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

Monmouth County Edition AS One-Hundredth Year No. 219 Asbury Park, N.J., Monday, September 17, 1B79 20 cents Today Sports Authority Bishop Honors Teen-Ager In Asbury Park Cross Rite SUNNY SKIES are predicted for Monmouth and Ocean counties eighs Buying today, wun highs in the mid VJt ASBURY PARK For a few moments 70s. Partly cloudy tonight, with lows of 55 to 60. Winds will be mostly southerly at 5 to 15 mph today and less than 10 onmouth Park 1. Ik Aft v- (dir- yesterday afternoon, all eyes were focused on a youth who stood proudly in the surf near Convention Hall holding a wooden cross in his hands.

The youth was 17-year-old Robert G. Klrshy Jr. of Middletown Township, and what he held was the symbolic holy cross of the Greek Orthodox Church. Nearly 5,000 members of New Jersey's 22 Greek Orthodox parishes gathered on the boardwalk to pray and watch young Klrshy and other youths seek to retrieve the cross from the ocean. Their presence added a solemn touch to the normal boardwalk routine, on a day when exceptional weather drew thousands of others to the beachfront.

Led by Bishop Silas of Tenafly, Creek Orthodox bishop for New Jersey, ornately robed priests and their congregations marched down Ocean Avenue and the boardwalk past sunba there and strollers. The solemn singing of the procession's choir diverted people's attention from the noise of the street and the Jangle of pinball machines in nearby arcades. Each year for 32 years, Greek Orthodox church members have come here to commemorate the finding of the Holy Cross of Jesus by St. Helen, the mother of Cons tan-tine the Great, on a hill outside Jerusalem in 325A.D. The ceremony was started by the late Patriarch Athenagoras spiritual leader of 250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians throughout the world.

The Eastern Orthodox rite comprises not only the Greek Orthodox Church but also the Romanian and Russian Orthodox churches. Athenagoras I visited the city four times for Holy Cross Day observances. In 1978, New Jersey's Greek Orthodox church members placed a statue of the patriarch on the See THOUSANDS WATCH Page A2 EAST RUTHERFORD (AP) The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority the operator of the Meadowlands Race Track is participating in active discussions aimed at a state purchase of Monmouth Park and another race track. Sports Authority Chairman William F. Hyland, in discussing the plan, says that "something has to be done" before the 1980 racing season "Everyone is getting hurt by the present uncertainty the state's horse industry, the tracks, the quality of racing and most of all, the state," the official said.

The plan being considered would allow the Sports Authority to float a separate bond issue to buy Monmouth Park and the burned-out Garden State Race Track in Cherry Hill. The money would permit the authority to rebuild Garden State and operate a year-round racing circuit that would divide dates among the Meadowlands, Monmouth and Garden State. A firm price tag hasn't been put on the proposal yet, but Hyland said a million figure was "probably low." Harvey I. Wardell, president of Monmouth Park, said any plan involving state takeover of the racetracks would need study and research. "Study has to be given to a long-range solution to the racing problem in the state," Wardell said.

Wardell said the existing bill under which the state's private tracks are operating will expire in December. "To survive (as a private track) it's a matter of the tax structure developed by the Legislature," Wardell said. "Monmouth Park has a tremendous economic impact on the area," Wardell added. He also said there was no racing in the state from January 1 through when Monmouth Park opens in May. Reopening Garden State Race Track would reinstitute the continuous circuit that used to exist, Wardell said.

Wardell added that any decision as to whether to allow the state to take over the track "would still be up to the board of directors." Monmouth Park operated at a deficit in 1978, with a net loss of $29,175. Two of the reasons for the loss were decreased attendance and increased costs. For example, in 1971, the last Sklay meeting, income from admissions totaled $2,254,795. The pari-mutuel commissions, an amount retained by the track under the state-mandated formula of the total amount bet at the track, were $4,555,033. In 1977, the last year a profit was shown, admissions earned $2,128,971 in a 92-day season and pari-mutuel commissions $737,933.

But over the same period increases in operating costs plus the expense of operating for the extra 32 days had ballooned total expenses from $6,603,166 in 1971, to $11,244,789 in 1977. "We haven't decided yet about Atlantic City," said Hyland, referring to the Atlantic City Race Course, which has operated at a deficit for several years. A proposal including Atlantic City would make Freehold Raceway the only private track in the state. Hyland claimed the advantage to state ownership of the tracks would be to enable a more competitive force against out-of-state tracks. See J.

SPORTS AUTHORITY Page A9 mph tonight. Yesterday's high was 72. Ocean water temperatures are around 70. Page A7 STRIKING FACULTY and administration officials at Monmouth College are scheduled to resume negotiations Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Faculty Association. A4 REGIONAL HEALTH planners tomorrow will consider proposed changes in a study of hospital bed needs that has brought protests from nearly every hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

AS A MAJORITY of teen-agers will find it more difficult to walk into a neighborhood package goods store and buy a six pack of beer or a bottle of liquor. Gov. Byrne Is expected to sign a series of bills into law that will raise the drinking age to 19. A6 A FEDERAL DRUG enforcement official called for new diplomatic steps to wipe out drug crops, particularly in Latin America and the Mideast A12 PRESIDENT CARTER still trails Ronald Reagan by 50-45 percent as the presidential choice of Americans, according to the latest ABC News-Harris Survey. But if Sen.

Edward Kennedy were the Democratic candidate for president in 1980, voters would prefer him to Reagan by 58-39 percent. B9 HOW MUCH value would a value-added tax have for Americans? A question-and-answer profile provides some insight into the i' i 4 A -1 Jason C. GroKsman Asbury Park Press Bishop Silas honors Robert Kirshy after youth retrieved cross from ocean yesterday. Looking on are James Panas (left), Asbury Park, and Ted Demetrious, Chatham, president, Council of Greek Orthodox Churches of New Jersey. Low Voter Turnout Spurs State Media Drive By BOB DE SANDO Press Staff Writer TRENTON If history is any precedent, about 40 percent of those eligible to vote in New Jersey, or about two million citizens out of a possible five million, will go to the polls Nov.

6. The turnout could be even tower since the voter registration drive. Registration forms will be deposited at an array of public places including post offices, lottery agents, motor vehicle agencies and state unemployment offices. A special effort will be made to register high school students. State officials hope the campaign will make a difference, but they know it will only make a dent in the problem.

If there is a permanent solution to voter apathy and political indifference, officials acknowledge they have yet to find it. New Jersey has tried to attack the problem before, with mixed results. Counties and municipalities have been directed to offer evening registration programs for those who must work during the day. Municipalities which have more than 12,000 people may conduct mobile registration drives. New Jersey is one of the few states to have instituted a mail registration program.

It has reduced the closing date for registration prior to an election from 40 to 29 days. This year the last day to register to vote is Oct. 9. Two years ago, the state instituted a special registration drive. Mail registration forms were distributed at supermarkets, shopping malls, colleges, factories, special events, public buildings and run in newspapers.

See LOW VOTER TURNOUT Page A9 ess has undergone a steady decline since 1960, when 71.4 percent of those who could vote cast ballots. Only 39.3 percent entered the voting booth last November. The only lower turnout for a general election (39.1 percent) was recorded in 1975, the last time the ballot was dominated by an Assembly race. State officials are concerned by the rise in voter apathy because it has had disturbing results. For instance, last year 197 municipal elections were decided by less than 10 votes, 74 by 25 votes or less and 15 by five votes or less.

In four municipalities a single vote made the difference. Freeholder elections in six counties were decided by less than 1.3 percent of the total vote cast. In a bid to rekindle public interest in the electoral system, New Jersey has launched an ambitious media campaign. The Department of State has coined a slogan Speak Up New Jersey: Register and Vote? which will be displayed on bumper stickers, banners and billboards. Plans call for state officials, perhaps even sports, entertainment and political personalities, to tape radio and television com- mercials urging residents to register and vote.

Gov. Byrne will proclaim the week of Sept. 26 to Oct. 3 Voter Registration Week. It will coincide with a massive, non-partisan only statewide contest 1 1 this year is the race for the Assembly traditionally a poor A Press Special drawing card.

According to virtu-1 proposal. oil WHEN SHOULD a federal Judge quit a club that discriminates. That question is expected to spill onto the floor of the Senate this week. D9 Business PRESSURE COOKERS have been part of the American kitchen scene for more than a generation, but energy-conscious homemakers now find these utensils not only save time but cut the amount of gas or electricity required to prepare foods. B19 THE CONTENTS of the homes of hundreds of thousands of Americans (if not the homes themselves) have been destroyed In recent months by hurricanes, uncontrollable fires, floods and storms.

Sylvia Porter reports their owners did not have enough personal property Insurance to offset the losses of their precious possessions. B19 Panorama BLACK ENGLISH is a dialect spoken In many American homes, and it has helped keep many black Americans from getting ahead. Now there's a movement to overcome that. Bl SPERM is frozen and stored in a place called the Washington Fertility Study Center, but don't call it a Bperm bank. B5 ally all Indicators, the level of participation of New Jersey citizens in the electoral proc- Homemade Balloon Goes 12 Miles $500 Reward Offered As Threats Continue Eight Germans Drift to West NAILA, West Germany Four children and four adults bet their lives on a hot air balloon made of nylon and bedsheets and drifted through the darkness of East Germany, hitung the jackpot freedom across the border in West Germany.

Peter Strelzek, an airplane mechanic who designed the escape Berlin rid ma! loniiun rrBuiuv jiutunu QLRMAn I burning, Kirby said. The car was parked in the driveway, only a few feet from the bedroom of Harnett's house at 1122 Jeffrey police said. Someone poured a combustible material on the car and lighted it. The fire was so hot, it damaged the front of Hart-nett's house. "If the gas tank had exploded, the whole house could have gone up and there would have been considerable danger to life and property," said Kirby.

The fireboming happened about 4:50 a.m. and Harnett was sleeping in the bedroom near the blaze. Kirby said the reward is being offered by anonymous donors through the police department. He said anyone with information should call police headquarters and he promised all information would be kept confidential. He and Detective Sgt.

William Lucia are investigating. OCEAN TOWNSHIP Anonymous donors have offered a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for the burning of a car owned by the vice principal in charge of discipline at Ocean Township High School. Police said the car burning Sept. 9 was only the latest in a series of incidents that have plagued James Hartnett, the vice principal And Detective Robert Kirby said authorities believe the vandals might be students unhappy with Hartnett at school. Since Harnett took the job four years ago.

he has been annoyed by threatening telephone calls and letters and the windows on his car have been broken at least once, said Kirby. The problem stopped when Hart-nett's disciplinary duties were transferred and it resumed when discipline again became his responsibility last spring. The most serious incident was the car Sports 7.i!:l"LI0 imtuoa lurrr craft, told reporters yesterday the 12-mile, 20-30 minute flight was his second attempt to escape by balloon from his communist-ruled homeland. "It was no longer possible for us to lie to our children and put up with the political conditions in East Germany," he said. He, his wife and two children, along with stonemason Andreas Wetzel, his wife and their two children, got onto a gondola made of an iron plate.

Gas burners were fired, filling the handsewn envelop with hot air at a field near Loben-stein and the balloon rose aloft. Borne toward the south by a good breeze, the refugees flew over the "death strip" border and put down in this Bavarian town, far from the border's electrified fences and minefields. It was be RICHARD TODD softened Detroit's defense with long passes to Wesley Walker and Kevin Long scored three touchdowns as the New York Jets defeated the Lions, 31-10, for their first win of the season. Dl RON JAWORSKI threw for 181 yards and a touchdown and Tony Franklin kicked four field goals as the Philadelphia Eagles rolled over the New Orleans Saints, 26-14. Dl GERMANY VV (eg YU.OSUM Met 5f IVi till i if fJ--m I ii i mim.V.i iHiiiii i mm ii ill ii.iiMiriiiii im' iillfflH Vn'if Wi .17 .17 Itrtfcs Employees of Midland Glass Fear New Wave of Layoffs Irido, hmtWi Gwdo.118 JackOlriaa Mm Gaitar Jayca KMMaY.l1 Lost aid ronad-PIS Marfan! DaM 17 flftavia TlaMftMN.

12 OUlMifiwMM.Af Fhimii 1 114 aaala CU IwsImss 110-11 a iwu a CWiittdCl-D10 Ckl 11 1 Oat fr. Stcincrehi 17 Mltoriab Aia faanjy SavwtAS Paula 1 .14 Saaf Omiw .11 Start DM SvMaPartar.llO TaUvitJaa IraaUaSiwatar.110 WmtW A7 ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP Employees at Midland Glass Co. fear another 50 workers will be laid off today. They also say 50 workers were laid off Friday, in addition to 120 employees laid off two weeks ago. However, company officials could not be reached for comment and Francs X.

Jour-nick, the company's lawyer, could not confirm the action. "I am not aware of it," Journk-k said, "and ordinarily (the company) does not communicate those things to me." Midland, which manufactures glass bottles for beer and soft drinks, two weeks ago shut down four glass-making machines and laid off more than 120 employees indefinitely. The layoffs were attributed to slower than usual beer and soda sales. But employees maintain they were told the layoffs resulted from a state Department lieved to be the first time refugees had used a balloon to cross the border. During the flight, the children rode in the middle of the 18-square-foot iron plate, and were huddled around bottles of gas used to fuel the fire that heated air in the balloon.

The adults rode on four iron rods projecting laterally from the plate, each grabbing onto inch-thick ropes attaching the gondola to the balloon. Strelzek said he designed the balloon using principles he learned from his work with airplanes. The escape began about 1:30 a.m., Strelzek told reporters, and the balloon climbed to 8,000 feet in the moonless sky as the breeze pushed it toward freedom. As the balloon came down, it was met by two West German police officers who had raced to the landing site, thinking the floating object might be a UFO. "Are we in the West here?" one of the balloonists reportedly asked.

"We were convinced that we were in the West even before the police officers came because we saw a modern farm machine on the field unlike anything we have," Strelzek told a reporter. He said his first attempt, during the night of July 4, ended 220 yards short of the border, but the balloonists were undetected and they returned home. II Font A10-11 Hants Wvoy 19 History Taaay-A10 kWowoR of Environmental Protection (DEP) order to reduce noise levels. The DEP ordered the company in June to lower noise levels emanating from the plant by November 5. DEP officials, however, say the order could not have necessitated the layoffs.

Seven employees at Midland, including two that have mid-managerial positions, telephoned The Press over the weekend to complain about the layoffs. The employees, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were informed on Friday by a union official of the additional layoffs. John Bailey, president of Local 119 of the Glass Bottle Blowers of America refused to answer phone calls from The Press. Other employees interviewed by phone last night said they heard about the layoffs, but also could not confirm the action. "I've heard rumors, but I was not at work Friday so I do not know how many See EMPLOYEES OF MIDLAND Page A2 Associated Prm Seven of eight East Germans who floated to the West yes-terday in a homemade hot-air balloon gather around gas tanks used to get craft in the air.

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