What was going on when I was born?

13 14 By E. R. SHIPP An engineer at the Metropolitan Opera House testified yesterday that he heard ''a sigh, a moan or a groan'' coming from the bottom floor of the building on the night that Helen Hagnes, a violinist, was murdered last July. But the engineer, James Devlin, who was testifying on the second day of the murder trial of Craig S. Crimmins, said: ''It meant nothing to me at the time - I was startled by the sound.'' Mr. Devlin, an operating engineer who helped maintain the Met's air-conditioning system, was one of several Met employees who testified yesterday about events leading to the discovery of Miss Hagnes's nude, bound and gagged body on a steel ledge in a ventilation shaft. She had disappeared the night before, July 23, during an intermission in a performance by the Berlin Ballet.

Both the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation reported today that they had larger-than-expected losses for the first quarter of this year, and each attributed the results to sluggish sales and rising costs. Ford and Chrysler were the last of the four American auto manufacturers to report first-quarter earnings. With only the largest, the General Motors Corporation, reporting a profit, the companies had a total net loss of nearly $600 million for the quarter, reflecting their continuing difficulties in selling enough cars to finance billions of dollars in retooling costs to produce a new generation of smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles. Despite Chrysler's loss of $298 million in the quarter, the nation's third-largest auto company said that it did not plan to ask the Federal Government for any more loan guarantees to assure its survival. The company said that, even with this loss, its cash reserves had increased and it was following a plan that would return it to profitability by the fourth quarter.

In the long hallway outside Courtroom 928, Dolores Higgins finds solace in her cigarettes, the Blessed Virgin Mary and a manila envelope full of photographs. She smokes and prays, prays and smokes, and sometimes she takes the pictures out and looks them over, as though to convince herself that there was indeed a time when her son sat on Santa Claus's lap, attended first grade and smiled into the camera with his arm around her shoulder. There was a time when Mrs. Higgins's life was almost exemplary in its normalcy, but that was before the steamy day last August when the police charged Craig Crimmins, her middle child, with the murder of Helen Hagnes at the Metropolitan Opera House. Everything changed that day, and as Mrs. Higgins sits on a long wooden bench outside the room where her 22-year-old son is being tried, she holds her photographs as though they were so many pieces of her life, fallen to bits.

Israeli jet fighters shot down two Syrian helicopters over east central Lebanon today in what was officially described as a warning that Israel would not allow the Syrians to defeat the Lebanese Christians in the fighting that has flared in recent weeks. The helicopters were ''attacking and murdering Christians in Lebanon,'' an Israeli military statement said in explaining the Israeli air action, which took place in the Zahle area east of Beirut. (In Damascus, a spokesman of the Syrian military command said the Israeli action ''will not deflect Syria from the course it has charted in Lebanon.'' He said Syria was determined to achieve ''national reconciliation'' in Lebanon.

A sharp decline in imported oil, combined with a surge in American exports, shrank the nation's merchandise trade deficit to $451.4 million in March, the smallest in more than five years, the Commerce Department reported today. Economists said the drop in oil imports - to about 5.5 million barrels a day from February's 7.5 million -probably will not be repeated in future months. But they also said imports were unlikely to soar again in the next few months.

''Thanks to some very fine people, my health is much improved.

A Company News article in Business Day last Thursday incorrectly reported the business relationship between Pacific Resources Inc. and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The two organizations are considering a joint venture to pursue energy-related activities, mainly in the Pacific Basin.

President Reagan returned to public activity tonight with a speech showing that his sense of political theater did not suffer when he was shot March 30, even as his delivery and sometimes wavering voice suggested the physical toll of the chest wound he suffered. Mr. Reagan entered the packed Chamber of the House of Representatives to a three-minute burst of applause so aggressive that House and Senate members assembled for the joint session broke into whistles and cheers. Mr. Reagan, who was pale but beaming, responded with a thumbs-up sign, followed by a speech that linked his physical recovery to a healing resurgence of the American spirit. Used His Oratorical Trademarks Despite the seriousness of the occasion, which marked Mr. Reagan's re-entry into prolonged public view, he delivered a speech that was full of his oratorical trademarks.

The Executive Changes column in Business Day on Monday incorrectly reported promotions at R.H. Macy & Company. Herbert Friedman was named chairman and chief executive officer for the Davison's division of Macy and Harold D. Kahn was named president of the division.

In major moves toward nationwide banking, three leading New York banking organizations have begun programs to solicit deposits from consumers across the United States. Bankers said yesterday that the steps were an attempt to compete against mushrooming money market mutual funds, whose assets have soared by billions, to nearly $120 billion since Jan. 1. Many analysts believe that much of the money that is going into money funds is coming from banks and savings institutions, which pay lower interest rates. Unlike banks, the money funds are free from federally imposed interest rate ceilings and from the ban on interstate banking.

President Reagan, declaring that he had recovered but that the economy had not, appealed to Congress tonight to approve his budget package of spending cuts and tax reductions as ''the only answer that we have left'' to inflation and unemployment. In a dramatic appearance before a joint session of the House and Senate, his first formal public appearance since the attempt on his life a month ago, Mr. Reagan was greeted by two thunderous standing ovations before he could begin his speech. The President spoke vigorously, but with a trace of hoarseness in his voice, giving a vivid demonstration of his recuperation in the 30 days since he was shot in the chest by an assassin. Indeed, he used the theme of his own health to emphasize his message. Program Presented as a Cure ''Thanks to some very fine people, my health is much improved,'' Mr. Reagan said. ''I'd like to be able to say that with regard to the health of the economy.''

South African vote pits rightists against each other A2 South African vows not to yield Namibia to rebels A3 Africans press Western nations on Namibia A3 Canadian Supreme Court starts hearing on constitution A4 Around the World A5 Suzuki criticizes U.S. for not con- sulting on end of grain embargo A6 Weinberger bids Japan take more responsibility for defense A7 French Communist Party bids its members vote for Mitterrand A9 Egypt's defense chief asks U.S. to expand arms deliveries A11 Government/Politics Former Attorney General asserts innocence in perjury case A14 Navy report says shipyard has enough workers to build subs A24 Moynihan links grain shift and vote on budget A24 Prospective veterans agency chief withdraws A25 Expelling of Congressman con- victed in Abscam case urged A25 Prosecutor, in summation, says Williams "lies" B2 Energy Interior Secretary supports an in- ventory of all natural resources A16 General Around the Nation A14 Prosecutor more relaxed in fourth Abscam case B2 2 nurses to testify on soldier's comments about killings of B5 Man accused of arranging illegal lithographs of paintings sought B8 2 on trial on charge of trying to sell arms to terrorists D23 Features/Notes About New York B1 Notes on People B6 Going Out Guide C25 Living Section Food Of 187 mustards, some pungent selections C1 In California, cuisine rich in re- gional fare C1 The 60-Minute Gourmet C3 A rookie cookie in the big cui- sine league C3 Kitchen Library: La Varenne and Four Seasons cookbooks C10 Wine Talk C15 Living Memories, recalled by grand- parents, taped by children C1 Metropolitan Diary C2 Kitchen Equipment C2 Discoveries C8 Best Buys C9 Personal Health C12 For Beene, a turning point C16 Compiling instant oral biogra- phies C16 Arts/Entertainment Getty and Simon museums buy $3.5 million Poussin work C17 "Oh, Brother!" musical satirizing oil, due Sept. 23 C19 Roundabout Theater revives "A Taste of Honey" C19 Village Light Opera stages "Count of Luxemburg" C24 John Givens's novel "Living Alone" is reviewed C28 Sports 76ers see a lesson in club's '68 playoff series with Celtics B8 Proud Appeal takes easy gallop at Churchill Downs B8 Saints, as expected, pick Rogers first in draft B9 Giants select Taylor and Young in draft B9 Past provides no clue to Islander- Ranger future B9 Foote eager to lend Yanks a hand B9 Bond denies he's helping train Cure the Blues B10 Dave Anderson on the N.F.L. draft B11 Los Angeles goes wild over new pitching hero B12 News Analysis Hedrick Smith dicusses the Presi- dent's speech A22 News Analysis Hedrick Smith dicusses the Presi- dent's speech A22 Michael Goodwin on reducing of city housing incentives B3 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A26 Britain's gift to Bobby Sands Go quietly, Spiro Agnew The Willowbrook watchers Peter Passell: tax credits Letters A26 Russell Baker: and it only costs 60 cents A27 Rae Andre: turn homemaking into a secure occupation A27 Jeffrey C. Metzel and Michael P. McLindon: the U.S. and Zaire A27 Gene Russianoff: rebuilding our transit A27