26

editorial

Clam’s Lament When it comes to pollution, a surf clam is like a magnifying glass, concentrating deleterious potential into harmful reality. The ability of the mussel to funnel forth a good case of malady from a bad batch of sea water is telescopic I ' . Last week it was revealed on the front page of this newspaper that despite its $48 million cost and years-in-the-making, the brand new sewage treatment system of the Cape May County MUA will from the very start result in the closing of 4 sq. miles of Software of offshore Ocean City bathing and fishing waters to

shellfishing ^ ^

IF YOU COULD NOT SEeJ and could not feel overall warmth, one very good way of determining if the sun was out would be to focus a magnifying lense on your arm. If there were sufficient rays, the ou<ti would come before the burning flesh. So, too, is the

shellfish a precursor of polluti m.

If so, the question which coines to mind is: Why do we allow million $ to be spent for possi-

dien we can pollute for a lot

opinion

HeuM * Untem 3 February '83

hie pollution, when we

less'’

The answer is, of course, that for a lot less, we can pollute a lot more — is we arc doing

now

The reality is: More or less pollution! (jr.-stated, diabolically: Yoij pays the price, and you takes your chances.

■* W - ' 2 fc* iti ' .

Snowbush beneath the carpenter's lacejGuerney St, Cape May — ' • ■ ; — — '

Bulletin’s Demise Resurrects Memories 'in which a former contributor realizes institutions die too

John Andrus

v by Libby Drmp Forrest

When I was growing up in West Philadelphia, our family would take the trolley every 4th of July to the banks of the

Glad but Sad

The Jersey Cape^ . SO much from a government i cutback as it JS prev f de y courtesy of The Philadelphia Bulletin. It was a with the Closing down of the Coast Guard S \ Phiiadelnhia tradition. Nearly everyone in Philadelphia

recruit training ceYiter in Alameda, Calif, and the consolidation of those ‘‘boot camp" ser-

vices here in Cape May.

For decades, Cape May Co inty has greatly benefitted'from the Coast Juard presence here. Not only in terms of the tremendous effecls on the local economy, t ut by the social and cultural intermixing wl ich the endless flow of enlisted young men e nd women, permanent parly carde, and of icers has given this area It's probably a uniq leness unmatched by any other resort econon y and communi-

ty. ' ■. ’

Onfe need only contemplate the impact of those who have retired from the Coast Guard to make Cape May County their home, to realize the wonderful, enricl ing, long lasting influence this government >ervice has had, locally, the Coast Guard has been both immediate and Iqngterm economic and social

stitnulus and stability here.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SUCH increased gains as Cape May becomes home of the world's only recruit training Icenter for all the young people who over suc:eeding decades fan- out from our shores to & :rve the Nation’s oldest Seagoing Service throughout this nation

and around the world.

We are very proud: >ur enthusiasm tempered only by the rea ization that our great fortune had to come at the expense of an overly severe paring of tlie Coast Guard

l Page 27 Plopse <

—

'y-

CAPE MAY COUNTY

I'uhllfhed $ v er The Nrawate ( orporatlon

Philadelphia tradifion. Nearly everyone in Philadelphia lined the banks of.thc Schuylkill to see those spectacular fireworks - the likfes of which I’ve never seen again, even

during the Bicentennial.

Those displays ended quite a few years ago. Last week it was The Bulletin itself lhat came to an end. When my son Keith (who aspires to become a reporter) told mo the news, I was saddened but not too shocked. After all, the demise-pf The Bulletin had been rumored for months. Last August. The Bulletin nearly died. I had submitted ah op-ed st6ry to the Bulletin late in the summer and I was hopeful it would see the light of publication. The piece was

about the close of summer at the seashore.

THE OP-ED EDITOR. ART McGUlRE made a deal with me. I had expressed toJum my deepening concern for The Bulletin. "Tell you what,” he said. “If The Bulletin goes beyond the weekend, the end-oLsummer story is yours." The Bulletin lived through the weekend — and my

story saw the light of publication.

It was to be my last Bulletin story. A later story was sent back, with an apology that The Bulletin had fewer bucks available for the purchase of freelance pieces. Maybe the piece was lousy — but it wasn’t (oo hard to see

the handwriting on the wall.

As the Bulletin prepared to fold last week, I pulled out the various pieces I had written for The Bulletin and alas, found some of them had already yellowed. That gave me

reader's forum Fairness For

All Homeowners

r— ' by Chuck Ballinger

I was pleased and encouraged to find responsive A ... 1: 2_ A . . n II nr. I mntflttni

ftaralfc

John II. Andrus II William J. Adams Bonnie Relna Darrell Kopp

Editor Advertising Director General Manager Publisher

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DEADLIN News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday - 3 p.m Classified Advertising Friday - 3 p.m. I M7-33I2 For News Or Adve Using Information - - - — .a , —^. . -. urn ai

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CoM Spring. NJ

V

and institutions, sucb as a large urban daily that once had the largest afternoon circulation in the nation. I CAN STILL RECALL SCANNING ISSUES of the New Yorker Magazine and finding advertising cartoons depicting Philadelphians at work and play, with the line beneath: "Nearly everybody in Philadelphia reads The Bqjletin.” Those cartoons instilled pride in a young jour-

nalist. . '

I interpreted th$ final moments of the Bulletin last week on a very personal level. During the years I lived and worked in Philadelphia, I came to meet quite a few of The Bulletin people — some so legendary, I stood in awe of them as I limply shook hands when, first introduced. Others would visit my Elfreth’s Alley home after I was married, and by then I was able to view them in a much less awesome light. During the years I was a hot shot publicity at the Academy of Natural Sciences, numerous Bulletin reporters and photographers dropped jn thAre to shoot pictures and work on museum stories with Sip I was now able to hold my own amongst them, get thA job done and not fall apart at the scams just because I was in the presence of The Bulletin people. I

guess you call that growth.

AS I WAS GOING THROUGH MY BULLETIN memory bank this past week, I trudged up to the attic and looked at thtf announcement of my engagement add the accompanying proper photo that appeared in The Bulletin, at Bulletin front pages from the time of President Kennedy’s assassination and other memorabilia. "Most people call that stuff junk," my father-in-law once told me, "but newspaper pedple always refer to their junk as

memorabilia. Why is lhat?”

A few yeahs ago, The Bulletin ran an op-ed story of mine about the death of my father-in-law; titled simply enough: "Death comes to a father-in-laW." I sometimes wonder, since my father-in-law’s ego was about the size of an overgrown watermelon, if he would have considered that

Bulletin story junk?

The Bulletin allowed me a spectrum of op-ed stories that included a variety of experiences and memories, mostly

ding ( _ . . friend who had hit middle age (but I faithfully never revealed her age. leaving the reatlef to surmise when it is that middle age begins...the death of the family hermit crab (some people told me it wqS very funny while other people told me they had cried throughout, and others said they couldn’t make up their minds .whether to laugh or to cry)...seasonal changesA.and my account of the October 2,1980 flood, written while 1 watched the water rise abdUt my Cape May home. YEARS AGO WHEN 1 WAS WORKING as an editor on a Philadelphia weekly, I received a telephone call from a local businessman who*told me how much he enjoyed . my column. I was flattered. “I need a favor," he told me "I was told you would be the person to talk to." After that buildup I would have done anything for him (within reason, of course). Could I send over all the extra

(Page 27 Please)

found some of them had already yenowed. inai gave me * ^ .. " . “ 'V , . a pause about the temporary nature of people and things government was all* in Avalon '“s* A nnd inotiintirtnc curb sir a In top urban dailv that once had previous ordinance that unfairly penalized owners of

pre-zoning tew homes was amended, and the town will

be better as a result.

The amendment will prevent aggravation of any nonconformance and also permit upgrading so long as all lot coverage and setback requirements are met. Owners of new homes and old homes will be subject to the same

laws, as they should be.

Chuck Ballinger is a resident of 10th St.. Avalon.

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