A previously unknown species of mouse belonging to the Old World genus Mus was recently found in the mountainous regions of Cyprus. Our common house mouse, Mus musculus, the one so glorified, prettified, and given the power of human speech in all of those Walt Disney movies and Hollywood cartoons, is also from the Old World and a very close cousin of the Cypriot mouse.

The Greeks and Turks have been haggling for generations over the Mediterranean nation. Meanwhile, the new mouse, probably a resident since long before any human resident, went about quietly doing what it had to do to survive, unmindful of the never-ending struggle for supremacy being waged around it.

Scientists are always finding new species, but new mammals are rare: Fewer than one a year is discovered. A new species of bird was recently uncovered in Africa. Many new species of frogs and lizards, collectively called herptiles, are found each year, particularly in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and South America. And the deeper and wider we explore the oceans and remote rivers and lakes, the more new fish species we dredge up, such as the new shark species found a month or two ago in the western Pacific.

While perhaps there are as many as a thousand new vertebrates waiting out there yet to be found, there are thousands upon thousands of unique invertebrates waiting in the wings. The large majority of them are insects, the largest group of animals in the world by far, but there are almost as many new-to-science marine and aquatic invertebrates out there to keep our zoologists going for centuries to come.

The big challenge, of course, is to find them before they're gone. Each year we lose as many species as we find new ones. We only hear about the larger ones; an insect or jellyfish gone extinct does not make the news. The plant kingdom is as rich in species as the animal kingdom, and the higher plants, the ones with leaves and flowers that are the most obvious, are no exception.

While a typical acre of South Fork forest may contain as many as 25 different species of trees, shrubs, and vines - what we call "woodies" - an acre of rain forest in the backwaters of the Amazon has close to a thousand. With so many different plants packed into such a small area, it is understandable why so many have been overlooked in the past and are just now turning up.

Not counting the viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoans - the so-called protests - there are at least two million distinct species already cataloged, almost all of them as specimens in museums or living in zoos.

A species is a form of life differing in a number of ways from every other form of life. The most obvious criterion for separating one closely related species from another, say, the Norway rat, Rattus Norvegicus, from the brown rat, Rattus rattus, is the ability of one to interbreed with the other and produce viable young that can also interbreed with one another and produce viable young, and so on, down the line.

Sure, the donkey, Equus asinus, can be interbred with the horse, Equus caballus, to give rise to the mule, but the hybrid produced from this mating is not fertile. Such interbreeding almost never occurs in nature, to wit, in parts of the West where feral donkeys and wild horses share the same range.

We say that in nature one species is reproductively, or genetically, isolated from another. Locally, there are ponds in which spotted salamanders and tiger salamanders breed side by side; they are very closely related members of the same mole salamander genus, Ambystoma, but they never interbreed. Green frogs and bullfrogs are closely related members of the rain frog genus, Rana. There is nary a pond of the hundreds on the South Fork that doesn't have both breeding at the same time, yet they never interbreed. They are reproductively isolated.

Here on eastern Long Island, eight different aster species may be flowering at the same time in the same area; bees and other insects may be intermingling back and forth with members of each species. Undoubtedly some cross-pollinations between species must be occurring, yet when seeds from them germinate, we only find the stiff-leaved aster, calico aster, late-flowering aster, or New York aster coming up, never a late-flowering-New York aster combination, or a combo from one of the other pairs.

Such observations have become one of the founding blocks of the notion of "intelligent design," as opposed to the Darwinian idea of "natural selection."

It's only been 15 years or so that species can be easily typed and separated from each other by comparing the DNA in their chromosomes or other cellular organelles. The DNA of the Cypriot mouse, when matched against that from the house mouse, was shown to be different.

Further DNA testing will show how different the two are. The number of changes is an indication of how long the two species have been separated from each other, in this case geographically separated. The one may have stemmed from the other, or they both may have come from a common ancestor no longer with us. The more unmatched nucleotide pairs, the greater the time of isolation.

As far as physical anthropologists and biologists can determine, there is only one extant human species, and that species is the only surviving such member of the genus Homo since at least 20,000 years ago. All six-billion-plus of us have genomes that are almost identical in every respect.

Barring the presence of unique physical problems and age differences, all six-billion-plus of us can interbreed to beget new humans. East Hampton Bubbies can just as easily breed with Asians or Eskimos and produce viable young as with other Bubbies. In fact, if it weren't for such outbreeding the modern human would be a sorry stock, beset with so many inborn physical and mental frailties and immunological ineptitudes by now that we could almost be wiped from the face of the earth by a single dread disease in a generation's time.

That will never happen. But we could be wiped out by a genetically and culturally fostered disposition, one that is found in very few other animal species and never to the extent it is found and cultivated in us humans. True, neighboring meerkat clans in Africa raid one another, as do some baboon and chimpanzee tribal groups, but only a few if any clan members lose their lives by way of such raids.

Not so with the human species. We've been raiding one another, and viciously so, since we left the Garden of Eden, and before, no doubt. Our internecine strife shows little sign of paling; millions of us the world over are lost to fighting, either directly or indirectly, each year.

It's been going on for millenniums, with little promise of abating. World government, politics, religion, science, education, and medicine practiced in their most modern and progressive forms don't seem to be able to mollify or mitigate this terrible tendency of ours to contend with one another in injurious and harmful ways.

While this warring predisposition, more than our intellect or our language, may have gotten us to the moon, the planets, and beyond, it is the same one that has put us on the threshold of eternal oblivion. The rub is, there doesn't seem to be much we can do to overcome it before it overcomes us.

Perhaps Huxley was right in "Brave New World," but only begrudgingly. A soma a day might just keep us from becoming the youngest species to ever become extinct. We have to do something to stop the killing, but what?

Questions and comments can be sent to Mr. Penny at [email protected].

   Toss surfers off the waves at the world-class break at Turtle Cove in Montauk as a state official has advised? Forget it. Citing liability and "operational problems" inherent in the fact that surfers heading to the cove usually park in the state lot at the Montauk Point Lighthouse, which is just to the northeast, Edward E. Wankel, Deputy State Parks Commissioner, has asked the East Hampton Town Board to enact a surfing ban there. The town owns the shoreline at the cove.

   Although the board doesn't seem at all inclined toward doing so, at least two surfing attorneys have offered it free legal advice just in case. The state wouldn't be able to do more than ban surfboards from its parking lot, one says, and another argues that the unencumbered movement of surfboards - which are, after all, vessels - is guaranteed under Federal navigational law.

   At any rate, a ban at Turtle Cove wouldn't work. The Marine Corps tried for years, with no success, to keep surfers from Trestles, a fantastic break within Camp Pendleton in California. Cotton's Point was another California spot the Feds tried unsuccessfully to wall off, so that President Nixon, who had bought a house overlooking it, could have his privacy.

   There is no good reason, legal or otherwise, for the state to concern itself with surfers in Turtle Cove. They have coexisted with surfcasters there for years and have, as far as we know, raised no liability issues. Of a possible parking-lot ban, one wave-rider was heard to say last weekend: "All it would accomplish is to turn decent people into lawbreakers."

   Surfing is a freedom thing. Keeping surfers from good waves is like ordering flowers to turn away from the sun.

   At a three-and-a-half-hour public hearing drawing more than 300 people, opponents of the proposed A&P supermarket warned of suburban sprawl, destabilization of existing village businesses, and, as one speaker put it, putting the "quality of shopping over the quality of life."

   The turnout at the hearing was so large, it had to be relocated from Town Hall to Guild Hall's John Drew Theater at the last minute.

   Supporters of the proposed 34,878-square-foot store on the former Stern's site on Pantigo Road, East Hampton, were scarce. In fact, only two members of the crowd spoke in favor of the market, while the rest spoke vehemently in support of the East Hampton Town Board's proposed "superstore legislation," drafted to control the size and location of large retail stores and supermarkets. Though the A&P took center stage, Friday's hearing was on the law itself.

   Town Supervisor Cathy Lester prefaced the hearing by stressing the board was "here today not to prohibit a new supermarket, but to determine if one particular zoning category is appropriate for a supermarket, and if some limitations should be placed on certain uses."

   The legislation would prohibit any retail stores spanning more than 15,000 square feet and would cap supermarkets at a maximum of 25,000 square feet. Supermarkets would be allowed in "central business" zoning districts only and held to strict design standards.

Sense Of Place

   Ms. Lester said the board's decision on the law "will probably have the greatest impact on East Hampton since zoning was first created in 1957" and "will determine if East Hampton will retain and preserve its unique sense of place or become one of the same ordinary commercial communities which have invaded many small-town American communities, threatening Main Street, U.S.A."

   Joseph Kelley, a frequent critic of the board, saw the law differently. "To me, this is something against free enterprise," he said, taking the first slot at the podium. His comments supporting the A&P drew booing and hissing from the restless crowd, as did other pro-A&P comments.

Parade Of Opponents

The parade of more than 30 speakers that followed blasted not only A&P's proposal, but the three-week advertising and public relations blitz that has made the store the town's most prominent issue. However, many agreed with the need for a new, smaller-scale supermarket in town.

   "I haven't been treated this badly by a large corporation since basic training," said Richard Lupoletti of East Hampton, who heads the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society.

   Edward Bleier, another East Hampton resident, called the ad campaign "high-pressure spinmeistering" meant "to divide the community."

   "If I had just read their coupon, it looks great," said Bob DeLuca, president of the Group for the South Fork. "It looks like Camelot. I'd sign it. I'd send it right in today. To me, that signifies the nature of big-box corporate development."

Spreading Sprawl

   Mr. DeLuca, along with the Group for the South Fork's attorney, Carolyn Zenk, warned against allowing large-scale retail outside of village centers and the "colonization effect" it would have along the highway.

   "This is how sprawl spreads," Mr. DeLuca said, "from central business zone to central business zone. The problem with the A&P is not just its size, but its location. It's right between two central business zones, and it can only encourage the same type of sprawl that has occurred all over Long Island."

   Other speakers, like Christine Guglielmo of East Hampton, worried about the effect of A&P's one-stop convenience on smaller shop owners. "I don't want to see anything that would jeopardize the stability of these businesses, which are so important to our community. To be honest, I've never seen a Little League team with the A&P logo."

Quality Of Life

   In agreement was Paul Goldberger, a Skimhampton Road resident and chief culture correspondent for The New York Times. "We cannot put long-term convenience over the long-term health of East Hampton, nor quality of shopping over quality of life," he said. He called the A&P the "first step on the road to Sunrise Highway" and urged the board "not to sell East Hampton's birthright for a mess of A&P pottage."

   Despite the lopsided turnout, supporters of the A&P were silently represented by a stack of 4,000 returned mailings signed in favor of the store. It loomed in front of the Town Board's table throughout the hearing.

   John Mullen of Mullen & McCaffrey Direct Response, the firm that orchestrated the A&P's ad campaign, also announced the results of a second telephone survey on the A&P. Of 301 town residents polled, 50.3 percent said they favored "the building of a new A&P store," at the Stern's location; 25.6 percent said they opposed it, and 24 percent said they were undecided.

Poll Shows Support

   "For the first time, there is a majority in East Hampton that supports the A&P by a margin of two to one," said Mr. Mullen. He asked the board to give the public more time to digest the issue.

   'Right now, the cash registers in Bridgehampton are ringing with East Hampton money.'

Roger Turley

A&PExecutive

   "It's important to know how all residents think about the A&P. This hearing gives no indication of how everyone in this town thinks on this issue. It's not a scientific indicator. It's a demonstration."

   As it had a week ago, the board criticized the A&P for entering the deliberations at the last hour. Members were also skeptical of the poll's results and the significance of the coupons. Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey called the poll "skewed" because its main question failed to describe the scope of the supermarket.

"No" Votes In Trash

   Councilmen Len Bernard and Peter Hammerle tried to put the number of coupons in context, asking what percentage of the mailings the 4,000 returns represented. A total of 30,000 of the glossy brochures carrying the coupons was printed; 15,000 of them were mailed to households, and the remainder were given to the A&P for distribution at the store and elsewhere.

   The board's decision on the superstore law 'will probably have the greatest impact on East Hampton since zoning was first created in 1957.'

Cathy Lester

Supervisor

"There's a potential for 26,000 people, then, to be opposed," said Mr. Hammerle. "Perhaps if you had given them the opportunity to fill out a card, you may have heard from them. . . . My mom thought the only way to respond in opposition was to throw it in the garbage."

   William J. Fleming, an East Hampton attorney representing the A&P, charged the board was making a "pell-mell rush to stop the A&P and has given the appearance that it has made up its mind already." He asked that the hearing be kept open and possibly continued at another time in the evening, so working people could attend.

Smaller Than King Kullen

   "This law will leave a huge gap in the zoning code," said Mr. Fleming. "Realistically, there are no central business zones where a supermarket can be built. . . . It will leave a mandate to drive to Bridgehampton to get groceries."

   Mr. Fleming joined many of the speakers in criticizing the current A&P, saying that "there's no ability in that store to service this town in any realistic, year-round way."

   Roger Turley, an A&P vice president, also spoke on behalf of the corporation. "A&P is trying to solve the shopping needs in the town. The town needs a new store. The residents want it, and we want to do it. We're not asking for a 60,000-square-foot store like in Bridgehampton; we're just asking for what we need."

   Mr. Turley added that the proposed 25,000-square-foot cap on supermarkets, "may be a nice round number, but it bears no relevance to the minimum space that's needed to adequately, efficiently, and effectively serve our customers. . . . Right now, the cash registers in Bridgehampton are ringing with East Hampton money."

Making Right Choices

   Despite the pitch, residents continued to bash the king-sized supermarket and urged the board to act on the superstore law.

   Russell Stein, a former town attorney who represents the Stern's Watchdog Committee, called the law "a fair, reasonable, and effective piece of legislation" and "the first step in making sure [developments] occur where they should and in the proper scale."

   Mr. Stein pointed to some of the important planning and zoning decisions made by Town Boards over the years to preserve East Hampton's character.

   The effort, he said, "has been bipartisan, it's been consistent, and it's one of the reasons we all have property that's valuable - because boards like this have made the right choices. We are absolutely convinced you will do it again."

   Averill Dayton Geus, the historic site manager for East Hampton Village, made a more emotional pitch: "I thank you from the bottom of my heart [for legislation] that will protect East Hampton from becoming a carbon copy of the development that has consumed the rest of Long Island."

   'We cannot put long-term convenience over the long-term health of East Hampton, nor quality of shopping over quality of life.'

Paul Goldberger

   The board agreed to keep the hearing record open for written comments until Monday. As there appears to be unanimous support for the measure from the board, it is expected to be adopted shortly.

   How the A&P will respond to the passage of the law is not yet clear.

   "The A&P is going to wait and see what happens," said its lawyer, Mr. Fleming. "They think the 4,000 coupons says there's a need in the town. If we're talking about a real measure of public opinion, it's not just the loud voices at the hearing Friday."

   The presence at the hearing of William Esseks, a lawyer who frequently represents developers in litigation against the town, may indicate its intent to take legal action. Mr. Esseks confirmed yesterday that he has been consulted by the A&P.

   Guild Hall has announced that this year's Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Awards will be presented to Jane Freilicher for visual arts, Peter Stone for literary arts, and Alan J. Pakula for performing arts.

   Peter Jennings, anchor and senior editor of ABC News, will be the master of ceremonies at a presentation dinner on Dec. 3 at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

   Ms. Freilicher, whose house in Water Mill and surrounding ponds and wetlands have been the subject of many of her paintings, has determinedly stuck to figurative painting through many decades when it seemed that all critical attention was focused on abstraction.

Always Starting Anew

   She studied with Hans Hofmann but, feeling a closer tie to Matisse and Bonnard, returned to figurative painting as soon as she left his classes. In an interview with ARTnews, Ms. Freilicher said, "While I agree with Constable, who said that painting is but another word for feeling, I prefer that emotion be a kind of unconscious subtext."

   "I have a sense of always beginning again with each work," she continued. "You never really have done it, you keep going, and it's always as if you're painting for the first time. At the end of Bonnard's life, a friend asked him how he was, and he said, 'Well, I'm still here with a brush in one hand and a rag in the other.' " Since 1952, when her work was first shown at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, she has had nearly 40 solo exhibits, including a traveling retrospective in 1986.

Peter Stone

Mr. Stone, who was the master of ceremonies for the Lifetime Achievement Awards for many years, now finds himself on the other side of the dais. He is the author of 14 Broadway productions and is the only writer ever to win a Tony, an Oscar, an Edgar, and an Emmy Award.

   His musicals "1776," "Woman of the Year," and "The Will Rogers Follies" won Tony Awards. His other Broadway credits include "Grand Hotel," "My One and Only," and "Titanic," which will open next year. "Father Goose" won an Academy Award for best screenplay, "Charade" won him an Edgar, and an episode of the acclaimed TV series "The Defenders" won an Emmy. His other movies include "Sweet Charity," "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3," and "Arabesque." His latest film, "Just Cause" with Sean Connery, was released last year.

   Mr. Stone, who has been president of the Dramatists Guild since 1981, has been a full-time resident of Amagansett for 25 years.

Alan J. Pakula

   Oscars have also figured in the life of Mr. Pakula, who has a house in East Hampton and who, with his wife, Hannah, is a good friend of Mr. Stone and his wife, Mary. The film director received Academy Award nominations as best director for "All the President's Men," and as best screenwriter for "Sophie's Choice," which was edited in Southampton.

   Mr. Pakula began his career as a producer, teaming up with the director Robert Mulligan to create the film "Fear Strikes Out" in 1957. The pair went on to make six more films, including the classic movie "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Love With the Proper Stranger," "Inside Daisy Clover," and "Up the Down Staircase."

   He made his directorial debut with "The Sterile Cuckoo" and his other movies include "The Parallax View" with Warren Beatty, "Starting Over," and, more recently, "The Pelican Brief," "Consenting Adults," and "Presumed Innocent."

   Mr. Pakula lectures on film at universities throughout the country and has served as president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

   Reservations for the awards dinner can be made with Guild Hall. The tickets start at $500.

   The sun must have known that Sunday was Dog Liberation Day. It was shining all day long as exuberant hounds and their owners returned in force to East Hampton Town bathing beaches to celebrate the end of their annual four-month banishment.

   From May 15 to Sept. 15, dogs are not permitted during prime daylight hours within 300 feet of a town-designated bathing beach, as road-end signs proclaim. For all practical purposes, the law discourages owners from taking their pets to the beach altogether in daytime, which may or may not have been its intent. How are you supposed to get a 60-pound Lab from the parking lot to the 300-foot line?

   Those who try to hurry their animals through no-dog's-land often take flak from sunbathers who accuse them of breaking the law, even when they point to the signs and explain they're heading for authorized territory. Not all dog-lovers are prepared to go so far as the letter-writer in this week's issue who whips out a copy of the Town Code whenever he is challenged.

   The East Hampton Town Trustees, who claim ownership of most of the beaches, are well aware of the 300-foot paradox, as is the Town Board. Once a year or so, usually in May or September, one or the other board kicks it around and tries to come up with a solution. Two weeks ago, for example, there was talk of creating "doggie lanes" in the sands. (We promise never to mention it again if the Trustees don't.)

   In the end, though, the ancient governing body decided that the law should not be changed and to rely on people's common sense and good will to maintain harmony. That seems the best approach.

   And fall is surely the best time of the year to be out for a walk on a South Fork beach, whether you stand on two feet or four.

   Jorge Diaz hardly expected the reception he got when he arrived in Montauk Friday night.

   According to East Hampton Town police, Mr. Diaz traveled from New York City with a hot package in the trunk of his car - more than a kilo of cocaine, worth as much as $150,000 on the street. He was going to sell it, police said, and picked the town parking lot on South Euclid Street by the Montauk Post Office as the transfer point.

   Police - eight officers in all - were waiting, disguised or in hiding. So, too, it has been learned, was a police informant, who had set up the sale.

   Mr. Diaz, 36, who lives in Elmhurst, had been trafficking cocaine throughout the summer in Montauk and other parts of East Hampton Town, perhaps all over the East End, police said. A buy had been set up several times, but the target was never where he was supposed to be until Friday.

   As Mr. Diaz opened his trunk to get the goods and make the deal, police said, he was quickly surrounded.

   "We had information he might be armed," said Det. Lieut. Edward V. Ecker Jr., "but it went very smoothly. There was no resistance."

   Radio scanners foretold the coming sting to those who were listening carefully. "Unit in position" was overheard about an hour before.

"Proof Positive"

   All police would say about the circumstances surrounding the arrest was that "information received from several sources" targeted Mr. Diaz.

   According to court papers, the alleged supplier "sold two pounds, five ounces of cocaine, a little more than a kilo, which he gave to another in exchange for U.S. currency." Police would not comment on the particulars or the price, though a kilo of cocaine sells in the vicinity of $25,000, depending on the quality.

   Broken up into small quantities, its street value would be about six times as much, police said.

   Preliminary tests allegedly proved positive for cocaine. On Monday, detectives took the suspect package to the county police crime lab for further analysis. The Suffolk District Attorney is expected to present the evidence to a grand jury this week.

Could Get Life

   Mr. Diaz was arraigned before East Hampton Town Justice Catherine Cahill, who set bail at $25,000. He was remanded to the county jail in Riverhead Saturday in lieu of bail.

   Charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance first degree, a Class A felony, he could receive a sentence of life imprisonment if convicted of the crime.

   Town Police Chief Thomas Scott said the bust, though not the largest in the department's history, ranked near the top.

   "We've had kilos a few times before, but this is one of the biggest," said the Chief.

   In 1981, local police stopped a boat that was bringing marijuana from Colombia to a house on Milina Drive near Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton. The story made national news when 20 tons of marijuana were found. It proved to be the biggest seizure in the town's history.

   On June 5, 1986, five pounds of cocaine were seized on Main Street in Montauk after a sting similar to the one that took place last weekend.

   Chief Scott hinted that further busts may be forthcoming. "You'll be hearing from us," he said.

   Peter Beard, a well-known wildlife photographer with a house in Montauk, suffered a fractured pelvis and was gored in the leg when he was attacked by an elephant while on a photographic safari in Kenya on Monday.

   "He has been stabilized," Peter Riva, Mr. Beard's agent, said yesterday. "He is not in mortal danger although he was on Monday when he was brought to the hospital in Nairobi."

   The incident occurred in the Masai Mara national park in Kenya near the Tanzanian border. Mr. Beard and friends had approached a herd of elephants on foot to take photographs. Suddenly, a large female, probably the matriarch of the herd, "began to demonstrate and charge while still 160 yards from the group - extraordinary behavior," Mr. Riva said. "It was an extremely benign situation."

   Mr. Riva continued: "Something must have clicked in her head. She charged half the distance, at which point Peter ordered the others to run. He was not even the closest. The elephant halted at 60 yards, then started again. She passed one guy to get to Peter. In the old days, hunters always made sure their gun-bearer had a rifle of his own for such situations, because elephants always knew the leader. They are not stupid. She probably heard Peter ordering the others."

   He said that according to the sole eyewitness to the actual attack, Mr. Beard held onto the elephant's leg once she caught him. This probably saved his life. As it is, Mr. Beard's pelvis was fractured in five places, and he was badly gored in the leg by the elephant's tusk.

   He was airlifted to Nairobi Hospital, where he reportedly underwent surgery to stop internal bleeding. "He was severely wounded, and it will be a long road to recovery. But he's still Peter - full of piss and vinegar," Mr. Riva said.

   In addition to "The Ranch," as his house and property in the Montauk moorlands are known, Mr. Beard owns the "Hog Ranch," a small compound outside Nairobi. R.D.

   After many starts and stops over the years, a construction crew finally broke ground Sept. 4 on the $3.7 million rehabilitation of the East Hampton Town Airport. The first phase of the project, excavation of a new entrance road and parking lot, has proceeded in characteristic fits through this month's seemingly nonstop rainfall.

   Construction began a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking and three months after it was expected to. A backhoe crew from Pat Bistrian Jr. Inc. scraped up more than 4,000 cubic yards of earth in the first week of excavation, clearing a temporary road to the north of the old one and digging out a new one to the south of it.

   Pat Ryan, the airport manager, said the crew has been working a day here and a half day there, when the rain wasn't too bad.

Terminal Building

   After installing drainage equipment and utility lines, they will pave the new road and parking lot. Altogether, the first phase will cost about $740,000.

   Sometime in November the foundation will be poured for one of the town's most hotly debated and long-anticipated public works projects, a $1.2 million terminal building just southeast of the dilapidated shack that has been serving in that capacity, not very well, for decades.

   "We're hoping to get it closed up so they can work inside during the coldest weather," said Mr. Ryan.

Seasonal Slowdown

   He does not expect construction to interfere with operations, at least until spring. Then, when the terminal is finished, work will start on the first half of a new $640,000 apron, the paved area in front of the terminal where passengers arrive and depart.

   "We're just like the rest of town. Business drops off after Labor Day and it'll be just weekends from now on."

   "I expect we won't have any trouble until the spring, and that would be just that the planes would have to park farther away from the terminal while they're working on it," said Mr. Ryan.

Runway, One Day

   Within the next two weeks the Town Board is expected to solicit construction bids for the building. The last time that happened, after three deadline extensions, the lowest bid came in at twice the expected cost. Since then, though, the design has been scaled back and an additional $500,000 in Federal money has been thrown into the pot.

   The Federal Aviation Administration is carrying most of the cost, with the State Department of Transportation and the town paying a combined 10 percent.

   Future improvements will include the second half of the apron, estimated altogether at $1.4 million, and repaving the primary runway, which pilots have long complained is cracked and weedy.

   Bruce Clark, an engineer with the upstate firm that is overseeing construction, C & S Engineers, said the runway posed no immediate danger but deserved to be kept on the town's list of things to do in the next few years.

D.A. Investigates Land Transfer

   The head of the Suffolk District Attorney's White Collar Crimes Bureau confirmed Friday that her office had begun an investigation into the relationship of two Southampton lawyers, Richard Pellicane and Clarence (Rusty) Banks, to a land transfer that relied on the forged signature of a dead woman. The lawyers are associates and maintain offices in the same building, at Bowden Square.

   Nina Pozgar, the bureau chief, said she had been researching the matter since receiving a referral in June from State Supreme Court Justice Melvyn Tanenbaum, who, in presiding over two civil lawsuits, ruled the signature a forgery and turned the files over to the D.A.

   Anthony Conforti, a Hauppauge lawyer who is representing Mr. Pellicane and Mr. Banks, said neither he nor his clients had been contacted by the D.A.

Much Doubt

   "We are not aware of any criminal investigation," he said, adding, "I doubt very much that there would be any criminal charges in any case."

   At issue is what passed in 1985 for Cornelia E. Corwith's signature on a document dated 1983, transferring some nine acres on Crooked Pond in Bridgehampton to Mr. Banks. Mr. Banks subsequently sold 20 contiguous acres there, including the nine, to Valentine Schaffner, a writer and columnist for The Star, for $200,000. Ms. Corwith died in 1967.

   Bridgehampton National Bank, which holds Ms. Corwith's assets in trust for her heirs, sued Mr. Schaff ner, as well as his title insurance company, Ticor Title; the Nature Conservancy, which was given a gift by Mr. Schaffner of 11 acres, and Mr. Banks and Mr. Pellicane.

Bank's Win

   In April, Justice Tanenbaum ruled in the bank's favor. His decision was appealed. Mr. Pellicane also brought a $17.5 million defamation suit against the bank and Ticor Title, which is pending.

   Mr. Conforti told The Star his clients may have been duped by a woman pretending to be Ms. Corwith or that Mr. Banks may have notarized the signature of "someone else named Cornelia Corwith."

   In any case, he claimed Justice Tanenbaum overstepped his authority and the scope of the civil cases by addressing the signature at all; he said his clients' research had shown that Foster Corwith, a Southampton resident who is not Cornelia Corwith's heir but descends from a different branch of the family, should be the legal owner of the land. Mr. Conforti is representing Mr. Corwith as well.

Northwest Acreage

Lawyers had speculated last spring that the statute of limitations may have run out on any possible criminal charges. However, Ms. Pozgar said this week, "The clock doesn't start running until the crime is discovered. The grand larceny law gives us more time."

   In an unrelated case, State Supreme Court Justice Alfred Lama ruled earlier this year against Mr. Banks, and for Charles A. Halsey of Scotia, N.Y., in a dispute over roughly four acres off Crooked Highway in Northwest Woods, East Hampton. The time for Mr. Banks to have appealed that decision has passed.

   According to court papers, Mr. Banks had ascertained a chain of title that he claimed led to Albert J. Halsey of Southampton. The parcel had been listed previously as having unknown ownership.

Split Proceeds?

   Court records include a 1992 letter from Mr. Banks to Albert Halsey, offering to get him a deed in exchange for a 60-40 split of the eventual sale price. After Mr. Halsey's death, the split was reduced to 50-50 for his son and heir, Charles A. Halsey. Mr. Banks sued Charles Halsey for half the value of the parcel, but lost.

   Mr. Pellicane, who represented Mr. Banks in that suit, brought a claim against The Star two years ago alleging libel in an article about that property. At the time, East Hampton Town officials were hoping to get the deed for the town, and to upzone the parcel.

   Neither the town's effort nor Mr. Pellicane's suit against The Star were successful.

   The record also shows a $220,000 sale to James McGinness, a broker with the Meridian Group in Sag Harbor, had been negotiated but fell through after the elder Mr. Halsey died. The younger Mr. Halsey refused to sell, saying, again in court papers, that he believed the land was worth nearly twice what Mr. Banks would have sold it to Meridian for.

   On Tuesday, Charles Halsey said the land was on the market now for $400,000.

   Make no mistake. It was James Brown who rescued the Back at the Ranch concert in Montauk this year, both in terms of ticket sales and producing a concert to remember.

   Any debate over who was truly the headliner - Ray Charles or Mr. Brown - was put to rest when Mr. Brown's high-fiving Soul Generals took the stage and bellowed, "Good evening Montauk! Are you ready to get down?!!," then launched into one of the most rousing introductions of all time.

   In a tight black suit with sequined lapels and hair just too perfect, the 68-year-old icon came on and began to dance and twist as if cryogenics had forever preserved him at 30. Sparing none of his trademarks - the spins, the cape, the lyrical grunts - Mr. Brown easily reaffirmed his position not only as "the hardest working man in rock" but also as one of pop culture's greatest characters.

Tender Down Deep

   His supporting cast provided just as much energy. Between the six backup singers, the score of musicians, and the team of supercharged female dancers, the stage was teeming with life. The Soul Generals were impeccably tight not only in their delivery but in their horn-twirling choreography. Every once in a while, a guitar solo would break up the orchestrated feel.

   Mr. Brown opened with his 1967 funk classic "Cold Sweat," and kept the beat hard and heavy through "Get Up Offa That Thing," and "Living in America," before slowing things down for a soulful rendition of "(If I Ruled the) World." Beyond his howl lies a tender ballad voice, as he proved on "World," and then on "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."

   As the singer crooned the lyrics to the latter, his dancer Julie Kim gracefully accompanied him with a ballet number. Mr. Brown's macho poise and Ms. Kim's beautiful dance created a perfect tableau for the song, which argues that this "man's world" wouldn't be "nothing without a woman or a girl."

Back And Forth

The mellow interlude set up a flurry of greatest hits that carried the rest of the show - "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)," and finally "Sex Machine."

   Mr. Brown's set was filled with melodramatics, especially in his comical dialogues with the backup singers, who answered in one voice.

   "Can I get up and do my thing?" he blurted to them before launching into the 10-minute version of "Sex Machine" that closed the show. "I gotta get into it. I gotta to get with it. Like a . . . like a sex . . . like a sex machine!!"

   "Well?" asked the singers.

   "Well what?"

   "We can't start it until you count it off!"

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!!"

A Subtler Style

   If Mr. Charles and Mr. Brown had never shared a stage before the Aug. 19 concert, perhaps it has to do with their styles. They are contemporaries, only two years apart, and both are credited with pioneering soul music. But their styles have remained completely distinct.

   Mr. Charles played the subdued soul parent to Mr. Brown's feisty funk son at last week's fund-raiser. Unfortunately, the younger Mr. Charles sounded his age, while Mr. Brown sounded timeless.

   Perhaps a large outdoor stage was not the ideal forum for Mr. Charles' deep and subtle blend of gospel and R&B. Though he played a spirited show that got tighter and more moving by the end, much of the emotion seemed to dissipate on the sprawling stage. Mr. Charles and his keyboard were dwarfed by the towering scaffolding.

   Mr. Charles's Ray Charles Orchestra, a big band with a sturdy anchor of drums, bass, and guitar, provided their own rousing intro to their frontman. After a few upbeat swing numbers, the band flew into a frenzied wail that accompanied a dancing Mr. Charles on his way to his keyboard and brought the crowd to its feet.

   "Ladies and gentlemen, the genius of soul, Ray Charles!!"

   His first two numbers, a fast shuffle, then a medium-paced ballad, were passionate yet tentative, as if the singer were just settling in. So it was a surprise when Mr. Charles pulled out arguably his most moving number, "Georgia on My Mind," as the third song of the set.

   Mr. Charles eased out the classic serenade, never bringing it to its promised peaks. His tinny electric keyboard begged for a baby grand piano. Yet, by the end of the song, the gritty sweetness of his voice managed to win the crowd over. As he wound the number down he nodded his head slowly and whispered, "Ain't she?" affirming, yes, Georgia was on his mind.

Pure Joy In Playing

Mr. Charles then kicked the band into a happy, swing version of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," which saw him finally finding a groove. The nearly 20-piece orchestra were well honed on his still solid vocals, taking their cues from him rather than the other way around.

   Mr. Charles took the band and his line of backup singers, the RaeLettes, through a set of seven more numbers, ranging from slow and soulful to fast and bluesy. He iced the cake with an uplifting version of the deeply funky classic "What I Say," which featured some of his finest keyboard playing and his most inspired vocal effort.

   Waving goodbye, with the band still rolling, Mr. Charles signed off by saying, "I'd like to thank the band. . . . I am what I am!" It was true. Though he played a subdued, reserved set, Mr. Charles' unmistakable aura and his pure joy in playing carried the music through.

Opening Acts

   Mr. Charles and Mr. Brown had help from an impressive group of opening acts, including the Nash ville-raised blues and R&B singer Jonell Moser and the young tap-dancing phenomenon Savion Glover.

   Paul Simon's son, Harper Simon, and his band opened the show as they have for the past several years. Unfortunately, something was missing. Last year, Mr. Simon brimmed with energy and his scrappy but lively set of pop proved one of the highlights. This year, the live energy was supplanted by a more contemplative, less stirring set of songs soon to be released on a Harper Simon album.

   Mr. Simon describes his new music as "psychedelic cow/punk rock." The "cow" was there in his decent country harmonies with Jenni Muldaur, but the "punk" was absent and the "psychedelic" was as trippy as, say, a caffeine buzz.

Phenomenal Tap

   Ms. Moser, a late addition to the bill, did more than fill a slot. Like a Bonnie Raitt with some of Janis Joplin's rasp, Ms. Moser gave a stirring vocal performance, despite the somewhat run-of-the-mill R&B and blues material. Her seven-song set ended with a stomping version of the blues classic "Crossroads," which she had recorded for the "Boys on the Side" soundtrack.

   If anyone truly set the mood for the double bill to come, it was the tap dancer Savion Glover. Coming out in an unassuming Ranch concert security T-shirt and jeans, the star of the Broadway show "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk," immediately had the crowd in his palm.

   Mr. Glover used his feet and the stage as a drum set producing booming beats and subtle taps. All the while he made his way back and forth, using the length of the stage. There was no top hat and cane for this dancer; Mr. Glover was there to make music. It was a treat to watch the athleticism that accompanied his footwork.

   When a guitarist came out to accompany Mr. Glover's drum solo tapping, one had the feeling this was one of the freshest new art forms around.

   The sun's direct rays were at right angles to the Equator at 2 p.m. on Sunday, which is a cosmic way of saying that summer is gone and fall has arrived. Because of our weather-challenged summer months, fishermen are not likely to go quietly into the cold.

Nor is there reason to, what with a local striped bass population as large and healthy as it is, and stories and fish like those that came off the Blue Fin IV charter boat on Friday.

   "We missed the New York State record by one pound," Capt. Michael Potts said of the 613-pound thresher shark his charter, Michael Willman, fought on Friday afternoon 25 miles south of Montauk. He brought it to the boat after a two-hour, stand-up battle. But that's not the whole story.

Mystery Fish

   The day began closer to shore with the Willman family quickly catching their limit of striped bass before heading offshore. When they got there, the sharks were waiting. The action began almost immediately, according to Captain Potts. In quick succession, those on board hooked four large blue sharks in the 250 to 300-pound range. Then an odd-looking creature - half shark, half unicorn - swam into the Bluefin's slick.

   Upon closer inspection the mystery fish turned out to be a blue shark run through with a swordfish's sword. The sword, broken off, had penetrated the bottom of the shark during some unimaginable battle and passed up through its back right behind the head. It seemed otherwise healthy, and before long took a proffered bait.

   While the unicorn was being fought on light, 25-pound test line, the bigger reel started to whine. The thresher was on.

Just Shy Of Record

   "He went off fast. I had to get the engine started to chase him down. They were fighting sharks on both sides of the boat, then the big one came close and it looked like a 16-foot thresher, so we cut the other off. Too bad, because we wanted to bring it in to show to the scientists," Captain Potts said.

    The chosen shark turned out to be within one pound of the state record for threshers and the biggest shark to be brought into Montauk this season. In 1994, the angler's father had landed the Blue Fin IV's largest catch of the season - an 851-pound bluefin tuna.

   Speaking from offshore via his cellular phone on Monday, Captain Potts reported "red-hot" striped bass fishing using live eels. He said those using bunker (menhaden) chunks were catching fish, but slower. This had not been the case the day before.

Bunker Chunking

A trip to the rips off Montauk Point aboard the Point Break on Sunday yielded four keeper bass (over 28 inches long) within an hour using the bunker chunking method. Striped bass are not unlike dogs, as one local angler put it. That is, they come when they're called. One chunks from an anchored boat. Pieces of bunker are slipped over the side.

   The hook is secreted in a similar-sized chunk, and the line, with a relatively light weight, is allowed to drift in the company of the other chunks. The bass graze on the chunks, often coming toward the surface, until they find the hook baits. Bunker hook-baits are also used from the beach by surfcasters, especially in the fall when the bigger fish begin to arrive.

   In the meantime, the rock perches in front of the Montauk Lighthouse have been getting an increasing number of surfcasters eager for the fall bass bonanza. Word has it they have not been disappointed on recent mornings. Harvey Bennett of the Tackle Shop at Skimhampton reported a bluefish blitz along the ocean beaches "from Wainscott to White Sands" on Tuesday morning.

Rush For Bait

   There are large schools of false albacore and bonito off the Point feeding on one to four inch anchovies - a saltwater fly fishermen's dream come true. On Sunday, the little tunas could be seen flying clear out of the water in their rush for bait. Best to go after them with someone who knows the ropes. They have extremely good vision and are not easily fooled. Once hooked, however, a false albacore weighing under 10 pounds fights with all the will and passion of its larger relatives.

   Paul Dixon of Dixon's Sporting Life at the Red Horse shopping complex in East Hampton said he was using small epoxy flies to mimic the "rain bait" - one to four-inch anchovies in this case. Certain species of small prey species are called rain bait because they clump together in a tight mass at the surface when danger appears. This gives the surface a dimpled look as though it were being rained upon.

   Mr. Dixon said that, on Sunday, fly fishermen fishing from his five light-tackle charter boats - now operating from the Montauk Lake Club - hooked more than 100 false albacore and bonito. The most effective fly has been the "Mystic Bay Hardbody Shiner." Those using light spinning gear are taking the little tunas on Deadly Dick lures.

   Montauk's Viking Starship party boat got into some bigger tuna over the weekend. What was supposed to have been a two-day trip lasted half a day once the Starship got on the grounds. Yellowfin tuna in the 50 to 150-pound range were so plentiful that anglers had caught their fill after 12 hours of fishing.