November 28, 1982

In 1914, workers completed one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most spectacular houses, a large residence in Wayzata, Minn., built for Mr. and Mrs. Francis Little. About 60 years later, the house was headed for demolition until its impending doom was brought to the attention of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by a former apprentice to Wright, Edgar Tafel, a New York architect.

President Reagan and his crew, apparently concerned about the political effects of not attempting to do something about the deadin-the water economy, were back at their charts last week. One new course said to be under study by the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs would award tax breaks to employers who provided jobs.

HARTFORD AS the call to 911 for emergency assistance was dialed, a digital readout at the public-safety answering point immediately flashed the telephone number from where the call originated. Simultaneously, data flashed on a small screen with the name and address listed for the telephone where the call was made, plus other information including whether the calling number was at a residence, a business or a pay phone. With a touch of a button, the call can be transferred automatically, if necessary, to the appropriate agency, such as a fire company or an emergency medical service, in the town where the call originated. State legislators and local police and fire officers looked on approvingly last Monday as executives of the Southern New England Telephone Company demonstrated the new system, known as the Enhanced 911 Emergency Number Service, at a hearing room in the State Capitol.

Radiologists say they have developed another revolutionary technique for medical diagnosis that they expect to perform significantly better and more safely than the advanced X-rays that overtook the field only a decade ago. Instead of using X-rays, the new diagnostic device produces pictures that are based on the responses of atomic nuclei in a magnetic field. The device, called nuclear magnetic resonance, or N.M.R., produces images of internal tissues that are similar to the computerized, cross-sectional X-ray pictures made by the so-called CAT scanners. Although it has not yet been established as completely risk-free, the new method appears to be far safer than established diagnostic techniques that depend on X-rays, injected contrast solutions and radioactivity. Studies also indicate that the new technique will yield sharper pictures and show more distinctions than CAT scanners.

WASHINGTON THE mood music from Washington and Moscow in the last few weeks has been comparatively upbeat. Leaders on both sides were busy welcoming each other's protestations about improving relations and getting on with the business of arms control. But the general expectation seems to be that little or nothing concrete is likely to happen in the next months. Yuri V. Andropov, the new General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, is expected to use the coming weeks primarily to consolidate his power and focus on internal economic changes. President Reagan, officials said, will be concentrating on winning support for his expanding Pentagon budget - including his decision, announced last week, to deploy the MX missile. Senior Adminstration officials feel resumption of detente through arms control would undercut that effort.