47The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, September 20, 1983
N
.C.farms hit hard by worst drought since'50s
By MELANIE WELLS
Staff Writer
Now that many crops have been ruined by the drought
that has plagued the area for several months, some farm
ers are asking whether Orange County will be declared a
disaster area.
Landmark editor and local farmer Bob Windsor of
Pittsboro said this has been the most damaging dry spell .
since the 1950s, and there is no doubt that farmers have
suffered the most.
Carl Hodges of the Agricultural Extension Service said
that if Orange County was declared a disaster area then
farmers would be eligible for low-interest loans to carry
them over to another year.
"Farmers, if lucky, may be able to produce half of their
crops in terms of money," he said. "They are definitely
hurting."
In terms of revenue, tobacco and corn have been the
crops damaged most by the drought, Hodges said.
Although heat stress on his livestock has been the big
gest problem for Chapel Hill dairy farmer Joe Snipes, he
said that no amount of rain would help crops now. Fifty
percent of Snipes' production is down.
Fred Luxton Jr., a farmer in Durham County, said he
lost half of his money crop tobacco to the drought.
"Spending money will be short this year," he said.
"We're just trying to break even, which is going to be
hard enough now."
John Sledge, president of the N.C. Farm Bureau Feder
ation Inc., said that Gov. Jim Hunt requested that the en
tire state be declared a disaster area, but that there was no
proper reply. Sledge said he thought that Orange and
Durham counties had probably been damaged most.
"A few farms could go out of business completely, but
farmers tend to live with high hopes," Sledge said.
There had been more claims on federal crop insurance
this year, he said, as the drought had affected every
farmer's production. S
Howard Crawford of Chapel Hill said he hopes that his .
soybean crop will help pull him through. "What many
people don't realize is that this will affect us for the next
12 months," he said.
Sledge agreed that the impact of the drought will last
for some time. "The consumer probably won't see a big
difference until 1984, but the farmers already feel it." He
said that more dairy cows would be going to market as
beef, and this will raise prices.
William Sparrow of Durham said his beef cows were
much thinner this year. "I'll have to sell more calves in the
fall because of lack of feed now," he said. He lost half of
his tobacco crop, but he said irrigation helped save some
of his vegetables.
"It's just too late," Luxton said. "We needed a lot of
good soaking rain in July, and we never got it."
Sledge said this has been the most widespread drought
because all of the state has been unusually dry.
"Orange County farmers will be feeling the damage for
a while," Sledge said.
Down 1 5 percent since Aug. 23
Conservation lowers water consumption
By SALLY SMITH
Staff Writer
Water consumption in Chapel Hill and
Carrboro has dropped 15 percent since
voluntary conservation began August 23,
a local water utility official said Monday.
"Back when the voluntary call went
out we were averaging about seven
million gallons a day," said Pat Davis,
systems managment specialist for Orange
Water and Sewer Authority. "During the
past week consumption has averaged
5.912 million gallons a day."
University Lake Monday was 57.5
inches below full and consumption on
Sunday was 5.716 million gallons.
OWASA's target is a 25 percent reduc
tion in use, and Davis said it is hard to
estimate when that goal would be reach
ed. "If the weather stays hot and dry it
might be longer than if we have cooler
weather," he said.
Davis cited several factors for the
reduced consumption, including cooler
weather, the recent rainfall and the pre
sent moderate mandatory restrictions.
He said a major factor was increased
public awareness. "The message that we
need to conserve is finally hitting home,"
Davis said.
Mark Dalton, Residence Hall Associa
tion president, said his organization had
been publicizing the water problem and
promoting water conservation in the resi
dence halls.
University housing, in addition to help
ing RHA, is taking other steps to lower
consumption, said Wayne Kuncl, housing
director. .
Since 1977, all residence halls except
Odum Village have had flow restrictors
on the shower heads, Kuncl said. The de
partment is working to install conserva
tion devices in the Odum Village showers.
Claude Swecker, director of the UNC
Physical Plant, said measures of on
campus consumption would not be
available until the end of the month.
Despite the home football game Satur
day, water consumption was only 6.7
million gallons. This was considerably
better than the weekend before, when
consumption was 8.4 million gallons,
Davis said.
For this week's homecoming game,
Davis said he hoped consumption did not
go over seven million.
"We want to stay away from the eight
million from the earlier game," he said.
"It is going to get worse before it gets
better," Davis said. He explained that the
long-term rainfall predictions are low,
University Lake
Arc
tic
I p Monday's Lake Level 57.5 inches below full
Saturday's
Consumption Level
6.7 million gallons.
Sunday's
Consumption
5.7 million gallons
OWASA Target Level
5.5 million gallons
Support I ho
1)0
V BIRTH DEFECTS
FOUNDATION
Lebanon
and temperatures may remain higher than
normal.
It is possible that the water shortage
may be here for quite some time, Davis
said, possibly through the end of
November to the beginning of December.
Moderate mandatory restrictions are
now in effect, and when the lake level
reaches 72 inches below full, severe man
datory conservation procedures will be
sought, Davis said, especially on outdoor
uses.
From page 1
He also said the defenders "ran very short of
ammunition," and shells from the U.S. ships
offshore were trucked to the garrison.
Warrant Officer Charles Rowe of San Fran
cisco, a Marine spokesman, said the Marine
camp at the airport was hit with two rockets
before the naval barrage, but none of the 1,200
Americans were injured.
The Marines took refuse in sandbagged
bunkers and foxholes, but there were no reports
of retaliatory Druse shelling after the U.S. bar
rages. However, Marine officers said forward
positions came under small-arms fire.
Army communiques said the three surviving
Hawker Hunter jets of the Lebanese air force
struck at insurgent positions near Souk el
Gharb. The army also said its artillery shelled
Syrian army rocket launchers in the northern
Lebanese province of Batroun to stop them
from shelling a makeshift airfield where the
Lebanese planes are kept near Byblos, 24 miles
north of Beirut.
The army ordered an indefinite, round-the-clock
curfew beginning at 6 p.m. in the southern
suburbs of Beirut which lie between the Druse
controlled area of Shweifat and neighborhoods
under the control of the Amal militias of their
Shiite Moslem allies.
"Violators will be shot without warning," a
communique said.
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TnUESITMSr
Homecoming Queen nominations due Tuesday, Sept. 20
Parade entries form due Tuesday Sept. 20 by 5:00 at CAA
Homecoming Queen Elections
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TEE EMBEES
Woollen Gym
BLACK ARID BLUE
Setnif ornaal Great Hall
5:00
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The Daily Tar Heel Monthly Gas Survey for September
STATION NAME SELF-SERVE FUl.l -SERVE
Reg. Unld. Prem. Reg. Unld. Prem.
Airport Road Gulf 114.9 120.9 134.9 142.9 148.9 152.9
1201 Airport Road
Blackwood's Service & Grocery 122.9 137.9 - 128.9 141.9
Mt. Carmel Church Road
East Franklin Car Care 114.9 123.9 131.9 138.9 141.9 148.9
1710 E. Franklin St.
Eastgate Amoco 114.9 121.9 137.9 128.9 135.9 142.9
Eastgate Shopping Center
Etna Self Service 114.9 120.9 -1509
E. Franklin St.
EconGas 120.9 129.9 138.9 142.9 146.9 159.9
607 W. Main St.
Glen Lennox Service Station 113.9 126.9 134.9 145.9 K8.9 153.9
Glen Lennox Shopping Center
Hearn Shell Service 116.9 124.9 133.9 133.9 137.9 142.9
U.S. 15-501 Bypass
Holloway Motor Center 117.9 124.9 125.9 129.9 136.9
Eastgate Shopping Center
Sav-A-Ton 113.9 119.9 125.9 '
421 E. Main St.
Short Stop Food Mart 113.9 119.9
300 W. Main St.
Village Texaco 117.9 124.9 134.9 135.9 141.9 147.9
University Mall
W. Franklin St. Gulf 114.9 120.9 137.9 145.9 148.9 153.9
214 W. Franklin St.
Wilco Number 1 114.9 120.9 124.9
1213 Airport Road
AVERAGE PRICES 116.2 124.2 133.6 137 142.3 149
Spot checks show area gas prices
holding relatively steady
By KIM GILLEY
Staff Writer
A Daily Tar Heel survey of local gas
stations shows that gas prices have re
mained stable for the past three
months, with a moderate decline in
prices predicted in the next couple of
months.
"Prices are coming down and will
probably fall more rapidly since Labor
Day has passed," said Quentin Ander
son, public relations director of the
Carolina Motor Club. "It's the end of
a heavy driving season when consump
tion was at its highest."
According to this month's survey of
14 local gas stations, the average price
for regular self-service gas was $1.17
per gallon. Unleaded gas averaged
$1.24 at self-service pumps in Septem
ber and premium unleaded averaged
$1.34 a gallon.
Glen Lennox Service Station, Sav-A-Ton
and Short Stop Food Mart report
ed the lowest regular self-service gas
price $1.14 per gallon.
Local service station and gas-selling
convenience store managers said that
gas prices were fairly stable. "Prices
have remained stationary for two, al
most three, months, between $1.13 and
$1.16," said Jack Adcox, manager of
Sav-A-Ton on East Main Street in
Carrboro. "They haven't been moving
much at all."
East Franklin Car Care's manager
Ronny Ragan said that prices are drop
ping slowly. But Frank Holloway of
Eastgate Amoco said he had not no
ticed a change in prices.
Internationally, energy experts at the
recent World Petroleum Congress in
London predicted that oil prices should
remain stable at least through 1990.
Almost half of every barrel of oil is
refined into gasoline. The average
number of miles per gallon of an
American-made car has almost dou
bled in a decade to 24.6 mpg.
Daniel Lundberg of Lundberg Oil
Survey said demand for gasoline this
year would be slightly less than in 1973.
Slackening gasoline prices were inciting
sales of larger cars, he said, but these
automobiles were much more energy
efficient than those built in 1973.
Standard Oil of California predicts
that the amount of oil used in America
will dip slightly by the end of the cen
tury. Dr. Wilhelm von Ilsemann, presi
dent of the World Petroleum Congress,
said that the ordinary gas customer
need not worry.
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