editorial Oranges & Apples, And Water & Fire One cannot fault the Cape May Fire Dept., for feeling shortchanged by the current set of Circumstances Still, the fire chief’s request of neighboring Lower Township represents a classic case of comparing apples and oranges. Furthermore, it's a situation that bears watching by all mainland and resort communities which may face similar problems — especially as the marina areas along the backbays between the two areas become more developed with boatels and condominiums. For years, any fire in the marina area enfttmpassing Schellengers Landing and the Ocean Drive sections of Lower Township automatically resulted in a general alarm in which firefighters from both the city and township companies responded; this because of the disaster potential a dockside fire in the vicinity of so much boat fuel presents. The fire companies are still responding this way. But now there's a difference IT UNTIL A FEW MONTHS ACO, Schellengers Landing and Ocean Drive were not included in any of the township's three fire districts; strange as it seems jn retrospect, an area with millions of dollars worth of property (pleasure and commercial craft, fish docks and restaurants) and higher than average potential for danger and fire loss, didn’t pay one dime in fire tax. THe result’was that when the city and township firemen fought fires there, they did so truly on a voluntary basis. But when the township, a-few months ago, revamped its fire districts to include the marina areas in a taxing district, an inequitable situation arose with respect to the city fire fighters and their township counterparts. for no<| the marina property owner pays the township fire district for fire protection. but isn't taxed for the services of the city firemen. A double, rub arises since the city department, because it is closerand has some paid drivers, almost always arrives first on the scene and engages the fire - SO, THEKK IS. NO DOUBT, an inequitable situation. One, though, which would be easily solved by having the township fire district enter into a contractual arrangement with the city department whereby the latter would receive a portion of the fire lax as, in effect, a subcontractor or co-contractor. y But Cape May Fire Chief Wister Dougherty has another idea lie has suggested that instead of money, the township provide the city with a much heeded municipal well site. “We need a well, they need services," the chief has ' said. A couple of years ago, the township Planning Board rejected the city's request for a variance to locate a new well in a residential area just north of the Cape May Canal. During the hearing process, there was expert testimony that a municipal well in such a location could accelerate salt water intrusion and possibly even result' in the drying up of smaller private wells in the neighborhood IT IS POSSIBLE. OF COURSE, that a suitable well site could be found further north in the township The city, however, is likely to press for a site doser to home, thus cheaper to connect to ft is also possible lhat another ma- . jor well in the township could either have an adverse effect on the exiting township MUA wells, in the southern part of the township, and the Wildwood City well field in Rio Grande, on the township's northern boundary Or, if a major new well were allowed for the city, would it jeapardize any future well for an expanding township populace? Studies of the county's overall water supply long ago addressed the problem of salt water intrusion and broached the idea that in the future, water supplies of the resort islands (with their booming summertime populations! would have to come from much further inland, that is, from the northern mainland section of the Jersey Cape EVEN IF a number of resort wells hadn't already been shut down due to the salt water intrusion proble, the idea advanced by the fire chief of trading water supply for fire protection, dries not equate. There is the unspoken

-Jl' 'I .... - ' ■.■i-'ffwig-gsi: reader's forum Of Cuckoos And Killing Caterpillars

Sumer ia icumen in, Shude ting coccu! Since the spoken word long, long preceded the written one, we know that our ancestors praised the coming of Summer thousands of years before the first recorded English poem about it was set down around 1250 as the Cuckoo Song, and by an unknown bard. It begins: Sumer i« icumen in, Shude Bing coccu! Growth aed, and bloweth med. And Bpringth the weed nuSing coccu! That medieval English may rfe rendered into our modern language Thus: Summer ia a^fcoming-in. Loud Bing cucftoo! The Beed growB. the meadow blows, and the woodland springs anewSing cuckoo! The English (or European) cuckoos are not the same as the three American species: the Black-billed, the yellow billed, and the Mangrove cuckoo (the last seen only in a small part of Florida). But they have in common the forlorn call, best described by the proper French pronounciation of the bird (aftd its song) — coucou. % The Oxford English Dictionary says of the European cuckoo that it is a bird ‘‘well known by the call of the male during mating time." But John Burroughs (our first great literary naturalist) never observed any wooing of our American cuckoos in his Catskili Mountains, although he saw, and heard, many over a long life of 84 years. As usual, "John O'Birds" (as he liked to be called) was memorable in this description of this one: "The cuckoo is one of the most solitary birds of our forests, and is strangely tame and quiet, appearing equally untouched by joy or grief, fear or anger. Something remote seems ever weighing upon his mind. His note or call is as of one lost or wandering and to the farmer is prophetic of rain. Amid the general joy and

assumption that what he is talking about is the need for water to fight fires, but wells closed to potable water can be used to fight fires. No, the payment for fire protection qnd the need for a good safe water supply are two separate and distinct issues. Solving one would not solve the other. In fact, in'this case, alleviating the fire payment pftblem by providing a water source that mighAdversely affect existing wells is hardly a solution. Cape May’s water needs represent, at the least, a regional problem and should be treated as such by more than the two communities most directly involved. And it is a continuing need that can be met with proper planning and study. The need for emergency' fire protection across municipal boundaries and payment for same is a problem that can be solved on the local level, perhaps even between a couple of fire districts. Here there is no regional impact. The two problems should hot be confused. They must be addressed-and solved separately ' ft 77 ^ ” flmalo Publhhed Kvrry Wfdnnda.v By P.O. Bo* n TVH^awatr Corpora lion AvalM, NJ MM2 John H. Andrus II * Editor Bonnie Reins General Manager & , • Advertising Coordinator Darrell Kopp Publisher. SoowovoCorp 19*3 All ripbli rotorvad AH poporty right* lor tho onhro <onion!* of thi* publKOtion »holl bo tho property ot the leowove Corp No port hoieol moy bo reproduced without prior written content DEADLINES News & Photos :.. .Thursday Advertising Friday - 3 p.m. Classified Advertising Friday - 3 p.m. 1 >67-3312 For News Dr Advertising Information | Neither participating arftfritter* nor (hr pubtlaher* of the HKH M il ANH LANTERN will be retpotulble or liable for misinformation, mkprtnti. typographical error*. He.. In any i*»ae. The editor reserve* the right to edit any letter or artklr* vubmlttrd lor publka-

the sweet assurance of things, I love to listen to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a quarter of a mile away, from out the depths of the forest, there is something peculiarly weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth’s lines upon the European species apply equally well to ours: 0 blithe new-comer! I have heard, 1 hear thee and rejoice: O cuckoo! Shall I call thee bird? Or but a wandering voiceO” The English cuckoo "does not hatch its own offspring, but deposits its eggs in the nests of other birds". Our cuckoos build their own nests but occasionally take over those of other birds. However, these, anti-social lapses of behavior are offset by the cuckoo’s greater service to society. Cuckoos are among the few birds that consume enormous quantities of tent caterpillars and gypsy moth larva and thus help, in some degree, to keep those destructive insects under control. Gypsy moths and tent caterpillars can be partially controlled but not eliminated by chemical sprays. But those sprays also kill certain insects which prey upon the gypsy moth and tent caterpillars. And Sevin (Carbaryl) one of the pesticides, is suspected of causing birth defects in humans. As conservationists and ecologists emphasize, nature is best controlled by nature. An example is the "selective" and safe pesticide, ^t (Bacillus Thuringienis) a natural occuring bacterium which is not harmful to humans or wildlife, or natural predators of the gypsy moth, or beneficial insects such as the pollinating honey bee. Bt, known commercially as Dipel or Thuricide, is toxic only to the Lepidoptera species which include gypsy moth and tent caterpillars, The Tulip Poplar is one of the few trees the gypsy moth larvae does not attack. Something in its leaves repells them. Mayie an extract from the Tulip Poplar, sprayed on other trees, could confer a natural immunity on them. In any event, in the case of gypsy moths and tent caterpillars, we need fewer chemicals and more cuckoos! So... Lhude sing coccu — and loud sing the cockoo’s priase! R. Leslie Chrismer of Cape May is a retired pharmacist and newspaperman.

TENT CATERPILLAR about to become a meal for a black spider on the side of a house in Goshen. viewpoint Sevin Precautions Weren’t Followed by Susan B. Karaso Middle Township has been done in! Middle Township has been subjected to Sevin, an environmentally damaging chemical spray, from May 17 to May 26. The Gypsy Moth Council of Middle Tosynship, an advisory board of concerned citizens, supjttjed the Middle Township Committee With areas the Council felt were the most highly infested residential acres in the township. The areas actually sprayed were far more than the Gypsy Moth Council had originally recommended. Many residents in these "added on" areas were not notified that they were to be included in the spray program, and therefore could not take the proper precautions if they had so chosen. SOME WERE "CAUGHT" outside in their yard, organic gardens were no longer organic, and the bees were no longer buzzing — or pollenating. Certain preventive measures are recommended for the use of Sevin. The Gypsy Moth Council wanted our residents to be informed of these measures, as the manufacturer clearly state on the label. Sevin manufacturers’ labels warn against contact with the skin or eyes, against taking internally, and against breathing of the dust. The use of Sevin in Middle Township will certainly have an interesting effect on our environment. The purpose of the spraying was to destroy just the Gypsy Moth. Will we have to wait 10-15 years to again prove to the non-believers that we have made a mistake? Sevin IS Toxic. Susan Karaso ira Court House resident.