APn 03/18 1250 Eclipse Copyright, 1988. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. By YASM

APn  03/18 1250  Eclipse

Copyright, 1988. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By YASMIN ARQUIZA Associated Press Writer
   GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines (AP) -- Millions of Asians prayed,
pounded drums, and danced in the streets Friday to greet total eclipse
of the sun that drew a curtain of darkness across land and sea.
   Young Filipinos shot rifles and tossed firecrackers at the blackened
sky. In northern India, thousands of naked men and women jostled their
way into huge, sacred pools to cleanse their souls in a massive Hindu
ritual.
   "I am at peace today," said Ram Avtar, dripping beads of sacred water
in Kurukshetra, India.
   The 27-year-old businessman had journeyed 450 miles to the site of
the two holiest pools to fulfill his late father's final wish: a dip in
sacred waters to seek salvation for his forefathers.
   About one million people waded or dived into Kurukshetra's holy
water.
   The eclipse was the most spectacular along a 108-mile swath that
moved from the Indian Ocean across Indonesia and the southern Philippine
island of Mindanao during the morning hours.
   But a partial eclipse could be seen as far west as India and eastward
into parts of Australia, New Guinea and the Pacific islands. Scientists
said the eclipse would end at sunset in the Gulf of Alaska.
   Along the 108-mile path, the shadow of the moon darkened the sun for
up to four minutes. Clouds obscured the view in Jakarta, Indonesia, Hong
Kong and in the eastern Mindanao city of Davao, where thousands of
tourists and scientists had gathered to observe the eclipse.
   Philippines President Corazon Aquino flew to General Davos City,
where it was visible for about three minutes.
   Wilson Sinambela of Indonesia's National Institute of Aeronautics
said a total eclipse was observed in several parts of his country. He
said thousands of Indonesians prayed and beat drums to herald the start
of the eclipse.
   In Hong Kong, hundreds of Chinese went to the space museum to view
the eclipse through telescopes. But clouds prevented them from doing so.
Instead, the museum showed video tapes of previous eclipses.
   In Baguio City, 130 miles north of Manila, pregnant women rinsed
their hair with water dripped from burned rice straws.
   Local superstition has it that babies conceived during or shortly
before an eclipse will be deformed unless their mothers practice the
ritual.
   In Kurukshetra, amid the chanting of hymns and the blowing of conch
shells, 3,000 naked Hindu holy men were the first to enter the pools at
6:30 a.m.
   Massive waves of men and women, some clothed, others naked, followed.
The bathers pushed and shoved their way into the pools that can
accommodate only about 125,000 people at a time. The eclipse lasted only
half an hour.
   The scene was repeated, in smaller numbers, at rivers and pools
across India. But Kurukshetra was the most popular because legend says
the Hindu god Lord Krishna once appeared there during an ancient battle.
   Prasanni Devi said she came to Kurukshetra against the wishes of her
children.
   "My children do not believe in the holy dictum," said the 68-year-old
widow, who traveled 235 miles to the holy town. "Throughout my life I
had wanted to come here in the company of my husband, but he left me
alone to get salvation."
   Divers and lifeguards in boats kept watch over the bathers, but no
trouble was reported.
   In General Santos City, the eclipse set off wild cheering among the
thousands who watched the phenomenon in a scorching tropical heat.
   Armed troops surrounded the two-story town hall, where teams of
scientists had set up telescopes and cameras. Friday was the 20th
anniversary of the Moslem rebel Moro National Liberation Front which
operates in this area.
   In Zamboanga City, in western Mindanao, hundreds of people fired
weapons in keeping with a superstition that loud noise will scare the
sun from devouring the moon. Police said there were no injuries.
   In Manila, police said four people were injured when a pass3
Executive News Svc.

APn  03/18 0916  Yugoslavia-Gorbachev

Copyright, 1988. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By ALISON SMALE Associated Press Writer
   DUBROVNIK, Yugoslavia (AP) -- The Soviet Union today praised the
practice of socialist self-management pioneered by Yugoslavia and said
it should prove useful in modernizing the Soviet economic system.
   In a joint declaration issued as Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev
ended a five-day visit to Yugoslavia, the two nations also si