Evening star., 1961-06-15
KENNEDY
Press Bypossed for Ceremony
While President Uses Clutches

hands. as If he had Just
handed it to the admiral, and
the cameras clicked.
Reporters left the office
thinking they had seen the ac-
tual ceremony. But in the
White House lobby they dis
covered that the real presen-
tation had been held a few
minutes earlier in the rose
garden.
Mr.. Hatcher, who is acting
press secretary in the absence
OF Pierre Salinger, confirmed
that Mr.. Kennedy had walked
out on the porch outside his
office overlooking the rose gar
den on crutches and had stood
while presenting the trophy.
Follows Earlier Plan
He told questioners that to-
days arrangements had been
outlined to him late yesterday
by someone he did not identify
and that II thought this would
be good way" to handle it.
Asked if it was the President
himself or someone else who
apparently did not want news
pictures made of Mr.. Kennedy
on crutcheS, Mr.. Hatcher re-
fused to say.
One reporter asked him: Are
you saying that the President
OF the United States instructed
you to do it this way?"
II don't have to answer
that" he replied. He added a
mo comment.
No Ban on Press
Under further questioning,
Mr.. Hatcher said "let's say it
was my decision not to let the
press in" At another point,
when a reporter asked "is it
right that the White House did
not want photographers and
reporters at the outdoor cere-
mony?" Mr.. Hatcher replied "I
wouldn't say that. There was
no deliberate decision to ex-
clude the press"
When newSmen had gone
into Mr.. Hatcher's office a
little earlier for the regular II
am. press briefing, some had
asked about the Collier Trophy
ceremony which was set for
1880 and were told that it
probably would be delayed.
MIR. Hatcher said that as
soon as that briefing was over
he went up to check on the
ceremony and found it already
in progress. He said he then
decided not to invite reporters
and photographers out to wit
ness it because this would in
terrupt the ceremony. The
official guest list for the out
door ceremony included a num-
Der of aviation writing spe-
cialistS. t
The trophy was awarded to c
Admiral Raborn for the de-
velopment Of the PolariS sub h
marine missile system under t
his direction by the Navy, lr
science and industry. +
Goes on Cruise
A surprise cruise on the Po- p
tomac took President Kennedy C
out Of the White House yes a
terday for the first time since o
Monday. q
Mr.. Kennedy will take some q
more time off tonight to well e
come his wife back from Eu-
rope. p
Without advance word, Mr.. s
Kennedy slipped out of the n
White House at sunset yeSter- n
day and motored to the Naval p
Weapons Plant where he
boarded the Patrick j., one of e
the boats used by the First a
Family. is
Mr.. Kennedy and his COM F
panions-his sister and brother p
in-law, Mr.. and Mrs. Stephen a
Smith; a Harvard classlnate, n
Representative Mac d onald, y
Democrat Of Massachusetts,, a
and New York advertising man d
r. LeMoyne Billings-had
dinner aboard. After a lei I
surely cruise Of about 2 hours c
and 20 minutes they docked in s
Washington at 1905 pm. There h
were sprinkles of rain along the a
way. a
The President will see his c
wife for the first time tonight
since he left London June 5 at
the end of his Paris-Vienna-
London conferences. She went Il
on to Greece on a sightseeing h
trip.
Mrs. Kennedy, who didn't +
learn the extent of her hus- i
bands ailment until she read
Of it in the papers at Athens, C
is scheduled to land at II pm.