That all means a steady escalation up the food chain of local dance theaters.

"But their strategy is steady escalation, and their next step may be a nuclear test" to prove the quality of their wares.

But some did not, and this week Continental had to retract its increases, bringing a halt to a steady escalation in the price of an airline ticket.

Both are not up for re-election until 1998, but like Mr. Pataki's totals, theirs suggested a steady escalation in fund raising.

Also, separatist Albanian paramilitaries began a steady escalation of violence in 1998.

On film there has been a steady escalation from handguns like the .357 to assault weapons like the Tech-9 to capture the imagination of moviegoers.

So has the steady escalation of Off Broadway ticket costs.

But this year's autumn peak follows a steady escalation in the jail population that, despite an aggressive city construction program, has kept ahead of prison space.

Slow, steady escalation invites propaganda exploitation of "collateral damage," highlights mistakes like the Chinese Embassy destruction and in the long run costs lives.

Starting on September 11, the strategy was no longer steady escalation, but multiple attacks on multiple fronts.