Daily News from New York, New York • 73

fi, Brmot (Hapio Ims gooffod again -v 14 III ur i 1 I I -4 1 Y- 4 i Right about now, Bruce Capnto may be wishing he'd never even heard of the U.S. Senate, never mind running for it Little things keep happening to Cousin Brucie. And we don't mean his celebrated nonhitch in the Army or his "misspoken" lieutenancy or his "with distinction" masters degree that turned out to be not quite as distinguished as first stated. Caputo's early supporters are beginning to worry: for instance, Frank C. Johnson, a long-standing political operative from Staten Island, where he's widely known in Republican circles.

Alas, it seems that one of the few places where Johnson isn't well known is in the Caputo camp. When Bruce first announced his candidacy, Johnson sent him a $100 check. "Three weeks passed, and nothing, not even a word of thanks, came in the mails," Johnson said yesterday. Then out of the blue comes a letter from the Caputo organization asking Johnson for financial help. That did it Johnson sent off an angry letter to Brace's kind of an organization are you running?" wrote Johnson.

"I sent a contribution weeks ago, and you didn't even have the courtesy to acknowledge it" On Feb. 22 Caputo himself wrote Johnson: "Please forgive the apparent oversight When you begin a campaign, things don't always work the way you intend. I have hired a full-time campaign manager and have pu together a professional campaign organization. I'm sure we will make less mistakes." Of course, there've been a few. But what really has Johnson steaming is this.

The letter starts off with "Dear Frank." But in the third paragraph, Caputo calls him "Peter." i it ii 'if Mji im" i with nuaaf Didn't proof read tetter. Caputo -4 By PHIL ROURA and TOM POSTER Burton flics ctf, tut tclfe Lis 'i lovo you' Britons breathed a collective sigh of relief. Richard Burton left London and Elizabeth Taylor, yesterday, flying off to Vienna to complete a film and allowing the world to once again return to normal. But in Dickie's wake, the rumors continued to fly that he and Liz, whom he has married twice and divorced twice, will' soon be trying life together for the third time. This, despite Burton's insistence: "Elizabeth and I will never remarry.

It's not going to happen." It was, indeed, quite a time for the celebrated lovers. He had swooned all over her at ker 50th birthday party. They had danced together. They had drunk together. And they had spent hours together in her rented flat And through it all.

Burton steadfastly maintained that he loved both Taylor and his estranged mtoui, Susan Hunt. "(Elizabeth) will always be a part of mm, and I will always be a part of her," he said. For her part, Taylor also stated that she and Dick would always remain friends but never again walk down the aisle together. Yet she added fuel to the fire when she unexpectedly showed up at a theater where Burton was reciting a Dylan Thomas poem. "R'wyn dy gam di," she yelled to him.

That means "I love you" in Welsh. "Say it again, my petal," Burton shouted back. "Say it louder." Liz complied, and at the end of the reading, the kissed him on the cheek. And so, the lovers have parted. For the moment.

Though their respective agents insist that Burton won't be going to the opening of Liz' "The Little Foxes" on March 11 (these are the same folks who denied our Feb. 22 item that the two would get together in London), he will be there. As he said before boarding the plane to Austria: tut "2, if" x-V -V iiowtom I went to help tndimns "The benefit will be on Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington. It will be the biggest gathering of Indians ever, other thin at the Little Big Horn." Wayne Newton was enthusiastic. And when Wayne Newton gets enthusiastic, watch out "It's a charity affair to raise money for 39 Indian nations across the country," Newton told the People Page.

He was taking time out from filming a TV special at the Copacabana, where he started in '63. "Everybody will be there," the star promised. "As you know, Indians have been given the short shrift for years. They need our help. And I want to help, especially the youngsters.

I want to establish scholarships for them." Newton said he first became interested in the plight of the Indians when he was still in grade school. He recalled going to the St John Indian Mission near Phoenix in 1955 and becoming concerned with the lives they were forced to lead. But the interest goes much deeper than that "My mother was three quarters Cherokee," he said. "She came from the Powhatan Tribe. That's the same tribe that Pocahontas belonged to.

Yes, I'm a direct descendant of hers. "My father was half Indian and half Irish. Some combination, huh?" if "I love the woman." 4 "wr stay out of Gore Vidal's way these days. If you don't, you may get stampeded as the veteran author whirlwinds across the United States promoting his book "Creation" on talk shows before March 18 rolls around. What's so significant about the 16th? That happens to be the deadline for candidates to declare themselves for the U.S.

Senate in California. (Gore is definitely interested in running.) After that date, the "equal time" rule will apply and should Vidal throw his hat in the ring broadcasters will be forced to invite Vidal's political opponents to appear on shows that include him. PAT CARROU. DMLY NEWS Wayne chats with Mclrrtyre Dixon who plays a bum In TV special. More and thcro 7-' 4- A Liza MinnellL Jason Robards, Joseph Papp, Celeste Holm and Alexander Cohen were among the celebs who marched on W.

45th St yesterday and circulated petitions in a last-ditch attempt to save the Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters. The theaters are scheduled to come down to allow the Portman Hotel to rise above the Times Square area. The petition was sent to Mayor Koch, pleading with him to halt the demolition. There were a lot of proud pops in the appellate court yesterday as Justice Theodore Kupferman swore In 100 lawyers. But none beamed brighter than Rep.

Mario BiaggI (D-Bronx), who watched son Richard, 32, take the oath. If you had an applause meter at the recent Conservative Caucus Dinner in Washington, the biggest hands would probably have gone, in order, to Interior Secretary James Watt, UN Ambassador Jeane Klrkpatrlck, Sen. Jesse Helms and Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, reports a spy. That is, of course, besides President Reagan, who was interruped 25 times during his speech. j-i 5 V' fmil arii fi -iii mmm ill' -Jii' tivii i JACK tmTH OaZXhZ Alex Cohen Joe Papp chat with reporters as Liza Minnelli Celeste Holm Hsten.

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