Evening star., 1946-07-17
his choice. The Senate group turned

Wdlt1ng 10 take St1nd.
Star Staff Photos.
his choice. The Senate group turned
this down.
Called Down by May.
Sareles, who was on the stand yes
terday afternoon, told of one oc-
casion on which Representative May
telephoned and asked for Freeman
Sarelas said that when he answered
rather facetiously, Mr.. May gave
him "a severe chastisement over the
telephone"
The Committee room was in an
uproar Of laughter often during
Sarelas' testimony.
S1,500 a Year to 1000.
He testified he jumped from q
job at 81 500 or 81 500 as a statisti-
cal clerk for the Government first
to $1,000 a year as Office manager
for the GarSsons and within six
or eight months to an annual salary
Of $1,000.
Did you ever see any thousand
dollar bills while you worked
there?" Senator Ferguson, Repub-
lican, of Michigan. prompted.
Often, said the broad -shoul-
dered, youthful witness.
What was the most you ever
saw"
& Seven thousand dollars, I'm
quite positive" said Sarafas.e 1T
made a distinct impression on me. /"
Whose money was it7"
"Mr. Freeman owned 1t. l. had
gone to the bank and cashed q
check for him, and following his
instructions brought the money
back to him in thousand dollar
bills"
1t Happened Often.
But this wasn't the first time he
had taken Freeman bills of this de-
nomination, Sarelas explained. It
happened often. Freeman preferred
large bills, explaining that he
couldn't carry around a lot of los
or 20s, the witness remembered.
What did he do with the
money!"
That" said sarelas, ST do not
know. I simply cashed the checks
and brought him the money"
These checks came from Erie
Basin or its allied corporation, Ba-
tavia Metal Products, Inc, Sarelas
said.
Would you go to Sam Beard to
cash them?" asked Senator Fergu-
son. The Senator referred to the
self-styled gambler who testified
earlier in the hearings that he
cashed checks totaling about s4s,-
900 for the late Albert Levin, an
attorney. Those checks were made
out to Freeman, Beard said.
Never" said the witness. Il went
to the Liberty National Bank, where
I had an account"
do you know Sam Beard?"
Met Beard Once.
II met him once on the street.
Sarelas recalled. You couldn't
forget one of his portly carriage"
Pressed to say why Freeman
always wanted cash, Sarelas replied:
IT believe he wanted to carry it on
his person because he did not have
a bank account or a safe deposit
box"
Freeman told the committee
that he had Beard and others cash
his salary and expense checks be-
cause at the time he was having
marital trouble and he did not want
his money traced through a bank.
Asked to define his duties as Office
manager. Sarelas explained that
these included not only looking
after the office but going on many
errands for the Erie Basin.
Four Phones in Office.
He said there were four tele-
phones in the Office. Asked if any
high Army officers telephoned,
Sarelas said they did. But he could
recall the name of only one, Mai.
Gen. William Porter, chief of the
Chemical Warfare Service. The
general asked to speak to Murray
Carson, he said.
did Representative May ever
call?" asked Chairman Mead.
"One time, I remember, Mr.. May
called and asked for Joe Freeman" :"
said the witness. 'I must have been
in a rather facetious mood, because
1 answered something like this: Joe
Freeman is up in New York making
money for u.s.
Il instantly realized this sounds
terrible, that had overstepped the
bounds OF propriety, but before I
could apologize Mr.. May gave me a
chastisement in no uncertain terms" :"
What did he say?" Senator Mead
wondered.
He said, that wasn't what I
asked you"
WAS that all he said?"
1t was all the witness could re-
member. When the chairman re-
marked that the verbal chastise-
ment couldn't have been very
severe. Sarelas replied: "One word
with the proper infection can be
Sarelas could not recall that
Mr.. May ever visited the head
quarters on Thomas Circle. The
witness said he saw the Kentuckian
at the "E" award celebration which