January 7, 1982

The United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation, which expects to have $14.8 billion available by June to aid sponsors of development projects, today identified 27 applicants from among whom the first recipients of funds would be selected. The 27, whose projects are situated in 14 states, are those that responded by the Jan.4 deadline to requests by the Governmentsponsored corporation for additional information. Since 63 applications had originally been filed, this suggested that sponsors of 36 either were not yet prepared to carry through their plans or had decided to abandon them. The projects are heavily concentrated in the West.

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger refused today to block the United States Steel Corporation's acquisition of the Marathon Oil Company. His ruling cleared the way for the $6.2 billion purchase to go forward. Time and legal options ran out for the Mobil Corporation shortly before 5 P.M., when the Chief Justice issued a two-sentence order denying Mobil's request to delay the purchase. Mobil wanted time to seek a Supreme Court review of lower-court antitr ust rulings that have blocked its own $6.5 billion bid for Marathon. While Mobil had the nominal right to seek relief from another Supreme Court Justice, the Chief Justice's statement made clear that the effort would be fruitless in the few hours remaining before a midnight deadline, when U.S. Steel's right to purchase control of Marathon became irrevocable.

The following dispatch is based on information arriving from Poland. Two senior Solidarity leaders who have evaded arrest by Poland's martial law authorities have urged workers to engage in clandestine resistance to the regime. One of the leaders, Zbigniew Janas, called for the formation of underground strike committees and the preparation of a nationwide shutdown. The other, Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, said the Solidarity union movement was alive despite the arrest of many of its leaders. They made their remarks in letters to supporters of the union.

Because of an editing error, an arti- cle last Sunday incorrectly described the production of The International Herald Tribune. It is edited in Paris and printed in Paris, London, Zurich and Hong Kong.

Plans to demolish two theaters to make way for construction of the Portman hotel in the Times Square area were temporarily blocked yesterday by a Federal appeals court. The court acted pending the outcome of accusations that improper political influence had been used to approve the demolition. The appeals court ruled in Manhattan that demolition of the theaters, the Morosco and the Helen Hayes, must be delayed until a Federal District Court resolved the dispute.