The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 13

The News-Journal papers Wilmington, Del. Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1983 Weather, B2 Lotteries, B2 Obituaries, B5 Classified, B6 SECTION THHte o) O) tho region Horsewoman Marion du Pont Scott dies rw Former wife of Randolph Scott owned Aintree winner Battleship State University near Blacksburg, to help establish the Marion du Pont Scott Equine Medical Center of the Virginia-Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine at Morven Park, near Leesburg, Va. The center will be dedicated later this year. Mrs.

Scott gained considerable publicity in 1915 when she stirred a commotion as the first woman to ride astride a horse in a show competition at New York's old Madison Square Garden. She won a blue ribbon. In March 1938. Mrs. Scott See HORSEWOMAN B4 By WILLIAM P.

FRANK Staff reporter Marion du Pont Scott, formerly of the Wilmington area, and an internationally noted horsewoman, died Sunday in her home, in Montpelier, after a long illness. She was 89. Mrs. Scott was a great-granddaughter of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, who founded the Du Pont Co. From 1936 to 1938, she was married to motion picture actor Randolph Scott.

In her later years, Mrs. Scott had become feeble and was reported to be losing her sight. However, almost to the end, with the help of nurses and friends, she doggedly continued to visit the extensive stables on her estate, Montpelier, in Orange County, that once belonged to James Madison, fourth president of the United States, and his wife, Dol-ley. Mrs. Scott was the daughter of the late William du Pont of Bel-levue, north of Wilmington, who developed the Delaware Trust Co.

He died in 1928. She was the sister of the late William du Pont who matched her interest in horses and was president of the bank until he died in 1965. Known for her philanthropy, Mrs. Scott recently donated $4 million to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Labor Day brings fun, traffic, crime 7 i w'k fe ft I ill I By ROBIN BROWN and ALISON MOORE Staff reporters Labor Day brought record-tying heat, heavy traffic and big beach crowds to Delaware. But crime didn't take a vacation in Newark, where police said a spate of incidents kept them "busier than blue blazers" with twice the normal crime rate.

Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach officials said their resorts were crowded but quiet. Early Monday, a Wilmington police spokesman said, "It's been so quiet here, we've been serving warrants. Now, that's quiet." But, at 10 p.m., he said, "I should have knocked on wood. The whole thing went downhill. Business picked up." The "business" included breaking up several fights and wild parties.

Newark Police Chief William Brierley said his officers were in three high-speed chases, investigated several burglaries and made almost 80 arrests, including "a tre-mendous number of liquor arrests." One officer said the force was busy the entire weekend. Brierley said crime was up 100 percent over normal for a holiday weekend. Brierley said drivers arrested in chases were: Kenneth Lindell, 18, of the 900 block Cobble Creek Curve, Newark, was charged at 6 p.m. Friday with driving under the influence, 1 1 traffic offenses and stealing a police radio from a police car. That seven-mile chase involved speeds up to 85 mph, mainly through alleys and Computer won't pick Miss America yet ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

An Illinois college professor said Monday he will not announce his computer choice for Miss America 1984 just yet; Dr. George L. Miller is withholding his pick because of a plea from the father of the woman who was, last year's computer selection. Elizabeth Gray Williams of North Carolina won the swimsuit competition, but lost the big prize to Debra Sue Maffett of California. Hef father, James Williams, asked Miller not to publish his selection because he believed last year's announcement hurt his daughter's chances.

Miller will announce his top! 10 finalists later this week, but he will keep his top choice a secret until after the Sept. 17 finals. High-wire sitter ends his stay after 21 days WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. Jay Cochrane wants to pet his dog and get some sleep after sitting 21 days on a high wire over the midway at Kennywood Park to break his own world record. "I can't wait to get down.

I am very tired and it looks like rain," Cochrane said just before his final walk across the wire before an aerial ladder carried him to solid ground for the first time since Aug. 15. Cochrane left the wire shortly after 4:30 p.m. Monday. Legislators to focus on schools, insurance TRENTON, N.J.

A speech by Gov. Thomas H. Kean on education programs and possible action on automobile insurance reform highlighted the schedule for an unusual Tuesday session of the state Legislature. The Legislature usually meets only on Mondays and Thursdays, but leaders scheduled today's meeting because they want to get the'automobile insurance problem behind them. Firemen drank beer 9 hours before fight BALTIMORE Two city firefighters, suspended without pay for using a hook-and-ladder truck to chase a car and then getting into an altercation with its occupants, drank beer in the firehouse before the.incident.

But the consumption was limited to one or two beers and occurred about nine hours before the Saturday morning scuffle, Fire Capt. James Diggs said. The altercation was triggered by a verbal exchange between the truck company's acting commander and several motorists as the truck tried to back into a fire station on one of the city's main arteries, according to reports. Suspended without pay were Capt. Terry Ryer, 3 1 and firefighter Bernard Muller, 26.

No-fault insurance faces murky future HARRISBURG The fate of the state's no-fault auto insurance law seems murkier than ever as lawmakers prepare to consider changing the system when the summer recess ends this month. Legislators and key special interest groups agree that the no-fault law, enacted nearly a decade ago, is responsible for skyrocketing premiums in Pennsylvania, now eighth highest in the nation. No consensus is yet in sight, however, about what should be done to contain those costs. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee will meet Sept. 14 to hear testimony from the insurance industry and the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association.

N.J. 17ryear-old dies after a karate fight CAMDEN, N.J. A 17-year-old youth was found dead in his bed at home here Monday morning after being involved in a "fist and karate fight" the night before, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office said. The body of Michael Schenck was found by his brother Joseph, 18. Bob Gamber, 18, also of Camden, was charged with aggravated assault in the incident, the spokesman said.

He said Gamber and Schenck had fought Sunday night, and investigators believe Schenck's death may have been the result of injuries suffered in the fight. An autopsy was scheduled for today. Compiled from dispatches QE2 will visit again before cruising home Marion du Pont Scott in 1972 parking lots. After an 11-mile chase with speeds up to 90 mph, police arrested Donald Farmer, 22, of the 200 block S. Bank Road, Newark.

-He was charged at 2:30 a.m. Satur-day with driving under the influ-. ence and five traffic offenses. Bernadette M. Stiffler, 50, of I the unit block Martell Road, Fire-; side Park, near Newark, was charged with driving under the influence and seven traffic offenses after a four-mile chase at speeds of -up to 50 mph at 3:30 p.m.

Monday. Police usually "beef up for week-ends," Brierley said, but they mis- takenly believed that most people would be away for Labor Day week-. end. The burglaries, however, tered on homes along Capitol Trail belonging to families who were away, Brierley said. -t Dr.

Charles H. Schultheiss his family walked into the house around 4 p.m. Monday, to find a burglar in the master a chiropractor, said Monday night that the man, wear; ing khaki pants and a pullover tried to spray him with Mace, but "I threw a double-suiter suitcase at him." Schultheiss ran after the burglar, who got into a compact car with; Pennsylvania license plates andt drove off. Schultheiss's whom he declined to identify, tot in her car and chased him, losing him in Main Street traffic. Newark's Main Street and other city streets began to show the! crowding of students returning to See HOLIDAYS B4 less than four hours and pass Wilmington about 6 a.m.

On the return trip the same day, the liner should reach Wilmington before 6 p.m. and enter the open sea near Lewes shortly before midnight. Ideal riverfront vantage points for cruise-ship watchers include Augustine Beach, Port Penn, Reedy Point at the canal, Delaware City, Ommelanden Park along River Road, Battery Park in New Castle, the Wilmington Marine Terminal, Fox Point Park near Edgemoor and the Gov. Printz Boulevard from Wilmington to Claymont. There also is a riverfront park in Marcus Hook, Pa.

On the New Jersey side of the river, spectators can view the liner from Fort Mott, and Penns Beach in Pennsville, and Penns Grove. For those who want to book pas-, sage on the QE2 from Philadelphia to Southampton, double staterooms are still available. Prices start at $1,360 per person, with a free British Airways flight home from England, according to Cunard and a spokesman for Greenville Travel Agency Inc. near Wilmington. Karen E.

Peterson Wants county to hare a say 4 '-A SlaH photo by Chuck McGowen Friends of The Tatnall School's gazebo, (from left) Richard Smith, Nancy Willis, Jane Walmsley and Chip Pollock, say the campus just won't be the same without it. Greek gazebo's glory gone It'll be torn down, leaving only fond memories restore the gazebo, the school has decided to raze the building, Ricketson said. But that has upset some of the 750 students who attend the school on Barley Mill Road, west of Wilmington. "I think it's pretty sad," said Lisa G. Dill, 16, who will be a senior at the school this year.

"It's been a part of Tatnall." Dill added, however, that the old building next to tennis courts and a small playground on the school's campus has more sentimental than practical value. "It really doesn't do anything," she said. "But it's neat to have around." Kendall Andrews, 15, who will begin her sopho-' more year, said she is "kind of upset" at the See GREEK B2 By AL HUNTER Staff reporter Even when it was dedicated on The Tatnall School campus in 1965, the small round building wasn't expected to do much but sit there and look almost 20 years later, the old Greek-style structure looks pretty bad. Its exterior is chipping. Metal supports holding the roof are rusted and some of the wood appears rotted.

"It was never really designed to last forever," said William Ricketson headmaster at Tatnall. Rather than spend an estimated $10,000 to By PHIL MILFORD Staff reporter The liner Queen ELzabeth 2 will make its third visit of the year to Philadelphia' Thurscay, steaming up the Delaware River early in the morning and then returning to the Atlantic that afternoon and evening. A spokesman for Cunard Lines in New York City said the QE2 is scheduled to arrive at Philadelphia's Packer Avenue Marine Terminal at 8 a.m. After picking up passengers and supplies and making a quick turnaround, the ship will weigh anchor at 4 p.m., heading for New York City and ultimately Southampton, England. A weekend party "cruise to nowhere" left Philadelphia for a short loop in the Atlantic early in May, followed the next week by a Philadelphia-to-Southampton cruise.

The giant ship usually passes the Delaware Breakwater, off Cape Henlopen near Lewes, about 1 a.m. and picks up a river pilot there for the trip upriver. If all goes on schedule, the QE2 should reach the Chesapeake Delaware Canal in wants the decision it can have it. Members of the board had argued in December that the proposal to remove them from the process was a political attempt to benefit the construction companies because the board has denied the last two gravel pit applications and a third was withdrawn. Gravel pits are areas where gravel is, in effect, mined.

They are often referred to as "borrow pits" because the subsoil is borrowed by builders for use elsewhere. The pits have proliferated in this era of interstate highways, because large quantities of gravel are used to make reinforced concrete, ele- See GRAVEL PITS B3 County reconsiders gravel pits, again tance of a technical advisory committee. That proposal has been tabled by the council and Peterson says that council should make the decision on gravel pits. "If we the council are going to take the heat, then we should also be the people who should make the decision in the first place," Peterson said. Peterson's proposal differs from the December proposal in calling for-review by the planning board and Planning Department.

The members of the Board of Adjustment said they can't understand why the council would want to be saddled with such controversies, but added that if the council last December. The proposal would have created stricter standards and enforcement procedures, but it would have meant gravel-pit operators no longer needed approval from the zoning boards. Instead, the county council would have made the decisions, with a recommendation from a technical advisory board. The proposal drew intense opposition from the members of the county Board of Adjustment the public body designated to hear gravel pit applications. In February, after public hearings, the planning board changed its mind and recommended the zoning boarcf continue to make decisions on applications, but with the assis By MICHAEL JACKSON Staff reporter For the third time in eight months, the question of what to do with gravel pits is back to plague the New Castle County Council and administration.

This time, County Council Presi-' dent Karen E. Peterson has presented a proposed ordinance to revamp the gravel-pit approval process by creating a new zoning classfication, thereby making applications subject to council approval. The council has no role in the current process. The county Department of Planning presented a similar proposal.