European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes saturday september 16, 1978 new York she remembered that it started out As one of the Best Days of her sum Mer. To the right the surfers Rose from the top of the swollen water like sea gulls and came speeding across the face of the wave the White water trying to catch them by the an Kles. Where she was in the Center of the Beach the water was not crowded although it was a boiling Day and Rockaway Beach on such Days usually is crowded with people who arrive by subway. She was up to her Chest in the water. As the Waves which were coming from far out built up and started for Shore dripping foam she would push herself toward them so that she could dive under them before they broke. Her dives were neat and methodical. She went under each wave As it arrived most of them six and seven feet High on this Day although now and then one would build up to nine or 10 feet. On one of the Large Waves she went under and came up and spun around to watch the surfers flick across the Crest. She never heard the next wave As it came up behind her and broke Over her. She was knocked from her feet and the Force of the wave sent her to the Bottom head first and held her there for a moment. She was Unwor ried. She got her feet on the Sand and pushed Back to the surface. She emerged laughing and with her bathing suit filled with Sand and Small shells. She decided that this was enough for the Day and she started out of the water. She was wading out when she noticed two men wearing heavy Gold chains and medallions. Her hand went to the base of her Throat and she let out a gasp. The men thought she had a seizure. The cry. However came because she had just lost the slim Gold necklace that was her most Valu Able Possession. It was not an expensive neck lace the diamonds in it were tiny but it was the first gift her husband had Given her 25 years before and she had worn it almost continuously Ever since. Now the necklace was somewhere on the Bottom washing along with the Sand and shells. Alone on the Beach she broke into tears and then Shook then away and walked up to the lost and found station where she posted a notice that she would pay $200 for the return of the necklace. That is a Large Sun for the woman who runs her House on a tight budget. That night she could not sleep. In the morn ing while her husband still slept she slipped out of bed and drove to the Beach. It was be fore 7 . And there were several people dig Ging in the Sand or walking Over it waving Metal detectors. These beachcombers All be Lieve that under the Sand is a treasure of coins and watches and wallets left by the Hundred thousand or so people who tramp across Rock away Beach on a weekend. The woman spoke to the men with the Metal detectors first and then she walked Down to the jetty where the oldest beachcomber Dan Joe worked. Dan Joe shovelled wet Gray Sand from around the poles of the wooden jetty into a Large wooden Box. When the Box was filled he picked it up and began shaking it. The Box had a screen Bottom. When the Sand was gone Dan Joe kept shaking the Box and then stopped and examined what was left in the Strainer pieces of shells a smooth Rock or two a Quarter a dime two Nickels. He put the change in the pocket of his wet baggy pants cleared the shells and rocks out and then put the Box Down and began digging again. Because of the motion of the water much Sand some of it from As far away As the dle of the Beach gets carried up against the wooden jetty and then is washed out by the undertow. But anything heavy in the Sand a Coin or a Shell or perhaps a ring remains around the stumpy tar coated jetty posts. And every morning throughout the year Dan Joe comes with his shovel and his Strainer and spends hours sifting the Sand. He finds $7 in change and then $20 in change and then once in a great while a watch or a ring that he Sells for a Hundred. Then there Are Days such As last january when he dug Sand for five hours in bitter cold with Snow swirling out of a howl ing Atlantic Ocean wind and he went Home with 17 cents. Dan Joe is 76, and he has been beachcombing for the last 11 years at least. He is a thin red faced relic of the times when everybody in Rockaway was Irish. He digs each morning then he Heads for the bar to drink up whatever he has found. If he has anything else a watch or a ring he first goes into a store and Sells it to a Man named Connolly. Dan Joe then immediately goes to the bar nothing is allowed to deter him from this Stop. His body is so used to drink in the afternoon that he becomes highly nervous without it. He gets Back to his Rooming House the drunker the better in the Early evening. When the woman came up to Dan Joe he continued shovelling he s used to people watching him search for treasure. Can i speak to you for a moment the woman said. Dan Joe looked at her. I lost a Gold necklace in the water yesterday. I put up a sign saying i d pay $200 to get it Back. I la make that $250 for  it must be an expensive necklace Dan Joe said. It in t. It s just that it Means so much to me. I can Tell you where i was standing on the Day i got it right in the Middle of the living room by the Coffee table. I turned around and put it on while looking in the  then you must like it Dan Joe said. I was up All night because of it she said. She began to cry. You never know what you find Here Dan Joe said. In Case you do she said. She gave him a slip of paper with her name address and phone number on it and she left. She was Back the next morning but Dan Joe Shook his head As she approached him so she went off to ask the others the ones who used the electronic equipment. She came Back for several mornings and then she came Only sporadically. The last time she was around in the morning was two weeks ago. All summer Dan Joe kept dipping. He  $47 one Day in late july but he had too Days in a Row in August when the Sand produced Only a few quarters. Yesterday morn ing after digging for three hours Dan Joe had $6. He lifted the Box and Shook it and kept shaking it until Only the shells and rocks and a thin Gold necklace were tatting against the Strainer. He put the necklace in his pocket and dug for a while longer. Then he carried his shovel and Box to his room and looked on the Bureau for the slip of paper with the woman s name on it. It was not there. He went through the drawers and then the pockets of his other pants but he could not find the paper. He walked Back to the Beach to look for the woman. He went slowly Over the Sand step Ping Between families sitting on blankets then going Down to the Edge of the water try ing to see her head out in the water. She was nowhere. By 1 30, his nerves were starting to quiver. Dan Joe walked off the Beach and went up the Block and saw Connolly. Nice Little necklace Connolly said. He give Dan Joe $25. Dan Joe went to Sullivan s and put the $25 on the bar and started drinking it up. He was morose. I could have had $250 if i had kept the lady s address he said to me at the bar. When i see her someday i la Tell her what she Cost  c Chicago . News Syndicate across 1 chinese dynasty 5 Stein s Flower 9 scatter seed 12 bakery worker 13 level 14 eggs 15 Durante trademark 16 word with pan 17 Hammar skjold 18 feed the Kitty 19 Blunder 20 High wind 21 refusal 23 word with Muff 25 conditional release 28 freudian material 32 african Antelope 33 thick 34 Large Basket Var 36 violate a Promise 37 valuable Mineral 38 inner prefix 39 put on guard 42 head of the family 44 Fastener 48 actor Wallach 49 stylish 50 annul 51 sever 52 Chaplin s widow 53 lamentation 54 Golf term 55 degree 56 Harden by heat Down 1 ancient unit of weight 2 religious picture 3 special egg?4 scallion 5 cheap whiskey 6 " Rny dead body 7 scorched 8 finish 9 word with ice Cream average solution time 22 min. 9-16 answer to yesterday s Puzzle. 10 egg shaped 11 carry on 20 Gardener s asset 22 Birch family member 24 Tennyson s Enoch 25 verve 26  27 raced 2? chemical suffix 30 Cook s Aid abbr 31 understand 35 enthusiastic 36 baggage Porter 39 shoe insert 40 amaryllis relative 41 mature 43 eldest French 45 celebes of 46 neighbor of neb. 47 word with com 49 Type of lettuce 12 it 25 32 34 54 26 4o 27 41 21 22 �5 13 16 19 35" 4z 43 23 28 36 36 33 20 44 50 56 n 10 30 46 31 9-16 Fin lenders dear Ann Landers my name is Don. Two years ago on june 16,1 received a phone Call from a Hospital in Indianapolis to say they had found a kidney for me. The dream i had been waiting for for two years had come True. I was going to have a kidney trans Plant. It would be my 40th opera Tion and the most serious. I was at the Hospital in 45 minutes. The doctors did tests and when the re sults came Back they gave the go ahead for the transplant. At 5 00 . I was in the operating room. Six hours later i woke up with a new kidney. I had been on dialysis for Over a year and spend approximately 795 hours hooked up to the machine unable to walk More than a few feet away. I can describe what it s like in one sentence it s a life saving hell. Without it you die. It s that simple. It s hell be cause you Are a slave to the machine for three Days a week five hours each time. When a Guy is 17, which is How old i am he does t have time for much else. When i got my transplant i was free. I could go anywhere and do almost anything. For the first time in three years our fam ily took a vacation. I would like to beg and plead with anyone who reads this please for the Sake of thousands of people in the Usa who can t see and need eyes and people who need kidneys hearts or Liv ers please become Organ donors. My kidney came from a traffic victim who was Wise enough to know that he would not need his kidneys if he should die so he  plans to leave them to someone whose life depended on them. I was the Lucky one. People Are on machines every Day. Some have been there for Over ten years. The reason they Are still on machines is the Lack of donors. In most states you can become a donor when you Are getting your Driver s License. In All states a uniform donor card is a Legal document. If you Are the kind of a person who is saying no one wants any part of me you Are wrong. For every person who passes away he or she could help six different people. Thank you Ann for letting me use your column to say what is in my heart. I Hope i helped some one. Don dear Don it is you who de serves the thanks. Anyone who wants to be a donor eyes and or kidneys should write to the National kidney foundation Box 353, new York . 10016. Dear Ann my 41-year-old Hus band spends a Fortune on wheat germ dried Alfalfa vitamins and health store foods. Does this stuff do any Good he also eats a lot of raw and uncooked foods because he thinks they will give him the needed enzymes. Frankly i think he is be ing ripped off. Wife of a he Alth nut dear wife an excellent Book on the subject of food fads and phonies is eat . Feel .," by Fredrick j. Stare m.d., and Elizabeth Whelan . The Christopher publish ing House n. Quincy mass the Price is $9.95. Your husband will save a lot More than the Price of this Book when he stops buying some of that useless junk. He will also learn which foods Are really beneficial. C 1978 Field enterprises inc