Evening star., 1947-08-11


corroborate his Saturday testimony
that there was a feeling Of antag-
onism toward him among Army
officers, particularly at Wright Field,
where development Of new types
Of planes was supervised.
He said he has the name Of the
officer who first told him of this
feeling Of enmity, and added, HE
is a prominent officer in the air
corps" When the session ended Sat-
urday the subcommittee asked him
to try to recall the name of this
officer, who first told him in Day.
ton (Ohio) hotel that he was not
liked in Army circles.
Mr.. Hughes said he also had
available to back him up today,
J. B. Alexander, an official of his
company before the war.
Alexander Had Complained.
According to the testimony on
Saturday, Mr.. Hughes said Mr.. Alex
ander had complained before the
war that Army officers acted unfair
ly in selecting the Lockheed P-3S,
over similar design Mr.. Hughes.
had offered the Army four months
earlier. Mr.. Hughes said he did not
learn until years later about Mr..
Alexander's protest, but he regarded
this as one of the incidents that led
to the bad feeling against him at
Wright Field.
After learning Of the enmity
toward him among Army officials;
Mr.. Hughes said he was told he
had to treat them differently. Ex-
planning why he employed Mr.. Meyer
as public relations man, Mr.. Hughes
continued:
'I told Mr.. Meyer to take care
Of these boys and keep them
happy"
Asked if he approved the Meyer
expense accounts, Mr.. Hughes went
on:
"I haven't even examined them.
I made Mr.. Meyer director of
public relations and told him to
improve the company's relations.
If he didn't do 1t right, that's
too bad"
Unaware Of Meyers Location.
The millionaire plane manufac-
turer said he could not personally
supervise the daily work of all
his employees. He said, IT really
don't know where Mr.. Meyer is."
Mr.. Hughes also told questioning
newsmen he thought the reason
the subcommittee gave for post
ponement was ridiculous"
He added at an impromptu news
conference that he was quite sorry"
the hearing had recessed.
He said the committee had heard
% lot of inaccurate testimony from
witnesses who were i'll informed"
Answering question as to
whether he thought the hearing ac-
complishing anything, Mr.. Hughes
said:
"Yes, think something was ac-
complished by my coming. There
had been a great deal of misconcep-
ton about this case, for example: !:
That 1t cost S1,500,000 to move the
plane to the water when actually it
ocst only between $4,000 and
$50, ,OOO."
He was referring to the still
grounded 200-ton cargo plane which
he began to build five years ago.
Mr.. Hughes said he never had q
chance to tell half of what I came
to tell" He added that he still had
about 400 pages of long hand notes.
No Hint Of Postponement.
In reply to questions. he said he
doubts that the big flying boat will
be ready to take to the air by No
vember.
AS for the photo-reconnaisance
plane, Mr.. Hughes declared, II
can't exactly say" when it will be
completed.
TITS undergoing tests right now,"
the plane builder added.
Mr.. Hughes had two wartime
contracts-an slS.000,000 one for
the flying boat and a S22, 1000 900
one for the photo-reconnaissance
planes.
The hearings had gone on for
two weeks and there was no indi-
cation at the conclusion of the
day-long hearings Saturday that
there was any thought Of post
ponement.
Mr.. Hughes, who had been on
the witness stand most of the
week. was ordered to return ct
10 o'clock this morning.
When that hour arrived Senator
Ferguson called the subcommittee
members into a private conference
In his office.
Met Privately for 20 Minutes.
The subcommittee met for about
20 minutes, then Senator Ferguson
returned to the crowded committee
room and made the adjournment
announcement.
Sena tor Ferguson and Senators
Pepper, Democrat. Of Florida. and
Il O'Conor, Democrat, OF Maryland
attended the meeting.
i In contrast to Mr.. Hughes atti-
tude, Senator Ferguson emphasized
:. to newsmen that the postponement