European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday october 24, 1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and i credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.67 dutch Guilder. 1.62 German Mark. 1.45 note Tho rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies austrian Schilling. 10.4885 Bahrain Dinar 0.377belgian franc .29.72 British Pound. 1.6313canadian Dollar. 1.3575 danish Krone 5.826dutch Guilder. 1.671 French franc. 5.111german Mark. 1.49 greek drachma. 230.52italian lira. 1,527.25 Kuwait Dinar. 0.296norwegian Krone. 6.4865 portuguese escudo. 152.51saudi rial. 3.7508 Spanish peseta. 124.26swiss franc 1.238 turkish lira. 35,360.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $391.65 an ounce Silver quote $5.40 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press profits raise Dallas a ready for a Hallow Een tale of pulse pounding profitable terror. Hundreds of thousands of people Are handing Over Money and shuffling into dark buildings to be spooked by Chain saw carry ing mutants and shrieking ghosts. Welcome to the big boo business haunted houses. Entrepreneurs Are laughing maniacally ail the Way to the Bank As Allhallows eve has become a nearly two month marketing season. Halloween is an occasion for festivity and merchants know that such occasions Are a Good excuse for making a Buck said Betsy Gelb a University of Houston marketing professor. While Valentine s Day traditionally lends itself to gift giving with halloween people usually spend Money of them ?./ because of the limited variety of products used in celebrating halloween such As pumpkins Candy and costumes Mer chants Are restricted by what they can offer said David Stewart a marketing professor at the University of Southern California school of business administration. A v enter the haunted House phenomenon. Their doors creak open in mid september so Dea be Burn Dea Everts say Washington a unprincipled salespeople dupe millions of americans into parting with billions of dollars each year but Consumers can take Steps to protect themselves against fraud consumer groups can avoid scams and hang up on fraud by being wary of businesses they be never heard of offering deals that seem too Good to be True said Susan Grant executive director of the National association of consumer Agency administrators / / / As part of an Effort to educate con Sumers the Nawaa and the consumer federation of America Are making Avail Able a free pamphlet on How to resolve complaints. They also offered the follow ing advice never buy anything by Telephone unless you know to whom you Are talking. Make purchases Only when you place the " never accept prizes from telemarketers and avoid their contests. Patronize Only those Auto Home and appliance repair firms that friends or relatives have recommended and that Are not the subject of action by consumer Protection agencies or better business bureaus. Be cautious when asked to pay for goods and services in Advance and keep such payments to a minimum. The fraud is always going to exist but through vigilant activity we can keep that to a minimum Stephen Brobeck executive director of the consumer federation of America told a news conference thursday. Brobeck said the Cost of consumer fraud is impossible to calculate but is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars. The groups also released their third annual report on consumer rip offs. Forty three Federal state and local consumer Protection agencies responding to a Survey said they received More than 546,000 complaints last year. The number has remained fairly steady during the three year period. The most frequent complaints were about new and used car sales Home improvement companies Auto repairs mail order companies and telemarketing also unchanged from the 1992 list the report said. ,. " for a copy of the guide How to resolve your consumer complaint Send a self addressed stamped envelope to Cha complaint Resolution . Box 12099. Washington pc. 20005-0999,. Hen killer can keep farm court says Osnabrock Germany a a poultry Baron who killed 60,000 sick hens by removing their water and food will be permitted to keep his business the larg est egg producer in Europe a court ruled last week. But the Osna Briick administrative court ordered Anton Bohlmunn to hire animal Protection officers and leave the operation of his farms to managers. Pohlmann owns 7 million chickens in Germany and is planning a 2.5 million Hen egg farm in Ohio. Local Farmers there have protested complaining that the factory farming operation is inhumane and will destroy Small farms Niedersachsen state officials last month banned Pohlmann from Chicken farming for life. Ordered to kill 60,000 Salmonella infected laying hens at a farm in Ankum North of Osna Briick Pohl Mann shut off their air conditioning and automatic feeding and watering machines. The hens suffered painful deaths according to Karl Heinz Funke food and agriculture minister in Niedersachsen. Prosecutors Are pursuing charges against Pohlmann for inhumane treatment of animals. While Valentine s Day traditionally lends itself to Gin giving with halloween people usually spend Money on themselves professor Betsy Gelb University of Houston As pumpkins first appear in supermarkets. In the Dallas area alone there Are 21 haunted houses some dedicated to Charity. They include the 60,000-Square-foot cutting. Edge haunted House and haunted Verdun Manor a two Story crypt with 24 scenes featuring theater Quality actors costumes sets props and. And the scaring business in t just left up to vampires werewolves and goblins. At silo a the theme is meltdown out of control said director Billy Fryer. While standing in line to get in visitors see mock news bulletins of a radiation leak and soldiers Are running amok kill houses spi ing each other. Yellow barricade tape reads Radia Tion do not enter As visitors enter a room glowing with Yellowish Green fog and try to escape from mutated soldiers. There is a grim reaper lurking in the cemetery shouting fresh meat fresh meat but the scenes could be even Grimmer. I won t do blood and guts said Fryer who relies on Latex masks lasers and fog machines. From its roots in suburban St. Louis silo x has crept into Dallas Atlanta Kansas City fort Lauderdale fla., and Washington . Over the past three years More than 250,000 people have been chased through silo x houses and Atlanta had 53,000 visitors in 1993, said Chain spokesman Dennis org. Gorg said the initial investment for the franchises ranges from $200,000 to .$250,000.- / a Over the two month season 50,000 vis mrs at $9 a ticket would yield a Gross of $450,000, he said at the 24,000-Square-foot Dallas Loca Tion Fryer has a cast of 35 actors most with professional backgrounds. The actors treat their roles very seriously craving screams As much As applause. Just one of those fake Trees i he Diamond information Centre in Tokyo has created a $3 million Christmas tree topped with a 10-Carat, Star Cut Diamond in Tokyo. The Large Star Cut Diamond was from a 60-Carat Stone. The tree which has a diameter of 6v inches is made of Silver with 153 other totalling 6 carats. It is about 8 inches High and weighs about4vi pounds. -6
