The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 27

7B Sunday, April 6, 1997 The Greenville News IN KING'S MEMORY Collector shines with antique light bulbs FT it -iv If4 '-fv t. t. I Woman dies in wreck near Pickens PICKENS A 56-year-old Liberty woman died after a Saturday morning accident near Pickens in which the small pickup truck she was driving ran a stop sign and was struck broadside by another vehicle. Pickens County Coroner Mitchell Davis identified the victim as Mary Edmonds of 117 Knoll St. Davis said she was taken to Cannon Memorial Hospital and died of multiple trauma at 10:21 a.m.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Belle Shoals Road and U.S. 178 about a mile from Pickens. Edmunds ran a stop sign and her truck was hit by a car driven by Michelle Lewis, of 121-B N. Catherine Pickens, said Cpl. Steve Sulligan, spokesman for the state Highway Patrol.

The impact of the crash knocked the truck into some trees, Sulligan said. Lewis was treated at Greenville Memorial Hospital and later released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Dale Perry 5 -j -sr. original bulbs were designed and manufactured to last for more than a decade but were energy hogs and relatively expensive, Lambruschi explained. A 100-watt bulb in the 1920s cost 20 cents, compared to a four-pack of bulbs that you can buy today for less than $4.

Lambruschi said the original bulbs were rated in candlepower instead of watts. For example, a light bulb would produce the equivalent of 10 to 20 candles. Some bulb boxes had instructions about the new technology that reminded the consumer the bulbs used electricity and that they should not attempt to light them with "In the early days, people were afraid the bulbs would catch on fire or contained poisonous gases," Lambruschi said. Several of the bulbs in Lambrus-chi's collection came directly out of light sockets in closets of old houses, others from collectors or friends. Among the more unusual in the collection is a blackout bulb that was sold during World War II.

It's painted black, except for a small hole in the end. Lambruschi also has started a collection of items produced by Edison such as windup gramophones with big brass speaker horns. "I guess I have a certain nostalgia for these early electrical lights and appliances," Lambruschi said. "We take light bulbs for granted now, but they really were a technological breakthrough that changed people's lives." By Dan Huntley Knight-Ridder CHARLOTTE When Lou Lambruschi was an electrical engineering student, a professor offered him some old lighting appliances and, well, a light bulb went off in his head. Lambruschi, 38, began a collection of light bulbs.

And now after 20 years of scavenging through old attics and dozens of flea markets, he has a collection of more than 50 incandescent bulbs manufactured from the 1890s to the early 1920s. Most of them still work. "I'd always been interested in electricity and had never really thought about light bulbs themselves," said Lambruschi, who lives in Rock Hill and works for an electronics firm in Charlotte. "But once I got some old bulbs, I really became fascinated with their design and history. I guess that's how most all collectors get started.

They get hooked." Lambruschi explained a bit of the light bulb's history. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the first "practical" household light bulb on Oct. 21, 1879, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ. The first lights were powered by batteries. Edison made light bulbs as a household staple by providing a power plant that provided cheap electricity to households, Lambruschi said.

The first bulbs were made of hand-blown glass, usually with a pointed tip at the top, Lambruschi said. The bulbs were clear and the filaments were made of ground bamboo fibers that had been carbonized. The filament is thin wire that glows when it is heated to 4,500 degrees. The bulbs contain a gas, usually argon and nitrogen, that keeps the filament from burning up. The old bulbs created a vacuum that sometimes would explode.

The ROBERT WILLETT The Associated Press Visitors inspect a 12-ton, black granite monument in the Raleigh garden dedicated to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Friday, in Raleigh, N.C. The new monument, unveiled Friday on the 29th anniversary of King's assassination, is the result of a community effort. Club brews tea, topics and friendship "I think the initial membership, they loved it so, pressed it so, that it just couldn't die." Elma Rogers IFIKIEE HEARING TEST $200 Off New Hearing System Free Check Cleaning On All Aids Free Pack of Batteries (With This Ad Limit One.) i CALL TODAY! I 370-0365 have begun on the Hampton Street Auditorium, including a reshaped stage and new curtains.

"I remember when we bought those red curtains years and years ago. I was teaching at Hampton Street Elementary," said Eleanor Townsend, now in her 70s. The club's youngest member, Wendy Fitzgerald, 36, said it was precisely that old-fashioned environment that inspired her to join. She became a member three years ago after Ms. Townsend invited her to one of the meetings.

"I thought it was such an anachronism that who could resist?" Ms. Fitzgerald said. "They're kind, and I like what they're interested in." Through the years, Tea and Topics has donated money and gifts to the local literacy society, the animal shelter and other causes. There is still a literary presence, though. The group once arranged its programs by the Dewey Decimal System.

Each year, the members would pick a theme like "The Year of the Woman" and have a guest speaker discuss philosophy about that topic (100s on the Dewey Decimal System); the next talk was about religion (200s on the Dewey Decimal System) and so on. Though the group no longer uses this system to schedule programs, the club still has a guest speaker at each meeting. Many of the speakers are local authors, artists and noted citizens. What keeps many of the members around are the many years of friendship and the group's sense of tradition. "My mother was a member.

When I moved back to Walterboro, one of the members asked me if I was interested in joining, and of course I knew most of them because they were all my mother's friends," said Jo Anne Boone, who has been coming to the meetings since 1980. "I was the youngest member at the time," Ms. Boone said. "I stayed a member all these years because the topics are very interesting and I always learned something. And I've always enjoyed the group." By Lisa Hofbauer The Associated Press WALTERBORO It is the second Wednesday of the month, and the Tea and Topics Literary Club meeting has just come to order.

Eleven women are sipping iced tea and nibbling on cake in member Candi Hawkins' parlor repeating a ritual that has existed since 1938. That was the year 15 other women, not so different from the current members, decided to start a literary-minded group that would dedicate itself to the cultural enrichment of its members and the community. Their legacy has been a lasting one. Tea and Topics is the oldest group of its kind in the area and one of the few remaining old-fashioned women's clubs. "I think the initial membership, they loved it so, pressed it so, that it just couldn't die," said Elma Rogers, 86.

"They inspired the rest of us as we came down the line." Ms. Rogers was a high school friend of the original members of the group. She has been coming to sun? nmsm Finding a cash buyer for sporting goods equipment is easy when you advertise in Classified. the monthly meetings for more than 20 years and is the oldest active member. Three of the club's founders are still honorary members.

Mary Nic-oll, 88, still attends' some of the meetings with her daughter, Mary Ann Burtt. There aren't many modern changes to which" Ms. Nicoll must adjust. Members still are listed by their formal married names, and the conversations most likely haven't changed much either. One member mentions to the group that there will be a bake sale at the hospital to benefit the American Heart Association.

Another brings news of a new member who is home sick with a cold. A third informs the group that renovations mlfirTTfTfTi ri rn in I 3 1 13 13 31 If :3 '3 3 0 Weather officials say cuts imperil public Hill' 3 3 3 3 7 I SSL 'Hi I' I3! (1 3 urn mm S3 '3 13 In February, three Coast Guard crew members lost their lives while trying to rescue two people on a sinking sailboat off the coast of Washington state. Seas were twice as high as forecast, and "one of our buoys was nearby, but had been inoperative for weeks due to lack of maintenance," the memo said. A month earlier, Florida vegetable and fruit growers were hit by a surprise freeze that caused about $300 million in crop losses. The memo called the freeze a reminder of what can happen when weather staff "are over-stretched and crucial information about local conditions is no longer available." A NOAA official said the two examples were not.

directly related to the Weather Service's budget woes. Repair crews had not been able to reach the malfunctioning buoy for two weeks because of high winds and seas, the official said. As for the crop loss, the official said, "We blew the forecast. Sometimes it happens." ganization, the union that represents federal meteorologists and technicians. The Clinton administration acknowledged the budget cuts approved by Congress last year were painful but rejected the contention that public safety has been imperiled.

"Absolutely not," said D. James Baker, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), when asked if public safety could be harmed. "We have given the Weather Service guidelines on how to take the reductions no reduction in warning capability and to not jeopardize public safety." Elbert W. Friday the top Weather Service official, said no employees would be laid off at the service's 119 forecast offices across the nation that warn of impending thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods. But in their memo four of Friday's deputies said they were "shaken" by two incidents that touched on Weather Service operations.

By Stephen Barr The Washington Post WASHINGTON Uneasy about a $40 million budget shortfall at the National Weather Service, four senior weather officials and an outside group have charged that the spending cuts increase the risk that the public may not get timely warnings about storms and other weather hazards. The service's plan to cut up to 200 staff jobs and scale back operations could lead to "potentially tragic the American Meteorological Society said in a letter signed by 26 of the group's past presidents. The letter followed a similar protest by the four top weather officials who cautioned that "hazardous weather-related events may go undetected or unpredicted." The internal memo was obtained and released by the National Weather Service Employees Or ifipt'SKffitli nun 13 3 3 3 1 I Since I 3 3 3 3 GOP pledges to rekindle Reagan's conservatism Since 1872 we have served area families. Today, our funeral homes take advantage of our strengths and resources to offer the best service possible. Our focus remains on serving one family at a time with care and understanding.

V-ii if former California Gov. and President Ronald Reagan, and pledged to rekindle his brand of conservatism. "Ronald Reagan believed in something," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. "How much we need that today." It was the second time in three weeks Thompson has made a public appearance in Southern California.

identity crisis," Jon Fleischman, president of the California Republican Assembly, told attendees at the group's annual convention. In an open letter, he called on the activists to "nominate articulate, conservative Republicans who will boldly contrast the failed ideas of liberalism with the successful conservative principles of freedom, free enterprise, faith and family." The party leaders paid homage to their hero, By Scott Lindlaw The Associated Press ONTARIO, Calif. Exactly five months after Bob Dole went down to defeat and the GOP lost control of the state Assembly, conservative Republicans pondered Saturday how to right a party many said has gone adrift. "It is clear that our party is suffering a major (oil mm ACKEY Funerd Service a i au my sisters, Essie W. Sellers and Ruth W.

Henry, both of Greenville, and Leola W. Seymour of Toccoa, and three brothers, Frank Walker of Piedmont, Leonard Walker of Toccoa, and Woodrow "Woody" Walker of Rayford, N.C. Memorials may be made to Forestville Baptist Church, Building Fund, 2 Old McElhaney Road, Greenville, S.C. 29617. Services: 3 p.m.

Monday at Forestville Baptist Church with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation: 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday at The Howze Mortuary in Travelers Rest. Born in Toccoa, he was a son of the late Young and Alpha Dodd Walker. He was retired owner and operator of Early Bird's Barber Shop and a member of Forestville Baptist Church where he was a member of the Senior Citizens 50 and Older Group.

He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving with the 605th Ordinance Battalion in the European Theater. Surviving are his wife, Decie Henderson Walker of the home; a son and daughter-in-law, Wayne David and Susan Henson of Greenville; one granddaughter, Amanda Henson; one grandson, Matthew Henson; three I Gray Court; two stepsons, Keith Fuller of Miami, and Danny Tucker of Wildomar, a sister, Jessie Linder of Greenville; sue grandchildren; nine stepgrandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Graveside services: 11:30 a.m. Monday in Greenville Memorial Gardens.

Visitation: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Downtown. James Earl Walker, Greenville James Earl "Early Bird" Walker, 87, of 115 Old McElhaney Road, died April 5, 1997, at his home. Essie Tucker, Greenville Essie Allen Fuller Tucker, 72, of 32 Allen died April 5, 1997, at Greenville Memorial Medical Center following a brief illness. She retired from J.P.

Stevens Dunean plant, and was a member of Dunean United Methodist Church. Surviving are her first husband, William E. Fuller; two daughters, Doris Traynham of Greenville and Judy Ellsworth of Jacksonville, two sons, Wayne Fuller of Greenville and Tommy Fuller of Simpsonville; two stepdaughters, Patsy Hancock of Kershaw and Pam Pennington of f- The Maclccy Mortuary 311 Century Drive. Greenville, SC Jones Maclcey Funeral Home 1004 AuguiM Street, Greenville, SC Cannon Funeral Home 207 South Main Fountain Inn, SC Cannon Funeral Home Jones ChaJel 603 Wen Curtis Simpaonville, SC 864-232-6706.