The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 95

1 Fatal Accident: Was It Really Unavoidable? The sun is not yet up on this dark spring morning, but the children are there in the darkness by the side of the road waiting for the school bus because Daylight Saving Time went into effect a few days earlier. Because of the poor visibility, the driver of the oncoming car does not see the file of children by the side of the road and does not slow down. When two boys get into a shoving match and one is pushed onto the highway, the driver cannot stop in time. The result is one dead child and one man who will have to live with the guilt of an unavoidable and tragic accident. But was it unavoidable? Could these and other car-pedestrian accidents be prevented? Could at least some of them be prevented? Dr.

and Mrs. Jacob Tuckman of West Palm Beach think they can. A few days after the death of a young girl in a nighttime car-bicycle accident, Grace Tuckman told me about a cheap and simple lifesaving device that is widely used in Norway. Egil Alnaes, a professor at the Institute of Neurophysiology at the University of Oslo, described it in a letter in the Sept. 9 issue of Science magazine: "Norway is oversupplied with long nights, narrow roads, hazardous surface conditions and a growing population of aggressive drivers," Alnaes said.

"The result is approximately one traffic fatality per 10,000 inhabitants per year, and many such casualties are very likely pedestrians in darkness. "Most people who walk about in darkness and this includes all schoolchildren on fall and winter mornings have good reason to fear for their safety. Hence most pedestrians in this country wear a reflective tag the size of a visiting card dangling from a coat pocket, school satchel or briefcase. "Schools hand tflem out, garages sell them, and firms distribute them instead of ballpoint pens. Even cats and dogs wear them, although their eyes as most motorists know have the reflective tag built in.

"On a wet and black November morning, a file of schoolchildren is picked up in an automobile's headlights as dancing fireflies at a safe distance, instead of not at all. I am surprised that such a simple, safe, efficient and cheap lifesaver has not caught on elsewhere. Are there too few pedestrians left in the United States?" I don't know why the idea hasn't caught on here. Maybe it's because nobody knew about it. But it's a good idea, and I'm sure any large business firm could get samples of the safety tags and information about where to obtain them by writing to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington.

That would be fine public relations -spending money on something like this instead of image-polishing ads and press releases. That's the best kind of public relations there is public service. The Palm Beach Post Steve Mitchell News of SECTION FRIDAY Martin County DECEMBER 9, 1977 'Just Dumb Luck Boater Unafraid During Ordeal VI wr W. By LINDA HARBISON Post Staff Writer PORT SALERNO Sixteen-year-old Russ Brown was stranded about 9 miles off the St. Lucie Inlet Wednesday after his 30-foot outrigger sailboat was smashed and disabled by rough seas.

But despite the harrowing experience, he said he never really doubted he would be rescued. "The big thing on my mind was that I wasn't going to be able to get to the Bahamas with my boat, like I planned," he said yesterday. Brown's sailboat, Jzero, was spotted by a fisherman who radioed the Coast Guard for help, Brown said. Living temporarily with a local couple who offered him room and board, the California youth laughed about his ordeal that began Monday when he left St. Augustine for Fort Lauderdale.

"I got to Cape Kennedy late Tuesday and the north winds picked up. I knew I was too far out in the Gulf Stream and it got so rough I had to take all the sails down. "I was surfing the waves," Brown said. "I was doing pretty good, moving along about 15 or 20 knots when I hit something and one of the hull crossarms broke. The mast broke, too." After "everything came to a screeching halt," Brown tied the outrigger back on and decided to use his radio to call for help.

is HlfeL If I -i Brown later shot up a flare after spotting another boat, but apparently that plea for assistance went unheeded, too. He said about that time the sportfishing boat which eventually contacted the Coast Guard spotted him. "It stayed rough out there 'til about dawn Wednesday," the youth said. "But I was pretty confident the whole time be--cause I knew I wasn't that far offshore and the boat would float," he said. His sailboat, which he built in Virginia, is in three pieces now and not in condition for sailing.

It was towed to Sandsprit Park by the Coast Guard. Brown said he probably will take it back to Virginia, where he has been living since he came to the East Coast from California. He's a bit concerned about his 11-foot kyack, Kimma, which was lost at sea. Brown said he hopes it will wash ashore in the local area and be returned to him. He lost a few other pieces of equipment such as sails and a hatch cover, but he doubts any of that will turn up.

Brown contacted a friend in Stuart yesterday and may move in with him for a while until his future plans are more definite. The youth, who is staying with Mr. and Mrs. John Hennon, sailed his boat from Virginia to St. Augustine with no mishaps, he said.

"It was just dumb luck what happened here," Brown said. no one came, He realized it wasn't working when he said. w-t i Ji ri -it- mr rv frrrw- A Staff fhl by Llndi Mirblwn Thai Fa I Man Is lver uhero Stuart's Super Santa Is back, standing almost as tall as City Hall (above). This Santa's been a regular in Stuart since 1973. Also returning for the season is Warren Kunz of Lan-tana (left), who annually dons the required whiskers and suit to bring joy to kids at the Palm Beach Mall.

He's been bringing his hearty 'Ho, Ho, Ho' to mall customers for a half-dozen years. Cristin Custer, 7, can all but see the sugar plums which dance in her head. 'tHf i Vi'fe! ih i "''( 1 'i. Li iL Dickinson Area Urged For Park State Discussing Camp for Elderly By JIM REEDER Pojt staHWritar HOBE SOUND A 40-acre tract in Jonathan Dickinson State Park could be designated as the site for a recreation camp for the elderly and handicapped, state legislators said yesterday. Rep.

Bill Taylor (D-Tequesta) said such a camp has been under discussion by legislators and officials of the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) to serve the lower east coast of Florida HRS already operates such facilities on the west coast and in North Florida. "We've been discussing a site for the east coast," Taylor said. "The state park might be ideal since the state owns the land and the camp would be surrounded by 500 acres of park land. "It would provide more employment for this area," he said. Members of the House Appropriations Committee toured HRS facilities in Stuart yesterday morning, including the district office and the Martin County Health Department.

The group, a subcommittee which reviews appropriations for HRS, is headed by Rep. Earl Dixon (D-Jack-sonville). Dixon said it is too early to comment on prospects for allocating money for the rehabilitation camp in the state park. Dixon said he thinks the reorganization of HRS has been successful. "But that success comes from the hard work of the field employees, not the headquarters," he said.

"The conditions they work under are adverse and don't lend themselves to the best service." "But I think they do a remarkable job," he said. "I'm pleased with the management in this district," he said. "I've been critical of HRS management statewide." He said HRS has requested a 27 percent increase in its budget for next year. "But I can tell you they won't get that because the revenue won't be available," he said. Taylor is a member of the ad hoc committee designated to study HRS operations and accompanied the appropriations committee members on their tour in this Staff Phots by baorgt Wadding Presley Sermon Aimed To Stir Faith "In Elvis Presley's death, they were brought face to face with their own death," Adams said in his recent book about Presley.

"If the King has to die, certainly the peasants cannot escape." His 31-page book, "Why Did Elvis Presley asks that and other questions such as why Presley died at the same age as his mother. Adams provides answers in the form of parables from the Bible. He said his Presley sermon is designed to "stir the faith of Christians." Did Presley go to heaven? "A Presbyterian minister in Chattanooga, said Presley had to be in heaven (because) nobody could sing gospel songs like that without being a the coliseum, and Adams was to preach about Jesus Christ at a football stadium. Presley died about a week before the Lexington engagement. His death came "suddenly, decisively," Adams said.

told us it could be that way," he said. "A man counts his money and promises himself many years of pleasurous living. He lays down to sleep and in the night dies." Adams said Presley once paid $23.95 for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "But man shall not live by bread alone, even with $23.95 worth of peanut butter and jelly on it. Jesus taught it," he said.

"It was in the sad school of experience that Elvis learned it." "Elvis Presley left you a message," By LINDA HARBISON Post Staff Writtr INDIANTOWN Elvis Presley died for the sins of the world. So said Moody Adams, a Louisiana preacher who was in Indiantown Wednesday night to talk about the late rock 'n' roll singer. The 'evangelistic rally drew a pretty big crowd at the Indiantown Baptist Church. Adams said Presley's death, more so than any other since the assassination of President John Kennedy, brought home to millions of Americans the fact of their own mortality. Claiming "God gave me this sermon," Adams said the thousands of mourners who crowded the grounds of Presley's home after he died may have been weep- hell where he belonged.

The singer, he said, had wrecked more young girls' lives, destroyed more virtue and led more girls into prostitution than any man who ever lived," Adams relates in his book. Billy Graham said he expected to meet Presley in heaven, according to Adams. "A late Saturday night TV show said the three networks were bidding on the television rights to the meeting. Perhaps never in the history of the world has so much discussion been carried on over the destiny of one soul," Adams said. "Whatever else Elvis Presley's death did, it got people to thinking and talking about eternity," he said.

Adams said in August, both he and Presley were scheduled to be in Lexington, Ky. Presley was to do a conceit at the preacher said. "You will die. area. Jf 'Another minister said Presley waum.