PRIVATE-HOUSING starts will exceed 1,300,000 units in 1959, close to 1950 record (1,352,000), predicts Housing and Home Finance Administrator Norman Mason. In first nine months housing starts were at annual rate of 1,375,000, but tight money is expected to cause more than seasonal slack-off in last quarter.

BIGGEST ALASKAN OIL WELL was brought in by Standard Oil Co. (Calif.) on Kenai Peninsula, 40 miles south of Anchorage. New well, largest of four being jointly developed by Standard and Richfield Oil Corp., has capacity of 1,300 bbl. daily.

VOLKSWAGEN STOCK SALE has been agreed upon by West German federal government and state of Lower Saxony, will end a ten-year ownership dispute. Plan calls for 60% of shares to be sold to the public, 20% to be held by Bonn, 20% by Lower Saxony. To prevent majority control by a single group and to spread ownership as widely as possible, the $25 shares will be rationed five to an investor. To attract lower-income customers, initial sale will be restricted to German citizens making less than $4,000 a year.

NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR that may make atomic power competitive with conventionally generated electricity will be built by Martin Co. under an $838,163 AEC contract. Reactor system uses pea-sized pellets of atomic fuel, eliminates the need for complex control rods used in present reactors, makes it easier to recover valuable fissionable material from the reactor.

IMPORT CURBS on Japanese stainless-steel flatware were ordered by President Eisenhower to protect U.S. producers. Japanese now account for 90% of all imports. New restrictions are aimed at cutting flatware imports from Japan to 5,750,000 dozen pieces; duties of 60% to 67^ 1/2% will be imposed on all imports in excess of that total.

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