September 5, 1995

The Congress everyone discusses in superlatives -- most sweeping, most radical, most impatient -- returns to town on Tuesday. This time, it faces a job almost beyond words. With eight months gone and deadlines circling overhead like vultures, the Republican majorities in the House and Senate take up a list of commitments this week as incomplete as it is ambitious. Legislation to overhaul Medicare, marked for passage this fall, has yet to be introduced. Bills to trim Medicaid and disassemble the welfare system have barely moved out of the House.

Accused of botching an abortion on a woman seven months pregnant, Dr. Herbert Schwarz leaned forward, focused all the authority of 32 years in medicine into one intense blue glare and demanded: "Look at me. Do you really think that I did anything but what I was equipped by my experience to know was the very best for her? The best I knew how? Do you think I did anything but the best?" That is the question. Normally, at worst, it would probably be the crux of a typical malpractice case. But because Dr. Schwarz performs abortions -- has performed perhaps as many as 45,000 of them, or an average of almost 10 a day, by his own count -- his work carries an unusually powerful charge, emotional and political. And since one of his patients ended up hemorrhaging and undergoing emergency surgery to deliver a stillborn, 7-month-old fetus, he has been plunged into a maelstrom of allegations and counter-allegations, nasty publicity and legal clashes.

For almost 105 years, the Thyssen family has been the largest shareholder in Thyssen A.G., the giant steel company which is one of the cornerstones of Germany's industrial might. But in a deal that analysts valued at about $1 billion, Commerzbank A.G. of Germany announced today that it had purchased the remaining 15.4 percent stake held by the two great-grandsons of the company's founder, August Thyssen.

A baby girl who was delivered by Caesarean section after her mother was raped and beaten to death on Saturday remained in critical condition yesterday at University Hospital. The mother, Juanita Fudge, 28, was eight months pregnant when she was attacked on a Newark street, the police said. No arrests have been made.

William M. Kunstler, the lawyer who defended the pariahs of society, died yesterday at 76. Page B6.

Directly challenging some of the Presidential campaign themes of California's Republican Governor, President Clinton today told a cheering crowd here that immigration, affirmative action and welfare were not responsible for the economic distress of the middle class. In a day that strongly resembled a Labor Day campaign kickoff, in a state crucial to his re-election hopes, Mr. Clinton said the answers to stagnant wages lay instead with a higher minimum wage and more education and training programs for workers, two initiatives the White House has advocated against Republican opposition. And he reminded his listeners to remember their roots.

Last month, when the Borough of Princeton decided it had had enough of rowdy youths in Palmer Square, officials reasoned that if there was no place to sit down, there would be a lot less loitering. Despite some objections, all five benches were removed. But with the end of summer, things have quieted down. At last night's Borough Council meeting, the high school chess club was to propose that concrete chess tables be placed in the square. And the seating is slowly being reinstalled. "We'll do them one bench at a time and watch how they're used," Mayor Marvin Reed said. TERRY PRISTIN

THOSE were venturesome steps for some apelike creatures long ago in Africa. Dropping out of trees, they essayed a novel means of locomotion, for reasons that elude paleoanthropologists. These primates may have sought to reach higher in foraging, see farther over tall grasses, reduce the exposure of their bodies to the searing tropical sun or extend their range beyond the forest to the open savanna. Perhaps they needed to free the hands for carrying food or infants over long distances. In any case, driven by need or the lure of new opportunity, in their struggle for survival these creatures found some saving advantage in a new way of walking. Instead of scampering about on all fours, as usual, they stood upright and, gradually and no doubt unsteadily at first, began to walk on their hind limbs. Small bipedal steps for apes, and as it would turn out, a giant leap for mankind.

Ten months after its 1994 electoral crash and burn, New York State's Democratic Party remains in a funk: debt-ridden, factionalized, uncertain of its message and deeply anxious about its ability to carry the state for President Clinton next year. Though no one expected the party to revive quickly after losing the governor's office for the first time in 20 years, even Democratic stalwarts are dismayed and astonished at how the state organization has been struggling just to make a start on rebuilding.

The City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on an ordinance that would force establishments that serve liquor to close an hour earlier on weekends. Morgan Roth, a spokeswoman for the city, said the proposal to shut down the bars at 2 A.M. instead of 3 A.M. on Saturday and Sunday mornings was prompted by persistent complaints from residents that noise from the bars kept them awake. But Anthony Vestre, owner of the Old Bay Restaurant and vice president of the New Jersey Restaurant Association, said an earlier closing time would merely encourage people to spend the last hour drinking outside and would harm an important sector of the local economy.

Truck Boom Erodes Gains From Fuel Savings The boom in mini-vans, pickups and sport utility vehicles has had unwanted side effects: increased air pollution and a greater dependency on oil imports. That's because light trucks are far less fuel efficient than cars, getting an average of 20 miles to a gallon of gasoline, while cars average 28.

Station House Killing A taxi driver was shot and killed by the police at an Upper West Side station house after stabbing an officer in the chest. The officer was also shot in the knee. Page B1. Demoralized Democrats New York's Democratic Party is in a funk: in debt, factionalized, unsure of its message and anxious about its ability to carry the state for President Clinton next year. Page B1. Salaries at Charities Rise A survey found that leaders of the largest charities often earn $200,000 a year or more, and their salaries continue to grow. Page A12. Rising Up on 2 Legs Scientists are trying to explain the most important step in human evolution: the shift to upright walking. Science Times, page C1.