March 27, 1997

Orders for Durables Jump, A Sign of Stronger Growth Showing unexpected strength, orders for durable goods jumped sharply again in February, suggesting that the economy was gaining momentum as it began its seventh year of expansion. The increase, 1.5 percent, after January's 4.1 percent surge, lent after-the-fact support to the Federal Reserve's decision on Tuesday to raise short-term interest rates by one-quarter percentage point, to 5.5 percent, to try to avert inflationary pressures. $(Page D3.$)

Pres Clinton has offered to help transfer control of Governors Island to New York if city and state come up with acceptable plan for public use of 174 acres in New York Harbor; officials say New York would 'buy' island from Federal Government for $1 and turn it into public resource for everything from boating to education; Clinton's offer, first made over year ago to Sen Daniel Patrick Moynihan, is stalled; Moynihan says that unless New York offers viable plan by next year, island could, under Congressional proposals, be sold to highest bidder; accuses city and state officials of 'dithering' instead of submitting plan for island, which is to be vacated by Coast Guard this summer; map; photo (M)

Two months into Pres Clinton's second term, selection of senior diplomatic corps has bogged down, victim of White House indecision caused in part by furor over campaign financing; with Administration under scrutiny for favors that it may or may not have granted donors to 1996 Presidential campaign, White House lawyers are scrutinizing backgrounds of potential nominees for anything that might drag Clinton into new controversy; Frank G Wisner, Ambassador to India, has withdrawn from consideration to be ambassador to France, tired of waiting for call from White House; there is no American ambassador in important countries like Russia, Japan and Germany; many top jobs under Sec of State Madeleine K Albright await appointees (M)

New York City police arrest Lester E Deily after discovering dozens of containers of hazardous materials at his home in Douglaston section of Queens; one canister is marked 'Sarin Gas,' but officials say they did not know if it actually contained powerful nerve gas used in terrorist attack in Tokyo subway in 1995 (M)

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development declines to endorse US proposal to allow computer eavesdropping by world's law enforcement agencies; setback for Clinton Administration demonstrates difficulty of setting global policies for Internet; US proposal, backed by Britian and France, is attempt to restrict private use of advanced data-scrambling technology that can protect privacy of electronic mail and other forms of computer communication; equipment can make it difficult for law enforcement officials to crack code when they suspect it is masking criminal or terrorist activities (M)