Lamb wrote a bit of inspiration pertaining to the new year: “Every first of January that we arrive at, is an imaginary milestone in the turnpike track of human life; at once a resting place for thought and meditation, and a starting place for fresh exertion in the performance of our journey. The man who does not at least “propose to himself” to be better “this” year than he was last, must be either very good or very bad indeed!”

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Syracuse approves sewer and street equipment deal

(Continued from page 1) salary of $22,000. Also included are provisions for four weeks vacation eligibility with 13 years service and the provision for double pay for employees who work on a holiday. After Reed’s review, the board voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance. Purchase orders of $2,760.80 for police equipment and $525 for computer software were approved by the board as requested by Town Marshal Bob Ziller. Also approved were a purchase order for street repairs in the amount of $15,689.53 and

Commissioners pass private well ordinance

I By KATE WOLFORD Staff Writer After four years of testing, governmental advice and several revisions, the Kosciusko County private well ordinance was finally passed by the commissioners at a December 22 meeting. The ordinance states that “private water wells” means “any water well, including those serving geothermal heat pump systems, constructed to provide water to one and/or two family dwellings totally or in part.” Wells to be excluded include those which do not provide water to one or two family dwellings, or those used for commercial, industrial, agricultural or municipal needs. Jon Cupp, county health officer, has been closely involved with the ordinance. He has stated that the main goals of the ordinance are to help insure the department has done the best it can to know what people are drinking and that the water is fit to drink. It is also vital the water vein or aquifer of neighbors are protected as well. Kosciusko

Red Cross —

Rare Donor Registry may be largest in the world

In 1968, the American Red Cross Rare Donor Registry was a small, computerized listing of rare blood donors. Today, two decades later, the Red Cross Rare Donor Registry is perhaps the largest in the world. It contains the names of more than 11,000 people in the United States who have rare blood types. To understand why rare blood donors are so important, it helps to know why certain blood types are rarer than others. The blood contains red cells, and on the surface of those cells are protein substances called “antigens.” The red cells carry many different antigens, and whether a person has a certain blood type depends on whether his/her blood cells have a particular antigen. There are more than 600 antigens known today and more are discovered each year. The most familiar antigens are those of the so-called ABO blood group. For example, if a person has type A blood, the red cells are carrying the A antigen. Likewise, people with the B antigen have type B blood, and people with neither the A nor the B antigen have type O blood; those persons with both the A and B antigens have type AB blood.

transfer ordinance 88-15 to allow Tatman to transfer account funds in budgets prior to year end. After all business was completed, Hughes turned the meeting over to Reed to conduct the town board reorganization for the new year. Board members voted unanimously for Hughes to continue as board president for 1989 and Reed turned the meeting back to Hughes. Town board members agreed to serve in their present liaison positions. These are Carl Myrick, police department; Kenny Johnson, fire department; Carol Koble, parks department; and Barb Carwile, Area Plan Com-

County is second in having the largest number of individual water wells in the state. Another goal has been, “If at all possible, (to) put in every safeguard for people’s rights,” Cupp said, Monday, Dec. 19. As a result, many organizations, such as well drillers and lake associations, have been consulted. Nitrates are a problem in private water wells in this county and nitrate contamination is one element for which well water is tested. While Cupp stated that nitrates are a cause for concern and people, “ought to give thought that high levels can cause health problems,” they are not cause for panic. They affect adults with health problems which make them susceptible to nitrate poisoning and babies approximately six months of age and under; however, the effects of nitrate poisoning are reversible. The vote for the ordinance was unanimous and several county residents attending the meeting voiced approval of the ordinance. Dr. Donald Van Gilder of Mentone strongly endorsed it saying, “I

Other antigens are less familiar because they are found in very few people’s blood. Yet sometimes the reverse is true: there are some antigens that most people carry in their red cells but that a few people’s cells lack; their blood is said to be “negative” for those antigens. A blood type is “rare” if only one person in 1,000 or more people lacks the same antigen. Anu if only one in 10,000 or more people lacks the antigen, the type is considered “very rare.” Obviously, the rarer a person’s blood type, the more difficult the circumstances if that person suddenly needs matching rare blood for a transfusion. The Red Cross wants to make sure that rare blood is available for anyone in need. That is why they urge everyone with a rare blood type to join the Rare Donor Registry. With advances in medical technology, the number of transfusions began to increase, creating a need for more rare donors. In 1968, the Red Cross adopted a logical approach to the problem: it would create a program to centralize information about rare donors and to coordinate nationwide searchers for rare blood. The program

mission, Scout Cabin and dam control board. Bob Ziller was retained as town marshal; Jerry Byrd as fire chief; Phyllis Kuhn as civil defense director; Ron Conley as street and water superintendent; Ron Helman as waste water superintendent; and Bob Reed as town attorney. The board also voted to accept the fire department officers presented by Jerry Byrd. As the meeting adjourned, Hughes stated, “Thanks for all the effort of the Syracuse employees and town board members during 1988.”

think it would be a step in the right direction to remove a good number of the people of our county from being at risk.” One revision was made to the ordinance prior to passage. To the following sentence in section 11, “The Kosciusko County health officer shall, upon request of the applicant (permits will be needed in order to drill a new well), sample and test the new private water well for total coliform, nitrate/nitrogen and any other substances as deemed necessary by the Kosciusko County health officer,” it was added the initial testing by the county would be free of charge. In addition, applicants would have the option of getting a sample tested at a private lab, rather than by the health department. Property owners with existing homes who wish to drill new wells will be asked to comply with the ordinance as best they can. Those with existing wells will receive no orders of correction but will be given advice on correcting problems if they are found to exist. They will not be forced to comply.

established was the Rare Donor Registry in Washington, D.C. The Red Cross Rare Donor Registry lists thousands of rare donors throughout the United States who can be contacted if their blood is needed. It also contains a computerized inventory of all the frozen rare blood being stored at regional Red Cross blood centers. Most requests are filled within 24 hours, as Red Cross regions usually have blood frozen in storage. If a rare blood donor must be located and called in, the process usually takes another 24 hours, because the blood must be drawn, tested and then shipped. The registry receives about 250 requests for rare blood each year. In 1987, more than 1.20 Q units of rare blood were shipped to fill those requests —a 25 percent increase over 1985. The registry also cooperates frequently with other national and international rare donor organizations. The next bloodmobile coming to Kosciusko County will be on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the Center Lake Pavilion in Warsaw, from noon until 6 p.m.