Articles from the 1930s

The following article was taken from the Sept. 17, 1931 issue of The Delphos Herald.

Practice to bolster up the defense, practice of various shifts, trick plays, blocking, running, interference and all forms of offensive work; practice and more practice. These are the order of the day, and of every day, for the Red and White grid warriors who are preparing for the big test which is to come Friday afternoon, 3:00 o'clock is the time named when they will clash with the strong and speedy Bluffton High team.

"They should win," says Orville Miller, one of last year's Delphos High grid stars, as he watches with keen interest the work of the team which Coach Smith is now rapidly whipping into shape for the opening of the regular grid season.

The boys are anxiously working out; on the alert all the time; practicing plays over and over; listening to the instructions given by Coach and trying their best to carry through these instructions.

They have not had much time to get ready for the fray but they are showing good form, as was evident in their game against the Alumni last Friday and as is shown each day now in practice.

Coach Smith has some worries these days, outside of the regular practice sessions. He lost one of his players, for a time at least, when Jos. Cattell was injured in the manual training department of the school. Ivy poisoning is bothering Noah Miller, one of the back-field men, and he may be out of the game Friday.

Coach has a large number of candidates for the team, and the indications are that these will develop into good reserve material and that each will add his bit of strength to the squad and perform well his work if called into action during a contest this season.

The exact lineup to be used in the game with Bluffton Friday is somewhat in doubt. Coach Smith states that, as nearly as possible, it will likely follow that of last week. This line-up follows: Huysman, center; Alexander and Winters, guards; Sanford Cattell and Mullenour, tackles; Hall and Metz, ends; Gonyea and Heck, halfbacks; Joe Cattell, fullback; and Miller, quarterback. A substitution will have to be made for Joe Cattell and possibly also for Miller. Some other changes may be made.

A "pep" meeting was held at Jefferson Wednesday afternoon and developed a great amount of enthusiasm. This was the first "pep" meeting of the school year.

Coach Smith spoke at this meeting, telling of the team as it now appears and predicting that Bluffton will have a hard fight on its hands here Friday afternoon.

Letters were given to the three cheer leaders of last year, Dorothy Kerman, Harriet Viel and William McCabe. Cheer leaders chosen for this year are William McCabe and Dorothy Kerman.

The band played and the cheering section went into action in midseason form. Candidates for cheer leaders of the school led the cheering, each one displaying his ability as a leader.

Plans were made at this meeting to place on sale the season tickets and this work is now going forward.

The band will make its first appearance in uniform at the game Friday. The Delphos High band is larger than at any time in the past and is fast developing into an outstanding musical organization. It will add much to the enthusiasm of the crowd at the game Friday afternoon.

Matthias Kavermann

After several days of illness with pneumonia, Matthias Kavermann, 81, of two miles southwest of the city, was called to a better hereafter, last Sunday.

The deceased was from Vessendorf, Wellingholthausen, Kreis Melle, Hanover, and saw the light of this world (was born) in 1814. In 1843 he came to America and in the year 1846 married in Covington Ky, Katharine Kalthoever, who survives him.

In the year 1847 the family moved to Delphos, where they lived on a farm, which the deceased worked until his death.

Six children were born to the couple, of which three, David Kavermann, Mrs. Maria Lehmkuhle and August Kavermann, are still alive.

The worldly remains of the deceased were laid to his last rest Wednesday morning, with numerous followers present, in the Catholic St. Johannis Friedhof (St. John Cemetery).

Several of my recent articles were about events in this area that took place in the 1830's. This article is about events here, 100 years later, in 1931.

Aug. 1, 1931, Columbus, Ind.
A trip across the United States, with fuel expenses of only $10 is the goal of Clessie Cummins, diesel engine experimenter, living here.

Cummins is completing construction of a 2 1/2 ton truck in which he expects to make the journey. Dave Evens who piloted the Cummins Diesel in the 1931 Indianapolis auto race, will accompany Cummins. They expect to spend a few days and consume approximately 300 gallons of oil.

Delphos is to see its first auto giro plane, during fair week.

The local American Legion has been in correspondence with the officers of the Standard Oil company for some time past seeking to make arrangements to bring Standard's helicopter to this city for demonstration flights.

A letter has been received by Harry Bellis, adjutant of the Commemorative Post 268, here, setting Thursday, Aug. 27, the third day of the fair, as the time for the visit of the auto giro.

The letter states that the plane will make three flights and that two local passengers will be carried on each of these flights, making a total of six Delphos persons who will have an opportunity to ride in this plane. Those who will take the ride have not as yet been named.

The auto giro is a new type of plane which can land in a small space and rise almost vertically.

Folks must be joking when they refer to the good old days. Without going back to pioneer times many can recall something about them.

We used kerosene lamps which were dirty and required refilling. Now we touch a button. We kept a team of horses in a smelly stable and fed them three times a day besides acting as groom. Now we spring the self-starter and away we go on a tireless steed. We split kindling and split wood and carried coal, an endless job. Now in many cases the heating plant is automatic. And the cooking arrangements are well-nigh perfect.

Women spent much time making dresses and hats and then they often looked dowdy. Now the stores provide both, much more cheaply and much better in every way. Same way with women's clothing of all kinds. Foods, tinned, bottled and packed, are better and more sanitary than in the old days of home preparing.

Because of great progress our physical well-being has been improved. Our mental appetites can more easily be appeased. There is something wrong in the outlook of any person who seems to hunger for the good old days. As the boy on the corner said, "That's the baloney." Toledo Blade.

Delphos residents have the right to protect themselves against intruders at their homes and may use firearms for this purpose if they find this necessary, chief of Police Edwards states.

He states that the property owner has the right to use a gun to protect himself and his family and their property against robbers. He says that a gun ought to be used and that intruders into their homes or unlawful trespassers upon their property ought to be fired upon.

"This applies," the chief says, "to window peepers as well as to persons actually engaged in robbing homes."

The police intend to use guns in case they are called and find the intruders in the vicinity. "We'll shoot and argue the matter afterward," he says.

The "Little World Series" is due to start this evening at the South Clay park.

Three teams are contesting for the championship of the season in the Delphos Recreation Baseball league. They are evenly matched and the contests should be close and hard fought.

Each of the three teams was winner of the championship of one of the periods of the season. They are: the Bon Ton Bakery team, victors in the first period; the Kiwanis club, champions of the second period and tied for second place in the final period; and the Hotz & Hotz team, champs in the third period and tied for first place at the close of each of the other two periods.

The game to be played this evening, the first of a nine- game series, will be between the Bon Tons and Hotz & Hotz. Three more games will be played this week, four next week. and one on Monday, August 17, when kittenball will officially pass out of the local sport picture for this year.

The games for this week are as follows:
Monday, Bon Ton vs. Hotz & Hotz.
Tuesday, Bon Ton vs. Kiwanis.
Wednesday, Hotz & Hotz vs. Kiwanis
Thursday, Kiwanis vs. Bon Ton.

All of these games are scheduled to be played at the South Clay field and to start at 6:30. An admission fee of ten cents will be charged for each of them.

A grandson of a man who was very prominent in Delphos in its early days was recently pardoned by the governor of California after having been sentenced to prison as the result of a fatal automobile accident.

The young man is Fayette Marble, a grandson of John M. C. Marble, who formerly resided here and who became a millionaire after moving to California.

An article taken from a Los Angeles paper says:

"Fayette Marble, 21, scion of a wealthy Pasadena family, who was convicted of manslaughter in Los Angeles for allegedly killing three persons with his automobile, will be pardoned by Governor James Rolph Jr., the governor announced today.

"The pardon is to become effective on June 19, when young Marble completes serving 90 days in the county jail, where he has been held pending an appeal from his conviction.

"The announcement of the governor that he would pardon Marble ended a successful fight of Attorney Jerry Giesler and leading Los Angeles citizens to save the Pasadena youth from being confined with hardened criminals at San Quentin upon charges growing out of a traffic accident.

"Marble was charged with manslaughter after his automobile, in which he was riding with three companions, ran down and killed three persons in a pedestrian crosswalk last Dec. 30. The victims were Samuel B. Cooper, 73; his wife, Leah, 73, and Mrs. Ermine Johnson, 62.

"In returning the verdict of guilty the jury asked for leniency. Superior Judge Charles W. Fricke, however, denied an application for probation.

"Giesler, in asking for the pardon, presented endorsements signed by nine of the jurors in the case, in addition to letters from prominent citizens. The request for pardon was not opposed by the district attorney's office.

"Judge Fricke, after denying the plea for probation, sentenced the youth from 1 to 10 years in San Quentin.

"Deputy District Attorney H. S. G. McCartney, who prosecuted young Marble, said later that he felt the sentence was too severe"

A raid which was made in this city Saturday night resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of beer but not in the arrest of any persons so far.

The raid was conducted by the officers of the Allen County Sheriff's office and County Investigator 0. J. Roush. They visited a house at 1202 North Washington St. and confiscated 500 bottles of beer, the officers state.

One man was taken into custody at the time the raid was made, but was later released.

The beer is being held, and arrests are said to be pending.

Delphos found its way into Ripley's "Believe it or Not" feature Tuesday. A picture of a gravestone at Walnut Grove Cemetery was carried. This stone is at the grave of Sam Thurston and is shaped like a log, bearing the inscription, "He Sawed Logs For Forty Years but he Won't Saw this One."

Pictures of the stone were sent to Ripley by Ray Stevick, South Main Street.

A third attraction has been engaged for the free entertainment to be furnished at the Delphos Tri-county Fair, August 25-29.

C. E. Fox, chairman of the free acts committee of the fair, announces that he has engaged Charles Van Autreve, formerly of this city, to give two acts each day during the fair.

Van Autreve was well known here and throughout this section as a wrestler of ability. He wrestled under the name of the "Belgian Lion."

His one-man band was also well known here, and he has gained popularity with this attraction in the larger cities and as a radio entertainer. He has broadcast over stations WLW, WLS, WOWO, WDKA, WSBK and various other stations.

He and Mrs. Van Autreve travel in a large bus which has been fitted with a parlor, bedroom and observation room. They have been spending their winters in the South and West and their summers in the North.

Mr. Van Autreve, left Delphos Thursday night after a visit of about a week with his brother, Tony Van Autreve, to the city for the fair.

Prohibition was a term used to denote a legal ban on the manufacturer, sale or transportation of alcoholic beverages. This law was in effect from 1920 to 1933. Nearly everyone in Delphos had one or more relatives in Delphos who were involved in this trade.

I had a great-uncle on my mother's side who had a still and made bootleg whiskey. I also had a great-uncle on my father's side who sold illegal brew. His brothers did not approve of him doing this. He said, "I lost most of my money in the stock market crash, and when I make that money back, I will stop selling the brew."

One day, some years later, he came driving up in a brand new expensive automobile, and said, "Well, I made my money back, so I am out of the bootleg whiskey business."

State prohibition enforcement officers pay visit to Delphos and conduct series of raids. Charges of selling and possession filed.

Lloyd Wing, state prohibition inspector with headquarters in Van Wert, C. Hellum, C.B. Alspach and C.B. Moore composed the part that conducted the raids.

They were assisted by J.S. Linhof, the local police force.

Those taken in, in this series of raids were:

A.W. Blythe, 516 S. Jefferson Street, at whose home was found 12 gallons of brew, 300 empty bottles, 137 bottles of beer and one gallon of wine. Charge possession.

Charles Krebs, 510 S. Jefferson St. a small quantity of beer. Charge possession.

L. Height, Clime St., a small quantity of wine. Charge possession.

James Hunsaker, 127 W. Clay St., 30 bottles of beer, four gallons of beer wine and one gallon of wine. Charge possession.

M.T. German, 535 West First St., five eight-gallon kegs of beer, one four-gallon keg of beer, thirty gallons of brew and a complete brewing outfit. Charge possession.

Pete Kohorst, 20 gallons of brew, 23 pints of beer. Charge possession and selling.

Harry Brink was arrested after a short chase. He left his car on North Main Street as the officers approached and ran between buildings to the canal bank. He threw bottles away as he ran, breaking them, the officers stated. One broken bottle with a small quantity of "evidence" in it was retrieved by the officers. He was charged with possession and transportation.

Wilbur Ditto was arrested on a charge of illegal selling. W. J. Diehl, 734 N. Franklin Street, was arrested and charged with illegal selling.

Mrs. Matilda Sprague, pioneer resident of Putnam County, drowned Thursday in the Plum Creek. Dr. D. A. Miller of Bellmore, Putnam County coroner, was called and gave a verdict of accidental drowning.

Mrs. Sprague lives alone a short distance from the creek. She had been visiting a neighbor, Mrs. Charles Hamilton, and started home about 4:30 p.m. She evidently attempted to cross the creek on some logs and stones and it is thought that she lost her balance.

Charles Rogers, a neighbor, found the body while doing some logging near the creek. Mrs. Sprague was 91 years of age.

Richard Jervis, who spent his early boyhood days in this city, continues as chief of White House Secret Service Force.

A man who spent part of his boyhood days in Delphos has in a large measure the safety of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his keeping. This man is Richard (Dick) Jervis who is head of the secret service force at the White House with about 30 men working under his direction.

Jervis is remembered by the older residents of this city. He was. the son of Richard Jervis, Sr., who in the early days conducted a store on East Third Street between Main and Washington streets, known as the "Grand Orient."

The Jervis family left this city in the early '80s when the present head of the White House secret service detail was eight or nine years of age. They moved from Delphos to St. Paul or Minneapolis, Minn.

Jervis was first placed in charge of the White House detail during the term of Theodore Roosevelt and has served in that capacity ever since. Presidents come and go but Jervis continues as head guardian of the city executive.

The Christmas decorations in the business section of the city continue to receive favorable comment.

Mayor W. H. Taylor and Service Director A. E. Weger state that in returning home from Columbus Friday night, they failed to pass through a city which had Christmas lighting to compare with that now provided in this city.

Visitors in Delphos have also been commenting on the excellent decorations which have been placed on the streets here. These decorations are all the more pleasing to people here in view of the fact that there were practically no Christmas decorations on the streets in Delphos last year.

These lighted trees are adding much to the Christmas spirit locally.

The individual stores also are doing much this year to make the business district attractive. Window displays and decorations are exceptionally fine and the interiors of the various business places are decorated in good holiday style.

More Articles from the 1930s

By Robert Holdgreve

The name "Delphos" has been painted in large letters for the information and guidance of aviators passing over the city.

Government employees painted the name on the roof of the middle building at Gramm Motors.

Michael Schosker, East Jackson Street has a Gold Dollar he received from his grandfather nearly 70 years ago, minted in 1851 but looks like new.

There are very few of us probably who can even remember the first dollar we ever received for our very own, let alone being able now to place our hands on the identical coin.

Michael Schosker has in his possession a gold dollar, minted in the year 1851. This dollar was given to him when he was 11 years old by his grandfather, George Schmidt. He carefully preserved the coin, keeping it wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a small box, and it is still like new. Mr. Schosker is past 80 years of age, as of last Oct., 24. He is in exceptionally good health and spry for his advanced age, in proof of which, he danced a jig Friday morning.

He has been a resident of Delphos for almost 25 years, having moved to this city from Spencerville in the year 1907. He came to Ohio from Fort Wayne in 1880.

Wednesday of this week will mark the close of the vote as to the location of the war trophy, the large canon which is to be sent to Delphos at the request of the local post of the American Legion.

For some days past the Legionnaires have been calling on the public to assist in the deciding where this gun shall be placed. Suggestions have favored the Library Park and the Waterworks Park. Most of those offering suggestions so far have favored the former as being centrally located.

As has been announced by the Legion, the votes will be received until Wednesday night of this week. A coupon to be used in designating preference as to location is again carried herewith. This blank is to be filled out and mailed to Claude Bergfeld, commander of the Legion.

This gun is a 105 millimeter German Howitzer which measures 16 feet, 10 inches from the muzzle to the end of the tail, and weighs more than a ton and a half.

Five carloads of gypsies paid a visit to Delphos Friday afternoon. Their stay was a brief one however, as the police rounded them up and escorted them out of the city. They went on their way, westbound.

The wanderers were traveling in style, their cars being mainly of the large and expensive type.

"Walking backward around the world" is something different in a publicity stunt.

Many Delphos people were interested Sunday in seeing a man walling backward on the streets here. He came from the west on the Lincoln Highway and stopped at a local hotel for the night.

The man was Plennie L. Wingo who started from Fort Worth, Texas, on April 15 of this year and since that time has traveled approximately 1500 miles on his journey around the world. He averages about 20 miles a day and declines "lifts" as some local people learned when they saw him on the highway and offered to bring him to Delphos.

He passed through St. Louis, Springfield, Ill., and Chicago on his way here and left Monday morning for Mansfield, enroute to New York where he will embark for England.

He has two specially arranged rear-view mirrors with which he views approaching traffic "ahead" of him or "back" of him, as you wish.

He pays his way by selling pictures and by advertising stunts. He states that he intends to write a book telling of his experience. He expects to take three years to make his trip.

Archie L. Bohn, Pennsylvania Railroad brakeman, has built up a widespread reputation as a maker of fine violins. He has produced more than 100 of the instruments. Bohn violins are used in Italy.

About 21 years ago, Bohn was laid up with an injury. Rather than remain idle, he set out to learn violin modeling.

He uses carefully seasoned Tyroleen maple and Swiss pine in the construction and has a kit of 250 tools. He is not a violinist himself, but his son Reyford, play one of his father's products skillfully

A department. store will be opened in Delphos in the near future, it is announced.

The W.T. Grant Company Department Store, have leased the north room on the ground floor of the Busch Brothers Building, Main St. (This is the room presently occupied by the Delphos Canal Commission Museum.) This room has a frontage of forty feet and will provide space for a large store.

Negotiations in connection with the matter have been underway for the past month and have just been completed.

The room to be occupied by this firm was not finished when the building was erected. Plans for completing the room and furnishing it have not as yet been completed, Busch Brothers stated. It will be finished according to the specifications of the Grant Company.

This will practically complete the building plans of the local firm with the exception of some work to be done on the second floor where it is planned later to place five offices across the front of the buildings.

July 1931 Delphos Herald

Miles Yates has moved his family to Delphos from Piqua. They are residing on West Fifth Street.

Mr. Yates is a heating and air conditioning engineer and is employed by Carl Dienstberger in connection with the installation of automatic stokers.

July 15, 1935 Delphos Herald

Approximately 150 were present at the 5th annual reunion of the Gerdeman family held at the John T. Gerdeman grove west of Delphos Sunday.

Following the basket dinner, games and contests were enjoyed. In the boys center, Joseph Inkrott, of New Cleveland, was most successful. Miss Ruth Gerdeman received the honors in the girls contest; and Mrs. Francis Utendorf, of Ottawa, proved most proficient in the ladies contest.

Theodore Gerdeman Sr. was re-elected president, and Mrs. Frank Gerdeman was re-elected secretary during the business session.

Members of the Gerdeman family were present from Ottawa, New Cleveland, Tiffin, Deshler, Ft. Jennings and Delphos.

Will Open New Store At Fifth And Main

Nathan Liff has rented the corner room in the Fred Kollsmith building at Fifth and Main streets (current Van Dyne Crotty building) and will open a new tire and automobile accessory store there.

The room which will be occupied by Mr. Liff was formerly occupied by the Wayne Overall company as a stock room, but was vacated by them some time ago, when the stock was moved to the second floor of the building. The work of placing the room in readiness for the new store has been partly completed and Mr. Liff expects to open the place within the next week or 10 days.

Mr. Liff has been engaged in the tire business for the past several years as distributor for Federal Tires, with a sales room on Canal Street. He will add a general line of automobile accessories at his new place of business.

July 21, 1931 Delphos Herald