You know you're an animal person when talk of the weather becomes more than just idle chit-chat. News of an incoming snowstorm sends most pet and livestock owners into a frenzy of preparation.

Do I have enough hay, grain, kibble, cat chow, pig chow, rabbit chow, llama chow, etc., etc., to keep the herd, pack, pride, or warren well fed if snowed in? Enough water stored if power is lost? Could I possibly cajole the farrier into coming and putting snowball pads on the horses this afternoon? Do I have enough sand stockpiled to provide traction for hoof and paw? Oh, where is that snow shovel?

But pet and livestock owners need to prepare for winter itself, not just winter's stormier times. As the weather grows colder some of our animals' needs change and others, though they stay the same, become harder to provide.

Hypothermia Danger

Pet owners should be alert to the possibility of hypothermia occurring in animals that are out of doors in really bitter temperatures. Symptoms include lethargy, shallow breathing, uncontrollable shivering, anxiety, and loss of consciousness. Slowly warm a hypothermic animal in blankets and get it veterinary attention as soon as possible.

Very small, thin-coated breeds are susceptible to hypothermia, as are old, very young, or sick animals. Healthy adult domestic animals can differ widely in their tolerance of cold. A few breeds of cats and horses, several breeds of dogs, and all pot-bellied pigs are fairweather friends who cannot take the chill.

The climate of the region where the breed or species originated usually gives a good indication as to what temperatures the animal will tolerate. For example, pot-bellied pigs, a species developed in Vietnam, are very unhappy when the temperature drops lower than 50 degrees unless, of course, they are burrowed under a blanket or clad in the latest porcine fashions.

Another indicator of hardiness to be found in the animal's history is whether the breed is a "natural" or "manmade" one. Maine Coon cats, a breed that developed independently of much human interference and over a relatively long period of time, are winter-resistant animals as compared to the Devon and Cornish rex cats, breeds which were developed over a very short time and are based on a genetic mutation.

Certain breeds of dogs relish the cold and only seem to come truly alive when the mercury drops drastically. Other breeds loathe a freeze. Georgia Loper of East Hampton says of her chihuahua, Timmy, "He starts to shiver if the temperature goes below 70 in the house." Timmy doesn't just wear his bomber jacket because it makes him look cute, he needs the warmth.

Most horses are extremely tolerant of frigid weather and seem to prefer it to summer's swelter. People uninitiated in the art of horsekeeping are often surprised that stables are unheated and, in fact, some animal rights crusaders use the example of cold barns as further "evidence" of how heartless and exploitative horse owners are.

Hair-Raising Behavior

But, as long as they are out of the wet and wind, horses are able to maintain their body temperature quite efficiently. In fact, heating a barn would cause them to become overheated and would also wreak havoc with their respiratory systems. One of the very most important ingredients of a healthy barn environment is ventilation. Heated buildings do not have the exchange of fresh air necessary to prevent crippling and perhaps fatal respiratory infections in equines.

Though some horses can benefit from being blanketed against nature's chill, this can be an unnecessary and unwise interference with the animal's natural "self-insulating" capabilities. Horses are able to raise up the long outer hairs on their coats according to the temperature. The more they fluff themselves up against the cold, the larger the space of warm insulating air they can retain between outer and inner hair coats.

Blankets, which weigh down the hair coat, prevent horses from being able to regulate their body temperature according to their own comfort levels. (Interestingly enough, horses are not the only animals that have this "hair raising" ability. The goose bumps that we humans get when chilled are actually a vestige of our hairier days when we too had glossy fur that we could manipulate in accordance with the chill of the air.

Food To Burn

Staying warm does utilize a great deal of energy, so, no matter how rugged your creature, he or she will likely need additional food to stay comfortable. Experts advise using a food with a higher fat and protein content for dogs that spend a great deal of time outdoors. However, if your dog is on special diet, consult your veterinarian before making any changes.

Horses (and sheep, goats, or cattle) need an increase in the amount of roughage they eat rather than increases in amounts of fat and protein-rich grains. The breakdown and fermentation of roughage in their digestive systems acts as an internal heater.

One of the biggest challenges to caring for outdoor animals is providing enough drinking water. Facing the snowbanks and ice floes of this past winter, animal caretakers certainly felt that there was "water, water everywhere, but nary a drop to drink." Though dogs and horses will eat snow, they cannot even begin to consume enough to meet their needs, and there is considerable indication that eating snow leads to digestive disturbances in both these species.

Keep It Flowing

There are a number of products on the market to keep water bowls, buckets, or troughs ice free. Insulated buckets and bowls are reasonably effective in moderate cold, but when it gets really bitter only the heating units will do the job. One note of caution: Experts advise having those heaters plugged into ground-fault-circuit interrupters, so if the unit malfunctions no harm will be done.

Those of us without the luxury of electrical outlets in our pastures and dog runs have to resign ourselves to the daily (or hourly if it's really cold) ritual of clearing ice from water troughs or carrying containers of fresh unfrozen water to our charges. Topping buckets and bowls off with lukewarm water does help retard the freezing process somewhat.

In his excellent horse care newsletter, Horse Journal, the Olympic equestrian Michael Plumb road-tested all the solutions to snow packing up in the hoof cavity of horses and came to the conclusion that the best solution is the one the farrier offers, outfitting the horse with pads that prevent the adherence of snow and ice to the hoof.

On With The Boots

His verdict on the other method of dealing with this problem, applying a water-resistant substance such as Vaseline or Pam cooking spray to the sole of the horse's foot, was that it was time-consuming and difficult and, ultimately, not very effective.

There are a number of waxes and lotions to place on dog's paws that interfere with snow clinging to and irritating their sensitive foot pads, but by far the easiest and most efficient solution is putting boots on the animal.

However, many dogs respond indignantly to this concept, either by lying down and refusing to budge or, more often, by removing the boots when their owner is not watching. Clipping the long hair between the pads of the animal's paws does help, though Fido usually does not receive that with great acclaim either!

Dangerous Chemicals

Some of the most dangerous aspects of winter to our animals are not freezing temperatures and icy conditions, but chemicals that we humans use to counteract cold and ice. Car antifreeze is irresistible to both dogs and cats. Alas, ingesting even a small amount is almost always fatal to them. Wrap and properly dispose of antifreeze containers and thoroughly clean up any spills.

Late fall and winter are the times when rodents attempt to move in with us. If using rodenticides, never leave them where a pet can get into them, and call the manufacturer's 800 number to find out whether consumption of a rodent killed by the poison will effect the pet. Even if rodenticides are not being used in your household, your neighbors may be using them in theirs, so don't take it lightly if you see a pet playing with a dead rodent.

Salt and synthetic de-icing chemicals can irritate paws, skin, and hooves. They can also cause gastrointestinal problems in cats and dogs that lick these elements from their paws. Try to use your shovel and spread sand instead of de-icers. Or else try one of the pet safe de-icers such as Safe Paw available from Pet USA catalogue company.

Watch For Hunters

Late fall and winter are hunting season 'round these parts. If you walk your dog or ride your horse in the woods both you and your animal should wear neon-colored accessories or at least liberally festoon yourselves with orange-colored surveyor's tape. Attaching bells to your dog, horse, or self also helps alert hunters to your presence and averts accidents.

At least all this running around on your animal's behalf may serve to keep us humans warm. And, if it has to be cold, let's pray for a severe cold snap with no snow cover so that the tick population gets decimated!

A house fire burned for about two and a half hours Monday night at 312 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton. It has been labeled "suspicious" by East Hampton Town Police, the town fire marshal, and the Suffolk County Arson Squad.

John Grauer, a county arson detective, said yesterday that most accidental causes, including an "act of God" like lightning, and electrical, mechanical, or heat transfer problems, had been ruled out, and that the cause of the fire was still undetermined. Ninety-five percent of the time, he said, the causes of fires are identifiable.

Officials would not say that arson was a possible cause, but they agreed it had not been ruled out.

House Was Empty

The blaze was reported at about 10:20 p.m. by a neighbor, Stacy Bennett. The house, which Daniel and Bonnie Boothe own, was vacant at the time.

Jim Dunlop, the East Hampton Fire Department chief, said Tuesday that because the fire reached the basement as well as the roof where it attaches to the front porch, "we had fire on all three levels," which made fighting it more difficult. The blaze was "knocked down" fairly quickly, he said, although it took a while before all the "hot spots" could be fully extinguished and a good hour and a half before the situation was "under control."

About 75 volunteer firefighters and all the department's equipment responded to the scene. They left at about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning without any injuries.

More To Renovate

The fire chief said much of the inside fire damage was to an enclosed front porch, and that there was smoke damage throughout the house. Parts of the roof were also damaged, he said, as well as the outside basement framing.

Police and fire officials noted that the owners had been renovating the house, and had recently had to have pests exterminated there.

The couple had been living in Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Boothe was working for the U.S. Department of Defense. After returning to East Hampton several weeks ago the couple complained to the East Hampton Town Housing Office and to local newspapers that town-placed tenants who rented the house had left it a mess and aswarm with cockroaches.

Mr. Dunlop said that while the fire did not destroy the house, it did add to what had to be renovated, and that the porch roof would probably have to be replaced.

Overnight Vigil

The Police Department maintained a presence at the scene from when the fire was first reported until the town fire marshal, David DiSunno, could return in the light of the day to continue his investigation. There were no laboratory tests being conducted to determine the fire's cause, Mr. DiSunno and Detective Grauer said.

Mr. DiSunno said he interviewed the Boothes the night of the fire as well as the next morning, and noted that they "appeared to be very upset" about the fire. They had been staying with friends while the house was being renovated, he said. The Star could not locate them for comment.

County Called

The County Arson Squad was called in to investigate the fire in addition to the local authorities. Detective Grauer and Mr. DiSunno both said they had completed their physical examinations of the fire scene.

Mr. DiSunno said he expected to interview people, including the neighbor who reported it through 911, about the fire. He added that a town police detective had also been interviewing in connection with the police investigation.

A pair of laws that would regulate gatherings, large and small, were sharply criticized Friday in hearings before the East Hampton Town Board.

Local craftsmen said one of them, which would set standards for charity events, was out of step with their businesses. Parents charged the other, the loitering law, was out of step with their teenagers.

Councilman Thomas Knobel sponsored the first law, to insure events were truly for charity and restricted the money-makers to commercial properties. Councilman Peter Hammerle sponsored the second, which would allow police to ticket sidewalk rowdies.

Response To Complaints

Each law was proposed in response to complaints from business owners. Antiques dealers and other shopkeepers, who said their livelihoods were threatened by last summer's aborted ABC Home & Carpet tent sale, spurred the mass gatherings law, and shopkeepers in downtown Montauk, who said groups of youths were scaring away their customers, pushed for the loitering law.

The latter, which would be the first of its kind here, prohibits impeding foot or vehicle traffic, harassing, cursing, or threatening harm to passers-by, and otherwise disturbing the peace. A first conviction would carry a $50 fine; subsequent convictions, double that.

At the start of the back-to-back hearings, Mr. Hammerle said he had already received letters opposing the loitering law, calling it a way to "target kids and prevent them from hanging out."

Critics Speak Out

"I don't see this as any kind of Big Brother tactic," the Councilman said.

But Bengt Hokanson, a 1987 graduate of East Hampton High School, called the law "disgraceful" and predicted it "will be enforced indiscriminately against people the police don't like."

"The loitering laws in this country have traditionally been used as a prejudicial tool," said Mr. Hokanson, adding that "East Hampton is not a dangerous town." Local police need do no more than ask rowdies to behave themselves or move along, he said.

However, Capt. Todd Sarris said the only option when someone refuses is to make a disorderly conduct arrest, which could result in "significant fines and up to 15 days in jail." He said a ticket for loitering would "send a message" that was less harsh but still effective.

Police Point Of View

In Town Justice Court at least, the maximum penalty for disorderly conduct is rarely invoked.

Captain Sarris told the Town Board he hoped the department would be hiring more seasonal officers next summer, and would be able as a result to step up foot patrols of the downtown areas and create the town's first bicycle patrol as well.

Mr. Hokanson criticized the loitering law further, saying European cities have public squares where citizens can meet, drink coffee, or do nothing at all. The "message" from the new law, in contrast, would "tell this community we should be ashamed of ourselves," he said.

Wrong Place And Time

"East Hampton has already been boutique-ized. I don't want to have to buy something every time I come to town," Mr. Hokanson said.

"There is nothing in this law that prevents anyone from hanging out anywhere," countered Mr. Hammerle.

Another speaker, Paula Brannon, agreed with Mr. Hokanson that the law was not needed. Summer visitors

'Isn't it odd? The kids are loitering, the adults are gathering.'

She also criticized the board for holding the hearing when the citizens who would be most affected, the teenagers, were required to be in school.

The hearing should have been held instead at the high school, she said, or at least at a time when her teenager could attend. "My daughter will be of legal voting age in 10 days. Teach her to vote responsibly," Ms. Brannon said.

Three In Favor

The board agreed to accept written comments on the law until Friday, Nov. 1, rather than adjourn the hearing to some other place and time.

Three residents spoke in favor of it. As a member of the Town Anti-Bias Task Force, Phyllis Estey said she rode with police and saw first-hand that "we need protection." She asserted there was "screaming, yelling, and vandalism going on every weekend" where she lives, in Amagansett.

James Daunt, an owner of two motels in downtown Montauk, said the lack of any loitering law now was letting "a lot of people off easy."

State law now prohibits loitering only when the intent is to commit a crime, such as selling drugs, and police have complained that is difficult to prove. A section of the state law that prohibited loitering without an apparent purpose was struck down by the courts years ago as unconstitutional.

Montaukers Comment

Joseph Capri, a retired New York City police officer and now a Montauk resident, recalled that judges would throw out his cases based on the old loitering law, "so we stopped chasing the kids."

"We lost the city because we didn't have a viable law. . . You have to control behavior. That's what civilization is about," he said.

Marshal Helfand, who also lives in Montauk, sympathized with Mr. Daunt and other business owners who have had trouble with petty criminals but said that on the other hand, even youths who roughhouse are exhibiting "normal behavior."

"They're just getting together to grow up," he said.

Parental Consequences

Mr. Helfand said the town had spent untold millions on managing garbage and environmental conservation - "protecting the three-legged nerd," is what he actually said - but "for some reason, has never been able to address where we're supposed to move the kids to."

He agreed police should arrest juvenile delinquents and anyone else caught breaking the law, and recommended any new law contain consequences for their parents as well. He took umbrage, though, with Mr. Hammerle's version, which cited causing "annoyance, inconvenience, or alarm" among the justifications for a ticket.

"The summer people who come here seem always to be annoyed or inconvenienced," he said.

Calling it "interesting" that the loitering and mass-gatherings laws were going to hearings on the same day, Mr. Helfand continued: "Isn't it odd? The kids are loitering, the adults are gathering." He was answered with laughter and applause.

Craftsmen Opposed

Councilman Knobel's proposed regulation of mass gatherings of 50 or more people was also met with criticism.

Several residents who attended were craftsmen who claimed the regulations would hamper their ability to sell their wares.

Nancy Robbins, president of the South Fork Craftsmen's Guild, said the group was "trying to keep the tradition of handcraft alive."

Nine members of the audience stood up and later applauded when she said craft fairs enhanced the town's rural ambiance and should, as a result, be exempt from the law.

Antiques Fairs

Sarah Butler, who makes jewelry, read a letter from Peggy Joyce, head of the Montauk Historical Society, which said no goods may be sold at the society's fairs unless they were made entirely by the exhibitor.

Sue Phaleris said 80 percent of her income comes from open-air fairs and shows, and John Bruno, a show promoter, said organizers "go out of our way" to have the events also benefit local restaurants, motels, and other established businesses.

Mr. Knobel said he had received a petition signed by about 50 antiques dealers and shopowners, asking the town to curtail the number of antiques and crafts fairs. About a dozen fairs are held in East Hampton each year, he said.

ABC Suit

He said his law was not meant to question "the validity of craft fairs" but to control "the great, huge benefits" and sales whose "predominant purpose is pecuniary gain."

There are no criteria on the books now for deciding whether an event merits a permit, though the town has for years been issuing permits and setting standards for parking, music, lighting, garbage collections, and more.

ABC Carpet's $3 million lawsuit, filed earlier this year after the town revoked its permit for the tent sale, underscored for officials the need for a legislative framework, though a deputy town attorney, Richard Whalen, said he had been working on it since spring.

In cases where an event revolves around the sale of goods, including flea markets and crafts fairs, the law would require permit applicants to estimate how much of the profits would go to charity.

Ms. Robbins said such disclosure was "an invasion" of privacy.

An event deemed a money-maker would be restricted to commercial zones under the proposed law. The most popular venues for such gatherings have traditionally been in residential zones, such as Dune Alpin Farm, East Hampton, where the ABC tent sale was to have taken place.

ABC's permit was revoked by the Town Board after officials learned that just $20,000 from the sale of millions in furniture and housewares would go to a town shelter for troubled teenagers.

Three Weeks' Notice

"We are artists. We are not ABC . . . We celebrate creativity, not corporate profit," said John Todaro, a photographer who sells his pictures at crafts fairs.

Mr. Knobel attempted to assure the craftspeople that the law would not restrict their fairs but only regulate them. "Otherwise, you could set up anywhere," he said.

The law would require applications to be handed in at least three weeks before the event, to give officials time to review them. The Hamptons International Film Festival, for example, handed its application in on Oct. 4, 11 days before it opened, Mr. Knobel said.

Though her husband, noted Ms. Estey, calls her "the ultimate consumer," she said she was nonetheless fed up with all the traffic-generating events in Amagansett each summer.

"It has become intolerable . . . Amagansett Square, Miss Amelia's Cottage, the American Legion, the Amagansett School. We're locked in," she said.

Off Limits?

Mr. Knobel said an earlier version of the law had included a limit on the number of events a venue may host each year but it was decided that would be seen as "arbitrary," unless there was an actual conflict.

But the traditional locations for crafts fairs - the American Legion, Second House Museum in Montauk, Ashawagh Hall in Springs, among others - would be "off limits," observed Councilman Hammerle.

"You have to give these people some assurance" they would not be put out of business," said the Councilman, adding that the wording of the law would "put too much trust in the person administering it."

Mr. Capri, who is commander of the American Legion, asked whether the Legion Hall could continue to host fairs under the new law. Mr. Whalen told him it could; though the building is zoned residential, it is improved as a business.

"They are beautiful things that add color to our community," said the Legion commander.

Police from a half-dozen agencies banded together last week to nab a man they said was a highly sophisticated professional burglar. He is suspected to have operated in East Hampton Village, among other places.

Blane David Nordahl was picked up in Wisconsin Oct. 16, but faces charges in Southampton, Palm Beach, Greenwich, Conn., New Jersey, and elsewhere. He specialized, police said, in sterling silver, stolen mostly from estates of the rich and famous, including, reportedly, Ivana Trump.

East Hampton Village Police Chief Glen Stonemetz said Mr. Nordahl was a "strong suspect" in "two or three" burglaries in the village. The chief said detectives had just begun to check some older files, but that he remembered places where sterling silver was the target of a thief.

In Southampton Village, Mr. Nordahl has been implicated in as many as 10 burglaries.

"I can put him in the area at the time of the [1994] crimes," said Sgt. Michael Schucht. He said police from different states compared notes and found their thief "was doing the exact same thing in every case."

Mr. Nordahl allegedly entered large houses at night and took everything he could carry made of silver. He usually discarded silver-plated objects, often on the lawns and driveways of his victims, and made off with the sterling.

Detective Schucht said he believed Mr. Nordahl fenced the goods to accomplices. He declined to reveal the identity of the Southampton victims, except to say "they were all south of Hill Street" - the toniest part of the village. R.M.

Hours after a major drug sweep ended last Thursday morning, a Mastic youth was arrested and charged with murdering a Hampton Bays man, whose body was found in his parked car in a Riverside area known for drug dealing.

Some members of the black community have since hinted that the arrest was connected with the drug sweep, saying the murdered man, Gary Youngman, was a police informant, and that the sweep, which netted 65 persons, was conducted to put pressure on low-level dealers to talk.

The arrest of John McGhee, 18, a student at William Floyd High School, was announced by county homicide detectives about seven hours after "Operation Save Our Streets" was concluded.

The McGhee youth, who is black, is accused of shooting Mr. Youngman, 41, in the head. The killing occurred on Old Quogue Road the night of Oct. 14.

The murdered man's father, Albert Youngman of Hampton Bays, said his son "was very involved with the police. He was arrested a lot. He was in desperate straits."

Mr. Youngman said he "didn't think" his son had been working with the police, however, though it was hard to say: "He kept everything to himself. He slept all day and did his business in the night."

County homicide detectives said on Friday that Mr. Youngman, a white man, had a "minor record."

"Coincidence"

Lieut. John Gierasch of the County Homicide Department said the timing of the drug sweep and the arrest of the McGhee youth was "a mere coincidence."

"These were two completely separate investigations," he said.

However, at least one member of the black community in Riverhead said she had been told by an officer there that the sweep was to have taken place nearer to Election Day but was moved up after the murder.

"They were definitely connected," the source said the officer told her.

Riverhead Police Chief Joseph Grattan said he had no information that Mr. Youngman was working for the police.

Father's Story

Lieutenant Gierasch said the McGhee youth had friends in the neighborhood where the murder occurred, and that he surfaced as a suspect early in the investigation. Charged with second-degree murder, he is being held without bail in the county jail in Riverhead.

In what came as a surprise to district residents, George Aman, Amagansett School's Superintendent for the past five and a half years, resigned yesterday afternoon at a special meeting of the Amagansett School Board to accept a job in a much larger district in Nassau County.

News of his resignation, effective on Jan. 1, was posted on the bulletin board in the school lobby after the meeting, at about 2:30 p.m.

Board members said they knew Dr. Aman had had inquiries from another district in the past month, and learned after the Oct. 15 School Board meeting that he was a finalist for the position.

Surprised At Pace

Dan Gualtieri, a board member, said the board was "surprised" at how quickly the decision had been made. The Nassau district had sought Dr. Aman out and invited him to apply a little over a month ago.

"We knew all along that Dr. Aman was at the top of his profession and the speed in which this went through proves that," he said. He added that the board had hoped Dr. Aman would not leave until the start of the next academic year even if he decided to take a new job.

The board will hold a special meeting to discuss the Superintendent's resignation on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

"It's news to me," said Edward J. Milliken, Superintendent of the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, yesterday, saying that it was correct protocol for a Superintendent to go first to the board of education with such news.

Dr. Aman would not name the school district or the particular position he was headed for.

Years Of Criticism

While the swiftness of the process came as a shock, the change was not entirely unexpected. "He put in a tough year, but stood tall," said Mr. Gualtieri.

Indeed, over the past year and a half the Superintendent had handled a lot of criticism. Some residents took issue with the board's decision to let him return to live in a house the district owns, when he had built one of his own the year before. They also complained that the rent Dr. Aman was to pay was under market value. Much was also made of the extension of his contract through 2001, a decision made by the board without giving the community a chance to be heard.

"In the 25 or 27 years I have worked in public administration and teaching, I always felt I had the professional respect and trust needed to do a good job," he said yesterday. "For the last year or so, I didn't feel I had that." The "hyper-criticism" had been difficult for his family, as well, he said.

Difficult Decision

"All the way in Nassau County, they had copies of the Newsday article, and they knew not everything was as comfortable for me as it might have been," he said.

It was this atmosphere that, in part, made him begin seeking out other opportunities. Still, Dr. Aman said, it was not a choice easily reached. The larger district will create more opportunities for him, but also "more opportunities for my little guy, who has special education needs," he said, referring to an elementary school-aged son.

Mr. Gualtieri said Dr. Aman had "done a lot of great things for the school," crediting him with handling the budget with expertise and holding teachers to the highest standards. Before he leaves Amagansett, the board hopes Dr. Aman will help get the 1997-98 district budget at least 80 percent complete.

"Raising the standards was part of his mission. It was very difficult and it did not always make the staff happy," said Mr. Gualtieri.

"We feel we have the best instructional staff on the East End this year and it took him a long time to develop that. Sadly, we'd like to see him stay to see how far he could take this staff."

Dr. Aman said he was proud of the staff, as well, to have seen improvement in the students' academic performance over the past five and a half years, and the installation of computers in every classroom.

Sixty-five persons, including three juveniles, were arrested in South amp ton Town last week in a middle-of-the-night drug sweep that trailed charges of racism in its wake.

An army of more than 200 police from Southampton and Riverhead Towns and New York State participated in the early Thursday morning raid. Most of those arrested were picked up at their residences, on charges that they had sold cocaine or crack to undercover agents.

Local activists claimed the raid targeted blacks. Only one of those arrested is white, police acknowledged.

"A flag should go up," said Cynthia Richardson of Riverhead, a member of both the Southampton and Riverhead Town Anti-Bias Task Forces. "Something doesn't look right. There are whites and blacks doing it."

Cops: Followed Up Complaints

But Sgt. Barry Winkler of the Southampton Town police street crimes unit said the areas where the arrests were made - Flanders, Riverhead, Riverside, parts of Southampton Village, the Shinnecock Indian reservation, and a small section of Westhampton - were primarily black.

"These areas were hit as a direct result of [complaints from] neighborhood residents," Sergeant Winkler said. "Not a day goes by when we don't receive complaints. A lot of people are fed up."

Indictments were handed down against 72 persons altogether, after undercover agents made at least two buys from each of them during the summer, police said.

Thirteen-Year-Old

One East Hampton man, Rodney Simmons of Flaggy Hole Road, was among those arrested. He was picked up by East Hampton Town police at the request of the other agencies during the sweep and turned over at the town line.

Four Bridgehampton residents were arrested. They were Sam Cooper and Ronnie Street, both of the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Darryl Hemby of Montauk Highway, and Jason Hopson of Huntington Crossway.

Two of those nabbed in the raids were juveniles, and a third juvenile was picked up over the weekend. The youngest of the three is just 13.

Sergeant Winkler said police expect to arrest the rest of those indicted shortly.

"There is no question we were targeted," said Mary Killoran, president of the Eastern Long Island branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Cocaine is a product that is brought into our communities by people with money, and I believe many of those people are white."

"A Positive Step"

The three law enforcement agencies involved said in a joint press release that they "believe this operation is a positive step in the right direction and an example of cooperative law at its finest."

"You know, a couple of years ago people were complaining from these neighborhoods about the drugs and they said to me, 'You don't do anything because it's a black neighborhood,'" said Sergeant Winkler. "Now they're going to say we did it because it was a black neighborhood."

Where Is The Source?

Susan Menu, a local attorney who has several clients among those indicted, questioned the value of arresting low-level dealers without cutting off the source of the drugs.

"Where are the people they are getting the drugs from?" she asked. "[The police] don't care about the getting the drugs from?" she asked. "[The police] don't care about the guys selling the big amounts."

"As a community, do we want to spend millions of dollars so that next week, on the very same streets, reincarnations of these individuals will appear doing the same thing?" she asked.

Ms. Menu wondered if the arrests were worth the cost. "A multimillion-dollar investigation . . . 200 officers, all the assistant district attorneys to prosecute, all the Legal Aid lawyers, the court time, and then the cost of incarceration."

Made Buys

Michael Johnson, a co-host of the TV show "On the Move" and a member of the African Leadership Council, agreed. "We could put one-tenth the money they spent on the street and solve the real problem by giving these kids something to do and a place to go," he said.

Riverhead Police Chief Joseph Grattan agreed that police had gone after "street-level dealers."

"You know," he said, "a big shipment can come in and no one says anything. It's when there are 30 cars next door that someone complains."

"I had to go to the neighborhoods where I get the most complaints," the chief added. "Some of these places, there are 40 or 50 people hanging out. We went to some white neighborhoods too, but we couldn't make buys."

White Neighborhoods

An interested follower of police affairs had a different view. Police "could get some shapely blonde undercover agent, sent her into [a nightclub] and she would end up buying from dozens of white boys."

Like others, he said cocaine was readily available at some nightclubs on the East End as well as in certain white circles.

The Flanders Neighborhood Watch applauded the drug sweep. "It's nice to drive through our streets after the bust without seeing dealers," the group wrote in a letter of thanks to police.

Russell Vicino, president of the Bayview Pines Civic Association in Flanders, said residents "were screaming and yelling" about drug dealers in their neighborhood at several Southampton Town Board meetings. "It's really bad, and there is no question about it," he said.

Three To Nine Years

All of those arrested were charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and two of criminal possession of a controlled substance, all felonies. Jail sentences for convictions on those charges typically range from three years to nine years.

Police have the alleged drug transactions on videotape, a source said.

Sergeant Winkler said to his knowledge one white male and a "few" Hispanics were arrested, and the rest were black. Bails varied according to whether those arrested had criminal records. About half the men detained remained in jail as of press time.

False Statements

Brooklyn

October 21, 1996

Dear Mrs. Rattray:

Simon Worrall's reaction to Terry George's new film, "Some Mother's Son," reveals much more about Mr. Worrall's political agenda than it does about the alleged agenda of the film.

For one thing, Mr. Worrall did not feel obliged to see the film before condemning it. One would expect someone described as a "journalist" to have a minimal ethical responsibility to the readers of your paper either to watch the film or reveal his failure to do so. But apparently, in this instance, Mr. Worrall feels unencumbered by the constraints of journalistic integrity.

Further, Mr. Worrall makes false statements about Mr. George. Terry was never a member of the Irish National Liberation Army. Indeed, he has never been charged with or convicted of membership in that organization. The record speaks for itself.

But why bother to check the facts? Based on this falsehood and his preconceived opinion, Mr. Worrall alleges - without reference to fact - that Terry condones the killing and maiming of innocent people "in the name of a united Ireland."

Mr. Worrall is wrong on a number of counts. One error stands out: The hunger strikers did have widespread support in Ireland. Over 100,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands, who was elected to the British Parliament while on hunger strike. Two other hunger strikers were elected to the Irish Parliament during their fasts.

Like his jingoistic joke about Irish Alzheimer's disease, Mr. Worrall's article reflects a mind already made up and unwilling to change. No need to see "Some Mother's Son." No need to speak to its director, Terry George. No need to check the facts. Just attack and hope your readers don't catch on. With attitudes like these, it's no wonder that the problems in Northern Ireland remain unresolved.

"Some Mother's Son" is about finding the courage to forge a new path. Terry George has made a powerful film about people. I'm biased as one of the film's producers, but I believe that this film has great humanity at its core. Maybe if Mr. Worrall had bothered to watch it, he might have seen this. Hopefully, your readers will watch the film before passing judgment.

Sincerely,

ED BURKE

Producer

"Some Mother's Son"

Twisted Struggle

Southampton, Hampshire

England

October 18, 1996

Dear Editor,

Thank you for balancing the books in your reporting of the Film Festival's opening night offering, "Some Mother's Son," directed by Terry George.

Simon Worrall's opinion column fairly showed the broader canvas of this bitter and twisted struggle.

As an ex-Royal Marine commando who served three tours of duty in Northern Island (in Belfast and on the border), I can say that from all the violence perpetuated by all sides not one step has been gained toward a settled future for the brave and the other tragic people of the province.

The answer to Northern Ireland's problems must be found through politics and diplomacy, finding ways to bond communities of Catholic and Protestant together, rather than purposefully dividing them as "the men of violence" have so successfully done.

This process needs people of integrity and credibility, not those with the violent track records of Jerry Adams or his henchman Martin McGuiness. While "one man's terrorist may be another's freedom fighter," what would you call the bomber of an office block in Oklahoma or the organization that bombs a Remembrance Day gathering in a small village square?

There must be an Irish filmmaker out there who can produce a film representative of the struggle which could energize some support for the suppressed majority of Northern Ireland; if so, please stand up!

Yours faithfully,

PATRICK OVERINGTON

Year Of Irish

Wainscott

October 20, 1996

Dear Helen,

Someone fell asleep at the editorial helm of The Star and caused her to scrape her bottom on some particularly abrasive sewage: the opinions of S. Worrall on Ireland, her children, our "Troubles" with the English, and Terry George's fine film, "Some Mother's Son."

This English propagandist cum "journalist" gives blackguarding a bad name and does no honor to your commitment, Helen, to journalistic excellence.

If this opinioholic Brit sat through Terry's film he didn't see it, blinded as he is by this violent condemnation and mindless fear of all things Irish. But forget about this spleen publicly exposing himself, he can't help it. He may even get paid for it. But you, Helen, can help it.

The Star has a First Amendment right to publish what it will. The Star has a concomitant responsibility to combat verbal terrorism, such as Mr. Worrall practices. Didn't you love the likening of Fionnula Flanagan to Goebbels? Now that's real journalism!

The desperation feeding Mr. Worrall's violence to English (the language, that is) comes from the certain knowledge that inevitably the English Government's forced separation of Ireland will end.

Ireland will unite in an all-inclusive nonsecular free state. Ireland will commerce with all, including her less imperial friends, in England. S. Worrall and his Eirephobic colleagues will be disremembered.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL KENNED

Just when you think you can't be shocked by anything anymore, along comes a real serious scandal: the great Alaska Salmon Dumping! The only "whitewater" I can get the hang of is the stuff the salmon are swimming in upstream, only to be trapped, stripped of their valuable roe, and given a burial at sea. This, while the elderly or hungry line up at feeding stations. And we are still paying ludicrous prices for the same kind of fish being dumped to avert a glut on the market.

I suppose it all depends on whose ox is being gored. When market values go down once in a while, couldn't the public get a break instead of having moderate pricing labeled a "glut"?

Every day some sanctimonious official steps up to the plate with a fresh explanation of why trashing this prized fish had to be done. Somehow, no one could possibly figure out a way to ship the excess fish in time to keep them from spoiling before they could be distributed to relief organizations.

Then how do they manage to ship them all fresh and shiny to retail markets in the lower Forty Eight in time to snag $9 to $12 a pound for them? Or why didn't they freeze them or can them? Destroying food while people go hungry is on an ethical par with the inhumane, inane position of animal activists who'd rather see deer starve to death than have them shot to feed the hungry.

I suppose feeding salmon and venison to the poor just might create a class of demanding paupers though. Can't be too careful when it comes to protecting free market pricing and voracious deer these days. Only in America.

In the unlikely event of the Great Salmon Glut continuing long enough to actually be felt in the pricing, tuck away the following recipes for the time your freezer overflows with dollar-a-pound salmon, one of the sea's Top Ten great bounties.

Freezing Fresh Fish

While frozen fish may never be as good texture-wise as fish fresh out of the water, if the freezing is quickly and properly executed, the fish can still be very, very good. The off-flavor lies not in the freezing process, but in the storage. Fish must be kept frozen below zero Fahrenheit and used within two months.

Freezers are not meant to be icy graveyards for food unlabeled and forgotten. Keeping a written inventory in a small book is a good idea for households copiously supplied by hunters and fishermen. Careful wrapping and labeling - and what is often left off, dating - are extremely important to the quality of the food, which, while it may not spoil at zero temperature, becomes less and less palatable as flavor fades with time.

Some of the best shrimp you can remember eating was undoubtedly flash frozen in the hold of the boat shortly after being netted. Nearly all the shrimp sold in retail markets all over America arrives there in huge 50-pound blocks, is thawed under running cold water and lovingly arranged on ice and no one ever thinks to ask "was it frozen?"

Truly Fresh Shrimp

A lot of it comes from off the coasts of Ecuador and as far away as China. Shrimp sold in ports like Key West are delicious and relatively cheap because the few shrimpers that still try to compete are "day" boats with neither the capability nor the need to freeze their catch.

Our great fleets of shrimpers are gone now, probably because our own resources have been overfished, but what the heck, we can buy what other nations are plundering from their waters . . . while they last. (When I was a kid in South Carolina, boiled shrimp were free at bars and fishermen used raw ones for bait. I remember my mother making "Bait Creole" one day when we were out on the water and nobody was catching any decent fish.)

Small to medium fish are best frozen by quickly dipping them in ice water, then freezing them on a rack in the freezer an hour or so before redipping and refreezing another film of ice on them prior to a final speedy wrap in thick freezer film, then in coated freezer paper. It is sturdier and is easily labeled before the final interment in the freezer.

Very small fish can be cleaned and frozen whole in half-gallon milk cartons with enough water poured in to seal up the crevices around the fish.

Gravlax

Sometimes listed on tony menus as "saumon frais" or "saumon l'aneth," this is fresh salmon cured, but not smoked, in the traditional Swedish manner. In Scandinavia, the preparation is called "gravlax," which translates to buried salmon. Buried in fresh dill, which is a lot easier to find than it used to be, but you'll need a lot more than those pathetic little packages in the supermarket. Dill only grows in cool climates, so you may find enough to make this at a farm stand or some fancy food shop.

2 matching center-cut fillets of salmon, about 3 lbs. total

1/4 cup coarse salt

2 Tbsp. white sugar

2 Tbsp. coarsely ground white peppercorns

2 really big bunches of fresh dill, about 8 ozs.

The Sauce:

11/2 cups thin, homemade mayonnaise

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup fresh dill, minced

Wash the fillets in cold running water and dry them well. Often there are tiny bones in the flesh, most easily removed with a pair of needle-nosed pliers (a handy implement to keep in the kitchen). Run your fingers along the fleshy side and you'll feel the bones.

Combine the salt, sugar, and ground white pepper and rub it into the cut sides of the fish. Lay one fillet skin side down on a double thickness of foil. Arrange the dillweed on top of it and cover with the other matching half. Close up the foil tightly and lay it on a platter in the fridge. Turn it over twice a day for three days. During this time it should be lightly weighted - a board of another platter with a few evenly distributed cans set on top; three soup cans would weigh about the right amount. Or use beach stones arranged the length of the fillets.

After three days, or four is all right too, wipe the fillets dry and discard the wilted dill. Carve only as much as you think will be eaten at any one time in diagonal slices about 1/8-inch thick. It isn't necessary or desirable to carve it as thinly as smoked salmon. Serve the gravlax on a plate with buttered seven-grain sourdough or some kind of bread with character and the following sauce.

Mustard Dill

Use one whole fresh egg to make a light, homemade mayonnaise. Put the egg in a blender and turn the machine on high; add one cup of oil - half olive and half peanut or canola, pouring it in a fine stream until the sauce thickens. Add the mustard and check the consistency. Add a tablespoon of warm water at a time until you have nearly pourable sauce. Whir in the dill. This will keep well in the fridge up to a week. Don't add salt as the mustard has plenty of it.

Salmon With Caviar

Anticipating a happy glut of cheap salmon on the market, I've adapted a recipe from the Michelin three-star chef Alain Senderens that I've only been able to afford a few times before. Salmon roe, or red caviar, should certainly be coming down in price too, if the free market system works at all. So luxuriate, luxuriate while the salmon flows.

Serves four.

2 fillets of salmon, about 11/2 lbs.

1 tsp lemon zest

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp. sweet (unsalted) butter

5 shallots, minced

4 Tbsp. minced mushrooms

2/3 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

13/4 oz. red salmon caviar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Season the fillets with the lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Melt the butter in a roasting pan just large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, over low heat, about two minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, another two minutes. Lay the fish, skin side down, on top of the vegetables, add the wine and water around the fish, and slide the roasting pan into the oven for eight minutes. Turn off the oven - you may need a warm spot later.

Remove the fillets with a wide, slotted spatula and turn them over onto a clean dish towel to drain. Carefully peel off the skin, divide the fillets into a total of four pieces and place them on warm plates. Keep them warm while you make the sauce, but don't dry them out or cook them further.

Reduce the pan juices in the roaster over high heat, pressing down on the vegetables with the back of a spatula, but do not brown them. When the juices have reduced to almost nothing, whisk in the cream and boil a couple of minutes until thick and creamy. Strain into saucepan through a fine sieve, mashing down on the solids in the sauce. Reheat it slightly and pour over the waiting salmon fillets. Garnish with a spoonful of red caviar.

Just a couple of little boiled or steamed jacket potatoes - such as Yukon Golds - would complete this lush dish nicely. Spinach timbales would be nice too.

The northeast storm that hung around on the weekend as though it were going to settle in forever caused more sting than pain, but was said to have resulted in an accident on a New Jersey Highway in which an East Hampton man died.

It rained - harder and for longer than almost anyone can remember. Four and a third inches were recorded in Bridgehampton on Saturday, and winds were steady at over 50 miles an hour with higher gusts for hours on end. Some neighborhoods were without power for up to 20 hours. An experimental dune restoration project in Quogue was washed away, and Ditch Plain in Montauk lost another four to six feet of dune.

Death On Highway

An East Hampton resident, Robert Giller, who was a prominent physician and author, was killed in an auto accident on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey during the storm on Saturday. Witnesses said wind and rain caused the car to hydroplane. Dr. Giller's obituary appears in this issue.

The storm was slow-moving in coming up from the South, and it stalled between Northern New Jersey and New England after jet stream winds failed to steer it northward as is usual. More serious flooding here was avoided, however, because the storm left, abruptly, before high tide early Sunday.

Trees, including a few really large ones, branches, and wires were downed all over the East End. In East Hampton, residents of Springs went without power the longest - 2,745 of them for up to 20 hours.

One-Third Of Us

In all, 6,110 East Hampton residents lost power on Saturday during the height of the storm. Long Island Lighting Company crews restored most of the power by Sunday night.

Fortunately for the Hamptons International Film Festival, power was maintained at the United Artists movie house in the village. Festival-goers braved the weather both to get to the movie house and to attend the festival's weekend parties.

In Montauk, it was the ocean beach at Ditch Plain once again that took the hardest hit. According to Larry Penny, town director of natural resources, Ditch lost another four to six feet of bluff. He said that at Wainscott, "the other bellwether" for erosion, the beach "was shortened by about 50 percent. Some of the sand was redeposited on the back-shore.

Waterfront Damage

The Sag Harbor waterfront suffered more than other South Fork harbors. A 30-foot sailboat broke its mooring and came aground next to the North Haven bridge, and another large sailboat was beached near the South Ferry terminal on North Haven. In East Hampton, several small boats sank at their moorings as they did elsewhere in Southampton Town.

The Sag Harbor Fire Department reported that Spring, Plover, Redwood, and Bay Streets were flooded by rain and tide. The public A-Dock was underwater, and the town dock at Marine Park was damaged by the boats tied to it.

Southampton Town Police Lieut. Bob Eiberger, who is that town's emergency preparedness coordinator, said the worst flooding in that town was a result of overflowing sumps, one at the North Sea garbage transfer station, the other off Lewis Road in East Quogue.

At The Dump

In Southampton Town, 14,000 people were without electricity at one point or another. Most of the outages were caused by isolated problems rather than a single event, Lieutenant Eiberger said.

Six or seven cars were crushed under falling trees or branches in Southampton Town. Mr. Eiberger said Southampton saw minor erosion throughout town on the ocean side, although the usual trouble spots, Shinnecock at the east of Dune Road, and Westhampton Dunes on the west end, got off lightly.

Elsewhere on the Island, serious flooding occurred in Bayville, which felt the brunt of the storm during high tides. And, in Babylon, a 12-year-old boy was killed, having been crushed by a falling tree.

Wind and tide-driven waves wiped out the major dune restoration project at the Steinberg residence in Quogue.

Bonac Popeye, a work barge owned by Donald Tisdall, a marine contractor, went aground at the head of Three Mile Harbor near Soak Hides dreen on Saturday night and turned over, an event that prompted a small storm of its own.

In April, residents of the Hampton Waters community petitioned the East Hampton Trustees to forbid Mr. Tisdall from mooring his barges, Bonac Popeye and Bonac Tiki, outside of the mooring grid established for boats by the Trustees. They said they feared pollution. Several of the Trustees and Mr. Tisdall contended, however, that aesthetics, rather than concern for the environment, had prompted their discontent.

Of the incident Saturday, Bill Taylor, the town's senior harbormaster, said, "There was not enough oil to write home about." A light slick appeared around the barge on Sunday morning which, he said, was contained by a 200-foot absorbent boom put in place by the harbormasters and members of the town's hazardous materials team.

On Monday, Hampton Waters residents wasted no time in repeating their earlier warnings to town officials and the press. Mr. Tisdall's barge was righted on Tuesday with the help of Stuart Vorpahl, a bayman and former Town Trustee, who operates a work barge of his own.

Because of the storm's torrential rains, shellfish beds were closed all over Long Island by order of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, including all of South ampton's and East Hampton's.

Mr. Taylor reported on Tuesday night that water-quality tests made the day before had come back fairly free of coliform bacteria, adding that beds could be reopened as early as tomorrow.

The presence of the bacteria (associated with human and animal waste) in excess of Federal standards requires the immediate closing of shellfish grounds for seven days unless tests in the interim prove the water safe. Because the bacteria often enter bays and harbors via road runoff and flooded septic systems, shellfish beds are automatically put off-limits when it rains three inches or more.