January 4, 1995

This grim city was strewn today with scores of dead Russian soldiers, who lay in stacks along the broad, tree-lined boulevards. Wild dogs roamed among them on the streets. Old women locked out of darkened basements wailed in terror, shielding their eyes from the frightening skies above. Although many people have thought it was not possible, the fighting for the Chechen capital keeps worsening. Desperate Russian troops caught inside the city blasted away with tanks, hitting both the presidential palace and the Parliament. Russian rocket attacks were incessant today.

In New York City, parking rules are strictly observed, except when they aren't - including more than 30 days of exemptions for holidays. List, page B2.

Senate Republicans said today that they hoped to cut Federal spending by perhaps $450 billion by 1999, wiping out at least 100 programs. On the day before the 104th Congress convened, in a Capitol even thicker with anticipation than with moving boxes, the Republicans said they would consider spending cuts in every Federal benefit program except Social Security. And they said that even if those savings were offset by the bushel of tax cuts that they also wanted to enact, the Federal deficit could be reduced over the five-year stretch by at least $330 billion.

Chemical Bank said yesterday that a foreign exchange trader in New York had lost $70 million while making unauthorized deals in Mexican pesos. The loss will cut the bank's fourth-quarter trading revenue by $40 million after taxes, the bank said.

WHEN asked to describe how they felt about gym class, nearly all of the 15 teen-age girls wrinkled their noses with disgust. "When I was little, I used to love it," said Rachael Ludlow, 15, a sophomore at Edison High School. "But most girls don't like to mess up their hair, to get changed or like, you know, be bothered."