July 9, 1981

In the fast-paced, big-money world of oil company mergers, one name that has been in the news with increased frequency is the Cities Service Company, the Tulsa, Okla., energy conglomerate that is the nation's 20th-largest oil company. In the flurry of activity that preceeded the $6.82 billion purchase earlier this week of Conoco Inc. by the Du Pont Company, Cities Service was in the ring, talking of a possible Conoco merger. That talk, however, was scuttled by a $2.5 billion bid from Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc., the American subisidiary of the Canadian liquor company, which, in turn, was outbid by Du Pont. This week, there was talk on Wall Street of a possible bid by Texaco Inc. for Cities Service, and yesterday this talk prompted Cities Service to issue a terse statement saying it was not dis- Texaco's reported bid for Cities Service could top $3 billion, b anking sources said yesterday. Page D4. cussing a merger with Texaco, or with anyone else for that matter. And it added that it was not interested in starting such talks.

Uganda orders two former Amin aides to stand trial A4 Around the World A5 U.N. panel says Israel could make atomic bombs quickly A6 High U.S. aide sees need to clarify stand on Soviet A7 China keeps up denunciation of United States foreign policy A9 Iran's radio warns that foreign journalists may be spies A10 Greeks fear Albania-Yugoslav rift may imperil Balkan area A12 Government/Politics Reagan decides to transfer Cubans from Fort Chaffee A14 Gov. Brown orders fruit-tree stripping in California A14 Baker moves to end filibuster against anti-busing proposals A18 Lawmakers say constituents op- pose Reagan's programs A20 The man who gives life to Albany Republican views B3 Carey signs bill easing rules on electronic banking B3 Koch plans to shift duties of Ports and Terminals Department B4 Regan audit criticizes racing as- sociation executives B4 General Around the Nation A14 Immigration officials to question Unification Church aide A18 Four are indicted in Manhattan in tax-shelter scheme B3 Funeral for motorman is quiet de- spite calls for protest B3 Health/Science Drug may prevent dangerous herpes infections A14 New opposition arises to rapid- change theory of evolution B11 Obituaries Herman Stark, former owner of Cotton Club B11 Home Section Home Beyond the fringe: A designer's zany world in leather C1 Helpful Hardware C2 Moths not a threat, but other pests are C3 Home Improvement C4 Better to buy or rent? A com- puter tells you C6 Getting new windows on your world C10 Design Notebook: Houses by the sea C12 Gardening C14 Buckminster Fuller celebrates 86th birthday C1 In "wasted" hours, timeless treasures C1 Hers C2 Scenes from city's past on exhibit at gallery C7 A father and son give new look to old hotel C11 Styles for heroines of the execu- tive suite C13 Arts/Entertainment Stanley Turrentine and Carmen McRae sing at Savoy C15 Rallies to support funds for arts planned for July 18 C16 Balanchine lets his dancers let their hair down C17 Robert Preston looks back on Hol- lywood's foibles C17 Sarah Caldwell rehearses a Pe- king opera company C18 Suit on "Ark" film alleges theft from a novel C20 Denis Donoghue's "Ferocious Al- phabets" is reviewed C21 Pierre Boulez's electronic "Repons" is near completion C23 Sports Ellenberger, avoiding a jail term, is put on year's probation B6 Sale of Islander stock is called off B6 Calabria wins New York State golf by 2 shots B6 Lawyer for baseball players ques- tions Grebey's credibility B7 Cosmos beat Blizzard, 2-1 B7 76ers reportedly sold to Harold Katz B7 Giants' keeper of the gear pre- pares for training camp B7 George Vecsey on the Alouettes' disappointing opening loss B8 U.S. takes diplomatic stance on track meet in Leningrad B8 Davis Cup captaincy suits Ashe B9 Reinsdorf predicts owners will back their negotiators B10 Features/Notes Going Out Guide C20 Notes on People C22 News Analysis Hedrick Smith on political praise for Reagan's court choice A17 Adam Clymer on significance of Mississippi election to G.O.P. A21 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A22 Do oil and chemistry mix? The "model" nuclear deal Granma is not dangerous Albany's better way on bail Letters A22 Anthony Lewis: "We are poles apart" A23 David E. Bonior: the U.S.'s south- ern flank A23 Robin Fleisig: when parents leave the nest A23 David Oyama: in 1942, intern- ment - in 1981, an inquiry A23

K.C. Cole is a science writer and the author of a forthcoming book, ''Between the Lines.'' By K.C. COLE A few months ago I was visiting a physicist for whom I work in San Francisco when we decided to take a detour on the way to work and treat his restless black Labrador to a run on the beach. We drove out beyond the Golden Gate to the headlands where the wind blew the foam off the tops of the breaking waves in soft white feathers of spray. We chased the dog down the smooth, pebbled beach and up steep, craggy cliffs, the physicist with his lame leg and cane embarrassingly more agile than I. We talked of the preciousness of life and the danger of nuclear war, of physics and of the science museum where we both work. At about 11 A.M. we climbed into his car to head for the museum, and he said, ''Well, I guess we shot the morning.'' I teased him about it, but it reminded me of the entire day I had spent trying to find my son a pair of shoes in our new town. Even though it turned out to be a shared adventure and an altogether pleasant day, I came home furious because I hadn't accomplished anything more concrete than the purchase of a pair of Keds. I had, I told myself, ''killed the day.''

It felt yesterday as if someone had covered the deteriorating apartment house on West 139th Street in Harlem with a giant electric blanket and locked the regulator on high. Two older women sat in the shadows just inside the building's open doors and waited for an occasional breeze to tickle the sultry stillness. ''This is the coolest place we could find,'' said one of them, Ida Walters, laughing softly as she shifted her weight in a kitchen chair just outside the open doorway of her apartment. ''I try to keep cool by doing just what I'm doing now. Sitting right out here. I turn on my fan for a while, but with Con Edison so high I can't afford to have it on long.''

The Reagan Administration has ordered American delegates to international development banks to support loans to Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The order, which reverses the Carter Administration's policy of not voting for such loans on human rights grounds, was based on a State Department determination that ''there have been significant improvements in the human rights situation in those countries,'' according to a department spokesman. The decision has drawn criticism on Capitol Hill from human rights activists, including Representative Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa. Congress Was Told on July 1 ''That is simply not true,'' asserted Mr. Harkin, the primary author of a 1977 law that instructs the Government to oppose loans by international banks to countries that engage in ''a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights.'' He said, ''This decision quite clearly violates the spirit and letter of the law.''