— sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia Out of the Risks Come the Benefits

A tragic accident in America's ambitious space program took the lives of seven of the country's finest. And. as is so typically American, we exposed our tragedy, our sorrows, our tears and our errors for the world to see. And as is so typically American, the tragedy was hardly announced when those opposed to the space

i exploration program and the spending for defense used the accident to scream to all who would listen about the high cost. I the cost of human life and how the money might better be spent giving it to somt one instead. THAT'S A philosophical question which wiser heads than mine will have to answer. The question as to

whether or not the space program is worth it has already been answered. Families, friends and associates of the seven who died have all said the program must go forward What better testimonial to its value than from those who live and die in the search for new horizons? Human life has no yardstick on which the value can be measured. Can one assess what a single life (or seven in this case) can be worth in dollars? OF COURSE NOT. But there are benefits which touch all of us. Unless there are the risk takers, the experimenters. the testers and innovators, there will be no progress. When we live on the brink, it is a given that some might perish in that same brink. No one can predict the accidents any more than the successes. Why the accident happened may never be determined But from the accident itself may well come more knowledge. How have we benefitted so far? None of us are actually quite sure. One survey says that for every dollar invested in the space program, we have gained seven back in benefits to mankind. THAT SURVEY came from government sources. But before you jump on it as propaganda, a similar survey by an assortment of independent scientists who have no political axe to grind, put the value at 11 dollars returned to the economy for every dollar spent in the space program. They consider the eleven dollar figure a conservative one. by the way. And, dollar for dollar, that's not a bad return. Where are some of the benefits'' While it may be a simple one. it touches most fishermen who are out on the water today. That is in the ceramic guides being used on fishing rods. That material was a spinoff from the plastic used in heat shields on the nose cones of the rockets.

HAD IT NOT been for the research to develop a material for nose cones, we'd still be fishing with the steel, carbide and agate guides of a generation ago Weather reporting is infinitely better than ever with the advent of space exploration. Satellites read the weather and better reporting means better planning. Airlines and air travellers benefit. So do highway travellers, trucking companies and many businesses which have the weather to consider as a factor. Water currents and water temperatures are being charted more accurately. Better synthetics for clothing are being developed. New phar maceutical products are being developed based on space age exploration. FROM SPACE exploration we are seeing newthings and learning more about what is actually on this earth and in the universe beyond. Space age exploration has located new mineral sources. New technology is creating new jobs. New mineral deposits make us more self-sufficient and provide more jobs for our own labor supply. Appalachia needs jobs, rather than government handouts to correct its economic ills. Space exploration has helped us head in that direction. There are other spinoff applications of industrial material which end up as outdoor equipment. WE MENTIONED fishing guides for the new, modern fishing rods being used by anglers today Fiberglas rods and monofilament line are two technological developments which created morX fishermen and more fishing days for fishermen than any two developments in the history of recreational fishing. Both were spinoffs from research being done elsewhere That a form of snythetic "string'" which went into clothing eventually wound up as fishing line was an eventuality that had to come It took a little time, but fiberglass, which has so many other applications, eventually wound up all but totally replacing wood in fishing rods. GRAPHITE IS another one. Graphite fibers are now the backbone of many fine fishing rods. Graphite fibers not only provide added strength, but add a sensitivity that is unequalled by wood or glass. The fine fishfinder devices . which help us locate schools of fish and the edges and schoals which are so important to good fishing came about because someone developed the machinery which helped us win a war. Fiberglass boat hulls are another spinoff from industrial research. Someone decided to experiment with this material for boats and it, too. replaced wood for most craft. AFTER WORLD WAR II. Higgins aircraft had tons of equipment to make airplanes out of aluminum. The processes were developed to shape, stretch and bend aluminum into

wartime airplanes. It took only'a little imagination to stretch, bend and shape aluminum into canoes, boats and tackle boxes. Plastics were never really developed to do so, but they have turned into plugs, lures and other items of fishing tackle. The new space age synthetics have enabled manufacturers to mass produce items which at one time were made one at a time on a lathe. Wooden plugs (now a collector's item) were just one of many items replaced by plastics. OCCASIONALLY, a new fishing tackle item hits the market. It generally replaces one which has been around for a long time. For years, bluefish were caught on artificial lures made from chicken feathers. Of late a new type lure using a vinyl skirt has been developed. Polypropelene fibers were put to use in making a similar lure. Saran. which was a material destined for fabric for clothes wound up as dressing for martin teasers and bucktails. The first Dynel we saw was in a department store in Cleveland. A young lady was demonstrating how to make hair pieces for women from this new material THERE WAS a rack of all colors of Dynel from pure white to jet black with shades of brown, red and yellow mixed in. By assorting the colors she was able to duplicate any person's natural hair and then defy anyone to tell the real and the synthetic apart. In watching, we decided that Dynel would some day be involved in fishing lures in one way or another and it finally did. It is dressing on several artificial lures used in fresh and salt water. Rope is no longer made from natural fibers most of the time. Nylon and polypropelene goes into tiedown ropes and anchor ropes. Sails are no longer made from natural materials. THE SYNTHETICS, sewn with synthetic materials, last longer, are more durable and resist mildew They are also infinitely lighter and much more colorful. Even the clothes we wear fishing and hunting are much better than what we used to wear in the pre plastics days. Insulation made from manmade fibers is certainly cheaper than goose down. There is even some argument as to which is better and synthetics get the nod. Wool socks, sweaters and outerwear are expensive, and in many instances, hard to find. Forget that wool kept the sheep warm long before synthetics. Synthetics have taken over in i the keep-warm and keepdry departments. MOST RECENTLY, we saw a totally plastic (except for the primer) shotgun shell. The effort was made before to turn space age plastics into shotgun shells without the brass upper casing. But the effort was made probably a I generation too soon for traditionalists like myself. Shotgun shells always had metal as an integral part of the case and no one *

was going to convince me that plastics were better. Today, after trying a fewboxes. I am re-thinking that\ attitude. Younger hunters growing up might remember the metal casings. but they will also have grown up in a world which is the reverse of mine. J WHAT USED to be wood^O and metal is now plastics irv^' most cases. The exception today is what I would be used to. Younger people, having been weaned on plastics can accept it easier. Computers play such an important role in our lives that we wonder how we survived without them. I still remember bakelite, which was hailed as a tremendous development because it replaced metal in some of the components in building a radio chassis. I predate computers, but find myself using one more and more. THE MICRO-CHIP is one of the space age inventions. Computers are another. Credit cards are now marked with a laser imprint which cannot be duplicated. That's also space age stuff. To develop technology, the price has always been high The loss of human lives has always been a risk factor in all of the things man does to stretch the limits. Airplane test pilots have always been at risk as they try the innovations that the engineers say will work. It is one thing to sketch something on a drawing board. It is quite another to build what is designed on paper. It is still guite another to test it. THAT;S BEEN the nature of things since the wheel revolutionized man's existance on this earth. We should mourn the loss of these fine young people We should be upset by their demise. But we should be equally as proud of them for their accomplishments Given the opportunity to ask all seven of those who died what their biggest disappointment was, we would hazard a guess that they resented the fact that they never were able to complete the work they had started. Our guess as to their wish? The program which took such a terrible toll should go on to newer and greater heights. THEIR LOSS is a loss we all must share. The terrible loss to their families cannot be minimized. We can hope only that in their giving so much to make things better for us that we are worthy of the benefits their sacrifice ljas brought us. They, like all of the other pioneers who went before them, went over the brink to see what was on the other side. Many never came back. Many were never memorialized or recognized for their achievements. But those of us who live today owe them a lot. It is a debt we will have a difficult time in repaying It is an ironic twist. Only in America would we even be given the chance to try.

Cape May County ALMANAC FEBRUARY. 19S6 MOON PHASES/POSITION'S CORRECTION TIMES Thr Moon' ■ effect on the Tide is afCompuie approximate tlmei greatest when cloiesl to Earth of high t low water for your (in perigee I and when in direct area by adding or subtracting alignment with Sun A Earth the following number of ( full A new moon phases) On minutes for each tide phase in and about these dates, low the Tide Table pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direr lion) may result in flooding and/or extremely low tides Moon Phases LOW HIGH Last Quarter I Great Egg Harbor Inlet " rius 13 pteio plus 35 plus 22 „ Corson Inlet, bodge. Prrigee » Plu#2> Sea Isle City i Ludlam Thoro Bridge) TIDE TABLE plus 66 plus 43 Computed for Cape Mav City Sea Isle City Beach beach/ront. for other areas, see minus 2 minus 21 Correction Times Townsend Inlet DATE HIGH LOW plus 21 plus 4 a.m. p.m. a.m. p.m. Seven Mile Beach 1 Sal 12:11-12:24 6:11- 6:27 P*"® 15 . 0 2 Sun 1:06- 1:24 7:21- 7:34 ^ 3 Mon 2:10- 2:34 8:33- 8:42 (Great Channel Bndge) 4 Tue 3 20- 3 51 9:38- 9 47 P'us43 plus 40 5 Wed 4 28- 5 00 10:42-10:47 Hereford Inlet iAnglesea I 6 Thu 5:29— 6:00 11:37 — plus 19 0 7 Fn 6 23- 6 51 11:46-12:33 WUdwood Beach I tl J.:Sr *?:2z i:S' Mta*2 minus 17 9 Sun 7.58 8.22 1.34— 2.07 i.. . 10 Moo a 41- 9 05 2:21- 2:49 „ wlldwood II Tue 9 23— 9:48 3:06— 3:28 (Grassy Channel bndge) 12 Wed 10:04-10:28 3:44- 4:04 plus 46 plus 43 13 Thu 10:46—11:10 4:26- 4:41 Cape May Harbor 14 Fri 11:27-11:51 5:07- 5:18 plus I muws4 15 Sat -12:08 5:52- 6:00 Flve Fjllholn 16 Sun 12:36-12:56 6:50- 6:52 . . 17 Mon 1:22- 1:48 7:53- 7:51 ^ ll _ D Plus . 18 Tue 2:17- 2:53 8:54- 8:50 Cape May 19 Wed 3:22- 4:02 9:51- 9:49 plus 46 plus 34 20 Thu 4:24- 5:03 10:45-10:42 McCne Shoal . 4 II Fri 5:20- 5:53 11:32-11:32 plus28 plus22 22 Sat 6:06- 6 37 -12:20 Delaware Boy 23 Sun 6:51- 7:18 12:23- 1:04 rh.n^.1 H Moo 7:19— 7:M 1:09- 1:« 25 Tue 8:11- 8 39 1:52- 2:23 (Bay-Canal Junction) 26 Wed 8:52- 9:20 2:37- 3:02 Plu,<7 plus 36 27 Thu 9:37-10:06 3:19- 3:40 Miami Beach 28 Fri 10:24-10:57 4:04- 4:21 plus75 plus6l Dennis Creek Entrance plus 114 plus 97 Brandywine Shoal Light plus 77 plus 52 ■

MONAGHAN'S r_^_A^ggRE CENTER EXPIRES FEBRUARY 26TH | EXPIRES FEBRUARY 26TH | ■ , . I Lube, Oil Change Front-ind Alignment ■ 0 _.i gjs-f. _ ^aaaeaate I lltCT ■ $2^ jrlsrsSi J ^15 sFtTSrsHS I -- — i — JM All A^U A II AUTO TIRE CENTER IUIIIMII laHil M 315 Delsea Dr. Rio Grande ■ 886-1116 ■ I ■ W Open Mon Thru Fri. 730 to 5: Sal 8 lo noon