August 18, 1994

A man who spent nearly 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him of helping to set a 1978 fire that killed six firefighters in Brooklyn was acquitted last night in a retrial. The second trial for the defendant, Eric Jackson-Knight, was ordered in 1988 when a judge threw out the original conviction, ruling that prosecutors had improperly withheld information from the defense.

Striking back at a large investor who is seeking to oust four of its directors, the Hills Stores Company said yesterday that it had adopted a plan that would limit the ability of any shareholder to acquire more than 15 percent of its stock. Hills installed its "poison pill" after the Federal regulators granted the investor, Dickstein & Company L.P., an investment firm that owns 12.6 percent of the company's outstanding common stock, permission to buy up to 50 percent of its shares.

The American Cyanamid Company has become the latest drug company to be swallowed up in the consolidation in the health care industry. Yesterday, it agreed to a $9.7 billion merger with the American Home Products Corporation. The deal will create one of the world's largest drug companies, with a broad range of products that should help keep its revenues growing. Business Day, page D1.

Sometimes, late at night, Carolyn McCarthy gets phone calls from strangers looking for arguments. The callers begin by offering their condolences, but soon the tone changes, and Mrs. McCarthy finds herself on the line with another person angry over her outspoken advocacy of gun control. Mrs. McCarthy, whose husband was killed and whose son was seriously injured in the shooting last December aboard a Long Island Rail Road train that left six people dead, says she never hangs up on them. She stays on even when people become a little cruel, intimating that her motives for appearing before the television cameras are less than pure.

Victim's Kin Get Children Two children whose Jordanian father fled with them to Jordan after killing their mother left Amman to return to New Jersey in the custody of their mother's relatives. Page B1. Students Improve in Math American students gained almost a full grade level in science proficiency since the 1983 report "A Nation at Risk." But there were no gains in reading and writing skills. Page B11. The Police and the Homeless Seeking to reduce the number of homeless people on the streets, the Giuliani administration will soon assign a new police team to persuade them to move to shelters. Page B1. Florida Immigrant Tide Florida officials pondered whether to declare an immigration emergency after nearly 500 more Cuban refugees were picked up at sea. Page A14.