Evening star., 1946-07-18
War Profits Probers
Weigh Steps 10 Force
May 70 Testify
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Continued From First Page.
Mead said it was possible other wit
nesses would be called
Wen go over the whole situa-
ton" he said. "and chart the future
course of the investigation"
The testimony of Mrs. Hall
brought a scene of dramatic tension
to the Senate caucus room The
attractive young woman gave her
answers quietly and calmly.
She said she quit her job with the
Garssons because she had decided
they we're bunch of crooks and a
'lot of shady characters" But she
had trouble even resigning. she said,
because Sarelas refused to give her
q manpoWer release
Before she went to work at the
Erie Basin offices, she said, she
worked for the FBI, the Navy De-
partment and the British Merchant
Shipping Ministry. Freeman paid her
$40 week. she said, and later raised
her to S45. There were no further
raises. she added, although after she
quit, they offered her $55 to return
She worked for Erie Basin from
october IT, 1943. until March Is,
1o45, she told the committee.
Sensed Something Wrong.
after a few months" she said,
81 began to feel like everything was
not open and above board
What sort of men were you
working fors" Senator Ferguson,
Republican, of Michigan asked,
They were very shady charac-
ters," the girl replied. Il felt that
they conducted their business in a
very unbusmesslike way. There
was very little dictation for me to
take. Most of their business was
done by telephone Very little of
what correspondence there was was
kept on file. l decided after while
that I was working for extremely
low characters"
Mrs. Hall said she wrote her fa-
ther and her husband, who was
overseas in the Army, asking their
advice. and both advised her to
quit at once
Il told SareleS I wanted to re-
sign she said, but he wouldn't
give me a manpower release"
Were you emotionally upset?"
asked Chairman Mead (Sarelas
testified the day before that she was
emotionally disturbed frequently
When you're working for bunch
of crooks" Mrs. Hall replied, lit
does upset you somewhat"
Frequent Calls to May.
At certain times. she told the COM
mlttee. Freeman would phone Mr.
May at the Representatives home
in PrestonSburg. KY But when he
was in Washington, Freeman would
call Mr. May two or three times
every day" she testified, When
Murray Carson came down from
New York, as he did every two weeks
or so, she said, he often phoned the
Kentucky Representative.
Did Mr.. May ever call your Of
fce?"
Not very often" she said Maybe
Then she added
"On one occasion I listened in, be-
cause I had been asked to take
notes. Mr.. Freeman and Mr. May
were talking about lumber Some
thing about getting some lumber. At
the end of the conversation. Mr.
May said rather abruptly, What
about that s3,0o0?' Mr.. Freeman
said it would be along in day
or so"
DO you know whether it came?"
asked Senator Mead:
Il don't know" the witness said.
Asked what she recalled about
other calls to Capitol Hill, she said
there were occasional calls.
Judge SABBATH was called rather
often by Mr.. Freeman" she added.
Representative SABBATH, Democrat,
of Illinois, chairman of the House
Rules Committee
What would they talk about?"
II don't know. Sometimes they
talked about playing poker to-
gether"
Did they ever say anything about
Sam Beard" asked the chairman,
referring to the man who testified
early in the hearings and described
his occupation as "a gambler"
L don't remember anything about
Sam Beard" she said.
What did they say about the
poker games?"
The witness did not recall, and
she added: Il don't know much
about poker"
Mrs. Hall said when Mr.. May
visited the Office one evening, Sare-
las apologized for having been curt
to the Representative over the tele-
phone. Mr.. May, she said, laughed
and said it was perfectly all right,
but he had to be careful because
his wires might be tapped.
Always Called Late.
Mr.. May always called late, when
the other Offices were closed, she
said, and she had a feeling that
nobody was supposed to know he
was there"
She quoted Sarelas as saying
Jacobson was being paid S25.000 a
year by the Garssons. adding:
Il assumed that what MI. Jacob
son was doing at the War Depart
ment was worth $25, 900 to the
Garssons."
She explained Sarelas told her
that apparently because he felt he