June 28, 1992

Just a few years ago, when the monied class of this city gathered inside a single ballroom for an annual arts benefit, nary an unfamiliar face could be seen. Families named Boeing, Nordstrom and Weyerhaeuser, representing airplane, clothing-store and timber empires, were the financial powers of this corner of the Far West. They were also benevolent civic players, keeping the arts afloat and leading drives to save a sports team or add a wing to a hospital. But virtually overnight, the pecking order of wealth in the Pacific Northwest has been turned upside down. The reason: The stunning success of the Microsoft Corporation, the company that William H. Gates 3d brought back to his hometown little more than a decade ago.

The best-known Beaux-Arts monument by the architects Carrere & Hastings is the New York Public Library. Less renowned, but also a landmark, is the firm's 94-year-old Hamilton Fish Pool and Recreation Center, at East Houston and Pitt Streets. It is to be reopened Thursday after a $14 million restoration. The project involved enlarging one of the outdoor pools to meet Olympic standards; converting a diving pool into a training pool and renovating playgrounds, ball courts, a spray fountain, picnic areas and the exterior of the original bath house, which is now a community center. "It's really a treasure," said Parks Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum.

MANY years ago Leonard Lauder, president and chief executive of his family's company, Estee Lauder Inc., watched a friend's daughter brewing lip gloss on the kitchen stove and pouring it into bottle caps for sale at school. Pleased that a young person was interested in the business that consumes him, Mr. Lauder fostered her fledgling venture with a contribution of 24 empty pots from his company's packaging line to lend her product more panache. But when his mother, Estee Lauder, the legendary founder of the $2 billion-plus cosmetics company that carries her name, heard of his largesse she was appalled. "What?" she said. "You gave her 24 pots? You're giving pots to the competition?"

Courier Loses at Wimbledon To 193d-Ranked Player Jim Courier, the No. 1-ranked male player in the world, failed in his bid to win tennis's four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year, losing on the grass at Wimbledon to No. 193-ranked Andrei Olhovskiy of Russia. SportsSunday, section 8. 'I Think You're My Father' After 17 years, a troubled drifter and his troubled son reunited by chance. Their story is one of love, hate and redemption. Aurora Journal, page 12. A Truce in Software Two giants in computing, I.B.M. and Microsoft, reached an agreement to end years of legal and financial squabbling over technology. Page 21. Bush Meets Navy Pilot President Bush summoned to the White House a female officer who said she was assaulted at a convention of naval pilots last year. Page 12.

President Bush has again urged the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. It was still another reminder that the economic recovery remains sluggish despite short-term rates that have already been cut to their lowest level in 20 years. Undoubtedly, a further move by the Fed would help the economy a bit by prompting cuts in the prime rate charged by banks, causing the banks to cut rates on deposits so low that consumers and businesses would have more incentive to spend or invest.