38,

The State WeTe In

opinion

Herald & Lantern 7 December '83

Time to Battle Acid Rainfall

■ By DAVID F. MOORE \ Executive Director

New Jei

i Conservation Foundation

Something of a milestone in the battle against acid rainfall occurred this week in New Jersey when Gov. Toni Kean hosted the Coalition of Northeastern Governors. T^e conference theme was "Cleaning Up: A Northeast Conference on Acid Rain\and Toxic Waste." The acid - X: - part of the conference attracted the most attention. A united front by governors from such in imj part of the country as the Mid-Atlantic and New states is a necessity if meaningful relief is to be i our acid rain problem. So far/^he federal gov< made much of what can onlyshe called a^ approach. For the uninitiated, acid rain is precipitation (snow too) which is so acidic that it causes vegetative damage to crops and forests; disrupts aquatic habitats, even wiping 'out populations of fish in northeastern lakes, and deteriorates metal and stone structures. THE PRECIPITATION GETS too acidic due to oxides of sulfur and nitrogen being dissolved in it after they are wafted aloft with the burning of fossil fuels such as coal. These compounds can be carried thousands of miles north and west of their source. Automotive and aircraft emissions also account for some of the problem. * Defenders of the status quo, or only token corrections, claim various costs of energy and the like will skyrocket if low-sulfur coal or readily available emissions-control technology have to be used. The rest of us argue that the costs of human health impairment, agricultural and forest losses and dramatic environmental destruction are far

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Readers

Write

Lookin' and^istenin' A Sure Cure? By DOROTHY D. FREAS Looking at a modem listing of suggested remedies for the smaller miseries of life, they all contained ingredients that required many letters of the alphabet. A friend brought to mind, in our exchange of comments about modern medicines, several old cures that were simple. although not always effective. Sometimes faith in the treatment, plus time, seemed tp produce the needed result. You may, or may not, wish to try the following. For a headache, soak a small brown paper bag in vinegar, place it on your forehead, wrap it tightly with a man s handkerchief (a red bandana works best). Then lie down and rest The last five words will probably help. A stomach ache leaves with (he eating of a combination of gelatiri, applesauce and hot tea. PLAIN MUD on a bee sting soothes and cures, but the stinger must be removed at once. A boiled onion, still warm, wrapped in a cloth, will help a baby’s ear ache, if placed behind the ear. There may- be merit in some of these. Soothing a sore throat with a spoonful of syrup made by stirring a half a • cup of sugar in a bowl with a chopped onion, has been found recently to have enough value to be recommended by some family doctors. However; this treatment is not endorsed by the entire medical profession. Tying a raw potato around the knee to cure arthritis is not going to work. It was prescribed to an elderly relative of ours by her butter and egg man . She didn't try it. OTHER THAN HOLIDAY uses of cranberries, the cut side of half a raw berry, bandaged on a corn, may help in the removal of the latter. These remedies were used in the days when young men “learned •doctoring” through apprenticeship to an older man who held a medical degree. The old "home remedies" were often used, and the patients were happy to recover, in spite of the treatiq^nt.

CAPE MAY COUIYTV

Hcralii

t’ublivhrd K%rr> W«ln»-»da> H> Thr .sra»a«r CorporaUon ' Joseph R. Zeinik

Bonnie Reina Gary L. Rudy John Dunwoody Darrell Kopp

p.o. Box u* Cape May Coon Hour. K J. K218

Editor

General Manager ■ ^ Advertising Director Special Promotions Director Publisher

"Now That We re On A Roll. I Say We Send The Grenadian Multinational Peacekeeping Force To Invadfe Lebanon And Liberate Our Marines. ’

Friendly Service To The Editor: The neighborhood grocery store is an American institution. In it one can chat with friends and make new acquaintances while receiving friendly service from the owner. How fortunate we are to have such an establishment in West Cape May - The Westside Market. Robin and Garry Gilbert, the new owners of Westside, arc delightful young people who are both accommodating and friendly to their customers. They make every effort to supply us with products we want at reasonable prices. They are adding to their stock in order to meet our needs. In short, they make shopping in their store a most pleasant experience. My sincere thanks go to the Gilberts for the service they are providing for the community. I am most appreciative. DAWN C. CARDER Cape May Point Speed Still Kills To The Editor: I don’t wonder that there are not more accidents on Wildwood Boulevard between Rio Grande and the Wildwood bridge as happened recently in the fog. No doubt speed was one reason as 60 m.p.h. or more is common along this stretch, in both directions. I think a police crackdown on such is long overdue, to save lives. Speed still kills. Let’s get safety-conscious for a change. VINCENT MC MAHON

Villas

Give Fothergill Project a Try

To The Editor.

How narrow-minded and unimaginative some people

can be.

Lower Township Committeeman Robert Fothergill offers us a great solution to our trash problems — build an incinerator at the Magnesite plant t- and people like Theodore O’Neill of the MUA can’t see beyond their noses. Fothergill should have a chance to prove that this project can work. / O’Neill and others on the MUA have a one-track mind, with only one solution, a trash transfer station in Middle Township, which stinks in more ways than one. We finally have a politician who has some foresight and the guts to try to save us taxpayers some money. I for one would like to see this innovative idea for our community tried. The majority of Lower Township taxpayers were against mandatory recycling as a money-saving project. Let’s not be fools. Band together to help not only ourselves save money, but help Middle Township from becoming our county’s transfer dump. MRS. LINDA MERRILL

Villas

Do you have an opinion on this subject? Write a letter to the editor. Herald and Lantfrn. P.O. Box 430, Cape May Court House, N.J. 08210. The People KnoW To The Editor: We of the Peterson-Little VFW Post No. 386 want to thank the 200 people from all over the county who attended our golden anniversary. We received many awards from the U.S. senator, state congressman, local government and natitflial VFW headquarters. A special thanks to our auxiliary for a fine meal and the super job they did in serving these people. And to our host, Bud Cohen, who did an outstanding job in keeping the evening rolling along. Last, but not least, to the Herald and Lantern for giving us coverage all these weeks. By now, the people of Cape May County know there’s a VFW Post 386 in Cape May. I am proud to be a member of this post, as my father was on that first charter 50 years ago. PAUL F. PARRINELLO VFW Post 386 Cape May

*S*o»o*»Co«p 1983 All nghii iat«rv*d All property righti (or con'on’i o* rhu publxcXon tKoll b* tK« proporty of >K« S»o»o*« Corp No port horoof may b« roproducod -itboul prior writiwi contont DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday - 3 p.im Classified Advertising Friday • 3 p.m.V I 465-5055 For News Or Advertising Information ] \ Nrtttor portlcIpBlin* aStrrtHm nor tW pabfahrn of Uw HKRAli) AND LANTERN «UI br tnpoatlblr or liable (or muuiformaUor.. mnprtoll l\po*rapbtc»l errorv rU u ant ittue The editor resert ei the HglH to edit aav letter or article* tubmitled for pabtira-

Loarer Townthlp

LANTERN

Cape May Court House. N J 08210

-J y

Money in the Bank for Editor Send Him Your News — Please

By JOE ZELNTK Hard for me to believe, but I've been writing for this newspaper for a year. And after all that time, some people still confuse me with the editor, Joseph R. Zelnik, or JRZ, as he likes to be called. Thus many asked me why I published an unsigned letter critical of myself last week, not realizing that was JRZ’s prerogative,^.' Readers apparently feel that, just because JRZ and I have the same first and last names, we are related. Not so. In fact, I’d been working here for six months before either of us even noticed the similarity. Neither of us has ever mentioned it to the other, probably because we’re both shy. JRZ is an old codger, about 50, with dyed black hair, a Salvador*: Dali moustache, shifty eyes, and long fingernails. He’s sort of a cross between Howard Hughes, Congressman Dan Flood, and Dracdla. He hums a lot, usually his own compositions. WE MET ONLY BRIEFLY when I answered his classified ad for a columnist to write serious articles about Cape May County. JRZ interviewed me perfunctorily, frequently belching and leaving his desk to go to the bathroom about every 10 minutes. I later learned this was done for two reasons, the second being that be wanted to watch me, unobserved, through a tiny hole in the bathroom door. For reasons that probably have to do with his deprived childhood in western New York, JRZ was extremely secretive, almost paranoid. He taped our conversation and repeatedly asked if I had any connections with anyone at the Wildwood Gazette-Leader. Then he ushered me into a tiny adjacent office where I received the routine exams administered to people who want to work here: lie detector, handwriting analysis, and phrenology. My hair mussed, I returned to JRZ’s office for the final and most important test. He made sure I could type. Then I was told I was hired as soon as I signed the bottom of several sheets of paper which I was not allowed to read first. I thought this weird, but I needed the job.

I LATER LEARNED that these were fairly innocuous requirements in which I pledged: 1. never to tr^to outdrink T.J. McCarthy, 2. always to shop Herald-Lantern advertisers, and 3. never to ask for a raise. The latter has been no problem since my contract provides for me to be paid as soon as warranted by reader interest. So far there hasn’t been any. JRZ, on the other hand, is responsible for determining what newigets into this newspaper. A nonwriting editor, be doesn’t even have a typewriter, pointing out typing would break his fingernails. He opens the mail and decides if the items are worthy for Herald-Lantern readers’ eyes. He is paid a certain amount — I think it is six cents — per decision. Thus the more items submitted, the more decisions; the more decisions, the more he makes. This method of compensation reportedly permits him to collect unemployment. He especially loves it when people call to ask why be didn’t use something they submitted. He never changes his mind, but is paid twice for the same item. Double indemnity, he calls it. WHEN N0T MAKING decisions, JRZ is usually on the phone calling individuals and organizations to solicit news items. He does this by going through the phone book alphabetically and is believed to be in the “Gs.” All this keeps him extremely busy. Thus he neither accepts phone calls nor sees visitors. He carries a sack lunch, but never lets anyone see what’s in it. Whenever a particularly tough decision presents itself, JRZ reportedly confers with Harry Emerson Otto, the Stone Harbor astrologist. Otto consults his charts and mutters things about rising moons and cu$ps and, wham, a decision is made. When Otto is out erf town, JRZ uses an Ouija board unilaterally, no small feat. JRZ was ecstatic in 1978 when casinos came to Atlantic City. He correctly predicted they would flood Him with news — executive promotions, entertainment schedules, etc. He uses none of it, of course, but each decision is money in the bank. I don’t mean to suggest he takes his duties lightly. I have seen him agonize for hours over a picture of AnnMargaret, for example, before rejecting it for publication.