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CAPK MAY COUNTY

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Editor Otn*ral Manager * Advertising Coordinator Publisher

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DEADLINES News & Photon Thursday Advertising Friday - 3 p.m. Classified Advertising Friday • 3 p.m. I ti7-33l2 For News 6r Advertising Information | Nrllhrr yorlklpalln|( advertIvrr* nor the paMhhen of the HERALD AND LANTERN »lll bn rroponvlhlr nr liable for mil Information. mUprlntc. lypoKraphkal error*, etr.. In any l*«ue. The editor reserve* the'rlsht to edit any letter or arllelr* lubmltled for pnbtlra-

Lower

Toirnohlp

LANTERN

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P O Box 484

Cold Spring, N .J 08204

editorial Doggone It! LOWER TWP. Committeewoman Peggie Bieberbach was justifiably outraged on a recent Saturday when she was informed the man the township hired as dog warden, who operates the only SPCA in the county, had gone to the local landfill and tossed the bodies of more than a dozen dead-dogs and cats on the . dump, where their final resting place became a mountain of trash and garbage. WHEN SUCH ACTIONS, albeit legal, are practiced, is it any wonder his other methods are suspect, the allegations about him constant? It would seem a consortium of local and county governments could indeed provide this service, perhaps not with greater economy but certainly with better assurances and more caring.

reader's forum

Humans Aren’t Birds, Fortunately . V * , . v Ornithologist I'm nfraifl your (Aug. $> column written by British y Seagull 387 is a forgery. The tone ol*the recent "Gay Bird" column shows evidence of a masquerade by an obscure Old World bird, the Hornbill. You sec. the male of this species walls the female into a hole in a tree where she remains imprisoned until the eggs are incubated and hatched. The jnale feeds the female during his time, which he may feel to be very noble but hardly makes up to the female for her prolonged imprisonment. THE TONE OF THE RECENT COLUMN is much more suited to the lifestyle of the Hornbill rather than the looser, freer style-of the seagull — even a British one HoWever that may be. it is a pleasure to be human and be dble to make choices about how we live our lives - not bejgoverned by blirtti instinct. After all, that is what separates us from the animals (and birds). % I humbly suggest that the British Seagull pay more attention to what makes humans human in all their frustrating and wonderful variety, and do less scolding of humans for not flocking the way he thinks they ought •to. Ornithologist is a visitor from Pittsburgh, Pa. Hughes Working For Us & USCG by Charles M. I.eusner Because of the efforts of Congressman William J. Hughes, the House of Representatives has approved legislation authorizing continued funding fora wide range of U.S. Coast Guard programs and facilities which were previously cut by Budget director david Stockman. While everyone supports meaningful cuts in government spending, cutting the.Coast Guard budget, so deep- • ' ly, would have hampered the Coast Guard's ability to carry out many responsibilities in the area of drug smuggling, search and rescue missions, enforcement of fisheries protection, and enforcing environmental laws. THESE REASONS ARE PROOF ENOUGH to justify supporting the budget because the Coast Guard plays a significant role in protecting lives and property and in deterring the flow of illegal drugs.into the United States. Moreover, the economy of Cape May County and Atlantic County would have suffered a serious economic impact because of the significant Coast Guard presence in South Jersey We are forturtate that Congressman Hughes is a member of the Coast-Guard Subcommittee and that he worked so hard for our interests. Charles Leusner lives in Court House

Bill Hearon and grandsons, Jeffrey and Michael, 2, of Goshen.

Childhood Recaptured

by Owen Murphy

There is a walled garden Atop a high mountain That's washed by a warm and a whispering sea And deep in the garden A tree with great branches Where flame-coloured birds sing of how life should be They sing of the days When you soared upon wings When life was a maze Of kaleidoscope summers and spring When lemongrass meadows Were limegolden green And minstrels and maidens Were proud to be seen In the company of heroes like you When growing-up seemed like a haze in your eyes A ladder you climbed into cloud-dizzy slwes Disappeared... You lived in glass cgstles Surrounded by moats And fished crystal waters In glass-bottomed boats Slew scaly dragons With gorgon-eyed heads And slept with your loved ones On red cedar beds And growing up seemed like a haze in your eyes A ladder you climbed into cloud-dizzy skies Disapp^-red...

The centaurs and griffins All danced to the tunes Of Seaweed-clad mermaids In saffron lagoons And leprauchauns strummed On their lutes and their lyres While unicorns pranced Around phoenix-fed fires Then one day, no longer a haze in your eyes You climbed up that ladder through cloud-dizzy skies Disappeared... Older, you’ve learned There are hooks in the air That tear at your flesh That catch in your hair Sadder, you’ve learned That the streets run with blood

And no one knows why Though it’s well understood That it’s Life You look down the years with a mist in your eyes And all you remember are cloud-dizzy skies Disappeared... The years race away There’s a child on your knee A symbol of all that has.been And will be A seed that was heated Expanded and grew And that someone who’s special Is pleading with you Read to me, Daddy 0 read me some tales Of witches and warlocks And wizards and whales Read to me, Mommy 0 read to me, Gramps Of faeries and gypsies And tinkers and tramps You look At your young one with joy in your eyes For all that was hidden by cloudKiizzy skies Reappears... He’ll lead you again Up those storybook trails Where the green winds of childhood Once billowed your sails And you knew all the wonders The young somehow see That now are concealed By the leaves on your tree So climb with him, rhyme with him Up through the mist To levels of lifting Where seagulls have kissed Magically, musically Drifting, along Lost in the lesions of air We call song .. .And there’s the walled garden Atop a high mountain And it’s washed by a warm and whispering sea And deep in the garden A tfee with great branches Where flame-coloured birds sing of how life should be

viewpoint Taking a Chance On Government

by Jane Ann Cunningham There is something offensive about a state actively and aggressively encouraging its citizens to gamble, as Pennsylvania does with its lotteries. (Without a VHP TV stations, New Jersey residents aren’t bombared with commercials advocating betting on the N.J. lottery; but hearing about the prospect of big money to be won, it probably influences them to support their Own.) Realistically, most of us realize people will always want to gamble, some more than others, and gambling controlled by the state at least produces revenue that would otherwise go to the Underworld. I wonder if there is any decline in illegal gambling, or have the legal lotteries introduced betUng to people who might otherwise rarely bet. Although these games were set up with the stated intention of giving aid to a worthy cause — education, the handicapped or the elderly — how much has the money made things better? Or is it another way to add money painlessly to the treasury, when poltiicans know people are fed up with new and higher taxes?

MANY OF THOSE WHO ARE PLAYING the lotteries are using money that could be spent for more constructive and perhaps more necessary items, deluded into thinking they will “hit it big” and never have to work again. Instead of spending money on expansive commercials encouraging people to gamble, why shouldn’t the state use that money for something more beneficial. We are living in an era when many ethical and moral principals have deteriorated. Respect for other people aned their property, duty, loyalty, self-discipline - the diminishing of these values has made many places like jungles, with teachers and students assaulted in schools, nightime bringing fears of attack, bars on windows and doors, grafitti despoiling walls, wanton and senseless destruction of public and private property. Making betting on the lottery seem like an attractive pasttime may do nothing to encourage the culprits in our society, but it also does little to improve moral standards. Jane Ann Cunningham of Avalon is former Herald publisher.

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