Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • Page 1

Windy, cold I'arlly cloudy thru Tuesday. Chance of a few snow flurries. Windy and cold. Highs both days in the leens. Lows tonight 5 above to 5 below zero.

Sunset 5:04, sunrise 7:09. 1 Beiminfftoa Bennington, Vermont Monday, January 31, 1977 aimer Weekly founded 1841, Daily 1903 20 Cents Supplied from New York Propane shortage now faces area plants By ROB WOOLMINGTON Vermont's heavy reliance on oil heating has saved it from the natural gas crisis which has stricken much of the Northeast, but several large Bennington employers are facing a critical shortage of propane. If Bennington Potters is not supplied with gas by tonight it will have to shut down, according to Plant Manager Joe Ehrlich. Stanley Tool's Eagle Square plant in Shaftsbury relies on propane for essential parts of production, and if the current shortage is not relieved in eight days, more than 100 employes may have to be laid off. Stanley Plant Manager Paul J.

DeConinck said this morning that the firm has already cut propane consumption by Brattleboro's Carnahan heads Vt. Democrats MONTPELIER (UPI) Brattleboro attorney John Carnahan has been elected the new chairman of the Democratic State Committee in a contest that may have been partially determined by geography. Carnahan defeated Burlington Democratic Chairman Arie Rothenberg Sunday by a 20-7 vote. Two other candidates, Robert Hundley of Johnson and John Phillips of Bennington, both withdrew from the race and threw their support to Carnahan. Hundley said he felt he was "compatible" with Carnahan and said he wanted the party's leadership to be "spread around." Phillips said he withdrew because his "votes didn't show up." He said he preferred Carnahan to Rothenberg because, "I don't think he could do the job." Before the election, Rothenberg said he felt it was a disadvantage to be from Chittenden County, the state's Democratic stronghold.

"Some people seem to think geography is an issue. I couldn't give you an answer why," he said. Rep. Charles Stone, DMontpelier, said he wanted the leadership out of Chittenden County because "It's such a concentration of power." Carnahan, however, said he did not approach the election with a regional attitude. "I would like for people to think of themselves as a statewide party," he said.

Carnahan succeeds Carolyn Adler of Essex Junction and now faces the task of organizing the party and paying its $26,500 debt Mrs. Adler announced her resignation shortly after the general election in November. Emergency gas bill top priority WASHINGTON (UPI) Congress hopes to send an emergency natural gas bill to President Carter before the end of the week if it can stop a drive to tie price decontrol to the measure. Carter's economic stimulus program -which had top priority before winter storms depleted fuel reserves in at least half the nation also gets under way this week, and the House plans another effort to re-create an investigation of the John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations.

The emergency gas bill has top priority. A House subcommittee held hearings and the Senate skipped normal committee procedures to start work on it Friday, but both took the weekend off without completing action. To meet the crisis, Carter asked Congress for temporary authority to order natural gas pipelines to shift supplies into areas where the shortage is worst, and a temporary lifting of price controls to get more unregulated intrastate gas into the hard-hit interstate market. The President said Sunday he was reviewing possible amendments for submission today including giving governors leeway on allocating 5 per cent of UK total at their discretion. This presumably could be used in particularly hard-hit areas or for industries vital to the state's economy.

Cartel- also said he favors future gas decontrol on a four-year trial basis. But Republicans want to end price controls permanently, not just temporarily, and may try to force inclusion of an amendment to that effect. If amendments can be blocked, the bill could dear the Senate and House and go to the President within days. 40 per cent in an attempt to forestall the crisis but the tanks have not been filled since last week and no immediate aid was in sight. Chemical Fabrics Corp.

was forced to lay off seven employes two weeks ago because of the propane shortage. President Warren Cook said this morning that he managed to get additional fuel through another supplier at a higher cost and took the seven workers back. But today the plant was not working at full production capacity because of the paucity of gas. "It's a hand-to-mouth situation," Cook said. And that is how the propane supplier of those four Vermont companies described the situation today.

Leonard Liporace, owner of Blue Flame Gas Service in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., explained, "We don't know from day to day whether we're going to be able to take care of them." Blue Flame is supplied by the Texas Eastern Pipeline which runs through Selkirk, N.Y. According to Liporace, the pipeline's flow has been reduced to 60 per cent of the 1972-73 winter volume. There are also 100 freight cars of propane stuck in the railroad yards in Buffalo, N.Y., said Liporace. Heavy snows there have defied National Guard efforts to free the freight. The situation has become increasingly severe.

Globe Union Inc. in Bennington relies on Blue Flame. Plant Manager James Williams said this morning that the company has been working hard to determine how its supply will hold out. Hoosick Falls's largest employer, the Oak Materials Group, has only enough propane to continue production for the remainder of this week, vice president William McMartin said this morning. Oak's Circuit Materials and Fluorglas Divisions are dependent on propane both as a source of heat and for production.

Circuit Materials and a large portion of See PROPANE on back page At Stratton Mt. Freezing weather and a broken fire hydrant created a curtain of ice on a bridge in Sales Ferry. framing a lone figure scurrying across a snow-covered field. Paper company donates land to help fund U.S. Ski Team By KEN HALL STRATTON The International Paper Co.

has given 1,023 acres of forests and ski trails to the organization which manages the U.S. Ski Team. Income from the Stratton Mountain property will provide an estimated $40,000 to $50,000 each year for the development of competitive skiing. The agreement, announced at a press conference here Sunday, also provides the Stratton Corp. with a secure 99-year lease on the mountain property.

That, according to General Manager Donald Tarinelli, will enable Stratton to start a $3 million development program. Brown 'Mr. Arlington' turns 90 Prosper Deschenes, right, talks with Martin Hirsch. executive i president of the Hale Company in Kast Arlington. Mrs.

Hirsch. mostly hidden, and Mrs. Ronald I'ero (luring an open house for him held Saturday at St. Margaret-Mary's parish house in Arlington. Desehenes' will celebrate his tomorrow.

An article about Desehenes. and his contributions to the town of Arlington, i appear in tomorrow's Ban HIT, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiilt On the inside Local: Storm results in highway mishaps; safety tips for snowmobilers Page 3. Edit: Gerry Raftery talks about Solzhenitsyn as a prophet without honor; the TRB column suggests the $50 lax rebate proposed by Carter could herald a new approach to low- income benefits Page 4. Page op: Safire of The Times on a moral hotline (o Russia; one family's personal tragedy in Vietnam Page 5. County: Shnftsbury Republicans fill slate, but not without some trouble; newcomer replaces Caslln on Dems tickel there; several injured in chairlift accident in Berkshires; fires and rescues in Arlington Pages 6 7.

General: New home design saves energy Page 8. Sports: Patriots beat Hartford, but host team overnight; BBS wins; likewise Panthers and both St. Mary's teams; MAU wrestlers fall to Hoosick Falls; Fidrych named player of year in baseball; UCLA wallops Tennessee -Pages 10 4 11. Entertainment: Freddie Prinze to be buried today Page 12. helps, yet gas crisis worsens F.

Warren Hellman, president of the non-profit U.S. Ski Educational Foundation, said the gift will help solve two of the ski team's major problems: The lack of money, and the lack of continuity in the money that was available. "It takes $1.3 million to adequately fund the programs for our Nordic and Alpine athletes," Hellman said. The income from Stratton is "another significant step toward forming a reliable and continuing base of support," he added. Cindy Nelson, a member of the U.S.

Ski Team, and bronze medal winner in the downhill at the 1976 winter Olympics at Innsbruck, anticipated some concrete results from the donation. "With the talent now on the team, and some good training, we should be able to win in international competition by 1980," she said at the press conference. International Paper Co. estimated that the land was worth $1.5 million. The ski foundation will receive 2.5 per cent of the gross lift-ticket receipts, estimated at $2 million last year by Tarinelli.

Two-thirds of the money will go to the ski team, the remaining third will be shared by the Stratton Mountain School here and the Whiteface Training in Lake Placid, N.Y., the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. The donation was hailed as a "landmark" by Hellman, who said it was the largest gift ever received by the foundation. Frank Snyder, chairman of the Stratton said the money will enable U.S. skiers to compete against "what really are professionals" in Europe. That sentiment was echoed by Hellman, who said, "We're proud of the fact that in the U.S., athletes are not supported by the government, but by the private sector." Plaques will be placed at four major lifts, telling skiers that the land they ski on was donated to provide money for the ski team, officials said.

They also announced Sunday that the International Paper Trophy Race, sponsored by IPC will be held each year at Stratton. In some years, it will be part of the CanAm series, and in others will be included in the World Cup circuit. Under the agreement between the ski foundation and Stratton, a portion of each lift ticket fee will now go directly to programs for developing competitive skiing. Although the new landlord is a nonprofit organization, taxes on the land will still be paid, officials said Sunday. Hellman added that the ski team headquarters will remain in Park City, Utah, and not move cast.

International Paper Co. owns more than 22,000 acres around Stratton Mountain. The area donated to the ski team includes See CTRATTON on back page United Press International Voluntary gas conservation has eased Pennsylvania past a crisis point but serious shortages mean continuing emergencies in other areas, and police in New Jersey are knocking on doors to remind people to lower their thermostats. President Carter says some suburban communities may run out of gas within a week or two if the bitter cold weather continues, and plans should be drawn up to move people to National Guard armories or schools if necessary. A new cold wave doubled gas consumption in Georgia this weekend.

In that state and many other parts of the South, the Midwest and the East, officials have shut down industries and schools so all available gas can go to homes, hospitals and essential stores. A UPI survey of officials in 15 states east of the Rocky Mountains shows unemployment related to the energy shortage could total l.Bmillion to 2million today as plants failed to open on schedule. But Civil Defense officials in Pennsylvania said late Sunday that "very good" voluntary conservation and plant closings had ended the possibility that large parts of the state might run out of gas by early today. "We still have serious problems," said one official. "The gas supply is low.

But we're past the very critical point." Carter called Sunday for sacrifices by ail Americans. "We're all in it together," the President said, touring a shutdown factory in Pittsburgh. "This is the first strong indication of a permanent, serious energy shortage. It's going to get worse instead of better." New Jersey residents faced the nation's toughest conservation order the imposition of a World War II law under which Gov. Brendan Byrne put all businesses on a 40-hour week, ordered home thermostats reduced to 65 degrees by day and 60 by night, and said some private homes may have to be evacuated if citizens fail to comply.

A state police spokesman said troopers, local police and firemen were cruising through communities with loud speakers and knocking on doors to inform the people of the order. Later this week they will make spot checks to make sure residents are complying, he said. Virginia businesses, under a emergency orders from Gov. Mills Godwin, also went on a 40-hour week with violations punishable as a misdemeanor. Radio stations in Virginia were swamped with announcements of new operating hours as stores and plants juggled schedules to comply.

On the West Coast where warm weather has lowered demand and alternate fuels are available for industry -almost 5 billion cubic feet of gas await only a go-ahead from Congress for quick shipment to the East. White House energy chief James Schlesinger said gas consumpion is up about 50 per cent this winter over a year ago. Federal energy officials said there appears to be no villain behind the gas shortage. They said demand has far exceeded the capacity to get gas out of the ground and into the pipelines. Great Lakes squalls today clobbered Sydney heat brings topless sunbathing SYDNEY, Austrialia (UPI) -Scores of Australian women today defied lifeguards on the beaches and sunbathed topless on a balmy Australia Day, the nation's 189th birthday.

Australia's heat wave, which pushed temperatures up to 104.7 degrees Sunday to make it the hottest day in Sydney in 13 years, cooled enough today to drop the reading to a comfortable 77. Women defied beach regulations and discarded their bikini tops to sunbathe on Bondi Beach, four miles from the dty. Hundreds of nude bathers were reported to have flocked to Sydney's two legal nude bathing beaches to cool off on the national public holiday. shoreline communities with paralyzing new snows, another storm dumped up to 8 inches of snow across the South and only slightly moderating cold deepened the energy crisis in the Ohio Valley and the East. An estimated 1.6 million to 2 million workers were idled in industries and businesses forced to shut down because of cold-triggered energy shortages, and there were indications the number would mount this week.

Watertown, N.Y., was having its worst storm in memory. The city east of Lake Ontario got 26 inches of snow in 18 hours and more than 4 feet in 72 hours. Fifty- mile-an-hour winds piled 15-foot drifts and blew the snow so hard that visibility dropped to zero. All cars were ordered off the roads and hundreds of motorists were stranded at motels, restaurants, fire barns and stores in Jefferson and Lewis counties. Near-blizzard snows swirled through Buffalo on 50-mile-anhour winds, cutting visibility to zero at times in 5 degree temperatures.

Hie wenlber pattern that is funneling frigid Arctic air into ihe central and eastern states may make (his the coldest winter of the century in the eastern Iwo-lhirds of the nation. A ridge of high-pressure air over iht- Korky Mountains is diverting warm air toward Alaska, while a low- pressure trough to Ihe east draws in Ihe polar air..