Facts & Figures

Personnel. John A. Roosevelt, youngest (33) son of F.D.R., took on another job -- the presidency of Spray-a-Wave Co., a subsidiary of Lee Pharmacal Co. and a three-month-old entry in the home hair-waving field. He will also stay on as president of Beverly Hills' Roosevelt-Good department store (TIME, Sept. 27).

Labor. The C.I.O.'s Red-edged United Office & Professional Workers of America, once strong as Gibraltar among the 14,500 agents of the Prudential Insurance Co., took a slap in the face. Because U.O.P.W.A.'s officers refused to sign non-Communist affidavits under the Taft-Hartley law, Prudential refused to bargain with it last fall when the contract expired. To qualify for a National Labor Relations Board election, the officials finally signed. Last week NLRB announced the election results ; U.O.P.W.A. was second to A.F.L.'s National Federation of

Insurance Agents Council. A runoff election would have to be held, but A.F.L. felt sure of ousting U.O.P.W.A.

Agriculture. For the first time in 30 years, Florida will be permitted to sell its oranges in California. California's department of agriculture said it was easing up on the ban because Florida oranges no longer suffer from citrus canker and Mediterranean fruit fly. But Florida did not return the favor. It kept its ban on California oranges, suspecting that the real reason for California's magnanimity was the orange shortage caused by the cold California winter.

Soap. The price of soapmakers' tallow, which hit a postwar high of 27-c- a Ib. 15 months ago and has been dropping ever since, last week got down to 5 3/8-c-, lowest since 1940. The decline meant that housewives could look forward to cheaper soap --eventually. Soapmakers, still working off inventories of tallow bought at higher prices, have made two 6% cuts since December.

Slump. The home-equipment makers were finding it easier to make goods than to sell them. Because Frigidaire's production had been outstripping sales, the company said it would lay off up to 1,200 of its 20,000 employees. Westinghouse cut the prices of two electric ranges $15 and $25, next day announced cutbacks in production of ranges, washers and some small appliances ranging from 12% to 30%. The whole industry, said Apex Electrical's President C. G. Frantz glumly, "ran into rough weather" in November, "and has shown only faint signs of recovering even at this date."

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