Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember whether he told you that, or how did you get that information or impression? Mr. BALLEN. I think he told me that he had traveled in the Soviet Union and finally ended up in a southwestern town and life was just incredibly boring and dismal. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you go into any details as to how the life was boring or dismal in the Soviet Union? Mr. BALLEN. No. This was my first visit with him and I knew he came down to see me in order to talk about a job, and I didn't want to impose on him. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you question him--did you have questions in your own mind as to where he obtained the funds to do this traveling? Mr. BALLEN. I had the impression that this was the kind of guy who could travel from one end of the continent to the other with very little money. He was dressed very modestly, and I, at least to me, he did, engender a certain amount of sympathy. In other words, the type of fellow that you would feel sorry for, and if he were hitchhiking, you might buy him a meal or something like that. I just had the feeling that this was a fellow who could get around and make his way and find his way and not require any sum of money to do it. Mr. LIEBELER. Is there any other thing that led you to that conclusion? Mr. BALLEN. No; I am sorry. I don't know more specifically. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever lend Oswald any money? Mr. BALLEN. No; I didn't. If at the time he had asked me to loan him money, I would have. But I would say that this would, that the thing that he kept impressing on me to the point where it just rubbed me the wrong way is, that he kept insisting, raising his voice a little bit; "Don't you worry about me, I will take care of myself, and I will get myself work, don't you worry about me." Telling that too many times to a prospective employer isn't quite the best technique. Mr. LIEBELER. You have testified that Oswald told you that he had received some training in the use of photographic equipment when he was in the Soviet Union. Did he mention any other training that he received in the Soviet Union? Mr. BALLEN. No; I think I discussed a little detail with him about photography, continuous cameras and things like that, and he stated that he could operate most of the machinery we had down at Ross Avenue. Mr. LIEBELER. Did he indicate to you a general comprehension and understanding of that type of machinery? Mr. BALLEN. I am not that familiar technically with the equipment myself to have gone into any explicit detail, but I mentioned different types of machinery, the M-4, blueprint machines, Repco continuous cameras, and he said yes, he could operate all those machines. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any discussion concerning his wife, Marina? Mr. BALLEN. No. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever meet Marina? Mr. BALLEN. No. Mr. LIEBELER. Do you speak Russian? Mr. BALLEN. No. Mr. LIEBELER. Did Oswald ever tell you that he had been in the hospital when he was in the Soviet Union? Mr. BALLEN. No.