Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 122

Drop hese Lost Keys In a Dead Letter Box By Robert Mayer New York A light snow was falling that February evening but the marquee offered protection from the cab to the door and inside she was waiting in a black dress and pearls jour favorite redhead in the lobby of the Astor Forget it fellows or better still remember it because it will never happen again "Meet me in the lobby of the is dead Hie 62-year-old landmark-hotel a squat bastion of respectability amid the honkv-tonk of Times Square closed its doors for the last time yesterday It will be replaced by a 40-story office building It was purchased last January by a construction company and the site probably will be a social rendezvouz-point no more It will take a brave bachelor to tell his date to "meet me in the lobby of Sam Minskoff and He last guest checked out of the nine-story hotel about 4 PM A man who called up and asked for the reservation desk last night was told by the last switchboard operator not taking reservations The hotel is closed When tire caller asked why the operator paused and seethed and then repeated that "the hotel is in tones of irritation that tolerated during the first 62 jean Throughout the afternoon as the last guests departed occasional passersby on Broadway stepped through the main entrance between 44th and 45th streets for a last walk through the famous lobby Thev clucked funereal was the favorite and then stepped back into the sunlight outside taking their memories with them "It was very said Get-rge Beer the assistant manager on the front desk Beer was earning his last Astor pav-check last night been here eight yean but a comparative he Skid Asked will you do he replied with good cheer "I know Tomorrow will have to wait till Throughout the years there was little that take place at the Astor There weie conventions and political dinners auctions and fashion shows dancing in the Roof Garden and tete-a-tetes in the famous Astor Bar But most of those were for out-of-towners For New Yorkers especially theater-goers it was perhaps the most convenient meeting place in town For many who never set foot upstairs the lobby was part of their lives George Beer looking around the lobby for the last time last night was asked to describe what he saw His reply was not without a certain simple poetry: "It looks like a hotel without any he said AP Photo 62-Year-Old Hotel Astor in Times Square To Be Demolished Sailors Will Barbecue Aweigh the Fourth rolls assorted pastries (three different types of pie and three different types of cake) chilled watermelon iced tea iced coffee and milk As for the troops in Vietnam an Army spokesman in New York said that depending on the tactical situation they will cat either or A rations consists of canned and dehydrated foods such as potatoes vegetables beef and gravy is the field ration of one can of wet and one can of dry food A ration known as the assault ration is high-protein canned food While the Nasy will be maintaining its July Fourth birbccuc tradition its commander in chief Lyndon Johnson is still undecided about where spend the iiolidav or for that matter what be eating "If the First amily goes to the Texas said Mrs Johnson's White House press secretary Elizabeth Carpenter "they will probablv go down to the lake cat fresh-caught catfish corn on tire cob fresh garden vegetables green lxans black-eyed peas that wctc preserved ljst fall corn bread and peach cobbler for And during their stay in the Southwest Mrs Carpenter said they will probably eat a typical Mexican meal of enchiladas tacos tamales and beans But these menus are not traditional to the holiday rather to the ranch visits at this time of year the press secretary added is Russell Atkinson of Stony Brook a cookbook collector recalls one eating tradition on long Island: "I know that July Fourth has been traditionally watermelon-eating the said "And we have our clambakes too but then we have them all summer long as By Barbara Rader Hie Navy contrary to what ex-Navy men believe is not all chipped beef on toast and bean soup Rather this July Fourth weekend some of the boys in blue will be feasting on barbecued spareribs hamburgers potato salad ice cream and lemonade as if they never left home And the whole idea of the barbecue menu according to the department of Navy in Washington That agency has issued suggested barbecue menus to its worldwide installations whether they be earners destroyers submarines or land bases to stage home-style barbecues for the sailors on Independence Day "Hie Navy is eager to maintain for its personnel any habit or institution that not only reassures them that their time-honored home-knit bonds are not broken but also insures for the nation a patriotism based on the practice of the Navy subsistence office of the naval supply systems command said this week been barbecuing on carriers for added a Naw spokesman in Washington become a real tradition on some While the Navy is barbecuing the Army and the Air Force will be carrying on as usual with a meal cooked and served indoors according to an Air Force spokesman in New York Hie menu with slight variations in different parts of the country and the world due to product availability will be: chilled fruit cup southern fried chicken with giblet gravy parsleyed potatoes com on the cob buttered mixed vegetables assorted salads (six to eight) with the same number of assorted dressings clover-leaf Barbecued Spareribs Navy Fourth of July Fare Business Beginning to Cater to Over-65s The Boston Red Sox hold a Senior Day once a week with admission 50 cents So do several minor league baseball clubs Last February Trans Caribbean Airways began offering a third off its round trip fares between New York and Puerto Rico to groups of the elderly A spokesman said the plan has gone so well the airline has asked the Civil Aeronautics Board to remove the group restriction Walter Rauch er American Airlines vice president estimates seven to 10 per cent of his passengers are retired "The elderly are doing a lot of traveling now and will do he said "With so many on pensions and retiring earlier it is becoming a very urge group It has money and we are very much interested in it With medicare many will probably want to take vacations or take their sinuses to Hunting licenses are free to those over 65 in many states including Florida Kentucky and South Carolina In this country where elderly has come to mean for some anyone over 22 a number of business organizations are beginning to take notice of the sizeable portion of the population that is over 65 There are six times as many persons aged 65 and over as there were in 1900 and their number is expected to pass 28000000 by the year 2000 They have about $40 billion a year to spend estimates William Fullerton assistant commissioner of the US Department of Ilealh Education and Welfare So business reaches out for them offering special checking accounts discounts on drugs and services cut-rate admissions to baseball games and inducements to try flying In Cleveland Ohio Revco Drug Stoics Inc gives discounts on drugs to those over 60 and this past year began a senior citizen scholarship program paying tuition and and fees at Cayahoga Community College for 21 new learners ranging in age from 60 to 77 2 Even more offer free fishing licenses Massachusetts provides both to those over 70 A number of states give tax breaks to the eldcily Of 36 states with personal income taxes 25 grant special tax exemptions deductions or credit to the elderly Twelve grant property tax concessions Washington state voters will decide this fall On a constitutional amendment that would permit the state legislature to grant retired persons relief from property taxes But not all are in favor of discounts for the elderly In San Francisco Mrs Milton Schiffinan director of the Senior Centers for the San Francisco Council of Churches deplores the whole field of discounts for the elderly Hiis deplorable practice makes the older people feel like second class Mrs Schiffman said "An effort should be made to provide the elderly with the means to live with dignity on an equal basis with everyone else They ought to be able to pay the regular rates" Newsiday.