Victoriana Publicist

CAPE MAY - While this city celebrates Victorian Weekend Oct. ft-Il, a longtime summer resident of Cape May will be involved in Victoriana in New York City. Edward J. Ives, who has been coming to Cape May since 1938, is the public relations representative for the National Arts and Antiques Festival at the Seventh Regiment Armory, Manhattan, Oct. 8-17. Four panelists, including Margaret B. Caldwell, noted lecturer and writer on Victoriana, will talk on

how to identify Victorian antiques and buy them for investment. The seminar begins at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a tour of the Victorian Armory, now a national landmark. The Antiques Festival will open at 1 p.m. on October 8 and will continue through the 17th. Ives formerly owned the St. Ives House on Washington St. It was built )in 1885 and at one time was the Victorian parsonage for the Presbyterian Church. He was the house's fourth owner,

The State We're In Acid Rain Affects Drinking Water? b y . David Moore You’ve read about acid rain in this space more than once, but this time I’m afraid we may be on the verge of discovering the '‘bottom line" in terms of acid rain’s impact on people.‘And there's'a chance that the bad news may come from this state we’re in. It’s looking more and more as though acid rain may be implicated in causing heavy metal pollution in our,drinking water. This fear, long harbored by soil scientists and others with the requisite knowledge, has surfaced in Beachwood, Ocean County, where many wells have fumed out to be polluted by lead, some of them exceeding maximum safety standards. As reported recently iq the New York Times, scientists at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) remain at a loss as to why Beachwood's water has lead in it. There's always the chance that hazardous wastes containing lead have been dumped in the vicinity, or that some other reason may exist. But no proof of anything has yet been isolated. DEP EXPERTS theorize that one (or both) of two things may be happening: Increased acidity of the groundwater may be leaching lead directly out of the soils, or else lead deposited by decades of exhaust fumes from the nearby Garden State Parkway may be leaching into water due to its growing acidity,. Minute quantities of lead and other metals occu^naturally in some Soils. Neither of these theories'sANMjiear to confirmation, without a lot of scientific research. But that research should be done forthwith by someone, somewhere, because a lot of people immune to the perils of acid rain in terms of fish and foliage just may rebel if they suspect that it threatens them and their children. Politically, any proof that acid rain really is imperiling our water supplies would dynamically affect arguments in government circles about whether we should require cleaner emissions from power plants and other heavy burners of coal. ACID RAIN and its destruction of ecosystems is easy to argue about, because spokesmen for polluters can whip up scientific doubts about what to the layman seems perfectly obvious: Fish are leaving many lakes, and vegetation from trees to food crops is being stunted and sometimes killed. „ There’s no doubt in my mind that the problem will have to be corrected, but more hard evidence is needed to convince the powers that the time to start fixing those smokestacks is now. Acid rain is caused by sulfur in liquid, particulate or even gaseous forms, and to a lesser degree by nitrogen oxides. Sources of these materials are many, but by far the biggest are coal-burning furnaces in connection with power generation or heavy manufacturing. Also important are automotive and airplace emissions. The most notable of these sources are generating stations and steel mills along the southern shores of the Great Lakes. Emission from there are carried by prevailing air currents east and north, so that they pass over upper New York, New England and southeastern Canada. New Jersey gets an overdoes also, when the winds are more easterly. ONCE UP THERE in the atmosphere, these sulfur and nitrogen compounds combine with rain and snowfall to return to earth, with the bitter results which are being so well documented in this country and Canada. The same situation became apparent in Norway and Sweden years before it did in this country. In that case, the emissions originated in the heavily industralized Rhine and Ruhr areas of Germany, and were wafted northward. As I noted before, it’s perhaps too much to expect the average layman to get excited about pollution damaging wildlife, fish and green growth. It’s a shame if that’s true, for people can’t be healthy unless other life forms are healthy too. But if it turns out that acid rain is making our drinking water dangerous, I suspect that there will be a.storm of politicians to tighten emissions standards. David Moore it executive director of the N.J. Conservation Foundation. (201-539-7540)

Art Show Winners

TYPICAL Victorian woman displays Victorian, gold pendant with a setting accented in diamonds and worn on a slim gold chain. Antique jewelry will be a feature of New York festival.

STONE HARBOR - The 26th annual Women’s Civic Club Local Art/Show drew entries in eight categories and all day attendance from residents and visitors. • - Cochairmen of the shdw were Mrs. James Wood arid Mrs. Harry Wear. Jack Fitzpatrick awarded the winners’ trophies, assisted by Little Miss Stone Harbor, Meghan Brennan.

ONE FEATURE was a demonstration of water color painting by Best of Show winner Martin Laibow, who painted the Cape May Point Lighthouse.

Winners in the various categories were:

Oils: first, Sarah Blair, second, Peg Dittmar; Watercolors:' Ron DeLong. T/uidi McGassney; Acrylic: Derril Heymaker, Thomas Mitchell; Mixed Media. Beverly Greenspan; Crafts: Rosalie Koss, Cheryl Bowers; Photography. Phil Donahoe. Derril Haymaker; Children: Jim Marsden, John Cotney; Woodcarving: Bill Van Ness, Wayne Seddon; Best of Show: Martin Laibow. Cape May Railroad Station.

BEST OF SHOW -was won by Martin Laibow. right, at Stone Harbor Women’s Club Local Art Show. Coun-' cilman It. Jack Fitzpatrick, show director, made award.