European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a the stars and stripes Friday october 5,1990slap-Happy kids snap up the latest rage Hartford Conn. A when some kids get slapped on the wrist these Days they like it. Toy makers have a new hit a the a slap wrap a a Low budget Bracelet that kids across the country Are snapping up by the millions. A most of the people in my class have them a said 6-Ycar-old Peter Marinelli a first grader at the Waddell elementary school in suburban Manchester. A i like them because they Are  a a they re Cool a added 11-year-old Katie Sweeney a sixth grader who was wearing a Pink wristband with Black polka dots a the rage for this thing is absolutely unbelievable a said Gene Murtha president of main Street toy the Simsbury based company that makes slap wraps what exactly is this thing Well its a Flat 9-Inch-Long steel Spring resembling a ruler wrapped in Eye grabbing Neon fabric. But when you slap it against your wrist it grabs on and wraps around in Stant wristband. Done to laugh. At $2.49 each slap wraps Are taking the mall scene by storm and quickly becoming the hippie fashion accessory for kids. Murtha a company has shipped nearly 1 million slap wraps since production started this summer. Thei company is now shipping about 200,000 of the toys each week and still can to keep Pace with orders. The craze has not gone unnoticed. A they come in various colors and patterns and Are often worn in abundance by the most ambitious teen age fashion Ados a Newsweek observed this week. Despite designs ranging from hot Neon Pink to camouflage and fake Leopard skin the main attraction seems to be the mindless repetitive slapping of the wrap around an ankle or a wrist. Quot its what i Call an infectious Type of item a said Len Patnode a buyer for Kay Bee toy amp Hobby shop a National Chain with More than 1,000 stores. A once you get it in your hands its difficult to put it Down. I handed some out at a meeting Here and people  put them Down a for Murtha slap wraps represent a comeback of sorts. Like most of the employees at main Street toy Murtha is a refugee from col eco industries inc. The giant toy maker got swallowed up by Hasbro inc. After col eco mismanaged the Success that came with its 1980s sensation the cabbage Patch doll. A at col eco we saw what happens when everything in your line costs $39.99,�?� he said. A we wanted to bring Back lower  Murtha first Laid eyes on a slap wrap in november 1989, when Florida inventor Stuart Anders showed him a copy of the then unnamed toy. A the said a i m not sure what the Heck it is but its kind of neat a a Murtha said. A it was exactly the kind of product we look for a Low investment Low Price and a certain magic and Charm to  the toy also was a breakthrough for Anders a former High school gym teacher who works As an army Reserve helicopter Pilot and a designer of women swimwear in North Miami Beach Fla. It was the first toy he a sold. A a we first thought if we could move a couple of million pieces wed be Happy a Anders said. A now we re anticipating 10-million-piece  a the Down Side of the sudden Success is cheap imitations known in the toy business As  although slap wraps Are protected by a copyright and a trademark and a Patent is pending knockoffs abound. They sell for 99 cents. Bothersome As they Are the knockoffs can to take away Anderst memory of the first time he saw his idea in action. A it was at a mall a he said. A this fat Chubby Little kid was coming out of a toy store and he had one on his wrist. And he had a big gleaming smile on his face.officials step up probe of Gas Price hikes Washington apr the Justice department said thursday that it has subpoenaed the records of major Oil companies refiners and marketers As part of its investigation of gasoline Price hikes since Iraq invaded Kuwait on aug. 2. The issuance of the subpoenas a called civil investigative demands or kids a for detailed records on gasoline production indicates that the department has intensified its probe of the Price hikes. James f. Rill head of the departments antitrust division said the civil subpoenas will enable investigators to Analyse explanations Given by gasoline producers and marketers Tor the Price hikes. The antitrust investigation began aug. 6 following the Steep Rise in gasoline prices. Oil company officials were interviewed by Justice department investigators about the increases. The preliminary phase of the investigation a developed substantial information about the nature of crude Oil and gasoline markets and How they behaved in the Wake of the aug. 2 invasion a Rill said in a statement. A it also provided us with an Opportunity to have the parties explain the factors that caused them to raise gasoline prices. A with the kids we will be Able to examine More closely those explanations and also pursue some issues for which we done to yet have  he added a we aggressively will pursue this investigation until we determine whether or not violations of antitrust Law contributed to the Rise in gasoline  the Federal Trade commission the Energy department and several state attorneys general Are assisting the Justice departments investigation. The average pump Price of gasoline has risen 27,1 cents a gallon since the invasion according to a Survey issued this week by the american automobile association. The Justice departments investigation is studying whether Oil refiners or marketers illegally colluded with each other to raise prices and thereby take advantage of the shockwave produced by the invasion of Kuwait. Evidence of collusion is needed to prove violations of antitrust Laws which include both criminal and civil sanctions. Waiting in vain second grader Amelia Dobmeyer 7, Waits glumly with her Mother Candi Huber for the school bus in Chicago this week. But the bus never showed up and Huber had to drive her daughter to school. A shortage of Drivers has caused hundreds of students to miss classes in the nations third largest school system. Flawed Hubble is Takin world class planet shots Baltimore up a despite its serious optical flaws the Hubble space Telescope has taken the clearest picture Ever of mysterious Pluto and snapped a spectacular image of the ringed planet Saturn astronomers announced thursday. The $1.5 billion Telescope also has collected a variety of new images of galaxies comets stars and other celestial bodies. The pictures have provided tantalizing clues to such cosmological Phenomena As enigmatic quasars and Light sapping Black holes scientists said. Although none of the images has produced any major new discoveries the work has elated astronomers who earlier had expressed doubts that the flawed instrument would be capable of a world class science because of its inability to bring Starlight to a Sharp focus. A the pictures to me already demonstrate an enormous potential for discovery with the space Telescope As it is now a said Riccardo Giacconi director of the space Telescope science Institute which is in charge of research involving the Telescope. A these observations give us a very Good indication of the Type of science we can carry out. We will do world class science for years to come a he said at the first workshop held to discuss the Telescope since its defect was discovered in april. Previous images taken from Earth show Pluto the ninth planet from the Sun and its Moon Charon As overlapping blobs of Light. The Hubble image shows two dearly distinct spheres. Unlike other planets in Earth a solar system the frigid Distant Pluto located about 3.6 billion Miles from the Sun has never been visited by any robot probes. Previous pictures of Saturn taken by passing spacecraft have been More spectacular but the Hubble image released thursday is easily the Best shot Ever taken from the Vicinity of Earth. The $1.5 billion Telescope was expected to revolutionize astronomy by using highly advanced instruments to peer More deeply into the Cosmos than Ever before from High above Earth a atmosphere. But about a month after the Telescope was placed into orbit in april Nasa discovered one of the telescopes supposedly perfect mirrors was incorrectly shaped preventing the Telescope from focusing Starlight  leaks called Factor in greenhouse effect los Angeles apr plugging natural Gas leaks in polluted Eastern european and asian cities could help reduce future warming of Earth a climate by the a greenhouse effect Quot according to a study published thursday. A it would be one Small step in the right direction a a Man made contribution to global wanning that can be remedied by Mankind a own efforts a said Stanley Tyler an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for atmospheric research in Boulder Colo. The new study was published in the journal nature by chemists f. Sherwood Rowland Donald Blake and Neil Harris at the University of California Irvine. A a it a very significant work because it shows one relatively easy Way to reduce future global wanning said Kathleen Hogan of the . Environmental Protection Agency a global change division. A if we went in and found the leaks and fixed them in the natural Gas systems in Eastern Europe and the soviet Union you a have a very Large Start at reducing the contribution of methane natural Gas Aulai a it it. A. Aam