In Brief

By Alain L. Sanders

TAX BREAK Washington's top agency for ferreting out hidden assets, the IRS, last week dedicated itself to tracking down a new type of missing treasure: lost, abducted and runaway children. With help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the IRS will publish photos of missing children in its 1999 tax publications and instructions. One in six missing kids is found through such photos. So when your tax packet arrives this year, don't just toss it over to your accountant--look at it!

GOING UP IN SMOKE Add one more curse to the experience of a horrible childhood. A study in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association reports that adults who had experienced five or more negative childhood situations--such as abuse, divorce of parents or living with a drunken family member--were more likely to have taken up smoking. They were about five times more likely to have started smoking by age 14 than those with no childhood trauma. That's another good reason to identify and help troubled kids.

TRAINING ROSES Many parents love to garden. Most kids enjoy model trains. And now these two pursuits are merging in a hot family hobby imported from Britain: garden railroading. Aficionados lay tracks and carve tunnels through their flower beds and hedges. One measure of the trend: circulation of Garden Railways magazine has doubled to 36,000 in the past three years. The train kits begin at $150. Curious? Check out www2.gardenrailways.com/gr/ or www.largescale.com

--By Alain L. Sanders