European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page the stars and stripes monday Juna 6.1988 new Competition ordered for pistols m-9 problems May Aid . Firms Washington a Berella the italian gun manufacturer thai won a Battle three years ago to pro Duce the . Military s primary handgun faces a new com Cal with american competitors for the contract renewal. Congressmen representing Massachusetts Home of Smith and Wesson the american Tun manufacturer that lost the first round succeeded in pushing legis lation through Congress ordering new Competition for phase iwo of Floc 9mm-Pisiol Purchase plan. Smith and Wesson and other american Arm Mak ers could be aided by mechanical problems surfacing with the Beretta m-9, the Model that beat out Smith and Wesson in 19bs, Beretta makes the pistols at a Plant it built in a suburb of Washington but the contract was seen As demonstration of the . Military s willingness to buy weapons from nato allies and not just from Ameri can companies. Under he legislation the army has invited Beretta Smith and Wesson and other manufacturers of 9mm automatic pistols to submit 30 Sample guns each by aug. 17 for the next order of pistols. The new contract estimated at More than s30 Mil lion for 146,000 guns is expected to be awarded next  perhaps More important than the contract itself Are its implications for other handgun Markels since Many civilian and police purchasers tend to follow the army s lend analysts say. Before the army contract the Only americans familiar with bar cola were readers of James Bond claimed Robert i. Hass a senior vice president at Smith and Wesson. Ii put Bare la on the map he said. Berttia won a $75 million contract in 1985 to pro Duce 316,000 9mm guns to replace the Colt .45-Catibcr semiautomatic the Standard , military sidearm since 1911. Under the congressional mandate the army asked companies to submit test samples last year but exempted Beretta saying the m-9 was tested regularly by the army. A defense official said in december that requiring Beretta tests would be a stupid waste of taxpayer Money. But Smith and Wesson again cried foul charging that the army s new 9mm order was substantially Dif Ferent from the weapons being produced by Beretta and that the italian company should be required la submit test models. When the army did nol change its position Smith end Wesson refused to enter the Competition and appealed to the general accounting office s comptroller general. The Gao is a congressional Agency thai monitors government spending. The Agency ruled in february and again in april that the army should retest Beretta if it wants to relist the Smith and Wesson weapon. Army officials sent out a notice last month that a new Competition would be held and All companies including Beretta would be subject to testing. Smith and Wesson officials now say they will compete. Meanwhile the army halted deliveries at 109,000 Beretta m-9s in november after inspector discovered the pistols could develop hairline Frame cracks. Beretta has offered a plan to Correct the cracking problem and expect to resume deliveries this month putting it about 36,000 guns Beh ind schedule. Bui army officials Are looking into two instances i which the slide Boll on m-9s cracked during firing throwing shards of Metal Back Al the shooter. A third incident occurred Wilh a non military Beretta being tested by the Navy those malfunction which took place during Mili tary testing following the delivery suspension occurred Only with special ammunition according to by rely officials. But army officials say they have not concluded what is causing the Bolt problem. Tests Are continuing on the slide bolls. The army has ordered the slides to be replaced every 3,000 rounds fired and the Navy has suspended Beretta fire arms training. Robert Bonavenlure general manager at the Beretta Plant did not return repealed Telephone Calls from the  Hope the problems will make army officials More amenable to a contractor change it makes sense that troubles of that sort would create an atmosphere More receptive to reconsider said William Rugur chairman of the Connecticut gun  others including Smith and Wesson officials who have said the army is biased toward Beretta allegedly wanting to give More manufacturing business to companies in nato countries remain unsure. What will happen is anybody s guess said Hass. Defense department officials declined to comment on what Impact the m-9 s problems May have on the Competition. Scaring up customers it s a Gnu tally Day on Seattle s waterfront or so it would seem. But Miles remly taking a look from the engine room of i Evirginia a does t appear Horri Lwi at the sight of the creature sitting below him. The monster was part of a publicity slant promoting a Ebun eating contest Aca local seafood restaurant. Oil spill from dredge threatens Fla. Beaches Fernandina Beach Fla. A a dredge Sank in a River Channel sat urday and was leaking thousands of Gal Lons of Oil that spread Over More than a mile threatening beaches and sensitive Marshlands officials said. The 168-foot vessel was dredging the  s River Channel which straddles the Georgia Florida line when Waves crashed Over its Bow causing it to flood and sink said capt. Robert o Spezio of the coast guard the on scene coordinator. Seven Crew members from the dredge were plucked from he water Asil Sank near the Entrance to the 50-foot deep Channel he said. The ship held 40,000 Gallons of i Csc fuel and was leaking about 500 Gal Lons an hour. John spin Dloyce a  aboard a Navy tug was injured in the Rescue Effort and was m satisfactory condition Al University Hospital in Jacksonville said Judi Sudlon a Hospital spokeswoman. From a helicopter an Oil Slick could be seen Drifting into the Atlantic Ocean and pushing southward about a mile from Fernandina Beach o Spezio said. The Slick extended at least a mile from the dredge and was Al least a mile wide. Choppy seas were breaking the fuel into streaks which drifted two to three Miles West into the it. Marys River in the direction of the sensitive Cumber land sound and Amelia River wetland areas. No fuel appears to have entered those areas Cyl o Pei said to prevent the fuel from spreading far ther Ine owner of the dredge hired an Oil containment contractor to erect floating containment booms at the entrances of creeks and tributaries extending front the Channel. 2 lottery ticket Holder ii could share $51.2 million Sacramento Calif. A somewhere out there Are two tickets with the six numbers needed to win the biggest North american lottery Jackpot in history $si.2 million a California lottery spokesman said sunday. The holders of the winning tickets have to wait until the Start of business monday to claim their share of the prize. Each winning ticket in sat urday s lotto 6-49 drawing is Worth $25.618,116, payable Over 20 years said spokesman John Schade. The lottery s computers can deter mine How Many ticket had the right numbers and where they were told but cannot identify the owners. The Odd of picking All six numbers out of 49 were about one in 14 million. Said stale Tillery officials. The winning numbers were 48,42,9,14, 9,31the enormous prize Drew frenzied ticket buying at $ la Chance ticket Sale on saturday alone hit s2 million an hour statewide and totalled More Ihan $33 million a one Day re Cord lottery spokesman Bob Taylor Laid. Thai pumped enough Money into the Kitty to make the grand in pc grew steadily during the Day. At 4 . Our ticket Sola pushed the lotto prize past 146 million pail the Pennsylvania record previously the biggest North american lottery prize Taylor said saturday. That Pennsylvania Jackpot was awarded in october. The biggest Vious California Jackpot j25.4 Mitt was split by two players in october