Evening star., 1962-12-26

| ""SSA "SV"~AASN w NAAS SUA Sesoo
Of a fish. ,, ...
Il examined his books and
he had them in every room but
the kitchen. I was struck by
the oddness of the collection.
They ranged over subjects from
star gazing to submarines.
They all seemed we'll worn. In
the kitchen, there was a TV
set and the caretaker said
Hemingway used to come In
to make bets with his servants
on the fights"
Castro seemed tired when
we were in the kitchen and
he sat on a stool while we all
leaned against the icebox and
against the walls to continue
the conversation. I asked Fidel
If he had an opinion about
Hemingway's death. He said
he thought Hemingway had
been a very sick man.
"The caretaker said Heming-
way had called about five days
before his death and said he
was not well. The man said
Hemingway told him he'd al
ways have a job.
"Fidel said Mrs. Hemingway
had asked permission to take
away some Of her husbands
pictures and books after his
death. He said he had per-
mitted her to do it. / suggested
to Castro that he might invite
her to come to Havana. He
said they had a good relation
ship with Mrs. Hemingway"
Not Smoking
Mr.. Prettyman said he no
ticed that Castro did not smoke
during all the time they were
together and it seemed to
bother him when someone else
did. Castro has been known as
a heavy smoker Of cigars.
"At about 1880 pm, we left
to tour Havana and we drove
to a huge l0-story housing
project surrounding a park
area. Crowds Swarmed around
us and many of them were
kids" Mr.. Prettyman said.
Castro told us people were
chosen for the apartments
on the basis of the size Of their
families. One family in the
crowd had six children, another
had 10.
Castro said the rent was
fixed at 10 per cent Of fam
ily's income but he didn't say
whether it was by the week or
by the month. Fidel asked one
man what he paid and the
man said 1910 pesos"
(The peso Is figured to be
worth about eight cents now
but actually is unacceptable in
world markets. Therefore, 1t
has value only In Cuba)
Then the motorcade went
back to the ship. A huge truck
loaded with Gerber's baby food
passed and Fidel appeared to
be cheerful, Mr.. PrettymanI
said. The Cuban. leader re-
peated his prediction that the
ship would be unloaded in less
than "a hours and said he
would declare a 24-hour truce
with the United States, Mr..
Prettyman recalled.
"The captain said he'd set
his watch to be sure he was
gone when the truce ended
and Fidel laughed genially," Mr..
Pretyman said. II thanked him
and he said 1t had been a good
trip as we shook hands. After
dinner I went to bed in the
Havana Libre Hotel which is
sumptuous and obviously a
show-place. They gave DR..
Scheele and myself a suite of
rooms.
Excitement at Airfield
Next day December 24 Il
was up att and called for car
to take us out to the air field. |
When we got there, we found
great excitement and confusion. |
Word had come that Fidel had !
agreed to let the families Of
the prisoners go to the United
States.
MY mission was to obtain /
permission from United States
authorities and many others
connected with the project and
send word back to Cuba how
many could 60. / left on the
second plane with a contingent
of prisoners"
This was the Clipper Bald
Eagle which touched down at
Homestead at 1925 am. with
l09 prisoners. Reporters saw
Mr.. Prettyman hasten down the
stairway and drive away in a
waiting car but did not at that
time know who he was. Later,
he told a press conference he
had been asked to join in max
ing transportation arrange
ments by Mr.. Nolan.)
II told our people about the
relatives. We had TO clear II
with the shipping line. Immi-
grafton, Customs and many
others"
Mr.. Prettyman left Florida
In time 10 rejoin his family
Christmas Eve night. He be-
lieves his connection with the
Cuban prisoners exchange is
over now.
1T has BEEN" he said with
great restraint, "a busy two
weeks"