RAIL OFFICIALS REJECT RUMOR OF WALKOUT For the second time in 10 days, rumors of a wildcat walkout by Long Island Rail Road engineers raced among commuters and transportation officials.

For years, rumors of "lost" episodes raced among baby boomer fans, but alas, none have ever been found.

Only a month ago, when rumors raced through the investment community that the Hafts were buying Dayton stock, the Minneapolis-based store chain said it had told an unnamed "aggressive" buyer that it did not want to be acquired.

The blackout extended to news of the war and the German advance on Paris; newspapers suspended publication temporarily and crowds gathered round the official bulletins pasted on the walls as rumour raced round the city.

In Washington, where political sensitivities are most prickly, rumors are racing through Hispanic neighborhoods that illegal immigrants face deportation or at least widespread dismissals.

In subsequent weeks, rumors raced around Brasilia about a secret assignation between the two ministers in mid-May in New York.

In the absence of fact, rumour raced in to fill the vacuum, and the Net was alive with dubious stories, half-baked theories, tales, and hearsay, multiplying around the world like some feverish digital bacteria.

The rumor raced through our school, John S. Parks Elementary, here the day after "Harry" was detonated at dawn in May 1953 at the Nevada Test Site, a mere 65 miles northwest from what was then my home.

Since Sept. 11, rumors have raced through the school that Muslims have been shot and beaten in Brooklyn, and that it is not safe to walk the streets because of revenge attacks by Americans against Muslims.