opinion

Our Readers Write Hughes Guards Tax Dollars To The Editor: I read with interest a letter from Sidney Wetherill published in the April 16 issue, in which she said that Congressman William Hughes favors big government spending. I think Wetherill is confused, because the programs she talked about were real estate taxes, insurance premiums and salaries for police and firemen. I think Wetherill should get her facts straight before criticizing an elected official. All of the issues raised by her are under the jurisdiction of either the state, county or local government and have nothing to do with Congressman Hughes or the federal government. If anything, I think Congressman Bill Hughes does a pretty good job making sure that the taxpayer's dollars are not wasted. I think this feeling is shared by the majority of the residents in the district, or he wouldn't have been elected to the House of Representatives six times! ROXANNE DUNKELBERGER Burleigh Hughes is Conservative To The Editor: I would like to refute the comments of Sidney Wetherill which were printed in your newspaper's April 16 edition. In that letter. Wetherill claims that Congressman William Hughes is on the 'Most Liberal" list of congressmen. I find it almost unbelievable that she could make this claim. In fact, as a Democrat. I find the congressmen to be conservative As an example, in 1985. the ultra-conservative Liberty Lobby gave Hughes the highest rating for the New Jersey Delegation of House Members. In the entire Northeast, only one congressman was rated more conservative than Hughes. According to the ratings prepared by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Hughes is the most conservative Democrat in New Jersey, tied with Republican Congressmen Christopher Smith and Matthew Rinaldo. The next time Sidney Wetherill writes a letter criticizing Congressman Hughes, or any elected official, maybe • she should get her facts straight. CHARLES M. LEUSNER Middle Tow nship Committeeman What are Fire Police ? To The Editor: What is a fire policeman? When you come upon a fire scene, be it a car. house, of whatever, and you observe someone signaling the traffic to turn or stop, do you wonder, "who is this guy?" He doesn't have a uniform, no badge, maybe a red vest, red gloves and a direction wand He is a volunteer fire policeman whose responsibility is (Page 59 Please) Published Every Wednesday Lower Township By The Sea wave Corporation Edition of the P.O. Box 430 Cane May Court Cape May County Herald House. NJ. 08210 Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina SW.vncral Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoodv Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp • ^ Publisher !««•• Cwp 1®S6 AH ..gto, A!! prop*.*, >.aki> to. >k« »•«..• uhwi ot ".i pvbJx o*o« Ml M f»opa«r ot •«.. Soo-a.a Co«p No po« ho'ool ~o, ho' fop. odoiod DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly, S40: Six Month. S20 Call 465-5055 For News. Advertising or Subscription Information J f CAPE MAY |tj fierali-JIJtspatri Cape May City Edition of the Cape May County Herald PilPilil Event Wv By Tto twin CmpmttMm* ^ P.O. B— U> Cap. Mm y C— rt Hmm. MJ. — It

Berry's World f* _ f (r>1M*byNEA Mc "Welcome to — The Twilight Zone!" Support SDI, Contras To The Editor: The number one responsibility of government is to defend the American people against nuclear attack. Yet today we have no defensive system to shoot down incoming missies. It is very important tr. write Congressman William Hughes and persuade him to vote full funding for President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) plan to protect our nation, and encourage the president to make an immediate decision to deploy SDL We must also support the Nicaraguan freedom fighters. The Nicaraguan government is heavily armed by Russia and communistic. If we do not support the freedom fighters, the route for a crazy man like Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy is clear right to our borders. Do not forget when you write or call Congressman Hughes that it is the governments of these countries that are wealthy, and the people are reduced to controls and poverty. We do not want that. Proof! Congress just increased their-salaries by verbal agreement; we were not even allowed to voice our opinion SIDNEY WETHERILL Cape May

Robert E. Lee Should' ve Hung To The Editor John Merrill's column, "Jersey Cape Historically." is well written and brings to life many interesting facts concerning our heritage as residents of Cape May County However, his attempt to eulogize and extol the virtues of Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate forces in the Civil War (the hard core Southerners call it "the late unpleasantness") falls short of the mark. Robert E. Lee was a graduate of West Point and commissioned in the United States Army, where he took the oath of loyalty and fidelity to the United States. Despite all the mishmash about his character and his military achievements, he was in fact a traitor and a deserter to the United States. I believe that only to try to heal the wounds of the war was he not shot by a firing squad or "hanged by the neck until dead." FOWLER H. STRATTON r % Avalon Drive, Don't Direct To The Editor: This is in response to the April 16 letter "Try a White Glove". I would like to thank Clare Campbell for thinking of our school bus drivers, because so many only think of them when they are late to pick up their children Her suggestion was to wear a white glove on the left hand to direct traffic. Many motorists pass the red lights on a school bus and claim they never saw them or the bright yellow bus. so I'm sure they would not see a white glove. Even though some bus drivers direct you by their bus. they should not. We are school bus drivers, not traffic officers. I myself make my stop and, if possible, pull over to let traffic go by. If the car right behind me refuses to move on or pass, then I must move on to keep traffic from being held up. My suggestion to motorists is to wait for traffic to be clear and pass with care, without the school bus driver directing them. % Our job is to pick these children up and get them safely to school. > * SUE DAY Middle Township School Bus Driver Court House

T' -See the 'Microwave House' Your Invitation to SMITs

By JOE ZELNIK House tours ("Don't lean on that banister!"), walking tours ("Don't step there!"), and garden tours ("Don't smell that!") are enjoying phenomenal local success Seeing no reason why I shouldn't get a piece of the action. I am initiating Seven NJife. Island Tours (SMITs). After all. imitation is the sincere^! form of flattery. The going rate in Cape May is $10 for a two-hour tour, plus $3 for children I'll be charging $9 95 for a two-hour, five-minute tour ( competition is the lifeblood of the free enterprise system). And I'll have a special rate for children: babes in arms. $25. toddlers. $50 I'LL ASK CUSTOMERS to gather at the Wetlands Institute. just west of Stone Harbor, and travel in my 1976 Olds Delta, almost a tourist attraction on its own. First stop will be a forced halt at the Great Channel Bridge where repairs continue This is soon to qualify for the Guinness Book of World Records as the slowest renovation project for a bridge its size. With the bridge raised, an employe of the county Public Works Department will give a lecture entitled. "Passing the Buck: a Lesson in State-County-Private Enterprise Ability to Avoid Responsibility " There will be an opportunity to buy chances on a special lottery to estimate when the bridge will actually be completed In the event of ties, prize <tqbe determined) will go to the person who guesses which of the five freeholders will have the guts to attend the bridge's grand opening cererqony FIRST OFFICIAL tour stop will be at the base of the Stone Harbor water tower where members will encircle the tower, arms outstretched and hands touching — a human chain that will be an emotional experience most will cherish for a lifetime. A $5 donation toward replacing my 1976 Olds Delta will be collected at that time. Next pause wiH be at the south end of town to show teeny, tiny lots that recently sold for as much as $175,000. There will be time for phot^taking. Proceeding north on Dune Drive, we will pass by several astounding examples of Realtor-developer in- ' itiative: commercial construction a few feet from the water's edge in total disregard of Mother Nature, and - _p

demolished houses reminiscent of London during World War II. NEXT STOP WILL BE on Dune at the Stone Harbor - Avalon border, just north of a no-man's land guarded by curious signs prohibiting parking from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. At the outdoor bar of the Windrift. the object of those sentrylike signs, tour participants will have theopportunity for a quick refreshment (cash bar). During this stop. I will lecture on "The Origin of the Avalon-Stone Harbor Rivalry." I have new evidence that this centuries-old feud begins at the age of five when children from both towns are merged in kindergarten and learn to refer to each other as "ihe Stone Harbor kids" and "the Avalon kids." The bias becomes deep-rooted and self-perpetuating Further south in Avalon we will pause briefly outside the famous "Microwave House " Here a divorcee with four children, saddled with debt from a husband who ran away to Pensacola. Florida, raised her family without a stove or hot water tank. She heated everything she needed. from oatmeal to bath water, in an eight-cubic-foot Amana microwave with electronic touch controls and five power levels. RETURNING TO Stone Harbor there will be a brief stop at Henny's Restaurant (cash bar) where an oldtime resident will pause from his bottle of Heineken's to give a short reminiscence on the days when Henny's offered draft beer The tour will conclude, of course, with a climactic visit to my own home. As in the Victorian inns of Cape May. there will be a studied effort to preserve the authentic period — 1986 journalist. My worn bedroom slippers will protrude from beneath my bed, which will have been hastily made. A dusty tie rack will be jammed with ties that haven't been worn since I took this job. Note the use of yellow plastic Parsons tables in the living room to give the appearance of imitation nouveau riche. Linger over the refrigerator door, so covered with child's artwork that it is nearly impossible to find its handle. Inside the refrigerator, a case of chilled Stroh's for those made thirsty by the tour. (Cash bar.)