April 17, 1985

The Economy Industrial output rose only slightly in March. The 0.3 percent increase followed a 0.2 percent February drop. Industrial activity has failed to show any improvement for the last seven months. Analysts attributed this to a flood of imports. (Page D1.) Starts in housing soared by 16.2 percent in March. (D20.) A new stock options market was opened by the S.E.C. The decision to allow trading in over-the-counter options by all exchanges marks the first time that options on any one stock can be traded on more than one exchange. (D1.)

Two space-walking astronauts successfully rigged handmade plastic and wire snares to the tip of a mechanical arm today, preparing for an ingenious attempt Wednesday to activate a dormant communication satellite. Working swiftly and smoothly in the open cargo bay of the space shuttle Discovery, Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman and S. David Griggs fitted two ''fly swatter'' devices, with holes for hooking and tripping a lever on the satellite, to the 50-foot-long robotic arm. The unrehearsed space walk took three hours, ending at 10:30 A.M., Eastern standard time. When the decidedly low-technology devices were strapped on and clamped down, Mr. Griggs stood aside, pleased, and asked the viewers in Mission Control, ''Is that beautiful or is that not beautiful?''

Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about comments by Elie Wiesel on President Reagan's plan to visit a German military cemetery incorrectly described the Bitburg gravesite. The 2,800 German soldiers buried there are from World War I as well as the Nazi era.

When Fanny and Eligio Meola bought a three-story brick house on a rutted dead- end street in Richmond Hill several years ago, their neighbors were wary of the Colombian newcomers and their four children. None of the longtime Italian residents on the working-class block actually communicated their displeasure, Mrs. Meola said, but she nonetheless heard the whispered second- or third-hand comments. ''They had the image that we'd be rowdy, dirty and loud, but we proved them wrong,'' said Mrs. Meola, a self-possessed woman who arrived in the United States 15 years ago with dreams that have largely been fullfilled. ''They soon realized we were a hard-working family, a serious family, and there's been a tremendous change.'' The change is a testimony to how one Queens neighborhood - long the preserve of German, Irish and Italian immigrants - has adjusted to its latest influx of striving foreigners. Once a solidly white area, Richmond Hill is now 22 percent Spanish-speaking, with an increasing number of Asians.

A chart in Business Day on Saturday with an article about bonuses given top executives by the Detroit auto makers misstated part of the income of F. James McDonald, president of the General Motors Corporation. He received a bonus of $810,000, half in cash and half in stock, and did not exercise any stock options.