Daniel Webster

FIVE years ago, a woman tried to revive her husband with a toilet plunger -- and succeeded.The man had been suffering from a heart attack and the frantic wife, not knowing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, grabbed for the first thing she saw. It paid off. Researchers from the American Heart Association now report that a suction devise inspired by the plunger seems twice as effective as standard CPR.Dr. Kelly Tucker of the cardiology department with the University of Florida says that of 53 hospitalized patients suffering from cardiac arrest, 24 percent of the patients who received suction-enhanced CPR survived while only 11 percent survived with standard CPR practices.

Tonight it's Fox at 8 for "The Simpsons," NBC at 9 for "Seinfeld" and then "Frasier," followed by a truly tough call at 10: NBC and "L.A. Law" or CBS and a special showing of "Picket Fences."* "The Simpsons" (8-8:30 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- VCR Alert: It's "Treehouse of Horror IV," a brand-new trilogy of "Simpsons" Halloween stories. Parents should remember to use caution when letting younger children watch these sometimes-shocking cartoons; otherwise, get set for a good time. The scheduled segments this year include takeoffs on "Dracula," "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (in this case, it's "The Devil and Homer Simpson")

STEALING FROM AMERICA:A HISTORY OF CORRUPTIONFROM JAMESTOWNTO REAGAN.Nathan Miller.Paragon House.` 399 pages. $25.95. Does the name Samuel Swartout ring a bell? If not, what about Tammany Hall, Jay Gould, Teapot Dome, Spiro Agnew, Chicago's late Mayor Richard Daley? These men, organizations and schemes to defraud the government, take kickbacks, or pollute democracy by boss rule are just a few getting a black eye in Nathan Miller's "Stealing from America," a fast-paced tale of four centuries of corruption.

Washington.--In St. Louis, whither he went in search of restored pre-eminence, the incumbent president sometimes seemed, amazingly, to be the third man, even a bystander on stage.Whatever suspense surrounded the debate leaked from it early when Mr. Bush became defensive about his most recent attempt to put Governor Clinton on defensive. The president began, ''I said something the other day where I was accused of being like Joe McCarthy.'' Mr. Clinton played the Prescott Bush card (refraining from saying, ''And you're no Prescott Bush'')

WHIGS were on the march. Whigs were riding in on horseback. Whigs were hauled in by ox carts. They sported Harrison badges and buttons, sold their Harrison almanacs and waved buckeye canes and huge kerchiefs. Barrels of hard cider refreshed the revelers.Baltimore was awash with Whigs. Their cries of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" clashed with band music and the cheers of the people. Newspapers estimated the crowd on May 2, 1840, welcoming the national convention of Whig Young Men, at 100,000, equal to the population of the city.