May 6, 1984

BOSTON A tall, slender, elegantly dressed Alger Hiss is confronting an ambitious young Congressman from California, Richard M. Nixon. The time is 1948, the place the House Un- American Activities Committee. ''I thought this committee was interested in ascertaining the truth,'' Mr. Hiss says acidly, replying to charges that he had been a Communist spy. What the truth of the Hiss case was bitterly divided America at the time. The dispute was one of the first major Communist-scare incidents; to this day, the case is considered far from closed in some quarters and is still able to stir partisan passions among both liberals and conservatives. The roots of the controversy is about to be re-created in a four-hour mini- series, ''Concealed Enemies,'' which will be shown on New York's WNET/Channel 13 beginning tomorrow night at 8. Produced by WGBH in Boston and starring Edward Herrmann as Mr. Hiss, the $4 million ''American Playhouse'' dramatization is the most ambitious non-documentary project undertaken by public television since ''The Adams Chronicles.''

awaited presidential election today, and in the final days of the campaign, the extent and propriety of the United States role was fiercely debated in both countries. Senator Jesse Helms, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, asked for the immediate recall of American Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, accusing him of using his influence ''to strangle liberty during the night.'' Publicizing the Senator's critique, aides of Roberto d'Aubuisson, the rightist candidate in the election, complained that the American Embassy was responsible for the veto by Provisional President Alvaro Magana of legislation that would have allowed elections to proceed without requiring voters to go to the voting places where they were registered. Under the registration system, Mr. d'Aubuisson placed second in the March 25 election, well behind Jose Napoleo n Duarte, the Christian Democratic front-runner.

Sometime next month, reconstruction work on the dilapidated esplanade that runs from 71st to 81st Streets along the East River Drive should be finished and reopened to the public. Although the nine-month project is an upgrading of public property it is not costing the city a dime. The $1.7 million worth of new pavement and landscaping is being paid for by Harry Macklowe, the developer of a rental apartment house now under construction between 72d and 73d Steets, east of York Avenue. Mr. Macklowe's project, River Terrace, required a variance since his block-through property was zoned for residential use on its 72d Street side and manufacturing use on its 73d Street side. Part of the rezoning application process required that an environmental-impact study be done for the area around the project, which runs from 59th to 79th Street east of First Avenue and is called East Lenox.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. JUST last month, the Charter Company, a $5.6 billion oil and insurance conglomerate that was once Wall Street's favorite, touted itself as a hard-charging, vibrant growth company. Its annual report, dated March 26, displayed a color photograph of smiling Charter chairman Raymond K. Mason, assuring shareholders that the company's ''financial condition continues to be strong.'' In truth, however, Charter was weak - very weak. Twenty-five days later, the company declared bankruptcy and, in so doing, ended a four-year high-wire act during which it had struggled to shore up its shrinking cash supply through financial gyrations while its basic business was slowly bleeding to death. The end of this corporate saga also closes a chapter in the colorful and volatile life of Mr. Mason, 57, a swashbuckling Florida legend whose penchant for deal-making transformed a small family lumber yard that he took over in 1963 into one of the nation's largest oil companies in the boom of the 70's. Mr. Mason was a king in his own world, shuttling between his castle in Ireland and a 60-acre former Du Pont estate here. He hobnobbed with the rich and powerful: Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat came calling as did former President Gerald Ford.

THE city, with all it offers, can at times be overwhelming - driving even those who love it to get away for rest and refreshment. Some prefer to escape to exotic scenes, distant places that make New York fade until it disappears. But for many others, getting away means going to a second home, an oceanside bungalow, mountain chalet or farm retreat where life is as comfortable as faded jeans and well-worn boating shoes. Traditionally, second homes have been summer homes. But not anymore. Many people now use their getaway places for long weekends and holidays throughout the year, and developers, mindful of this, have responded by offering new houses that can be considered homes for all seasons.