Warren Commission (15 of 26): Hearings Vol. XV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (15 of 26): Hearings Vol. XV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. PALMER. Not at the outset. There was confusion in this respect
between the New York office and the west coast office. I remember
Mazzie’s office and Jackie Bright’s office--Bright was ousted and Bobby
Faye made several directives that were countermanded by the west coast,
and the union became rather decentralized in its authority.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But eventually did somebody who had jurisdiction over
Dallas issue a rule of some sort that there should be no continuous
shows?
Mr. PALMER. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Who was that?
Mr. PALMER. I issued it at the direction of Bobby Faye of New York
City, who was the executive administrator.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was that before or after the President was assassinated?
Mr. PALMER. Before.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long before?
Mr. PALMER. Probably about 6 months before.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was Jack Ruby’s response to that rule?
Mr. PALMER. Jack liked to pretend and let me know he was pretending to
comply fully. Agreeably, I should say. His mode of compliance again
was only a halfhearted thing, and he did take breaks which then split
the show into four shows a night. But I informed him that the breaks
weren’t adequate; they should be longer.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long were the breaks?
Mr. PALMER. They were supposed to be 40 minutes. He was taking a 20-
to 30-minute break. I had to rely almost entirely on the emcees to
clock this, other than sit in the club myself. When I sat in the club
myself, they occurred. When I didn’t, I knew they weren’t occurring,
so I had to rely on the emcees. And the emcees relied on Jack Ruby for
employment, and often were not too stringent in clocking the breaks. So
this, with the affidavits of B-drinking could be considered as creating
a little pressure on Jack.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You mentioned before that some of the employees couldn’t
take the pace that Jack set. What did you have in mind when you
referred to pace?
Mr. PALMER. I meant strictly from a legal standpoint. The continuous
show policy; the idea of being on the premises at all times; plus
Jack’s personality was not constantly one way or the other. It was a
highly fluctuating thing and often led to misunderstandings.
Many masters of ceremony quit because they felt Jack was directing from
the floor, which he has a right to do, but not to the embarrassment of
an entertainer.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How would he direct, from the floor?
Mr. PALMER. He would indicate on occasion that a dancer midway through
her dance should cut it short, or the master of ceremonies should cut a
specific routine of his short, often while he was doing the routine.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you ever told, or did you ever observe any kind of
performances that Jack Ruby didn’t approve of?
Mr. PALMER. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let’s focus strictly on the kind of joke that would be
told in the club. Were there any kind of jokes you learned he didn’t
permit to be told?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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