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VOL. IB NO. 48

’WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 26, 1980

THE CHARM «f a lady’a boudoir t* Just onr of thr attractive authentic Victorian cettlnvi In the Phvilck talncil by the MM-ADantlc Center for the Ana in Cape May and open for lour (iwt-SOM) J Ck How ' n ’* 1 "-

PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY THE SEAWAVE CORPORATION. P.O. BOX 0, AVALON. NJ. Q

A Special

Thanksgiving Weekend Treat CAPE MAY — The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts has joined forces with the County Art League to present a funfilled Thanksgiving weekend for those in the Cape May

area.

The Mid-Atlantic Center will open the Physick House for guided tours from noon to 3:30 p.m. t Friday, Nov. 28. Saturday, Nov. 29, and Sunday, Nov. 30 THE ART LEAGUE is presenting the Christmas Bazaar in the Carriage House on the Physick Estate irom ’• 10a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29 Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the MidAtlantic Center for the Arts was formed primarily to restore the Emlen Physick Estate to the grandeur of its original design by the famous 19th century Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. The restored estate, actusUy a community park owned by the citizens of Cape May, includes the main house, carriage house and several smaller out buildings in addition to picnic areas and a pond The main house will ultimately serve as a cultural arts center and major center for the study of Victoria nna The Carriage House, which predates the main house, in constuction and contemporary use is home of the Cape May County Art League, the oldest county art league in continuous existence in the nation.

What Do Birth Defects Have in Common?

by Lou Giansante State and county health officials have recently revised claims made to the public last April that the rates of major and minor birth defects in southern Cape May County since 1975 weren't abnormally high. Authofities now say that 15 major birth defects ami 20 minor birth abnormalities occurred in the lower part of

the county.

In a report to be released this week, Dr. George Hatpin, director of the state’s Parental and Child Health Services, is expected to conclude that the birth defects and abnormalities aren’t coincidental and have certain factors in common. All but a few of the defects are clustered In an area south of Rio Grande and affect babies born to parents who were residents of the

county for 10 or more years.

Preparing the Feast

Was Tougher Then

By Jeannette O’May It’s Turkey Time again. Do you imagine that these present-day Butterbal! monsters ever suspect what’s happening? No doubt the wild fowl that our early Cape May County Settlers pursued gave them quite a chase, but those pioneers were of sturdy stock. (Ask a Townsend, Corson, Hand. Ludlam, Whillden, Spicer, Holmes, Young or Howe.) Nowadays we just plunk the bird into the oven—no feathers, no viscus. It must have been a colossal task when those colonial ladies tackled that turkey. c “Potatoes or Stove Stuffing?” The gals grew potatoes in their back yard and baked bread from wheat harvested on their farms. No doubt there was some version of pumpkin pie and corn pudding, which required eggs from various sources. There was always an herb garden, which helped the long-ago homemaker to add a little spice to her life. She probably served fresh Brussels sprouts or cabbage from her vegetable patch with no help from the

Jolly Green Giant. NONE OF THESE CHORES would faze a woman if her name was Dickinson. Learning, Hildreth, Reeves, Creese, Schllenger, EWridge, Stites or Swain. Naturally there were clams and oysters on the half-shell (with a dash of lemon and tabasco?), possibly a brace of wild pigeons, a beaver broil or a whale steak. And what did the menfolk do while the ladies were tidying up after dinner? "Are the Whalers playing the Indians at home today?” THE ABORIGINES of our county were the Lenni Lenapes of the Tuckahoe Turkey Clan and their ruler was Good King Nummy. As their number diminished, defectors from Puritanism set up housekeeping on the shores of the' Delaware Bay. It is recorded that there are more Mayflower descendants in Cape May County than in Plymouth County, Mass Happy Thanksgiving Day to all. We have so many things to be thankful for.

THESE AND OTHER FACTORS have led health authorities to suspect the birth problems may have an environmental cause. The major defects under study include five cases of Hydrocephalus, a condition which leads to an excess of cerebro spinal fluid within the brain and caused death in three of the five reported cases; two cases of Spina Bifida, a sometimes crippling

spinal defect; Microcephaly, an abnormal smallness of the head and brain which often results in retardatibn; one case of Downes Syndrome, once called "mongolism;” two cleft palates, a condition that requires both surgery and speech therapy; Gastroschisis, which required surgery when an infant was bom with intestines outside the stomach wail; (Page 3 Please)

FRUIT OF FALL, now as In 17th century Cape May.