The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page 62

Middle Atlantic Region Page 6b Thursday, January 6, 2000 The Sun in Carroll lillS siftage shrine, sold. F. mil -4l. u. iihii i.uii., i 'ft.

'S, ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Joan K. Olmstead, who put the house on the market in May. "I think the house is in good hands with the Trust for Public Land," Mrs. Olmstead said after the auction. The auction was set when a purchase contract for the Hunt House could not be fulfilled by Mary Church, a technical writer and editor for an environmental consulting firm in Rochester, who had wanted to buy the house with her husband, Stephen.

The purchase was contingent on the sale of the Churches' own home in Bloom-field, N.Y., and they were unable to complete the deal. The Olmsteads were then free to accept competing offers. Since the creation of the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, in 1980, the Park Rprvirp has fnvptH thp Hunt. break at his bookbinding shop in Wilmington, Del Stansell, with the patience of a craftsman in search of Robin Williams and the federal classics and family Bibles and restored items for Longwood Gardens, actor craftsman awes ooksn ewlzte Vt I .11 Bookbinder: Ed Stansell takes a i perfection, has repaired hundreds of Drug Enforcement Administration. Business: Bookbinder'n wailing lint is about a pear long.

By Beth Miller ASSOCIATED PRESS Del. Ed Stansell and his mom were sitting talkiing, perhaps reminiscing about their decades of work together in the bookbinding business Jois dad started, when they discovered each other's secret. ,,1 When Arnold Stansell died in '1959, Ed and his mother decided to keep the business going, but for different reasons. He kept it going for her sake. She kept it going for this.

And neither one told the other until that conversation in 1970. He has made his mom proud becoming one of the premier bookbinders on Delaware's short list of those who practice the craft. His daughter, Claudine Strag, is on that list, too, using what she Jeatrned from dad to build her Steney Brook Studio. "The restoration of old books requires more patience than many folks have these days, and that includes the craftsmen and their customers. Stansell's waiting list is about a year long, the time it takes him to restore about 150 books.

"People get on us about how long it takes," he said, "but the Del tattere 'y Buildingwas site of planning for women's rigjits convention By Glenn Collins NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE WATERLOO, N.Y. Ending months of uncertainty over the fate of a historic property that was central to the movement for women's rights in the United States, a nonprofit organization acquired the Hunt House in Waterloo, N.Y., at auction recently, pledging to restore it and donate it to the National Park Service. In a spirited 40-minute telephone battle among five bidders, the 1829 house was sold for $231,000 $91,100 above the asking price. The winner was the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation organization. Site of 1848 tea party Historians say the three-story Federal-style house was the site of a tea party on July 9, 1848, at which a group of women organized a women's rights convention in nearby Seneca Falls.

That convention sparked the national mass movement that ultimately led to the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The seven-room house, which had not been made available for sale for 55 years, had been avidly sought by private buyers as well as by public-spirited groups. The house was pictured recently in a Ken Burns public-television documentary, "Not for Ourselves Alone," about the women's rights movement. "We were right up against our maximum bid," said Erik Kulle-seid, the New York state director of the Trust for Public Land, "and my concern was that someone would outbid us." He said that 50 percent of the bid money came from the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, which will work with the Park Service in the restoration. 'It's a trophy house' "It's a trophy house," said Sen.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York Democrat, "and I was fearful that someone might buy it just to have it. The house deserves this happy news, the Park Service deserves it, and New Yorkers deserve it." Last August the senator introduced legislation, which is still pending, authorizing the Park Service to purchase the Hunt House. Josie Fernandez, Park Service superintendent of the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, which will manage the Hunt property, said: "This is a wonderful gift for the nation. As soon as someone hands us a key, we'd like to welcome America to its house." The 5.7-acre park, which includes the site of the Seneca Falls convention, the Elizabeth Cady Santon House and other landmarks, was created in 1980 to celebrate women's history. The auction, which began at $205,000, was conducted by Greg Peet of Patchen Real Estate in Waterloo, representing the retired owners of the Hunt House and its 2.5-acre property, Thomas H.

and Tools of the craft: A skiving knife and a bone folder, pictured in Ed Stancell's workshop, are two of the tools used in the bookbinder's craft. House. The owners of the Hunt House, wanted to sell now because Mr. Olmstead is ill, said Mrs. Olmstead, 67.

Her father purchased the Hunt House in 1944. She grew up there, left the house to marry, then moved back with her husband in 1976. Seeking appreciative buyer "We want to sell the house to someone who appreciates it," she said. That said, the seven-room house, built in the Federal style in 1829, has been on the market since May, and fewer than a dozen serious offers have been made for it. Part of the reason may be that if its exterior seems appropriately historic, the interior has been given a fully carpeted, suburban look.

The Olmsteads had accepted an offer from Mrs. Church, a technical writer and editor for an environmental consulting firm in Rochester. Mrs. Church and her husband, Stephen, made their offer at a figure "close to the asking price," said Gregory W. Peet, the Olmsteads' real estate agent in Waterloo.

But throngs of visitors led by park rangers could not traipse through the house. Mrs. Church wants to live in it with her husband and their eight children, ages 5 to 21. "I would love to grow old there," she said. But Mrs.

Church could not complete the deal until she sold her own house in Bloomfield, N.Y. "I would be honored to live in a house that has such historic value," said Mrs. Church, 47, who once owned a landmark 1852 Victorian in Lima, N.Y., and was on the board of Lima's historical society. Mrs. Church added that she and her husband would do what they could to restore the Hunt House.

"We hope to secure the Hunt House so that the Park Service can purchase it in the next appropriation cycle," said Dene Lee, a project manager for the Trust for Public Lands, a national organization that has bought dozens of properties for the Park Service. Olmstead, 69, insisted that any idea of making the house into a museum "is up to whoever buys it," adding, "The Park Service never expressed an interest." Fernandez, superintendent of the Women's Rights National Historical Park, said she was not authorized to talk to the Olmsteads. The terms of the original act that created the park forbid it, she said. book is not paying me a nickel as long as it's sitting here. If it's going to take me longer than I thought to do the job right, do they want me to get it done or get it done right?" The definition of "right," of course, is debatable.

Stansell, by many accounts, is a perfectionist. He doesn't want to let a book go until it's as close to perfect as possible. In the early years, when Stansell was learning and perfecting his craft, he would turn to his wife of 37 Tooth decay targeted in North Carolina Appalachians far gone to be salvaged. "He was able to reproduce the original binding even the gold stamping was the same kind of type used," Cook said. His customers may never know what their treasures have cost Stansell, though.

"You can't say, 'Mr. Jones, I know I said $200, but really it should be $2,000 for the headache it's With some books, I wonder, 'Why did I ever want to be a Stansell said. Stansell has repaired hundreds of classics and family Bibles for such diverse interests as Long-wood Gardens, Hagley Museum, the American Camellia Society, fire companies, small towns even actor Robin Williams. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration hired him to crack a smuggling case.

Agents thought drugs might be packed into a book's cover. Stansell took the book apart and, sure enough, cocaine was inside. Then, as directed, he rebound the book, packing it with cornstarch instead of the drug. "The DEA man told me I could make a fortune in Colombia," he said. Stansell hopes to move south soon to the Carolinas.

He'll have more space for his more than 3,000 books and maybe more time for a relaxing retirement. Or, maybe not. "He wants to retire and restore his own books," Sandy said. Idea for the program. He said treatment will be offered to children brought in for medical checkups.

Organizers know of no other program like it in the United States. The program's goal is to give high-risk children dental care at an age when it can do the most good. Normally, Bawden said, most of the children wouldn't see a dentist until they were as old as 6 or 7. By then, tooth decay often is too firmly entrenched, he said. "By age 2 or 3, most of these children have suffered considerable pain and often have swelling and fever from dental infections," Bawden said.

"They have several teeth that need to be extracted and require extensive treatment to retain the rest of their teeth." With Blake sprawled across the lap of his mother, Renee Martin, Jones dried the boy's teeth with white gauze and then applied a coat. "All done!" Jones said, surprised at the ease of the procedure. As Mrs. Martin sat Blake up in her lap, the other nurses broke into applause. Moments later, Blake's 3-year-old brother, Cory, underwent the same treatment.

After the yellow varnish dries, the teeth have a dull appearance, which lasts for about a day. Dentists recommend repeating the process every six months to restore the outer, fluoride-rich layer of tooth enamel. While the pilot program target just the 1 1 counties, funding Is being sought to expand the effort to all 100 counties in the state. -yj jr- t-- --f years, Sandy, to spot the flaws that were tormenting him. The reviews have changed a lot since then.

"He can bring me a book today and sometimes I can't even tell what he's done," she said. Dr. Steven P. Cook wasn't sure what to expect when he brought some of his antique medical books to Stansell. He had found some treasures when the College of Physicians in Philadelphia sold its old books in the early 1980s, but feared some of the books were too western North Carolina counties.

"(They see the kids with the bombed-out mouths," said Robert Leddy, regional dental health supervisor with the state Department of Health and Human Services, who attended the training session. "This gives us huge access," said James W. Bawden, the former University of North Carolina dental school dean who came up with the Fluoride varnish, ii dental technique used in Europe, is tried 'u ri SVPaul Nowell associated press SPINDALE, N.C. Nine-month-old Blake Hardin's face brightened in a big, toothy smile, his teeth freshly painted with protective fluoride varnish. The nurses cheered.

It was another tiny victory in a new war on tooth decay in Ap-palachia, one of the nation's poorest regions, using a dental technique employed in Europe for more than a quarter century. A dozen pediatric nurses watched Blake's four tiny teeth get painted with a small yellow brush during the training session at the Rutherford County Health Department. rwe see a lot of bad mouths," said registered nurse Deborah Gregg as she watched colleague Charlene Jones work on Blake. "I just hate to see these little ones in so much pain." jo In Appalachia, as many as one in every four young children still suffers from severe tooth decay. There are myriad reasons: Some rural water systems lack fluoride, many children drink unfluoridated private well water, infants sometimes use nursing bottles too long.

In addition, children have poor diets and inadequate oral hygiene. 'The antidote, officials hope, is PL 'r ASSOCIATED PRESS Open wide: Alicia Bowers, a nurse with the Rutherford County Health Department, paints the teeth of 3-year-old Cory Hardin with a protective fluoride varnish in Spindale, N.C. I Li J3 1 1 I I i Smart Smiles, a three-year program funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission and just getting under way. With pediatric dentists in short supply in North Carolina's mountains, program organizers decided to turn to pediatricians and their nurses. After receiving basic training in the simple procedure, they will be painting the teeth of hundreds of children under age 5 in 1 1 ASSOCIATED PRESS Hunt House: The Hunt House in Waterloo, N.Y., brought $231,000 at auction.

The Federal-style, three-story, seven-room house was built in 1829 for industrialist Richard P. Hunt and his wife, Jane..