In Out-Of-Doors

The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society has two hikes planned for the Columbus Day weekend. On Saturday beginning at 10 a.m., Richard Lupoletti will lead a "challenging" seven-mile trek from one end of Cedar Point County Park in Northwest to the other. Hikers, who have been advised to bring water, will meet at the ranger cabin just inside the park entrance.

Peter Garnham, president of the Amagansett Historical Association, will put the Spring Close Highway trail in historic perspective Sunday during an easy two-miler in East Hampton. The meeting place is about a half-mile north of Spring Close Highway's intersection with Route 27 and immediately north of the railroad overpass. Mr. Lupoletti will lead this hike, too.

Shorebirds

Migrating hawks, falcons, and shorebirds are the focus on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m., when the Group for the South Fork's Erika Haberkorn takes walkers along the shores of Lazy Point, Goff Point, and Hicks Island on Napeague. Binoculars will be needed.

Hikers have been asked to call the Group's headquarters in Bridgehampton to learn the meeting place of that hike, and of a "brisk" one on Sunday, led by the Group's president, Bob DeLuca. He will lead the way through Sears-Bellows County Park in Hampton Bays, where the trees lining the park's kettleholes are already dressed in fall colors.

The Nature Conservancy, too, will take a look at the foliage Sunday, at Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island. Copper tupelos, red maples, yellow birches, and golden beeches await hikers, who will begin a one-and-a-half mile walk at 10 a.m.

On The Water

The day before, Mashomack will be host to canoers and kayakers, who will explore the preserve's winding salt marsh beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday. Conservancy members can rent kayaks for $35; $45 for nonmembers. Canoes are $20 and $30 respectively. The preserve headquarters on Shelter Island will take reservations for both events.

Out in Montauk, the Lighthouse Museum is offering twice-a-day tours of the beaches, woods, and creatures around the Lighthouse over the three-day weekend. Saturday's walks are from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and from 3 to 4:15 p.m. The morning trips Sunday and Monday are from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the afternoon tours are scheduled for 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Penny Lieberman, the guide, has asked walkers to meet her at the Lighthouse flagpole.

The tour is included in the price of a visit to the Lighthouse Museum: $3 for adults, $1 for children aged 6 to 12, and $2.75 for seniors. The walks are not recommended for children younger than 6.

"I'm going to order some butterfish bait," was the response of Tom Edwardes of the Montauk Marine Basin upon hearing that U.S. Congressman Michael Forbes had been successful at wringing an additional 10 metric tons out of the National Marine Fisheries Service's 1997 quota for school-size bluefin tuna.

The official announcement was published via fax yesterday morning. Effective tomorrow, angler, charter, and party boats may begin taking an additional 10 metric tons of large-school and small-medium bluefin measuring 47 to 73 inches long. Fisheries Service projections have the quota filled as of 11:30 on Oct. 19. The daily bag limit has been increased to two large-school (47 to 59 inches) and one small-medium (59 to 73 inches) per boat, per day.

The announcement arrived as angry charter and party boat captains had gotten to the point of planning a civil protest of Federal regulations.

Furious Fishing

On Oct. 1, the season on bluefin measuring 27 to 73 inches was closed to recreational fishermen. As of press time, anglers were not even allowed to catch and release smaller bluefin. Prior to the cutoff date, the daily bag limit was only one fish per boat per day.

The fishing over the weekend was so fast and furious that fishermen marking larger bluefin on their electronic fish-finding screens reportedly could not get their bait past the voracious schoolies.

Mr. Forbes said he hoped to get the fishing re-started by the Columbus Day weekend. And, he said, the daily bag would be increased to three fish, per boat, per day until the new quota was met.

"It's better than nothing," said Joe McBride, captain of the My Mate charter boat and president of the Montauk Boatmen and Captains Association. However, he said the Fisheries Service could have added the quota in time for last weekend.

Irksome Quota

"They did this to us for four years," he said, referring to closures of the school bluefin fishery before the fish migrated to within range of Long Island fishermen.

The closures have been especially irksome because the coastwide quota is divided between southern and northern fishermen. The bluefin reach southern anglers first and they have out-caught their quota, causing the northern quota to be closed early.

This year, New England fishermen caught up the northern share of small bluefin. Only within the past two weeks have large schools been found within 25 miles of Shinnecock and Montauk - just in time for the closure. "It's a problem of data collection," said Captain McBride, adding that the Fisheries Service was still unable to keep track of the landings in a way that allows for equal distribution of fishing opportunities.

While some offshore fishermen are trying to stay away from the bluefin, others are continuing to catch a shark or two. On Saturday, Allen Gregg aboard the Al's Girl Now fought a 228-pound mako to a standstill, but not before the beast jumped six times, once at least 10 feet in the air. John Ward and Kent Gaugler shared the excitement.

Big Bass

Inshore, boaters continued to catch bass, bluefish, and false albacore, but the beach had been quiet until Tuesday, when Fred Kalkstein of Amagansett, competing in the Montauk Locals bass tournament, landed a 34- and-a-half pound striper. Already in first place, Mr. Kalkstein held first and second spots on the leader board - but briefly.

Yesterday morning Bob Jones of East Hampton caught a 35-and-a-half pound bass, putting him in first place and dropping Mr. Kalkstein to second and third places. The two catches have put the noses of Montauk locals out of joint, seeing as how they named the tournament.

"They have knocked a chip off our shoulders," Joe Gaviola of Montauk said of the UpIslanders of whom he and other tournament organizers had allowed more this season.

If you long for an armful of cat, the Maine coon cat, Norwegian forest cat, or Siberian cat would be the kitty of choice. These cats are big; show-quality individuals frequently weigh in at 16 to 18 pounds, sometimes as much as 20, and that's without an ounce of fat on them.

Jean Harry of East Hampton is a cat person. "All my life, I'd taken in abandoned and lost cats. People were always giving them to me. I was known as the cat lady. When the last of those cats died I told my husband, 'Now I want a real cat.' "

The first "real" cat was a Maine coon cat. Apparently, one thing led to another and Jean and her husband, Paul, now share their East Hampton home with two Maine coons, two Norwegian forest cats, and two offspring of a Maine coon and forest cat breeding.

Her Majesty's Darlings

Maine coon cats are the best known of the three big breeds and are fast becoming the most popular purebred cat in the United States. Though they are indisputably the oldest established American breed of cat, their origins are not completely known.

There exist many romantic legends about the antecedents of these cats. One of the most colorful has it that a Samuel Clough, a New England sea captain and confirmed royalist, hatched a plan to rescue the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, from the jaws of the French Revolution.

To make sure that Her Majesty would be comfortable in her new home of Wiscasset, Maine, Captain Clough smuggled out furniture and other items dear to the Queen, amongst them her six precious long-haired cats. When their royal mistress failed to survive and claim them, the cats took matters into their own paws, as cats will do, and started a New World lineage.

Viking Lineage?

Another popular theory is that the Maine coon cats descended from the Skoggkats that Vikings brought along to their settlements in Greenland and Vineland to control rodents threatening stored food and grains. This theory is taken very seriously by some since Skoggkats, known in this country as Norwegian forest cats, and Maine coons are remarkably similar in appearance.

Picturesque as stories of valiant sea captains, beleaguered queens, and voyaging Vikings may be, the more probable genesis of the coon cat (and its cousins, the forest cat and the Siberian cat) is through Darwinian survival of the fittest by natural selection.

The three cat breeds evolved in harsh northern climates. Their shaggy coats, pretty as they may be, are functional, protecting the cats from cold and wet. The same can be said for the heavily tufted ears, which give them a wild bobcat appearance, and the large furry paws.

Intensely Loving

Maine coon cats, Norwegian forest cats, and Siberian cats are rugged, sturdy, and hardy creatures. They are adventurous, inquisitive, and active and, in most cases, should have access to the outdoors. But the fact that nature had a large role in their creation should not lead to the supposition that these cats aren't very partial to people.

The cats are intensely loving and loyal. They want to be with their people. The Harrys are frequently accompanied by their cats as they walk along the beach near their home, much to the considerable enjoyment and astonishment of their neighbors. "People come out of their houses to watch us go by," Mrs. Harry said.

The cats' affectionate nature has led to their being frequently described as doglike in their demeanor. This is an objectionable and inaccurate description, implying as it does that cats as a species are not capable of great devotion to their humans.

Coats To Care For

The term "doglike" also fails to capture the very graceful and feline ways that Maine coons, forest cats, and Siberian cats exhibit their devotion.

Like my four dogs, my Maine coon cat, Paddy Whack, insists on accompanying me while I do the chores. But unlike them, he is not earthbound. He follows my terrestrial route via an arboreal one of his own devising, arriving, with great dramatic flourish, at his destination, having crossed rooftops and teetered along branches and fencetops to get there.

Check First

Though the most typical color of the three breeds is brown tabby, the cats come in every variation of feline coloration. Their long flowing coats may have a practical weatherproofing function, but they do require upkeep on the part of their human caretakers. Mrs. Harry feels it's necessary to groom her cats every other day. In some cases the cats willingly comply, but, in others, well . . . "It takes four hands to do the job. Paul will hold the cat down while I do the combing, and the cat yowls the whole time." Mrs. Harry said ruefully.

At the moment, the Siberian cat is very rare in the United States and is not often available for sale. The opposite is true for Maine coon cats; there are very many people breeding and raising these cats, so prospective coon cat owners should be cautious and investigate breeders' credentials before committing to a kitten from their catteries.

An excellent source of information about coon cats is the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association, c/o Cheryl Gower, 12376 Checkerboard Road, Gervais, Ore. 97026. Those interested in obtaining a Norwegian forest cat should contact the Norwegian Forest Cat Fanciers Association, Patricia Gavin, 218 Junaluska Oak Drive, Waynesville, N.C. 28763.

Sag Harbor Mayor Pierce Hance on Tuesday announced a tough crackdown on noise, rowdy behavior, and parking problems neighbors say have been caused by three popular bars and night clubs.

The plan includes a new, stronger noise ordinance, scheduled for a public hearing next month, resident-only parking permits, and a lobbying effort to change state law to give residents the right to hold referendums on what kind of establishments can serve liquor in the village.

The crackdown grew out of two recent Village Board meetings at which residents complained that the arrival this year of Boom Bistro, Chili Peppers, and the Harbor House - and the crowds that frequent them - had robbed them of peace and quiet.

Failure To Respond

"The sources of the problems have been unresponsive, perhaps even indifferent," Mr. Hance said. "Their failure to comply is what's causing us to take these actions."

The Mayor and the Village Board, who had been chastised by neighbors for their failure to take quick action during the summer, received a smattering of applause from some of those residents at Tuesday's meeting, although others raised questions about the specifics of the measures.

The get-tough policy will begin with a public hearing on Nov. 4 on a noise ordinance. Although Mayor Hance offered no specifics, he said the law would be a "complete revision" of the existing one, which Anthony Tohill, the village attorney, has said is practically unenforceable.

Will Be Towed

Mr. Hance said the new measure would allow police to use monitoring equipment and to more effectively respond to complaints.

The Mayor also said the village is proposing parking permits for residents of Water, Bridge, and Garden Streets, Long Island Avenue, and other side streets near the business district next year and banning cars without permits between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Residents would receive one permit for each car they own.

"Any vehicle without a permit will be towed," said Mr. Hance. Owners would be required to pay the cost of the towing and fines to retrieve their vehicles.

"Jumped The Fence"

Earlier this year, in an effort to control summertime parking, the village banned parking on Long Island Avenue, but patrons of the clubs had "jumped the fence, so to speak, and moved into the neighborhoods," said Mr. Hance.

Some in the audience questioned whether the permit system would work. One woman urged the village to extend the hours of the ban, saying people going to the clubs clog the streets as early as 6 p.m. Eva Stern of Garden Street questioned whether residents would be able to receive temporary permits allowing their own guests to visit and park beyond 11 p.m.

And Charles McCarron said he feared the new rules would inadvertently launch new businesses - encouraging residents to sell their permits to club-goers or rent spaces on their lawns.

Seek Control

"I don't think any of the people who took the time to come to our meetings will rent their yards," responded Mr. Hance.

To further control night clubs in the village, Mr. Hance said he had asked State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. to introduce legislation that would allow it to hold a referendumlimiting the types of liquor-serving businesses in the village. State law now limits that authority to towns and cities.

If the State Legislature were to approve the change, Sag Harbor could go so far as to vote itself dry, said Mr. Tohill.

Mr. Hance also said he would ask Police Chief Joseph Ialacci to coordinate "tactical" efforts with the South ampton Town fire marshal and state and town police to make sure the clubs comply with new laws as well as maximum occupancy and alcohol rules.

The steps could include creating check-points near the clubs to clamp down on drunken drivers, he said.

A "treasure trove" of documents relating to Sag Harbor's mid-19th century whaling industry will soon be added to the Pennypacker Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Library, courtesy of the East Hampton Rare Book and Map Society, which purchased them last month at a Manhattan auction.

Among the four sets of papers is a comprehensive account of the activities of a fleet of whaling vessels owned by Charles T. Dering, including crew lists, sailing dates, and money earned from each voyage. The manuscript forms an unusually complete record covering the years 1828 to 1855.

Whaling Economics

Also being donated to the library are several letters home from captains at sea, the 1830s notebook and account book of a Sag Harbor attorney, William H. Nelson, and business records of Loper & Co., Sag Harbor oil merchants.

"These are archival materials that will in future years help amateur historians and scholars alike understand what it was like to live in the heyday of Sag Harbor's whaling industry," said Thomas Twomey, an East Hampton lawyer and member of the Rare Book and Map Society.

Besides providing insight into life on board ship, said Mr. Twomey, the documents give information as to "the economics of operating a large whaling fleet, and profiting from the whale oil itself, and also the legal work. Taken as a whole, the four items become a treasure trove."

Spirited Bidding

The documents were part of a collection owned by Barbara Johnson of New Jersey. They were auctioned last month at the Swann Galleries in New York City, specialists in rare books, maps, and manuscripts.

Mr. Twomey bid against three and sometimes four others in a competitive session. The Map Society spent a total of $8,495 to obtain the four lots.

Three of them went for well under estimate. The society won the Dering manuscript, the most significant of its acquisitions, for $6,000, half of what Swann had thought it might bring.

Mr. Nelson's notebook, which was estimated to go for as high as $350, was another bargain, at $175, while the Loper & Co. archives sold for $700, $200 below the estimated high.

The whaling captains' letters home were a different story. The auction house anticipated receiving $300 to $400 for them, but after spirited bidding they were purchased for the Pennypacker Collection for $900.

Dering Company Voyage

Money for the purchases was donated by members of the society, said Mr. Twomey, after a look at the auction catalogue revealed the opportunity to obtain the documents.

In addition to Mr. Twomey, those who contributed, all local business people, were Robert Denny, Frank Duffy, Bruce Bozzi, Arthur Dodge, Bernie Kiembock, Frank Newbold, George Yates, Charles Bullock, Rudy DeSanti, Stuart Epstein, and Peter Hallock.

Two couples, Patty and Jeff Kenner and Elizabeth and Patrick Gerschel, all of East Hampton, joined the group and provided additional funds.

The important Dering Company material lists the entire crew embarking on 60 voyages taken by the whaling ships Henry, Nimrod, Franklin, Camillus, Hamilton, Barbara, Helen, Niantic, Noble, Sabrina, Gentleman, and Mary Gardner, all owned by Charles Dering and based in Sag Harbor.

The library already has logbooks from some of those voyages, said Dorothy King, the librarian of the Pennypacker Long Island collection. The logbooks provide a day-by-day accounting of the ship's location, bearings, and weather, as well as sightings and take.

Crew Manifest

The logs, however, do not customarily give a crew manifest, which, said Mr. Twomey, is "a tremendous genealogical resource."

"It's great to have that," agreed Miss King.

Researchers from as far away as Australia and South Africa, where one Sag Harbor whaleman went ashore and set down roots, have come to East Hampton to do genealogical research, she said.

Sag Harbor vessels commonly journeyed not only to the South Atlantic but to far-flung fishing grounds in the South Seas, the Pacific, and the Southern Hemisphere as well, on trips as long as three years.

Unknown Journeys

Along with the names, the records, probably compiled by Dering clerks as ships set sail and returned, indicate the dates of departure and return, crew members' "lays" (their jobs and responsibilities, upon which depended their percentage of the profits), and the number of barrels of whale oil yielded by the catch.

The document also provides information on journeys that were omitted from a 19th-century volume which is considered a bible of the whaling industry, Alexander Starbuck's "History of the American Whale Fishery From Its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876."

The auction catalogue described the Dering papers as "a virtually complete record of the sailings and crew for Sag Harbor's largest whaling concern."

The Business Side

Invoices and receipts detailing purchases of oil made by Loper & Co., as well as letters from the company's New York City agent describing oil sales there, are part of a 24-piece archive that provides information about the business side of whaling.

Miss King said the Long Island Collection does not have a great deal of material on that aspect, "especially in manuscript form," and called the papers "a great addition." An early receipt, from 1765, is signed by Aron Loper, the founder of the firm.

The account book of the attorney William H. Nelson contains financial records related to his purchase of shares in two whaling ships, the Franklin and the Nimrod. The balance sheet shows profits that prove Mr. Nelson's a wise investment.

The attorney's notebook contains a record of his debtors as well as the will of one Nancy Beebe of "South Hampton."

Three letters, two written by a son, David Hand, captain of a whaling ship, to his father, Robert F. Hand, and an earlier one sent home by Robert Hand when he himself was at sea on a whaler, give a glimpse of the personal.

Father And Son

David Hand sailed from Sag Harbor aboard the Hamilton 2nd on June 17, 1839, on a journey that was to last just over a year. Shortly after leaving port, he wrote home with news that one sperm whale had been taken, and asked his father to take care of his health. In 1833, as captain of the Cadmus, the younger Mr. Hand reported home that the ship's chronometer, a timepeice used as an early navigational device, had broken.

R.F. Hand's letter, sent from the "Cape Deberd" Islands while he was on board the Octavia in 1821, imparts only the discouraging news that no whales have yet been seen. R.F. Hand went on to become master of the Columbia in 1829.

The documents, described by the gallery as in "very good" condition, will be shipped here in a few weeks, said Mr. Twomey. Archival preservation cases will be made for them before they are presented to the library.

Health insurance policy holders, hospitals, physicians - and anyone else who has to deal with managed care companies - now have recourse when the health insurance companies do not pay their claims on time.

Gov. George E. Pataki has signed a new law which will require all health insurers to pay up in a timely manner - that is, within 45 days - or suffer fines of up to $500 a day. The law takes effect in January.

"We're very happy," said John Calagna, a spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department, who said he has received "thousands of complaints" over the past several months from both health care providers and patients, mostly about the managed care companies.

Fines To The State

Simple claims should be paid within about two weeks, Mr. Calagna said, noting that subscribers and providers need not wait the full 45 days before filing a complaint with the Insurance Department once the law takes effect.

Fines, which the insurance department can also impose on insurance companies which do not "respond to its inquiries in a timely manner," will go into the New York State general fund, Mr. Calagna said.

Physicians Suffer

"I wish the fines would be paid to the physicians and providers," said Dr. John J. Ferry Jr., the president of Southampton Hospital, which has had to wait several months to be paid millions of dollars by managed care companies.

Under individual contracts with the insurers, "we [providers] have been forced to accept discounted fees for services we have always provided - in part because of the promise of timely payment," Dr. Ferry pointed out. "I feel especially badly for the solo physician who doesn't have real cash reserves and has had to wait months to be paid."

He added, however, that he was "delighted" that the "statewide crisis is now appreciated by the legislators and the Governor."

Oxford Probe

Not surprisingly, the H.M.O. Council of New York, a trade organization representing 32 health maintenance organizations with six million subscribers, opposed the legislation.

"We did not feel there was a need for it, because there was no evidence of a widespread problem in New York State," Leslie Moran, a spokeswoman, said yesterday.

"We felt the state should impose a standard on itself as well," said Ms. Moran, adding the New York State was "historically late" with its own payments.

Dennis Vacco, the State Attorney General, recently reached an agreement with Oxford Health Plans, which had a particularly troublesome payment record, requiring the company to pay its claims within 30 days. Mr. Calagna said that the Insurance Department's examiners are continuing their investigation of Oxford, and "may have something to say about it in the next few months."

The new law specifies that claims processed after the 45-day period must include interest at 12 percent per year, or at the corporate tax rate, whichever is greater. Fines can be levied against insurance companies, agents, or brokers, and cannot exceed $10,000. Those who violate the law five times within five years, however, can be fined an additional $50,000.

Individuals, hospitals, and doctors and other providers can file complaints with the Insurance Department by mail, phone, or on the Internet. Its mailing address is: New York State Insurance Department, Consumer Services Bureau, 25 Beaver Street, New York, N.Y. 10004, its toll free number is: 1-800-342-3736, and the Web address is: www.ins.state.ny.us .

In 1962, just 2 percent of Americans had experimented with hard drugs. Within 20 years, that number would soar to 38 percent, altering not only the priorities of law enforcement but the national psyche.

One of those concerned early on about the meteoric rise in the number of addicted Americans - and a man who could do something about it - was a child psychiatrist, Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal.

What he did, in 1967, was to help found Phoenix House, the country's largest nonprofit substance-abuse agency. Today, Phoenix House is a $50 million-a-year operation treating some 3,000 adults and adolescents, on any given day, most of them poor, at 26 residential, educational, and outpatient centers in New York, New Jersey, Texas, and California.

Prison Costs Far More

Sitting by a fire on a chilly day last week at his spacious house in Northwest, the dark-haired, dark-eyed physician, speaking softly but intensely, said Phoenix House had the best success rate in the business.

Of 70,000 patients treated in three decades, he said, 60 percent, even though they may not have graduated, are "fine."

As important, he stressed, is the fact that for a cost of $18,000 to $20,000, Phoenix House's 12 to 18-month residential program beats, hands down, the expense of a prison bed, estimated at $100,000 to build and $35,000 to maintain annually.

New York City's Rikers Island costs taxpayers as much as $60,000 per prisoner, per year.

Need Is Rising

Besides, said Dr. Rosenthal, who is now Phoenix House's president, prisons have been shown to be ineffective in curing addiction, or its underlying psychological problems.

A recent report of the National Criminal Justice Commission, called "The Real War on Crime," noted that sentencing judges generally must choose between overused probation services and prison, a dilemma the report compared to seeking a physician's help for a headache and being given the choice of a baby aspirin or a lobotomy.

And the need for drug treatment continues to rise. A University of Michigan study found that 40 percent of the nation's 12th-graders have used illicit drugs in the past year, up 13 percent since 1992.

Potent Marijuana

Smokable heroin, too, poses a significant new threat, as does a more potent form of marijuana that has become available just when government opposition to drug use, from the Federal level down, seems to be on the wane.

"Disordered, asocial children are bankrupting our society - financially and morally," declared Dr. Rosenthal. "New York State is spending more on prisons than on higher education . . . on both a state and national level, we need major dollars for treatment."

Many adolescents at Phoenix House, he said, are "abused, unwanted kids" who have experienced a "pathological absence of parenting." They need "habilitation, education, and socialization."

Synanon And A.A.

Dr. Rosenthal is the author of "Drugs, Parents, and Children: The Three-Way Connection," considered the seminal work on the role families can play in preventing adolescent drug abuse.

He did his basic clinical research on the "therapeutic community" - the method he endorses - in the '60s, when, as a Navy doctor in Oakland, Calif., he treated Vietnam veterans who were drug abusers. He drew inspiration, he said, from the California-based drug rehabilitation center Synanon, and from the precepts of Alcoholics Anonymous.

He found great satisfaction, he added, in "forging bonds with people personally; that created wonderful feelings for me, and I saw tremendous effectiveness."

"I learned a different way to use myself."

In the therapeutic community, a residential "immersion program," a patient in a group of, say, 50, "takes a cruise with 49 other co-therapists," he explained. Reliance on one another becomes key in a mutual self-help process, as patients who had formerly denied or minimized their self-destructive behaviors recognize and grow beyond them.

A prescribed code of behavior prevails, characterized, the doctor said, by honesty and accountability in the residential setting. "Everyone works and/or attends school, and everyone helps make the ship sail."

The program is similar to Daytop Village in the city, and to APPLE, A Program Planned for Life Enrichment, on Long Island. Unlike A.A. 12-step meetings, which discourage responses, or "cross-talk," Phoenix House residents confront one another, though verbal abuse is taboo.

Group Leverage

Dr. Rosenthal likened the process to a "therapeutic Pony Express" - no one carries the mail the whole way.

The group exerts "enormous therapeutic leverage, and progress is much faster," he said, than in individual psychotherapy. The community is "very ambitious for its members," he noted.

"The caricature of these groups is that they are too tough," Dr. Rosenthal said, while acknowledging that such therapy is "not for everyone." Only about a fifth of those who begin the residential program graduate. But, he emphasized, "those who are successful know it's real - especially in a [psychotherapeutic] world which uses extensive euphemisms."

Supporters point out that the majority of recovering addicts-in-residence have not chosen the program; many, if they are nonviolent, have been sent there by the courts.

American Ambivalence

Dr. Rosenthal thinks New York State should more than triple its 7,000 long-term residential treatment beds. "We have the means to fix the problem," he insisted.

He believes, however, that Americans are "deeply ambivalent" about drugs. The nation is "all for law and order," he said, but lacks "the political will" to help those who are most affected: poor people and minorities.

"The middle class isn't afraid yet," he said, reminding a visitor that in the late '50s there were some 600,000 beds available to Americans stricken with tuberculosis.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Rosenthal is resolutely opposed to legalizing marijuana. "If we make another powerful mind-altering drug available, we have so many people prone to mental illness, we'll have a vast increase in the socially disabled."

"Forty percent of the kids are in residential treatment because of pot," he said. "They can't function in school, and they live a secret, antisocial" existence.

Dr. Rosenthal, who ran New York City's rehabilitation programs during Mayor John V. Lindsay's administration, likes the city's present Mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who last week proposed a major antidrug initiative.

"It's sound public policy," he said.

Southampton Publick House

Bowden Square, Southampton

283-2800

Lunch noon-4 p.m. every day

Dinner 5-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday

and Saturday

With an atmosphere reminiscent of an old-style pub - warm woods, a scrolled tin ceiling, and individual votives placed in each window after dark - and a menu of fresh, flavorful, microbrewed beers, it's too bad the food at the Southampton Publick House isn't better than it is.

The restaurant's taproom is a great place for groups of friends to hang out, and the dining room attracts families with kids because it's big and has a varied menu, but don't expect fine dining here.

Do go for the beer, though. There are always at least half a dozen brews on tap, several of which are seasonal specials. Last week they were offering an Octoberfest, a Pumpkin Ale, and a Porter. A lover of dark beer, I tried the Porter, which had a strong molasses flavor and wasn't bitter - but neither did it have the richness of a Guinness. Pints are $4 and $4.50, about average for an East End bar.

"Growlers" To Go

Four-ounce samplers are available for anyone who can't decide among Southampton Golden Lager, Montauk Light, Southampton Pale Ale, Southampton Secret Ale, or any of the special brews. And for those who believe, as the Publick House does, that "fresh beer is the best beer," the brewery offers half-gallon "growlers" to take home, at $10 for the first fill-up and $8 for refills.

From the appetizer menu, we ordered popcorn shrimp, one of many $6 choices. The portion was generous, more than enough for the three of us to share, the shrimp were tender, and the breading was Cajun spicy, moderated slightly by dipping in tartar sauce. Marinara would have been a nice foil, too.

Other appetizers include Long Island mussels in beer broth ($9), black ale onion soup ($4), and conch fritters ($8).

Duck A L'Orange

A Caesar salad ($5), with strips of roasted red pepper, was a little bland to my taste, but just fine for a 16-year-old, who devoured it. The Caesar salad also comes with grilled chicken ($9) or shrimp ($12), and there are several other salads as well.

Of the four dinner specials being offered, we chose two: duck a l'orange ($18) and lobster ravioli ($16). And, for the youngest one at our table, ale-battered fish and chips ($14) from the regular menu.

With the duck came a choice of garlic mashed potatoes, french fries, or rice pilaf (the latter was chosen), and a blend of seasoned steamed vegetables. When the plate came out, it looked as though it had sat a tad too long under the heat lamp: the orange glaze was somewhat congealed, and some of the rice had gotten dried up and crunchy. Which would have served the duck's skin, actually - it was a little soggy, though the meat was well cooked.

Fries Disappointed

Six large ravioli came in a wide-brimmed pasta bowl covered with a creamy sauce of roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms. And though the ravioli themselves were on the gummy side, and the flavor of the chopped lobster filling got a little lost, the dish as a whole was tasty and satisfying.

Fish and chips seemed like a sure thing for a young child, and it came out looking authentic, newspaper wrapping and all. But while she loved the thick fillets of what looked and tasted like fresh cod, I found them to be greasy.

And the french fries - oh, my goodness, they were fresh from the freezer! What a disappointment.

Specials Aplenty

Also on the menu are steaks, from a 12-ounce sirloin at $15 to a marinated boneless rib eye at $20 - the highest-priced entree. There are chicken dishes, pork tenderloins, salmon, and a selection of pastas at $13 and $14. Sandwiches range from burgers at $6 to crab cakes at $9. The children's menu has all the usual items, from grilled cheese to chicken fingers, each at $6.

Dinner specials are available most days. Entrees are 15 percent off Monday through Friday from 5 to 7, they're two for one on Tuesday, and three-course dinner specials are $18.95 Thursday and Sunday. Wednesday night is ladies night in the taproom from 9 to 11, and a free drink comes with Sunday brunch.

I recall previous visits to the Publick House, mostly with groups of students from Southampton College, as being fun and festive, focused mainly on the beer (and the conversation). And for that, it's an ideal gathering spot.

"Recent studies show . . ." I won't keep you in suspense: Eggs are good for you! Cooks everywhere will wave an enthusiastic farewell to the "whites-only" omelet, another dreary food fad disappearing over the hill into the sunset of oblivion.

"Cooking without eggs isn't cooking at all," in the words of soon-to-be-85 Julia Child, and I have remained loyal to the cruelly maligned henfruit throughout my culinary career.

Eggs are one of the most delicious, cheapest, most perfect sources of protein known to man. Few foods are so versatile. Eggs are, to boot, high in omega-3, an essential element in brain development.

Yes, eggs are high in cholesterol - a word mouthed even by kindergarteners with advanced vocabularies these days - but, the fact is, the body manufactures its own supply of this necessary component in hormone and cell membrane maintenance. Trouble is, some people (alas, it's hereditary) can't sustain a proper balance in their blood cholesterol levels. But most people can!

A study conducted at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons revealed that a group of students, both male and female, who ate three or four eggs a day over a period of several weeks showed "virtually no change in their cholesterol levels."

This will not halt a continued disagreement over eggs in the diet. It's one I refuse to think about too much except for the worry about salmonella, which usually gets into eggs with cracked shells left out at room temperature too long. For this reason I pay outrageous prices for organic eggs, still one of the cheapest and best foods one can buy.

All this fretting over cholesterol has even resulted in reports by pediatricians of underweight babies and toddlers, placed on skim milk, low-fat, and eggless diets by their diet-vigilante parents.

Nearly all kids go through maddening picky-eater stages (easily cured, as most large families know, by having six children and enough food on the table for five), but the one mother's blessing that few refuse is scrambled eggs. And that's one comfort food most of us never outgrow.

Except for Chinese Thousand-Year Eggs, my taste for eggs in almost any form has continued unabated: soft-boiled, hard-boiled, deviled, fried, poached or coddled, souffles, omelettes, frittatas, piperade, quiches, and custard pies.

Sugar Takes Its Lumps

There are great egg dishes in nearly every national cuisine, although the most eccentric one I ever encountered - Denmark's cold sunny-side-up eggs with a sprinkling of sugar - did not fall into the "great" category.

Of course there are many disagreements about the role of sugar; the Chinese put sugar into every dish that tomatoes figure in, and sprinkle fresh, raw tomatoes with a lavish coating of confectioner's sugar. Sugar has had to take its lumps too; it's been blamed for every kind of evil from ugly sandbox behavior to sprees of serial murders.

Woody Allen once predicted that sugar and chocolate will be declared dietary essentials by the year 2500. With any luck at all, carob will be outlawed.

Chard Noodle Pudding

This is adapted from a sweet-savory pudding I found in "The Greens Cookbook," a vegetarian book by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown. As I don't care for the sweet aspect of it, I have eliminated the raisins and sweet spices. The original recipe was for fresh spinach, but as none was available, I made this delectable main course pudding with chard leaves.

Serves eight.

1/2 cup cream cheese

1 cup of ricotta (part skim milk)

4 "large" eggs, beaten

11/4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sauteed onions

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cardamom

1 tsp. salt

1 bunch. fresh, young chard

2 pkgs. fresh fettuccine

Garnish: Sour cream (light or regular - or the nonfat kind if disguised with chives or fresh parsley)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Combine the cream cheese with the ricotta and beaten eggs, milk, onions, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt. Wash, then remove stems from the chard with heavy scissors and plunge the leaves into the boiling water for about three minutes. Remove and drain, pressing out as much moisture as possible with the back of a wooden spoon. Chop coarsely with a large knife (not the processor, as it will mince it). Stir this into the egg mixture.

Boil the fettuccine about two minutes, just slightly underdone, then combine it with the egg mixture. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a large baking dish (a six to eight-cup souffle, for example) and pour the mixture into it. Bake in the center of the oven until it is firm and nicely browned on top - about one hour.

Remove it from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen it from the baking dish. You can either unmold the pudding onto a large warm platter, or serve it from its baking dish. Serve with room-temperature sour cream.

Idiot-Proof Flat Souffle-Roulade

Regular souffles are one of the easiest dishes to make. However, for the souffle-challenged, here is one that can't fail, as it never rises very much in the first place. I first laid eyes on this mystifying masterpiece on an old Julia Child television show in the '60s.

It can be filled with anything not too heavy or wet, baked, rolled up like a jellyroll, and cut in slices for either a first course or a brunch dish. You will need a 17-by-11-inch jelly-roll pan to make the roulade.

This looks like a lot of ingredients and fussing around; however, it's really easy to make - fail-proof.

Serves four to six.

Bechamel sauce base:

1/4 lb. unsalted butter

2/3 cup unbleached flour

3 cups milk (any percent you like), heated

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

Sprinkling of cayenne

Freshly grated nutmeg (a smidgen)

Souffle mixture:

The sauce above

6 "large" room-temperature eggs, separated

Pinch of cream of tartar and one of salt

1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese, not packed

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

Butter

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Filling:

2 cups chopped cooked broccoli

2 cups ham, in julienne strips

Fresh parsley, chopped

1 cup of Bechamel sauce (re served from above recipe)

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and stir in the flour over medium-low heat. After it has cooked a few minutes, whisk in the milk and seasonings. Reserve one cup. Set aside the remainder, covered loosely with paper toweling for a lid.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

After separating the eggs, beat the yolks into the Bechamel sauce. Beat the whites with the cream of tartar and salt until they stand in soft, glossy peaks, then fold a big spoonful of them into the Bechamel sauce to lighten it. Fold the whites and sauce together lightly - it doesn't matter if there are some blotches of white - along with the Gruyere or Swiss cheese.

Saute the bread crumbs in butter until light brown, turn out onto a plate.

Souffle Mixture

Lightly grease the jelly-roll pan and line it with parchment baking paper, then lightly spread the souffle mixture evenly over the entire surface, taking care not to deflate the air cells. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, until set but not dried out.

Sprinkle the souffle with the bread crumbs, cover it with a sheet of waxed paper, and invert it onto a large cookie sheet. After five minutes, lift off the jelly-roll pan and peel off the parchment paper. If edges are dry or cracked, trim them off with a sharp knife to make rolling easier.

Warm the filling ingredients with the reserved cup of Bechamel sauce and spread this over the souffle. Beginning on the long edge, roll the souffle up, jelly-roll fashion, peeling off the waxed paper as you work, and rolling it over onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle it with the Parmesan and reheat it gently in a 300-degree oven just long enough to warm it, about five minutes. You can make it ahead of time and let it rest, covered with a light kitchen cloth until serving time. You can keep it warm over a large pan of hot water on the top of the stove if the wait is not more than about 30 minutes.

A Nice Topping

Julia Child said you could refrigerate or even freeze the roulade, then reheat it in the 300-degree oven. However, I've never tried that, so you're on your own.

The souffle-roulade doesn't really have to be filled if you put some kind of flavoring into the Bechamel sauce - say chopped cooked spinach, mushrooms, cheese, or sauteed onions. Then you can simply sprinkle the roulade after it's baked with some kind of cheese and herbs and roll it up.

A cheese sauce, or one made of mushrooms and Bechamel or a light, fresh tomato sauce would make a nice topping - perhaps one of those sauces sold in the refrigerated cases with fresh pasta might work, though I've never tried any of them. I have an inherent distaste for most pre- made sauces, whether dried, bottled, or frozen, but if you've found one you like, by all means use it.

Just be sure to taste it before messing up your souffle-roulade with it.

It was an unusually tense weekend for East Hampton police. In a span of less than two days, they were faced with a daylight suicide on Amagansett's Main Street and embroiled in a three-hour standoff in Wainscott with a distraught, shotgun-wielding man.

The Wainscott incident, which began with a domestic dispute on Bathgate Road in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, eventually involved 25 police personnel and even a robot.

Town police received a 911 call at 5:21 a.m. from Mariam Jacobs, who told them she had just fled her house with her 11-year-old daughter. Her husband had returned home drunk, she said, and after a verbal confrontation had smashed the glass on his gun case, pulled out a shotgun, and begun waving it around, threatening to shoot up the house.

She told police he had turned the weapon on himself at one point, but did not pull the trigger.

Neighbors Evacuated

With town officers tied up at an accident in Springs, East Hampton Village police were the first to arrive on the scene. After talking with Mrs. Jacobs, they learned that her husband, Donald Jacobs, a welder, had numerous other firearms - 10 in all, including an AK-47 assault rifle - in the house as well.

Armed officers surrounded the house, while others roused and evacuated neighbors on Bathgate and East Gate Roads. Six houses in all were evacuated.

"I thought the house was on fire," said Carlos Basaldua of East Gate Road as he watched police hurrying back and forth with shotguns and radios.

With no lights on inside the house, police could not see Mr. Jacobs moving about, and were unsure of his condition or intent.

Hostage Negotiators

A series of calls to the house by village officers and, later, town police went unanswered.

"I spent the better part of an hour trying to get in touch with him," said Capt. Todd Sarris of the town police, both by telephone from a police van and using a bullhorn.

The decision was made to call in the County Police Department's emergency services unit and its hostage negotiation team. Several members of the emergency squad flew in by helicopter and were met at the East Hampton Airport. Others arrived shortly after, clad in bulletproof vests and helmets, and took over what police called the "inner perimeter."

By 7:30 a.m., there were 25 police personnel on the scene. Members of the Bridgehampton Fire Department stood by with an ambulance.

Robot Sent In

An hour passed with still no indication of activity inside the house. After more fruitless attempts to reach Mr. Jacobs, the team decided to send in the emergency service unit's robot, a six-wheeled apparatus armed with a video camera, water cannon, shotgun, and loudspeaker.

The robot was sent by remote control to the house to get a look inside the windows.

"Based on what we know now, he had been sleeping or unconscious for most of the time," said Captain Sarris.

Mr. Jacobs, 40, eventually gave up without incident, emerging from a side door at 8:54 a.m. Police held off on charging him, opting to send him for a psychiatric evaluation at Stony Brook University Medical Center first.

That test did not indicate Mr. Jacobs was a threat to himself or others, Captain Sarris said.

"I think the situation was a resultof him being intoxicated, not being suicidal," he said. He added that all the guns in the house appeared to be legal.

Mr. Jacobs was eventually charged with second-degree harassment, a violation, and released on $1,000 bail. His wife was granted an order of protection against him.

Mr. Basaldua, the neighbor, said he knew Mr. Jacobs "only in passing, as a neighbor, but the boy I know." The couple's son had been staying with a friend and was not in the house during the dispute.

A Pistol Shot

Just two days earlier police had to deal with a suicide in broad daylight.

On Friday, just after 1:20 p.m., two town officers on highway patrol were conducting a speed check by the Amagansett School. After clocking a maroon Ford van at 42 miles per hour through the school zone, one of the officers, Thomas Grenci, directed the vehicle to pull over.

The driver complied, but as Officer Grenci approached the car on foot, he heard a loud noise.

"As he's getting closer to the car, he hears a BAM!," recounted Captain Sarris. "At first he thought he had slammed it into park."

But the sound turned out to be a blast from a pistol. When Mr. Grenci and the other officer, Jim Jahoda, peered into the car, the driver, 27-year-old John Wentzell of Charlotte, N.C., was slumped back in the driver's seat with a fatal wound to the head from a Glock semi-automatic.

School In Session

After breaking a window to get into the locked van, the two officers checked the man for vital signs. There were none. More police arrived, and covered the van's windows with yellow blankets. Across the street, classes were in session at the Amagansett School.

The scene remained taped off for more than three hours while police awaited the arrival of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.

Trying to establish a motive for the suicide, police learned through their own interviews and those conducted by Charlotte police that Mr. Wentzell had been having problems with his girlfriend.

Girlfriend Problems

The two had recently bought a house together in Charlotte, said Captain Sarris, but their relationship appeared to be "dissolving."

"At some point he told her there's too much pressure, he had to get away," Captain Sarris said.

Mr. Wentzell left North Carolina on Sept. 24 to visit his mother in Massachusetts, spent a few days there, apparently returned to North Carolina, and then went back again to Massachusetts.

He was in touch with his girlfriend, whom police did not identify, during this time. At one point, Captain Sarris said, Mr. Wentzell left a message on her answering machine: "I have some bad news. I can't live like this anymore."

He had told his mother several days prior to the suicide that he was "going to see the water."

The Last Straw?

Police do not know when he arrived in East Hampton nor how long he had been here.

Mr. Wentzell's license had been suspended in New York State. "With all these troubles he had, we feel getting pulled over might have been the final straw," Captain Sarris said, stressing that the investigation was continuing. Among other things, police are tracing the origin of the semi-automatic handgun.

In checking the rented van, police noticed a sizable dent in the front fender, which appeared to have been newly made.