February 1, 1981

WASHINGTON IN 1830, Andrew Jackson was in the White House, South Carolina was threatening to nullify Federal laws, a revolution in France was putting Louis Philippe on the throne and America's first railroad - a 14-mile stretch of the Baltimore & Ohio that had been under construction for two years - was hauling its first passengers in horse-drawn rail cars. That also was the last time that an official United States census showed that New Jersey, with its collection of towns and rural acres, had a larger population than the area that now constitutes New York City. The last time, that is, until now. The count in 1830: New Jersey, 320,823; the five-county area that now makes up New York City, 242,278. By the next census (1840), the New York area had jumped to a population of more than 390,000, including upward of 312,000 in Manhattan, while the Garden State's count was 373,300.

LOS ANGELES I T is often characterized as enigmatic. It tells what it cares to about itself, and generally that is not much. It seems to discard more prevailing wisdom than it follows. Big as it is, it tends to keep its head low. And it is widely heralded as one of the best-managed companies in the world of business. Teledyne Inc. keeps rolling along, getting bigger, drawing more envy, attracting more mystery. It prospered mightily during the golden years for conglomerates in the 1960's, prospered when they subsequently fell from favor, and continues to prosper as they march back into the affections of investors. It is that rare conglomerate that has always worked. ''It's one of the almost unique companies in America,'' says Robert Christensen, a securities analyst at A.G. Becker. ''It's a company that's a different beast than most.'' Broadly diversified, Teledyne is an amalgam of 130 companies (it doesn't like to call them subsidiaries) that make, among other things, engine tools, drones, Water Pik dental hygiene products, shower heads, swimming pool heaters, Acoustic Research stereo speakers, dental cements, the world's largest welding positioners and manipulators (capacities to 227 tons), bakery production lines and seismic systems to monitor earthquakes. It also owns several prominent insurance companies. The horde of properties can essentially be split up into five lines of business: industrial products, aviation and electronics, specialty metals, consumer products, and insurance and finance.

If the Stouffer's Inn conference center in Harrison, N.Y., had been built on the other side of the highway, fire safety experts believe, most of the 26 victims would have survived the arsonist's fire that swept it last month. For in White Plains, just across Interstate 287, a full sprinkler system is required. In Harrison, it is not. If the MGM Grand casino and hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., had had a full sprinkler system, which is recommended in national ''model fire codes,'' the blaze that took 84 lives in November would probably have been ''stopped in its tracks'' before the first pumper arrived, the fire chief in command said last week. Most such infernos could be prevented by effective safety codes and effective enforcement, fire chiefs and inspectors from around the nation said in recent interviews. But they agreed that safety measures were in such disarray and apathy was so great that more major fires could be expected.

61 203 324 9322 By ROBERT TOMASSON STAMFORD, Conn. - The blue chip corporations that are transforming this city from a placid commuter community into a bustling business center have embarked on a joint venture of building a residential development adjacent to the downtown business and commercial area. ''We have the corporations, we're getting the retail space and now we need residential areas,'' said Dennis Lyndon, vice president and general manager for Broadmoor Inc., a newly created company owned jointly and equally by five major corporations and a local developer. For their part, corporation officials said that their venture into housing was prompted in large measure as a means of protecting their sizable downtown real-estate investments. ''Some of those neighborhoods could go either way and we're making sure they go up,'' said a top executive of Champion International, one of the partners in the development.

PATCHOGUE PROMPTED by the specter of the town's thoroughfares developing into a series of signaled intersections separating strips of fastfood restaurants, drive-in movies and bars, the Town of Brookhaven is considering a new highway zoning category aimed at limiting commercial development along highways and bypasses. The proposed legislation, believed to be the first on the Island, is also aimed at curtailing the growing volume of merging traffic on Brookhaven's major highways - and the consequent rise in automobile accidents, traffic jams and other dangers and delays. ''We do not want another Jericho Turnpike,'' said John F. Luchsinger, chairman of the Planning Board, noting that the new category, if passed by the Town Board, would be particularly applicable to State Route 347 - Nesconset Highway. This 12-mile roadway, running through Smithtown from the Northern State Parkway, was originally intended as a high-speed bypass to Smithtown's business district and an auxiliary route to the Long Island Expressway. However, it has become a major commercial area in the western - Smithtown - end, lined on both sides by motels, pizza shops, movie theaters, shopping arcades, the sprawling Smith Haven Mall and other businesses.