November 17, 1975

Foreign Min Abdel Halim Khaddam address ceremonies at Damascus Univ in observance of 5th anniversary of Pres Assad's accession to power; Assad is not present (S)

A three‐alarm fire raged out of control for five hours on 42d Street west of Times Square yesterday afternoon, injuring 12 firemen and sending billows of acrid yellow‐gray smoke through the midtown area.

concert in Phila, Nov 16, of program it played in 1900 marks orch's 75th anniv; proceeds go to pension fund; comment on orch history and good financial condition (M)

participants in 6-nations econ summit meeting at Chateau de Rambouillet move toward broad agreement on econ issues and pledge increased cooperation across spectrum of econ programs; Pres's Econ Policy Bd dir L William Seidman says one result of meeting is concession by all other participants that expansion of US econ is not answer to recession in other countries; White House press sec Ron Nessen says leaders of 6 countries have instructed their foreign mins to prepare joint statement; Japanese Prime Min Takeo Miki reptdly wants 2d top-level meeting to be held in Tokyo, but Seidman says 2d meeting was not discussed; Japanese Min Masayoshi Ohira leaves early, ostensibly to attend meeting of Japanese Parliament, but experts believe his departure reflects differences with Miki; illus of Prime Mins Miki and Wilson and of Presidents Ford and Giscard d'Estaing (M)

R W Apple Jr article assessing popularity of Repub and Dem Pres aspirants in Fla, which holds its primary on Mar 9 '76; notes Repub aspirant Ronald Reagan is clear favorite over Pres Ford even before formally announcing his candidacy; claims that Ford strategy is to portray Pres as being ideological twin of Reagan, while Reagan strategy is to stay well to right of Ford; notes superior organization of Reagan team in Fla; sees Jimmy Carter as front-runner among Dems in Fla, noting only Carter has not conceded primary to George Wallace; says victories for Reagan and Carter would provide important momentum for their underdog candidacies and badly damage Ford and Wallace; Reagan illus (L)