July 1, 1993

Across a wide lawn, a father standing on a rock ledge held the hands of two small children and looked down. "All of a sudden there's no more dirt," he told them. "It's a long, long way down. This is called a cliff." Below the cliff, spreading for 50 miles beyond the children's feet, lay a view as celebrated in its time as the Grand Canyon is today: the Hudson Valley from the Catskills. In the 1800's the view inspired artists, attracted Presidents and spawned great resort hotels. It helped create a new sensibility, the Hudson River school of art, and a new American industry, summer tourism.

The Westinghouse Electric Corporation, still struggling to recover from its disastrous foray into financial services in the 1980's, yesterday chose an outsider, Michael H. Jordan, as chairman and chief executive. In doing so, the board of directors passed over an insider, Gary M. Clark, who had been acting chief executive since Paul E. Lego resigned under pressure from institutional investors in January. Mr. Clark will stay on as president and as a member of the board.

Police investigators from three states met here today to pool their information on the murders of dozens of young women in hopes of answering this single question: Just how many did Joel Rifkin kill? It is the question already preoccupying 50 state troopers, who are checking out Mr. Rifkin's claims that he murdered 17 prostitutes he had picked up on the streets of Manhattan over the last three years.

In a move that will delay and perhaps even derail approval of a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, a Federal judge ordered the Government today to prepare a lengthy study on the agreement's effects on the environment. The Clinton Administration immediately said it would appeal the order. Supporters and opponents in Congress said that unless the order was overturned the agreement's chances of approval could be seriously hurt.

After furious debate, anti-abortion forces won a significant victory today when the House voted to retain curbs on Federal financing of abortions for poor women except in cases of rape, incest or threats to the life of the woman. Representative Henry J. Hyde, Republican of Illinois, succeeded in keeping alive the restrictions he has successfully championed since 1977, although they are slightly weaker than those imposed since 1981. But the ultimate fate of Mr. Hyde's amendment is uncertain; the Clinton Administration's budget proposal had no restrictions on abortion financing, and the Senate, which will deal with the issue next, has historically been more sympathetic to abortion rights. Arguments Are Familiar This issue was debated seriously, if briefly, today for the first time in several years, because supporters of abortion rights had hoped that the changing political climate, including a President who supports abortion rights, would be reflected in the House. But the 255-to-178 vote showed that the House's views on Federal financing of abortions had not changed very much. [ Roll-call, page A16. ]