July 30, 1976

Pres Ford gains new support among La and Miss Repub Natl Conv delegations, and Penna delegation seen standing fast with him; La delegates Repr David C Treen, Thomas F Jordan and James Bryan Wagner announce their endorsement of Ford, July 29 press conf; NY Times resurvey finds Miss delegation uncommitted, where it had once been considered Reagan stronghold; William W Scranton gets enthusiastic response when he urges Penna delegation caucus to clinch Ford's nomination by remaining steadfast; caucus holds courteous but restrained reception for Sen Schweiker, Ronald Reagan's chosen running mate, before meeting with Ford in White House; Schweiker illus (L)

Syrian Foreign Min Abdel Halim Khaddam and PLO pol dept head Farouk Kaddoumi sign agreement in Damascus on July 29 that might lead to another cease-fire in Lebanon, but it is not expected to solve problems underlying Lebanese crisis; terms of agreement detailed; Syrian Govt submits draft agreement to Christian factions while Palestinians consult with Jumblat; Libyan Prime Min Abdul Salam Jalloud, who mediated Syrian-PLO talks, returns to Libya after 2 mos of uninterrupted shuttling between Damascus and Beirut (M)

MTA Chmn David L Yunich predicts that 50c transit fare will be maintained through end of '77, news conf; says fares will not rise on MTA's commuter rail operations; cites savings of $113-million in transit operating expenses in '76 as main reason for avoiding fare increases (M)

FBI is reptdly investigating possible abuses in mgt of its $18-million-a-yr ins program covering 19,000 present and former bur employees; is examining whether dividends from $350-million in life ins programs were used in part to pay for lavish dinners, vacations and gifts for men who headed Special Agents Mutual Benefits Assn, in-house bd of dirs of fund; Thomas Feeney, present head of assn, denies there was any malfeasance or misuse of assn's funds; notes program is routinely audited by Prudential Life Ins Co, Civil Service Comm, and private auditors Ernst & Ernst; inquiry reptdly focuses on J P Mohr, retired asst to FBI Dir and 1-time pres of assn, whose retirement gifts of boat, outbd motor and trailer were allegedly purchased with assn funds; Mohr's atty, Brian Gettings, claims Mohr got $300 boat as gift, but purchased motor and trailer with his own funds; Mohr reptdly is also being investigated in connection with charges that bur improperly showed favoritism toward US Recording Co in awarding equipment contracts; present inquiry brings to 6 number of major internal investigations at bur; others listed (M)

article on progress being made by Fed probe into disappearance of James R Hoffa 1 yr after he vanished; Hoffa por (L)