BLACK & white TV picture is brightening a bit after all the gloom over color television. Retail sales are climbing back to normal, and some dealers are even running short on popular models. Westinghouse upped its January production 11%, and Admiral boosted February production schedules 45% to 50% over the first-of-the-year estimates.

SHELL OIL, which struck the first oil in Nevada a fortnight ago, may also become the first producer in Arizona. So far, the company has gone down 5,960 ft. in the northeast corner of the state near the Utah-New Mexico border, found traces of oil and a pocket of natural gas.

MERGER of Eastern Air Lines and Colonial Airlines was vetoed this week by President Eisenhower, even though the Civil Aeronautics Board approved the deal, Ike's reason: Eastern had violated CAB regulations by buying control of Colonial before the board approved the merger.

FRANCE, which last year signed its first commercial treaty with Russia since 1934 (TIME, Nov. 2), is feeling some of the headaches that go with Communist trade. In the first months of the pact, France shipped $6,300,000 worth of goods (mainly textiles, fruit, and iron and steel products) more than it received. Soviet shipments, notably of corn, are lagging, and its oil is of such poor quality that French refineries cannot turn it into gasoline at competitive prices without a government subsidy.

BABY gas turbine, the size of an auto engine but six to eight times as powerful, is being developed by General Electric for the Navy. The small engine will be used primarily to power helicopters, but can also be converted into a turbojet or turboprop for light, fixed-wing aircraft.

CHRYSLER, which has not done well so far in 1954, will bring out a completely redesigned line in September. Chrysler, De Soto, Plymouth and Dodge will get new bodies. Dodge and Plymouth will be lower, sleeker, and Plymouth will probably replace its 100-h.p., six-cylinder engine with a more powerful V8. To modernize its plants and expand, Chrysler borrowed $250,000,000 from Prudential Insurance Co., payable in 100 years.

LUMBER prices are picking up again in the Northwest in anticipation of heavy spring building. While the market is still down from a year ago, demand has pushed prices up 10% from this winter's low levels.

RONSON, biggest U.S. manufacturer of cigarette lighters (1953 sales: about $20,000,000), is going into the electric-razor market. The company has signed a $15,000,000 licensing agreement with the Max Braun Co. of Frankfurt, Germany to make a self-sharpening electric razor. The razor will first be marketed in April. Price: $28.50.

PENNSYLVANIA Railroad is cutting its spending because of a sharp decrease in traffic. The line lost almost $3,500,000 in January, v. a profit of some $2,000,000 in January 1953. Orders have gone out to cut costs to the bone, stop work on a $6,000,000 station-renovation program.

AIRLINES are five times safer (per mile of travel) than the family car or taxi, reported Planes, trade journal of the Aircraft Industries Association. In 1953, the scheduled airlines carried almost 31 million passengers more than 18 billion miles, the best safety record in history with a rate of .48 per 100 million passenger-miles. The death rate for cars and taxis: approximately 2.8 per 100 million passenger-miles.

BOOTLEG sales of new 1954 cars at cut-rate prices to used-car dealers is becoming a serious problem. Both Ford and General Motors have sent letters to their 26,200 dealers warning that any dealer caught selling new automobiles below the list price may lose his franchise.

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