FIRST BIG WELL in Central America has been brought in by California's Union Oil Co. in Costa Rica. After several dry wells on 3,500,000-acre concession near Panamanian border, Union hit 1,000 bbls.-per-day well at 4,950 ft. Union considers find "of tremendous importance," will next start drilling on 350,000-acre concession in Panama.

BOEING JETLINERS will go into service on Australia's Qantas Empire Airways. For $50 million, Qantas will buy seven long-range, 550-m.p.h. Boeing 707s, get its first deliveries in May 1959 for Pacific and Australia-London routes, expects to be first foreign line to operate U.S. jet equipment. Looking the other direction, New England's little Northeast Airlines, which recently won rich New York-to-Florida route, says it will probably buy from five to seven British Bristol Britannia turboprops at cost of $20 million.

HORSEPOWER RACE among carmakers is over, at least in the ads. Though automakers will nudge horsepower on new 1957 models up another 5% to 10%, the increasing criticism from Congress and safety experts will change the advertising pitch from zoom to room. Other 1957 talking points: increased fuel economy, more safety features, longer, lower styling.

RED CHINESE TOBACCO is threatening U.S. overseas markets. Communists have hiked production almost 200% since prewar days, are currently exporting 100 million Ibs. annually of flue-cured leaf, more than 20% of U.S. total.

FOOTSORE MAILMEN will get welcome relief. Post Office is calling for bids for 1,500 three-wheeled motor scooters (painted red, white and blue) for postmen in residential areas where houses are widely spaced. Also coming, for carriers whose routes are not quite so long: 2,000 bicycles, 6,000 aluminum caddy carts.

ADVERTISING VOLUME will smash all records in 1956, predicts Printers' Ink. With all media ex cept radio showing big increases, total volume should top $10 billion this year for $800 million jump over 1955's previous peak of $9.2 billion.

ATOMIC CRUISER ENGINE for first nuclear-powered surface vessel will be built by Westinghouse Electric Corp. at a cost of $18.3 million. Engine is slated to go into light cruiser armed with guided missiles some time after 1960.

BIGGEST IRON PIPEMAKER, Pittsburgh's A. M. Byers Co. (nine-month net sales: $23 million), will be taken over by Akron's General Tire & Rubber Co., fifth biggest U.S. rubber company. In stock swap after long negotiations, General Tire has acquired about 75% of Byers' stock, will expand production and push it into General's booming plastics business.

MEAT-PACKING CENTER will be built in Houston, in hope of rivaling Omaha and Chicago as centers of U.S. meat industry. Group of 35 civic boosters with 650 acres of land north of city have swung one deal for Armour & Co. to build estimated $20 million slaughterhouse and packing plant on property, another for Chicago's Oscar Mayer & Co. to build similar "multimilliondollar" plant.

FARM-MACHINERY slump has pushed Tractormaker J. I. Case (six-month loss: $4,771,000) into heavy-construction and road-building field. After giving up idea of merging with Minneapolis-Moline and Oliver Corp., Case is going outside farm-implement industry to merge with Indiana's small (nine-month sales: $7,600,000) American Tractor Corp., will take over its plants and patents to produce heavy crawler tractors and earth-moving machinery.

UNDERWATER CABLE will link British and French electric power systems. To cost $11 million and be in operation by 1960, under-Channel cable will save British coal by tapping French hydroelectric resources, will also help France in time of drought by bringing in British power.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.