Evening star., 1947-08-09

mo" the chairman said, "
mean did you or your company, u,
to the time of receiving the lette
OF intent. contact any Government
ofiicial?'
well. Senator" Mr.. Hughe
drawled. contact is prett,
broad word"
Well" Senator Ferguson sal,
patiently, did you get in toucl
with any one?"
Certain OF my engineers probabl
were here with preliminary informa
tion,' the witness said.
Separated Plane Projects.
AT that time" Senator Ferguso,
continued, did John w. Meyer worl
for you?"
You certainly ought to know
that Mr.. Hughes retored. "Yo,
have all the records when he wen
to work for my company"
Il don't know whether his record.
are right" Senator Ferguson de.
clared. When did he start workins
for you?"
Il don't recall offhand."
Did you use Johnny Meyer te
contact any Government oflcial?'
i don't recall so using him." Mr.
Hughes replied.
Referring to reported Defense
Plant Corp. complaints of incorrect
charges made by the Hughes Co. tt
the Government on the flying boat
project, Mr.. Hughes said he made
every effort to separate the fiyins
boat work from other contract work
so there would be no possibility o1
mixing up the charges. He said he
even hired laundry building and a
furniture factory in Hollywood to
move other contract work out of the
Culver City plant so that the latter
place could be devoted entirely to
the flying boat, and a strict isola-
ton" of charges could be main
tanned.
The investigating committee also
planned today to dig further into
entertainment expense accounts OF
the Hughes organization, If it can
find Mr.. Meyer. A second subpoena
for Mr.. Meyer was issued yesterday
Senator Ferguson indicated the
public hearings will run into a third
week and added it was doubtful the
subcommittee would finish with Mr.
Hughes at q comparatively briet
session today.
For three hours yesterday after.
noon, Mr.. Hughes was grilled on all
phases of the big Kaiser Hughes
cargo flying boat. The questioning
developed the following points:
Mr.. Hughes insisted there was ne
way he or Mr.. Kaiser could profit
from the venture. On the con.
trary, he said. the Hughes organiza.
ton has put $7,200,000 of its owr
money into finishing the big plane
on which the Government has spent
at least $4,000, 900 to date.
No Delivery Date Set.
The 4l-year old flyer and film
producer insisted his aircraft COM
pany never guaranteed delivery on q
certain day, although his engineers
may have made Optimistic" es-
Inmates.
Although conceding the contract
gives him an option to lease the
plane long enough to recover In
rental s2,000,00 of his own invest
ment, Mr.. Hughes said the value OF
this lease is questionable, because
the planes chief use would be fol-
testing and research.
Chairman Ferguson questioned
Mr.. Hughes claim that no profit
could accrue to the builders of the
plane. The chairman argued that
part of the Governments invest
ment was in the plant and that Mr..
Hughes would have first call on
acquiring it at a reduced value.
well, we haven't got it yet" Mr.
Hughes retorted, land the Govern
ment Is run by Republicans now
So, I guess they'll watch it."
Ferguson Curbs Laughter.
Laughter which this remark pro-
duced in the audience caused Chair
man Ferguson once more to threaten
to clear the room.
The audience, as we'll as Chair
man Ferguson. was thrown into
even greater mirth a little later
when Mr.. Hughes denied he had
plans for using the big cargo plane
as part Of a Buck Rogers super
colossal moving picture with Cary
Grant as the star.
Senator Ferguson had directed
Mr.. Hughes to read a news story
which speculated on the possibility
Of such a film built around the big
flying boat which is resting on the
water near Long Beach, Calf, but
has never taken to the air.
Mr.. Hughes said Cary Grant told
him he had an idea for a super
picture with episodes taken in many
parts of the world and that one set
would be a big plane with dance
floors, swimming pools and what
not" Mr.. Hughes said he was
sure, however, that Cary Grant
never intended making the picture
In the Kaiser Hughes plane.
Expands on Plot.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Senator "
Mr.. Hughes continued. this was to
be a sort of Buck Rogers affair,
laid 10 years in the future and built
around a world police, and his ex-
periences battling intrigue against
this peace Of the world in different
countries"
The article had begun. with a
reference to Mr.. Hughes and Mr.
Grant as two of the most spec
tacular bachelors in Hollywood.
After reading part of it. Mr..
Hughes paused on line that Cary
also is becoming concerned about
Americas children"
When this provoked another gale
Of laughter. Chairman Ferguson
good-naturedly suggested 1t wasn't
fair to Mr.. Grant to end the reading
there.
Senator, it doesn't say his chill
dren," Mr.. Hughes remarked. 1T
says Americas children"
Then. in a serious vein, he added
1T should be apparent from my
past record that I would not
cheaper a project Of this kind by
using II In a moving picture"