Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 1

Monmouth County Edition Ninety-Ninth Year Artmry Park. N.J.. Wednesday. February 8. 1878 15 cants Suspect Blaze Wrecks Shut Four-Story Store 3 1 c) 0 i 'r Os Va VAmim, i ii-i ra a i i imiAzS By ROBERT J.

WILLIAMS Press Staff Writer LONG BRANCH An early morning fire highlighted by a shower of embers over several blocks of the city's commercial section, destroyed the former Vogel's Department Store building, 199 Broadway, today. The Are, termed suspicious, was reported at 1:39 a.m. by a passing police officer. The blaze destroyed the four-story building only weeks before it was to be home to a new business, a discount furniture store. The Furniture Gearing House had planned to occupy the building in several weeks, according to Allen Nadler, corporation president, to try to help revitalize the city's deteriorating downtown section.

Firemen were still wetting down blazing hot spots in the structure at 8:15 a.m. today but all of the companies which assisted local firemen were sent Police closed off Broadway between 2nd and 5th Avenues. City Fire Chief Ray Cook called the blaze suspicious. "I would say so this time of the morning," he said. According to Cook, the fire is believed to have started on the top floor, in the northwestern, or rear, section of the four-story building.

City officials including assistant fire chiefs Anthony Melina and Alfred Guzzi, and possible the state police arson squad were expected today to investigate the cause of the blaze. "We won't be able to determine (the cause of the fire) until we get inside in the morning," Cook said. See FIRE WRECKS Page A3 the local region would be cleared by nightfall. The New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and major arteries in the state were open yesterday. Officials predicted conditions today would be better than they were early Monday when a turnpike toll collector said, "You have to be out of your mind to be driving on a morning like this.

No job is worth it." Most residents who were forced to evacuate their homes in coastal and low-lying areas have returned to begin cleaning up flood damage, and weary firemen and first aid squad members were packing away cots and blankets used at emergency shelters. Civil defense officials said they are working today to compile damage estimates. They estimated the worst damage would be In Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Point Pleasant Beach and the beachfront section of Dover Township, which were flooded; in Bradley Beach, where part of a beachfront pavilion collapsed and in Lavallette where Asbury Park Press aerial rig to pour water on the blaze in the for-building in Long Branch early this morning. Frank McCain Asbury Park Prm Flames shoot out of second and third floor windows as firemen play hoses on front of former Vogel building on Broadway, Long Branch. Oakhnrst firemen otiliie their mer Vogel'i Department Store Area Slowly Digs Out From Under Snow No.

32 Today MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES are In the forecast for Monmouth and Ocean counties tomorrow. High temperatures both days will and be around 30. Tonight will be clear and bitterly cold with lows of 5 to 12 expected. Winds out of the north west at 15 to 25 miles per hour will make it feel a lot colder than it is. Page A4 SEVERE SNOWSTORMS that block highways and force pharmacies to close can hold a special fear for persons dependent on life-sustaining drugs.

AU MRS. JUNE BENZ has seen 78 winters come and go and says she could give motorists a little old-fashioned advice that would help them when they get stuck in heavy snow. C4 IT HAPPENS after every significant snowstorm. Armies of shovel-bearing middle-aged men and women plunge into the cold, windy air, attempting to clear snow from their sidewalks, driveways and cars, and wind up with heart attacks. C4 Monmouth And Ocean MONMOUTH COUNTY Freeholder Director Harry Larrison Jr.

says the Board of Freeholders can go no higher than a 7.5 percent salary Increase for employees this year. Bl RAIL AND BUS commuter runs were disrupted during the the past two days but officials say they expect regular schedules to resume today, but with delays. Bl A BEACHWOOD COUPLE had planned for an Ocean County judge to marry them but when the Judge became snowbound, a municipal mayor performed the outdoor ceremony. Bl Business NO ACTION was taken yesterday on an offer that could end the nationwide coal strike. The UMW ordered negotiators to hammer out contract language before a vote.

CS BRISK SALES brought sunny smiles to the operators of area convenience stores yesterday, as folks stocked up on staples. C5 Panorama KITCHEN STATUS: Your selection of cooking gadgetry shows your taste, and whether you're really with it by the standards of the gourmet set. AS BEAUTY PAGEANT seeks to be a learning experience for its contestants on their roots, as well as their attractiveness. A5 LONG JOHNS are a hot item, fashion-wise, as well as a practical means to plain, old-fashioned winter warmth. All Food RECAPTURE THE sentimentality of Valentine's Day by baking assorted sweet and lacy cookies for friends and family.

Dl MENU PLANNING during Lent need not be a chore when you plan some Innovative meatless meals. Dl Sports NEW JERSEY'S sporting scene was snowbound yesterday. Included in the numerous postponements were the Nets, Knicks and Islanders; racing cards at Freehold and the Meadowlands, mosfcoilege and all high school. CI THE OLYMPIC speed skating rink at Lake Placid, site of this weekend's World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, has been a constant cause of aggravation for organizers since reports that it might be substandard. CI llfliMa tcMp.

-Alt -All UfMtyU Us! MS Cmtn OmHW D11-17 Cm 17 DatMMk 017 Of. SMwraw.All UHwtak All iwfwtaitMMwt mm AS rw di ftnm All TtWvfoltw A 1 0 Sliaj Gwrawf Df Vm Jaxwy-DU Jack tririm Al for today Alt FmmJ.017 ltary Al HUvta li(tifiA 17 SMTtl CI iytot Nrtw CS much of the boardwalk was washed out as high seas pounded the beachfront Boardwalk damage also was reported in Courthouses in Monmouth and Ocean counties also will reopen today, and all courts will be in session. The Monmouth County Courthouse was closed yesterday, but skeleton crews had all offices open in the Ocean County Courthouse. Eugene M. Melody, supervisor of the Monmouth County Highway Department, said yesterday he expected all roads would be passable for the morning rush hour, and said that unless more snow falls they should be in fairly good condition when the homeward bound push begins late this afternoon.

"By driving carefully and leaving a little earlier they will be able to get to work as long as they use good judgment," he said. Melody said road crews alternated between spreading sand and salt and plowing highways yesterday. Ocean County workers. Most area businesses reopened this morning but most schools remained closed for the third straight day, and many organizations cancelled meetings which had been set for tonight Rail and bus transportation was expected to run on near-normal schedules for the morning rush hour, said spokesmen for Con-rail, Amtrak, PATH and Transport of New Jersey, the state's largest bus company. Newark International Airport scheduled a 10 a.m.

opening today. The airport had been closed since shortly after noon Monday. Only Teterboro Airport in Bergen County resumed operations yesterday. Despite snow removal efforts, traffic backed up for two miles or more on Routes 9 and 18 in Old Bridge and East Brunswick Townships this morning. Traffic moved slowly in most areas, but was at a standstill in other sections.

Highway department crews, however, predict that all but the smaller side roads in Damage in Millions; Byrne to Weigh Aid and sUte Transportation Department crews used the same techniques. He said the plows were used to clear the roads until less than two inches of snow remained on surface, when the sanders were sent out to spread chemicals to break up the ice and snow. After they turned it to slush, the plows returned to clear that away. "We'll continue until tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, and I'm hoping that at that time we're in pretty good shape," Melody said. Aldon Corliss, Ocean County road supervisor, said only a skeleton crew remained at work last night, but his entire force was back on the job this morning.

He said drifting snow became less of a problem yesterday afteroon, when the snow "started to settle down." Civil defense directors in Ocean County's 33 municipalities were expected to compile damage assessments today, according to Wil- See TWO COUNTIES Page A4 Howard announced that the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to visit Monmouth and Ocean counties today to survey the extent of beach erosion and washouts. As the storm and wind-whipped tides subsided yesterday, most of the 400 persons evacuated in the two counties Monday night returned home. Local officials toured their coastal areas, and came back with some grim reports. In Sea Bright, large boulders ripped from the sea wall and scattered with telephone poles along Ocean Avenue were signs of the $2 million in damage estimated by Mayor Ce-cile Norton. Just to the south, Monmouth Beach Mayor Sidney B.

Johnson compared the waves breaking over the seawall Monday night to a flash flood and estimated the damage at (500,000. In Long Branch, Byrne said after a half-hour tour that a $1 million damage estimate by city officials was "realistic if not modest." Bradley Beach lost several hundred feet of boardwalk, the east wall of the municipal bathing pavilion, and most of a (300,000 bulkhead project along the northern beachfront. Mayor D. Phillip Gerand estimated total damage at $1.3 million. Belmar Fire Chief Donald Brand estimated damage to trtat borough's mile-long boardwalk at (100,000.

In Ocean County, almost the entire length of Lavallette's 1 1, 2-mile boardwalk See GOVERNOR TOURS Page A4 By GEORGE W. BROWN Press Staff Writer The Central Jersey area is slowly digging out today in the wake of a near-blizzard that dumped between 14 and 20 inches of snow on much of the state. At least nine New Jerseyans died in various storm-related incidents, three of them in Ocean County. The weatherman reported the drifting snow will be around for a while, with clear skies and frigid temperatures expected at least through tomorrow. The temperature isn't expected to climb above the mid-20s today, and should remain below freezing for much of the rest of the week.

No more snow is expected before Saturday. The National Weather Service was watching a developing low pressure system in Texas. "We do have the threat of another system moving into this area that could cause concern," said NWS specialist Michael Yanolko. Four States Paralyzed By Blizzard The Associated Press Mountainous snowfalls, hurricane-force winds, floods, a blackout in Boston, looters in the streets. New Englanders today dig out from one of their worst blizzards in history and wait tor help from federal troops.

Crews worked furiously to clear airport runways of drifted snow to allow Army troops and snow-moving machinery to arrive. Officials predicted that some troops would reach stricken areas today. President Carter's declaration of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts as federal disaster areas yesterday also authorized mobilization of soldiers at Fort Meade, Fort Bragg, N.C.: Fort Dix. N.J.; Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Benning, Ga. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut counted at least 27 deaths in the storm, including a man who drowned when flood waters burst into his basement and a 6-year-old girl who drowned when a fire department rescue boat capsized.

Five men were feared lost on board a pilot boat sent to aid a grounded oil tanker off Salem, Mass. The dollar toll has not been calculated, but officials say it will total tens of millions of dollars. In Massachusetts, Gov. Michael Dukakis' ban on non-emergency travel was continued indefinitely. People were told to stay home except for emergencies, and anyone walking or driving on a state highway faced arrest for trespass.

A similar ban was expected to be lifted in Connecticut today. Parts of Boston remained without elec- See FOUR STATES Page A4 St. SHwdicfi Prap Alumni, jortn tandokot '63, Solas Gigar Ford, Baanor. Purchoia a cor A St. tanadicft wal ba gnari a donation in your noma.

681-1600. Wad. Cowy Jonat, Urmmnad Oao 13 9J. 222-4427 Iff i nt'l a MoT By W. RAY OLLWERTHER Press Staff Writer Estimates of coastal damage rose into the millions of dollars yesterday as Gov.

Byrne toured battered oceanfront areas of Monmouth and Ocean counties by helicopter. "The damage is extensive," Byrne said after touching down in Long Branch and Lavallette. "It's the worst storm I've ever seen along the coast." Byrne said he will meet with legislative leaders in Trenton tomorrow to discuss state assistance to storm-ravaged municipalities. Senate Majority Leader John F. Russo, D-Ocean, warned last night that the state's resources are limited.

He said he will ask the governor about the possibility of a statewide bond issue to pay for coastal damage and snow removal across the state. Byrne said he has made no decision on declaring any regions disaster areas, which would pave the way for federal aid. "There's no advantage to speed in requesting federal aid," he said. "We have to first document the damage and then see if we can qualify for federal assistance." Rep. James J.

Howard, urged Byrne yesterday to ask for federal aid to cope with the storm's aftermath, and urged President Carter to declare the state a disaster area. "The Jersey shore has been particularly hard hit by severe high tides and flooding in addition to snow and ice damage," Howard told Carter. IS Janay Shot MaoVol Cantor, ford Auditorium. 194 Corkti NeptuM. Fint Aid Seminar, Fab.

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4497474 m. Press Reprints Stories Because the storm interrupted normal deliveries of The Press yesterday, some stories and features have been reprinted today. The special section on income tax preparation which appeared yesterday will be reprinted in the Sunday edition's Panorama section. Michael Raf fertyAibury Park Preu William Capnin, Long Branch, Jooks over result of the force of the pounding urf in the near-blizzard which carried these rocks from the seawall onto Ocean Avenue (Route 36), Sea Bright. Other photos Pages ComptanrmSortar.

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