DIXON-YATES CONTRACT may be invalid after all, says AEC Chairman Lewis L. Strauss, although he has repeatedly upheld its legality. Strauss's point: there may be a "conflict of interest" because Investment Banker Adolph Wenzell served simultaneously as a consultant to the Government and an executive of the First Boston Corp., which helped in the project's financing. Possible loss to Dixon-Yates, if the contract is declared illegal: some $3,000,000 spent on preliminary work at the West Memphis, Ark. power-plant site.

SHOE PRICES are going up. St. Louis' International Shoe Co., biggest U.S. shoemaker (1954 sales: $246.8 million), will boost wholesale prices as much as 5% because of rising labor and material costs, consumer demand for more varied styles. Other big manufacturers will soon follow suit, increasing retail prices as much as $1 per pair.

ATOMIC POWER is in the works for rural power cooperatives. The Atomic Energy Commission and the Rural Electrification Administration have offered four Texas power co-ops a chance to try out nuclear reactors ranging from 5,000 to 40,000 kw. capacity. Managers of the Texas coops will meet with REA and other officials in Phoenix, Ariz. to find out how much the reactors will cost, how they can be used in REA systems, and whether the Government will help share in the cost of the experiments.

SYNTHETIC-RUBBER will get the Government off the hook on its $18 million wartime installation at Institute, W. Va. Though no one bid on the plant when 15 firms paid out $310 million for 24 smaller rubber plants (TIME, Feb. 7), the synthetic market has expanded so fast that six companies think they can handle the Institute plant's 122,000 longton annual capacity, have put in firm bids to buy.

PENSION FUNDS are over the $20 billion mark. In its first detailed survey of the funds, the Securities & Exchange Commission reported that corporate pension funds managed by companies themselves (life insurance firms hold another $9.8 billion) nearly doubled in assets from $6.4 billion in 1951 to $11.2 billion in 1954. While most of the investment is still in corporate bonds, common stockholdings tripled in the last three years, comprise $2.1 billion of assets.

STONEHEARTED BANKERS are a thing of the past, says the New York State Bankers Association. To prove it, the association is kicking off "the biggest bank public-relations effort in history" with Know Your Bank Week for 650 state banks and their bankers. Suggested commercial to be used on radio and TV programs: "There's an old story about a banker who had a glass eye . . . Nobody could tell which one was real. No glassy stare will greet you at your local banks . . ."

PIGGYBACK SHIPPING will get a big boost from the Office of Defense Mobilization. ODM has set an expansion goal of 25 "roll-on, roll-off" oceangoing vessels to be used to ferry either trailer trucks or railroad freight cars, will grant fast tax write-offs to firms building the ships until Dec. 31, 1956. Three shipping companies have already signed up to build five ships worth $14.5 million.

LAS VEGAS BOOM is tarnishing fast. After a bad summer for its resorts (TIME, Sept. 19), Las Vegas' new $3,000,000 Moulin Rouge, the city's first and only interracial hotel, has been shut down by debtors after only five months of operation.

FIRST ALL-RADAR AIRWAY will soon be set up to guide commercial transports along their routes. New airway will stretch 500 miles between Boston and Norfolk, Va., use a combination of military and civilian radar screens tied into a series of central traffic control stations. Instead of relying on radioed--and frequently inaccurate--position reports from planes, radar operators will be able to spot each plane's exact position.

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