European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday july 12, 1994 a a today s rates of a following Are fixed rates at which Community Hanking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.60 dutch Guilder 1.70 German Mark 1.51 note the rates above apply within the Host country figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound Ottier currencies to chg Dollar a following arc Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of. The . Dollar to foreign currencies a. Austrian Schilling 10.9415 Bahrain Dinar #4#�###����#�?�� 0.37675 belgian franc 31.98 British Pound 1.5571 Canadian Dollar 1.3907 danish Krone 6.123 dutch Guilder 444 4414444144444 441 1.7440 French for no #444t�444444b��4 5 33b5  #441 444444444 4444 4 1.5535 greek drachma i#444144444414 234.10 italian lira 1. 1,547.55 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2950 norwegian Krone. 6.8335 portuguese escudo 4444444444141 160.35 saudi rial 3.75 Spanish peseta. 128.73 Swiss franc 1.3105 turkish lira .31,000,00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound Othor currencies to Iha Dollar Gold quota $384.40 an ounce. Silver quote $5.20 an ounce. Sources merchants National Bank 4 Trust co. And the associated press most . Cities us for fiscal year Washington a a majority of the nations cities expect their budgets to end in the Black in 1994 As. Revenues top expenditures for a second straight year according to a study released monday. A a a. The a Lional league of cities reported that 54 percent of the 551 cities and towns in its annual Survey expect to take in More in taxes and other income than they spend for municipal services. But the Survey found that while most cities anticipated real gains there were fears of continuing fiscal stress in Many others. A continuing economic growth was aiding the latest improvement but 70 percent of the cities were forced to raise local taxes or fees and 63 percent had to reduce the operating spending rate the group found. One Quarter increased property tax rates during the past year. This included nearly 50 percent of the cities in the Northeast 31 percent in the Midwest 28 percent in the South and less than 8 per cent in the West. Half increased user fees and charges and an additional 25 percent added new ones. There was Little variation in cities of different size or in different regions of the country the league said. Although the percentage of cities ending the year in the Black is Down from two thirds in 1993, the two consecutive years of positive balances follows three years of widespread municipal fiscal stress during the recession and Early recovery. A the signs of a turnaround Are encouraging but caution signals Are still flashing a said Donald j. Borut the leagues executive director. In 1984, Borut said nearly a third of All cities ended the budget year with a general fund Cash balance that represented 5 percent or More of the City a budget. During the 1990-92 period Only 15 percent reported balances that Large. 500 codes open new Era for multiple phone owners new York apr the future is her monday was the Day that managers of the North american Telephone num be ring system were to. Start assigning 500-numbers a such As 1-5005551234 a to companies like at amp to sprint Sci get Mccaw cellular and dozens of others. The companies will sell them possibly As soon As this fall to people who want one number that will follow them everywhere from Home to office to car. A you would say a Here is my one phone number you can reach me on this phone number anywhere a said Tom mat car director of wireless strategic development for sprint at the outset subscribers will have to Forward their phone Calls when for example they leave Home for the office. Later at amp to sprint and others plan to offer a Way to automatically Advance Calls from location to location. A a another idea is for the 500-number to a a search for. The customer. It could ring twice at Home first twice at the office and twice in the car before going to voice mail if no one answers. In time the intelligence of the nation s phone system will grow. To the Point where people can simply dial a code on the phone closest to hand and their Calls. Will arrive. Subscribers will have to pay extra for a 500-number, but pricing has yet to be set. Nevertheless at amp to announced last week it is signing up customers. The first a follow me products were 700-Numbcrs which Quot debuted several years ago. But they Are restricted by phone Carrier meaning that reaching a Friend who has a 700-Numbcr with at amp to requires a Call on at amp to a network.  Beijing apr eight chinese makers of cellular phones plan to set up a joint company next month to compete with foreign manufacturers an official newspaper said sunday. The China daily a business weekly said the new Jinfeng. Telecommunications co. Will seek to seize Market share from Motorola inc. And Ericsson telecoms a. Those companies dominate China a Market in hardware and switching equipment respectively the newspaper said. Portable phones and pagers have be a come a status Symbol among a new class of Well to do chinese created by the country a Market style reforms. The report did no to say How the products planned by Jinfeng would differ from those currently manufactured by eight companies. The 500-Numbcr will be  Bellmore the research Arm of the regional Bell operating companies adm Iii bless numbers on behalf of the Federal communications commission and an Industry committee. It will assign the 500-Numbcrs by prefix codes such As 555, 236 or 737. Bellmore has received requests for More than 1,000 prefix codes. There Are Only 781 available. / initially the maximum prefix codes any phone company can get is four since each prefix code has 10,000 possible suffixes the four numbers that follow company that gets four will have 40,000 500-numbers to sell. A this allows everybody to have an initial Quantity of codes to Start up their service see How sales Are going and then. Come Back to us a said Alfred Gaechter a Bellmore manager. Service fast track freighter a Jet propel cd freighter named Hiso zips Over the water at 58 Mph in a test run Oft Nagasaki Japan. The 230-foot-Long hydrofoil weighing 1,590 tons is one of two experimental Craft constructed in a $100 million japanese government project shipbuilders say the High Speed freighter May revolutionize sea transport. Cellular sales Beckon China by the St. Louis Post dispatch millions of hungry air passengers faced with More and More flights without meals or with just munchies Brown bag it on the plane or eat at Airport food concessions. Twa last Friday began saving Money by cutting meal service of 99 daily flights that take two hours or less. It joined other airlines that already leave meal trays on the ground Tor Short hops. Among them us air Continental and Southwest. A Over the years airlines have conditioned passengers to expect something to eat every time they set foot on the airlines and in this restructuring of the Industry we Are taking a second look at that a said David Shipley a us air spokesman this summer As americans vacation they will take 37 million trips by air plane according to the travel Industry association. Fast food giants eager to Cash in on the growing Market of air travellers with an appetite meet customers at the Gate. In late june Taeo Bell opened the newest Concession at St. Louis Lambert Field an express food court dishing out Tex mex cuisine doughnuts Yogurt and gourmet Coffee just Steps from us air Continental and american airlines Gates. On a recent weekday passengers and flight Crews crowded the food court late in the afternoon. A people Are feeling insecure about food on air planes these Days a said Michael Kusmanoff a Host International employee who manages the counter. A they worry about the Quantity and  Rosella Guerrero bit into a Burrito bought for j1 at Taco Bell minutes after she landed famished. After eight hours on two flights she had eaten Only Cereal a banana and peanuts. A this is cheap and its filling a she said. A society is More Mobile and we have adapted a said Rob Doughty a pi2za hut spokesman. A we want to be wherever people want pizza even  pizza hut runs concessions at 78 airports nationwide. A disc in Tod by Scripps Howard news service