European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 3, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today a tip in my Stop management has told employees to prepare for an All out Effort to promote new personal computer software the computer giant will unleash late this month Industry sources said. International business machines is preparing for a head to head Battle with Microsoft corp., whose phenomenal Success with its windows software has been a Thorn in in my a  rates London up mondays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $350.55 an ounce Silver at $4.11. Feb. 2s March 2 British Pound.1.7589 1.7520 German mart.1.6365 1.6435 French franc.5.5737 5.5622 dutch guilder.1.8435 1.8475 belgian franc.33.62 33.73 italian lira.1.229.45 1,227.45 Swiss franc.1.4825 1.4905 greek drachma.188.70 189.24 turkish lira.5,846.20 5,871.60 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7502 3.7501 Spanish peseta. 102.80 103.30 portuguese escudo.140.55 141.00 Canadian Dollar.1.1784 1.1827 austrian schilling.11.505 11.5325 norwegian krone.6.4005 6.4200 danish krone.6.3385 6.3560 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.59 Marks to a Dollar and $1.80 for a Pound through tuesday based on mondays noontime  n pay gets shoe City for $27.2 million Montgomery Ala. A pics a pay stores inc., a Large Southeast shoe Chain has agreed to pay $27.2 million for Bank out rival shoe City corp. A bankruptcy court awarded the acquisition to pics a pay Over another bidder shoe City founder Albert Capp after pics a pays offer won the backing of a creditors committee and shoe City a largest creditor the Bank of new York. Under the pics a pay offer unsecured creditors of Montgomery based shoe City Are to receive about 90 cents on the Dollar. Shoe City has 325 stores in 11 Southeastern states. Pics a pay operates 600 stores mostly in the Southeast and has been a major competitor of shoe City. Pics a pay officials said the company will close no More than 25 shoe City stores in the next few months. Shoe City a corporate Headquarters will move to pics a pays Home base of Matthews n.c., near Charlotte. Capp founded shoe City More than 28 years ago. He sold the company in 1985 to Kinder care inc. Of Montgomery now known As instar group inc. Shoe City went into chapter 11 bankruptcy in january 1991 and the instar group followed in May. Two former executives of shoe City have pleaded guilty to Federal charges one involving income tax and the other involving securities deals. Decline in natural Gas prices hammers weak fuel Industry 6 by Thomas c. Hayes the new York times Dallas a the collapse of natural As prices in the last three months to the West Winter level in More than a decade is delivering the worst Jolt to the nations weakened Oil and Gas Industry since Oil prices fell by More than half in Early 1986. Many giant companies have announced layoffs or reduced spending for new Wells and hundreds of smaller companies Many of them family run Are going out of business. Oil companies Are raising their investments overseas where costs Are lower and potential discoveries More promising increasing the nations Reliance on imported Energy. But the lower prices have scarcely benefited residential customers. Retail priced have not fallen and Only Large manufacturers and electric utilities that Burn Gas have reaped most of the Windfall consumer groups say. By some measures activity in the Domestic Oil and Gas Industry is at its lowest ebb since the administration of president Franklin d. Roosevelt. Warm weather and other factors have caused a Supply glut that has depressed prices and made costly new drilling unprofitable. Many Industry executives and financial analysts said that the tally of jobs pared from Oil and Gas production in the United states since the Peak month of the last drilling Boom january 1982, could exceed 400,000 by the end of this year far More than the number lost in the same period in the american Auto Industry. Contracts to Supply natural Gas for March delivery Are at $1.25 per 1,000 cubic feet up about 20 cents from the february contract but Down from $2.30 for the october contract and from $1.65 in March 1991. Compared with the highest recorded monthly Price $3.50 in february 1982, natural Gas prices have fallen by a yearly average of More than 7 percent in inc last 10 years. Gas producers who count on the Winter months to generate their biggest sales have watched As prices dropped even below the Low Point of last summer an extraordinarily rare development in the Winter when demand for natural Gas peaks. Demand for natural Gas has increased in the last few years a to about 25 percent of the nations total Energy Supply a As Gas became cheaper to Burn than fuel 011 for thousands of Industrial users. But Consumers who use Gas mainly for heating and cooking have not reaped much savings. Edwin s. Rothschild Energy policy director at consumer action a consumer research organization in Washington said that Large manufacturers and electric utilities that Burn Gas can bargain directly with producers for Large volume purchases and can choose Between Gas or Oil fuel supplies whichever is less costly. But residential customers and owners of Small businesses with no comparable bargaining leverage continue to pay High prices of 5>6 or More per 1,000 cubic feet of Gas he said. Carol Fri Odenthal president of Joffree corp., a consulting firm in Houston whose clients Are mainly natural Gas producers said a the Homeowner and residential customers the largest users of natural Gas Are not getting the benefits of lower Gas prices. The worsening struggle for survival faced by legions of Independent producers May prove crucial for the nations future output of Oil and natural Gas. Most operate in Louisiana new Mexico Oklahoma and Texas the states that produce 80 percent of the Domestic natural Gas. According to the Independent Petroleum association of America a Trade group in Washington Independent producers produce about 60 percent of the natural Gas and 40 percent of the Oil in the Continental United states even though most have 20 or fewer employees. A it would be a disaster for the country for this Small producing segment of the Industry to be driven out of business by lower prices a said Rothschild. Catnip offers Sweet smell of Success to couple s Small Maryland company by Deb Riechmann the associated press Hagerstown my. Leon Seid Man has fans among cats from Here to Australia. His cosmic pet products inc. Shipped 70,000 pounds of Catnip last year to Happy cats around the world. That is about 40 percent of the . Market and 75 percent of Canadas. His own cat Tiger can catch a whiff of the aromatic Herb anytime he wants. The smell permeates Seidmann a House and clothing so much so that Seidman thinks his cat might be immune to its stimulating effects. But its not so for other cats. Once when Seidman went to Washington d.c., to help a Friend move neighbourhood cats were instantly attracted to his truck which he had used to haul Catnip. Sue or seven cats sat on the truck and purred while he helped his Friend Load furniture. Cosmic pet buys Catnip from farms in Western Maryland Pennsylvania West Virginia and North Carolina. A half ounce bag retails for $1.89 to $2.49. A a it a cosmic because the Aroma is heavenly it truly is a Seidman says. A we have the most aromatic Catnip in the world a boasts Seidman who says he is one of fewer than a dozen growers of the Catnip Plant in the United states. The company a name cosmic pet has something to do with having been a child of the 1960s. Seidman started growing Catnip while earning a bachelors degree in american history and doing graduate work at the University of Maryland. A i saw How my cats enjoyed the Catnip. I saw How it made them feel a he says. A i had people knocking on my door saying a Are you the Guy with All this great Catnip a a Seidman scouted Catnip Fields from North Carolina to Michigan but decided the Best Catnip grew around Hagerstown. Leon Seidman and his wife Pam with some of their popular Catnip. The Plant likes Cool nights and thrives in the Maryland climate. In 1975, Seidman dropped out of graduate school to go into business. In the beginning he sold his Catnip to pet shops in Washington and Baltimore. Today with help from his wife Pam the company markets a variety of cat products from scratching posts to snacks. But their mainstay is dried Catnip which resembles Parsley flakes. The Herb is dried in bams and packaged in an old Stone warehouse in Hagerstown where workers put the Catnip in bags and plastic tubs the size of a cottage cheese con Tainer. The company which has seven emt yes ships it to distributors retail chains and Catalon houses for Sale in at least 30 states As Well As Canada England and Australia. The company also does private Label work for other Sellers. Catnip is a member of the mint family. It has Green leaves and purple or White Flowers. Some plants stand 6 Leet High. While cats Are its biggest fans Catnip has been used by humans As a sleeping Aid or for quieting Colicky children. Catnip Tea helps Settle an upset stomach Seidman says