RECESSION NOTES

Some of last week's visible and all too human consequences of slumping business and soaring prices:

Deadbeats. BankAmericard and Master Charge report that the number of delinquent accounts has risen to more than 5% of their membership totals, up almost a percentage point from a year ago. Thus member banks are reviewing applications more closely before issuing cards and making more use of bounty hunters to collect delinquent accounts The number of deadbeats that the National Credit Card Recovery Bureau is looking for has jumped 60% in the past six months. Says President Joseph C. Stewart Jr.: "Some accounts are $15,000 in arrears, and they are driving us wild trying to catch them."

Dog Days. The recession is changing preferences in pets. Registration of pedigreed dogs has dropped off from last year. Jeanne Tanenbaum, an executive of the Humane Society of New York, reports that more owners of large dogs are giving them over to pounds, or simply turning them loose because they cost too much to feed. Fortunately, adoptions of dogs and cats at pounds are running well ahead of last year Mutts, of course, are cheaper than pedigree pets.

Minnesota Shuttle. In the sprawling Minneapolis-St. Paul area, two major companies that are not conveniently served by mass transit have found a way to spare their employees the high cost of driving to work--and save the nation some gasoline. The firms have started their own bus services, using twelve-passenger minivans that usually go right to each worker's doorstep. General Mills, Inc. has bought 13 of the vans carrying some 150 workers daily, while 3M Co. has 65 vans that haul some 700 people. Regular workers moonlight as part-time chauffeurs; they get free rides collect whatever profits remain after expenses are met and can use the vans during off hours. Generally they earn about $8.50 for 7 1/2 hours' driving per week. The riders pay roughly 2.5-c- per mile, which is so much cheaper than operating an auto that some estimate annual savings at $1,000 and more.

Burning Issue. Arson often increases during economic slumps, but insurance men say that the problem has never been as bad as it is now. The Fireman's Fund a San Francisco-based insurer reports that about 20% of the fires in stores and other commercial establishments are believed to be set by desperate proprietors. In normal times, only 5% of the commercial fires are suspicious. There has also been a surge in fires in mobile homes as more and more owners fall behind in their installment payments.

Old Muse. Several cities are raising the curtain on a modern form of the Federal Theater Project, which at its height under the WPA in the 1930s employed 12,000 out-of-work actors, directors, playwrights and other stage artists, including Clifford Odets, Orson Welles, Harold Clurman and Elia Kazan. The present efforts are also federally financed, under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. In Los Angeles, 71 unemployed artists will be organized into acting, dancing and puppeteering troupes, which will tour the city's parks, schools and centers for the aged. In San Francisco, 113 jobs have been created for actors, dancers and painters. The Seattle Arts Commission will provide 60 part-time jobs, including one for a sculptor, and another for a film maker to document the city's history.

Less Goodwill. Through the Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries of America, the employed majority can help the unemployed minority by donating old clothes, furniture and appliances. It might seem that during hard times the generosity of the gratefully still-at-work would increase, but lately donations have dropped sharply.

Says Tom Brenker, a Goodwill executive in New York City:

"People are more careful. What they used last year can help them keep going a while longer." In Cleveland, Robert B. Aylsworth, a Goodwill officer, notes: "Our collections are down 50% since last September, and our stores are running out of merchandise." As a result, 100 employees of that city's Goodwill Industries --most of whom are physically handicapped--have been cut back from five-day to four-day working weeks. Major Frederick Clarke of the Cleveland Salvation Army reports that donations are down 20%-25%.

Tougher Tax Audits. The recession will make taxes tougher to pay--and in Georgia, at least, harder to evade. Because revenues are falling short of projections, Governor George Busbee is holding the line on hiring new state employees, except for tax collectors. He has proposed adding up to 40 members to the state's tight-fisted tax-auditing staff of 250. Each new auditor will be expected to maintain the "capture ratio" of 12 to 1--that is, auditors now recover in delinquent taxes an amount equal to twelve times their own salaries.

Executive Aid. Directors of Celanese Corp., the fibers and petrochemicals giant, proposed to stockholders that the company lend its top officers some $3.5 million at a rock-bottom 6% interest, with as many as ten years to repay. Reason: enticed by seemingly attractive stock options when Celanese shares cost as much as $79.50, executives borrowed heavily to buy. With the stock now down to $30.50, the executives are having great trouble renewing their bank loans. Celanese reported that the loans would be "part of our total executive compensation." The proposals will be voted on at the company's annual meeting April 9, and chances are that many shareholders may howl.

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