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HTYFR EE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, J ANUARY 23, 1974, PAGE 5 I(ALNINS ON 0e0. The Energy Crisis -American Style NEW YORK - With a fast dwindling supply' of gasoine, oil and petroleuini in the United States, ilitions of New Yorkers are bracing for even hIigher crime rate, oiie Police Departmient officiaI told mie this week. According to this higi-ranking police officer whio does xîot want his naine revealed, the present crime rate in New York City - about 500 murders alone - could double by thie end of this vear. His New Year's prediction is grim: the more serious crime iin the streets of New York will risc in anl alarming proportions, if the present energy crisis continues. Tliis means there will be more crime incidents reported and less police vehicles a,,vailable for patrol duty. Already a drastic curtailunent of radio-car patrols have been instituted by the Police Department on orders from Acting Police Commlissioner Pauil M. Cainck. Warning of a gas shortage. despite some optimistic views expressed in the media, he recommends.illat precinct commanders make ."a more judiclous use of foot and motor scooter patrols"., Due to cop-car cutback, New Yorkers are visibly aîarmed over increased incidents of violence which have been reported to the police stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx. Recently a tank truck with 3,000 gallons of gasoline was hijacked to Brooklyn, and one motorist received a summons for allegedly menacing a gas station attendant, forcing him at gunpoint to seil more gasoline. In Upstate Watertown, the thieves had pumped 700 gallons of gasoline from a service station's underground tank. Similar thefts are being reported daily ail over the United States. The already serious gas shortage, particularly on the east coast of the United States, has been compouinded by greedy 'gas station operators gatiging thotisands of miot(>rists at gas puinps across the land. Th.e New York Post's front pageI headline rea-ýd,: "'IRS: Gas Stations Are Worst Gaugers", A recent Internai Revenue Service survey shows gasoline stations violatîing rrice regulations at a Ilighier rate than -any other industry uinder governmiient price gutide tiles. About 20 per cent of gas stations checked are selling gasoline and oit above the legal ceiling price, the agency says. To crack down on price violators, the IRS plans to have 300 agents *assigned solely to check prices at gasoline puimps. As a Canadian driver, cauight ini the iiddle of the U.S. energy crisis, I witnessed somne of the inost in- credible scelies at gas stations ini and arouind New York. 1 saw peolple getting inito lîeated arguments over a couple of dollars worth of gasolinie. 1 saw niotorists sh iouting and swearing at each other and caJoling witbi pLulfp station (>erators. On1 Queens Boulevard ait 63rd Ave. the Mobil gas station was conlstanti>' crowded with angry customers screamning for gas and oit. Many of the harried drivers lost their temipers ini endless line-tups while waiting for the hard-to-find fuiel. A nearby mnotorist who was fortunlate enough to get his tank filled uip before the fainiliar "No Gas" sign was posted, told mne angrily: "'Some of the drivers here are out of their minds. They are sick. Most of them don't even uîeed gas". Flowever, on the saine day the situation was somnewhat different in Brooklyn on a Knapp Street service lot. The police liad to be called ini wheil frustrated motorists mobbed the station, demianding mnore gas. But, there was no gas left ini the pumnps. Driver Alvini Garofola who happenied to be there told nie later: -There mnust have beeîî at least 30 cops here to lielp close the station". Ron Berzins, a formier Torontonian who lives ini Queens beside the Long Island Expresswav, said he's a bit 'sorry" that he left Canada a few years ago. Hie is still driving two cars - a sîiu of the Ainerican affluence - but one is already for sale. "I'rn selling my big Mercedes Benz as soon as 1 can find a buyer", he told me. "But, 1 shahl keep my Volks- wagen". Ron who earns three times as much money now than when he lived ini Canada, feels the pinch nevertheless. BRO A& s DL A« ALL STOCK ROLLS- ROLL ENDS AT BIG BIG SAVINGS DODD & SOUTEIR OOM DECOR CENTRE LTD. LE &REMNANTS CELANESE PROPYLON CROSSLEY Shag PEERLESS Shiags Reg $~ 3 5 ALE$~ ~ OLI) - WHITE- RED -PRL sq. yd. sq. yd. Reg. $ ~SL e 1 3.9-5 SALE $9.95 stock oni>' sq. yd. sq. yd. 10 &107 BYRON St.,S. WHI'TBY 668-2179 WHITBY Coach House Tavern NOW OPEN Business mens lunch Paved Parking New Decor, New Menu Licensed Open 12 10011 to 1 a.m. Sunidays 12 to 10 p.m. 939 Dundas Street West Whitby, Ont. 668-2751 "The prices of gasoline are going up every second week", he moans. "The oniy question remains - how high can they go?" Fie doubts, however, there is a real gasoline shortage. "Look at ail the oul cargo ships idling in the ports and rivers", he says. "Those tankers definitely are flot filled with water, waiting for the next price hike". 1 wanted to check out bis suspicions on oul-tanker inactivity at Hudson and Delaware riers, but 1 didn't get very far.1 ran out of gas.