December 28, 1973

Research team at Schering labs in Berlin, Ger, repts development of technique of screening human semen that can increase sharply likelihood that couple desiring to produce a boy rather than a girl can do so; method involves screening from semen those sperm that produce females; remaining sperm would then be used for artificial insemination; procedure, dependent on slightly greater swimming ability of male-producing sperm, cannot be used to father birth of girls; Schering results, developed by Drs R J Ericsson, C N Langevin and M Nishino, and reptd in Dec 14 issue of Nature, detailed; stress applicability to human beings and perhaps other mammals; technique is still in earliest experimental state; time of its initial use in human subjects is unpredictable; NYC research group has developed method for increasing production of female mice; its approach is immunological and differs basically from that of Schering group; method has increased proportion of female births by only 8 percentage points; small increase is cited in Nature ed as having econ importance in breeding farm livestock; mice research is described in Nov 30 Nature issue by Cornell Univ Prof D Bennett and E A Boyse of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Ger technique is based on process of staining Y, or male, chromosome, in order to tabulate proportion of Y sperm to X, or female, sperm after treatment; illus of sperm segregation

Sec Kissinger, in yr-end news conf Dec 27, acknowledges that US efforts to strengthen ties with W Eurs have been disappointing; says key problem is whether growing unification of Eur will lead to 'exclusivity in opposition or at least in distance from US'; says US wants to open a dialogue on common problems and that he believes recent talks in Brussels improved situation; comments on Japan as factor in US-W Eur ties

ICC on Dec 27, in its 1st decision regulating quality of rail passenger service, issues detailed rules covering intercity operations of Amtrak, Southern Ry, Denver & Rio Grande Western RR, Chicago Rock Island RR and Autotrain Corp; rules require that lines provide nationwide reservation service 24 hrs per day, free meals and hotel rooms for passengers missing connections because of late trains, reserved seats in many coaches as well as 1st-class cars, food and drink on all trains traveling 2 hrs or more, special help for aged and handicapped and adequate facilities for handling and checking baggage; regulations to take effect April 1 unless ct challenges are initiated by rrs; ICC Chmn G M Stafford says rules are designed to accelerate growing trend toward rail travel, especially in light of energy shortage; calls for penalties of up to $500 for violation of rules, with actions to be initiated through complaints filed by passengers on forms made available on trains and at stations; comm says emphasis is not on exacting penalties but on making trips pleasant even when things go wrong; commuter trains are not covered by rules; decline in Amtrak's on-time service from 75% at beginning of '73 to 53% in June noted; rr critic A Haswell of Natl Assn of RR Passengers is skeptical about rules, saying only formula for good intercity service is to have Amtrak run entire system rather than depend on 13 rrs operating its trains; Amtrak spokesman says it is impossible to tell how many employes will have to be added to carry out improvements, or how much move would cost

NYS Conservation Comr J L Biggane on Dec 27 denies Consol Edison permission to use more polluting oil and coal, charging energy crisis is overblown and exaggerated, statement at swearing-in ceremony where he replaces former Comr Diamond; refuses to extend present variance beyong Mar 31 deadline established by Diamond; co repr asserts no change has taken place in co's fuel situation; Fed EPA Deputy Regional Admr E Outwater, NYS PSC and NYC officials do not share Biggane view of fuel shortage; Biggane says Fed pronouncement, based on co and producer figures are inaccurate; bases optimism on Fed assertion that shortage is less bad than expected and testimony of oil cos at recent state hearing where they asserted adequacy of supply; repts Rochester Gas & Electric Co withdrew its request for blanket variance; Biggane illus

A White House aide says President Nixon is convinced that his trip to California by commerical airliner had “scored points with the public” on the issue of fuel conservation. But the Secret Service and the Federal Aviation Administration expressed concern about the trip. Page 12.

S Terry, who was being investigated by NYC Ethics Bd over possible conflict of interest, on Dec 27 asks Mayor-elect A D Beame to drop him from key job in Beame adm; Beame instantly agrees; Beame, describing his meeting with Terry, asserts that Terry indicated that he felt his effectiveness would be greatly diminished by what had transpired; declares that Terry acted in best interests of city and best interests of himself by withdrawing; withdrawal by Terry from $39,500-a-yr job as dir of special programs was result of reaction to lr he sent to about 600 clients of his Queens ins co in which he promised clients 'even greater benefits' because of his city post; text of Terry lr to Beame; Terry illus

stronger position of US, relative to other countries, in wake of recent sharp increases in price of crude oil, is translated on Dec 27 into sharply higher values for dollar against leading currencies; in Frankfurt, Amer currency breaks through what had been considered major resistance level, while in Paris, something of gold rush develops, reflecting fears that franc might soon become one of Eur's weakest currencies; currency movements illustrate dramatically how energy crisis has altered mkt patterns; in several mos, much-disparged dollar, at times even refused for exchange by Eur banks, has again become most sought-after currency in circulation; reasoning behind generalized buying of dollar is that although Amers do suffer from energy crisis, they suffer less than most; one reason for dollar's power is improvement in Amer trading acct following 2 devaluations, which many again see as only start of accelerating trend; cloudy econ outlook for France, combined with large trade deficit expected in '74, and possibility that Socialist Govt may come to power after more than 15 yrs of Gaullism, are among factors weighing on franc; closing rates of dollar against currencies of France, West Ger, and GB noted; Dec 27 actions in foreign exch mkts are considered further indications that devaluations may be in offing to give Eur and Japan competitive edge against US in world trade

NYC Police dept study, ordered by Police Comr Cawley, finds illegal involvement in narcotics by individual police officers has increased

The Occidental Petroleum Corporation and its chairman, Dr. Armand Hammer, were accused yesterday by the Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding the public in connection with the sale of securities. The company agreed to a consent decree. Page 43.

Nixon Adm officials indicate on Dec 27 that it is highly unlikely that either transcripts or summaries of tapes of Pres Nixon's Watergate conversations will be released to public; ranking Adm official says recent events 'support theory that putting tapes into hands of our pol adversaries could lead to a distorted presentation of this material to the Amer people'; says 2 events led Pres's advisers to conclude that release of tapes would probably be unwise; events are Dobrovir incident and 'extraordinarily irresponsible and purely pol subpoenas' by Sen Watergate com; atty W A Dobrovir on Dec 17 played a copy of 1 of Watergate tapes for friends at a cocktail party; tape had come into his possession because of civil suit by R Nader; White House seeks to head off any suggestion that tapes would be withheld from public scrutiny because of material possibly incriminating to Pres

Fed energy dir, Asst Treas Sec Simon, says on Dec 27 that improved fuel imports and reduced fuel demands have made it possible to increase jet fuel allocations for major domestic airlines to 95% of their '72 level; allocations presently are at 85%

Blue Shield spokesman on Dec 27 says there is some validity to charges by NYS Ins Dept that Blue Shield has failed to make prompt and fair settlements of claims in which its liability is clear; Ins Dept issued list of charges against Blue Shield on Dec 26 and called on co officials to appear at hearing Jan 11 to show cause why its dirs whould not be dismissed and co should not be fined; Ins Supt B R Schenck says any fine would be determined by hearing officer; says dept has power to ask for removal of dirs; co officials say they are studying charges; co spokesman G Goodlett discloses informally that largest area for complaints about slow processing and slow payment involves major med ins; attributes lapses in service to performance of workers because co pay scale is low; says another complaint is result of old ins policies no longer being issued; notes new computer system went effect in Nov; dept also charges that in initial 9 mos of '73, 300 lawsuits had been filed against Blue Shield; other Blue Shield sources cite sharp rises in med costs as additional reason for policyholders' dissatisfaction with compensation