TIMECLOCK

HIGH HORSEPOWER is not necessarily a major cause of traffic accidents, says preliminary report to National Safety Council. Study "has failed to establish any conclusive relationship between higher horsepower and the rising traffic toll." Although horsepower boosts speed, it also "provides additional acceleration potential, which can reduce distance required for passing other vehicles, thereby contributing to accident prevention."

COMMUTER SUBSIDY for money-losing rail and bus lines is getting a push in high places. New England Governors' Committee on Public Transportation urges municipal and state governments to subsidize commuter business to cover losses, warns "this remedy seems necessary if commuter services are to be maintained."

BIGGEST AUTO DEAL in history will give Hertz Rent-A-Car System $60 million worth of 1958 models. Hertz will buy (for cash) 19,737 autos, three-quarters of them from General Motors, also plans to buy another 11,000 after April 1 for $33.5 million more. To swing deal, Hertz will sell 15,000 of its 1957 cars for around $35 million, boost its revolving bank credit from $50 million to $65 million.

MAN-MADE DIAMONDS will be mass-produced in U.S. for first time, ending dependence on South Africa for critical industrial jewels. General Electric Co. has finally perfected process that duplicates color, clarity and hardness of natural diamonds. Price is still higher than natural diamonds ($425 v. $285 per carat), but will be fully competitive next year.

DRESS PRICES will climb 7% in mid-December, when International Ladies Garment Workers Union gets 5 1/2 % cost-of-living raise, first pay boost in four years. Average pay will jump from $2.73 to $2.88 an hour.

MANHATTAN BUILDING BOOM is slowing because of inflation and increasingly tight money. Millionaire Vincent Astor temporarily halted excavation for his $60 million, 46-story Astor Plaza skyscraper on Park Avenue because he cannot find necessary additional financing at 5 1/2 % interest rates. Mortgage lenders say several other buildings among 29 currently planned for city could also be held up by scarce credit.

COKE-IN-CANS will soon be test-marketed after several false starts. Big problem was to perfect a can liner that would not kill Coke flavor; now that can companies have apparently licked problem, Coca-Cola will try out idea in Gary, Ind.

CANDY CRAZE is biting into the diet craze, to the relief of candy makers. After candy-eating dropped to 16.5 lbs. per person in 1954, sudden upsurge this year will push consumption to near-record 18 Ibs.

FAIR-TRADE LAWS "are dead," says Discounter Stephen Masters, president of Masters Inc. (1956 sales: $45 million), which just won important legal battle. Supreme Court upheld lower-court decision that Masters' mail-order house in Washington, D.C., which has no fixed-price law, can sell goods below fair-trade prices in New York State, which does have such a law. Discounters can now ship cut-rate products by mail to all U.S.

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