County Clinic Up to Doctors?

COURT HOUSE — The freeholder director in charge of health for the county would favor re-establiahing the county arthritis clinic under the direction of specialist Dr. Edward Hoffman — but he doubts the Atlantic County rheumatologist would want to come back. "I would welcome him back and would try to find funding fob (the clinic),” Freeholder Jerry Thojriton said in a telephone interview from his Villas home Monday night. "As-far as I’m concerned, he did an excellent job.” MR. THORNTON SAID, however, that he doubted anything the county Board of Freeholders did could bring Dr. Hoffman back to head up the clinic, which was closed in January because of a lack of physician referrals. According to the freeholder, the Jersey Cape would stand a better chance of having the doctor return if the county medical society were to pursue the matter. Thornton said it would be "very difficult” to reopen the clinic and get Dr. Hoffman back here "because of the controversy.” THE CONTROVERSY stemmed from remarks made by John Napoleon, D.O., president of the county Osteopathic Medical Society, who charged in a letter to a senior citizens group that the arthritis clinic was unnecessary and that senior citizens "were being duped into this whole process so that they could be utilized ae a statistic for the purpose of extracting more 'free money’ from the federal government. The net result...is higher taxes, poor or nqp-existent services and the squandering of that money on social programs that do no good whatsoever." Since his letter — addressed in response to a query from Paul Wenger, secretary of the Coordinating Council of Senior Citizens — came to light, another Cape May County osteopath, Robert J. Furey, has come forward to emphasize that Dr. Napoleon’s comments were his own and not those of the Osteopathic Society or other physicians. FURTHERMORE. Dr. Furey recommended that the Council advocate a public meeting to discuss the arthritis clinic concept and specifics. Earlier, consumer advocate Joseph Ward of West Cape May, who was instrumental in having the clinic established in the first place, had suggested that the clinic be started up again on a non-referral basis so that the estimated thousands of

arthritis sufferers in the county could obtain specialized professional advice without having to first go thru their family physician. MR. WARD HAS contended for some time that it was the lack of physician refer-

by Bob Shiles County officials will better be able to determine the quality of local drinking water after they receive the results of a series of state tests conducted in January. County Health Coordinator Louis J. Lamanna told Herald recently that during the second week of January state health officials took water samples from 30 county wells and are currently conducting tests that will detect any nitrates, heavy metals.

rals and/or the lack of adequate publicity on the clinic's availability that kept the number of potential users down. In its 2Mt years of operation, only 234 patients were examined (the clinic wasn’t for treatment) (Page 19 Please)

or herbicides and pesticides that may have seeped into groundwater supplies. "THE WELLS THAT are being tested are basically representative of the whole county,” Lamanna explained, noting Upt 10 of the samples were taken from Upper Township and 20 in Lower Township. The testing in Lower Township centered in the Rio Grande area, within an approximate 2 (Page l9Pleasi)

DRIED SQUID in sampled during fish export workshop. Taking part are. from left, research technician Sadayuki Kashiwgi, interpreter Akiko B. Dirnberger, county marine extension agent Stewart Tweed, and Toshihiko Shishido of the Deep Sea Fisheries Dept, of Hoko Fishing Co. Ltd. Export Fishery Debaitable

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Reagan Has Eye On Sea Dump Ban WASHINGTON. D C. - U S. Rep. William Hughes, D*2nd, has received word the Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing the Dec. 1981 deadline prohibiting the dumping of sludge at sea. * Hughes, who sponsored the legislation authorizing the ocean dumping ban, says he will fight any plans to ease the prohibition. According to legislative aide Mark Brown, if the Reagan administration supports the ease on the dumping ban, a large number of congressman may follow suit; introducing legislation that Would eventually eliminate the ban altogether. Summer Cop Rule TRENTON — Resort communities that hire temporary police officers may find it difficult to find applicants this summer if a 1980 Superior Court decision is allowed to stand requiring that only individuals who graduate fpm a/13-week police, training course may carry weapons. Wildwood Mayor Guy F. Muziani hopes to be in Trenton today to discuss the matter with Assistant Attorney General Frederick DeVesa. ■ f Assembly Votes To Up Shore Ante TRENTON — The state Assembly voted last week to change the current requirement that municipalities match on a 50-50 basis funds allocated by the Dept, of Environmental Protection for shore protection projects. Under the new formula 75 per cent funding would come from the state while the remaining 25 per cent would be the responsibility of the mu- lities. At the same time, the state Senate voted to appropriate $5.4 million available from the Beaches and Harbor’s Bond Issue for shore protection projects — $2.8 milion worth in Cape May County. Plea in Giant Bust COURT HOUSE - Thirteen men pleaded guilty in Superior Court last week to charge£pf possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, in connection with their alleged attempt to smuggle 25 tons of marijuana via boat into Wildwood in 1979. All the defendants will pay a fine of $15,000 when sentenced April 6 under a plea bargain arrangement. The county Prosecutor’s Office is seeking jail sentences for four of the defendants, while the rest will receive suspended sentences. (Page 19 Please)

Water Word Awaited

are quite different than ours. Fish fresh enough to be consumed in a raw state will get the highest price in the marketplace.” MacNow ALSO SAID that fish that cannot be sold fresh, such as the products of American fishermen, should be frozen as quickly as possible. In the case of squid, 20 minutes was cited as the maximum time that top grade quality may be left at room temperature. Fish must not be cut, bruised, have missing fins or bloodshot eyes in order to qualify as top grade, MacNow added. The Japanese are the world's largest consumers of fish and fish products. Their primary interest is in butterfish and squid. While squid is not very popular in the U.S. and’isn't harvested on a large scale locally, it is widely consumed in Japan. Presently, 55 to 57 per cent of the fish exported from the U.S. goes to Japan, but although MacNow and several Japanese experts took pains to detail fish processing in Japan, many of the fishermen present were less than optimistic. ••WE DON’T HAVE fishing vessels capable of producing the ’Japan pack’," said Cpt. David Hart, chairman of |heMid(Page 19 Please)

SCIENCE FAIR St Middle Township High School !as( Friday included exhibit* by student* from grade* elementary thru high school. Here Jpnior Donna Norbury, left, of Court House show* her sister Ruth Ann the result* of her eftorts. She spent four months on the project, which included testing water samples at theWest Wildwood and North Wildwood waste water treatment plants.

by Robert Gunther COURT HOUSE — Local fishermen and fish processors on Saturday packed Uie Cape May County Extension Service meeting room for a workshop on exporting fish to Japanese markets.. But the Americans didn’t seem hooked by the presentation. "The workshop was held in response to requests from U.S. fishermen and processors," noted Alan MacNow, principal spokesman at the workshop. MacNow is consultant for Japan Fisheries Assn, and the Japan Deep Sea Trawlers Assn. "IN THE INITIAL DAYS of the 200-mile limit, there was a flurry of imports into Japan," MacNow explained. Unfortunately, many fishermen weren’t aware of the stringent standards of the Japanese market, and the fish sent to Japan received low prices and in some cases couldn’t even be sold. Saturday's workshop was designed to clearly outline the requirements of Japan’s fishing industry. "The Japanese are very finicky about the fish they eat," MacNow noted "Fish and frost foods in general are more than just futrition for them. Good appearance and freshness are vital to the Japanese consumer. Also, Japanese eating habits