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)

China starts massive mil and civilian mobilization for relief and rescue work following severe earthquake that devastated Tangshan; convoys are transporting rescue crews and emergency supplies to stricken area; many thousands are believed dead, but number remains unknown since Chinese Govt does not usually release such information; earthquake alert is imposed in wake of possible new tremors; illus (L)

Frederick Newhall Woods is arrested in Vancouver, BC, by Royal Canadian Mounted Police acting on information provided by FBI; James Schoenfeld is arrested in Atherton, Calif; bail for Woods is set at $1-million; arrests detailed; illus (M)

Sr physicians, residents, interns and nurses describe conditions at new Lincoln Hosp, NYC, as 'verging on the catastrophic'; cite lack of adequate personnel; hosp deputy exec dir Dr Michael Cantatore says problems constitute 'temporary crisis'; denies hosp is killing patients by neglect; attributes problems to failure to anticipate dramatic increases in patient loads and to closing of 2 other munic hosps; illus (L)

US Repr Robert L Sikes, Dem whom HR has voted overwhelmingly to reprimand for financial misconduct, asserts that he expects to be re-elected in Nov; AP survey finds he is still popular (S)

NYS Gov Carey will summon Legis into special session on Aug 4 in effort to gain approval of package of const amendments on ct reorgn even though leaders of Assembly and Sen remain in disagreement over which to enact; Sen majority leader Warren M Anderson wants effective date for proposal to have Appeals Ct judges apptd by Gov Carey to be postponed until '79; Assembly Speaker Stanley Steingut and Sen minority leader Manfred Ohrenstein will oppose ct reorgn proposals unless Anderson gives in on his point (M)

Carter illus being briefed on foreign policy by Prof Brzezinski

USSR officials rept earthquake, registering 6.3 on Richter scale, struck a major oil-producing area in Caucasus on July 28; make no mention of casualties, but 1 unidentified official notes serious damage in 2 settlements (S)