Mr. JENNER. That you rented the apartment.
Mr. WEISSMAN. About the middle of the first week after we arrived in
Dallas.
Mr. JENNER. Which should be approximately what date?
Mr. WEISSMAN. About the 7th or so of November.
Mr. JENNER. What did you do thereafter in the way of furthering the
business of CUSA?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Well, we were thinking of buying a fourplex, a
four-family apartment house.
Mr. JENNER. Where were you going to get the money?
Mr. WEISSMAN. We could have gotten a loan, we hoped, with no
downpayment, because of the fact we are GI's, through the FHA, or VA,
and we were counting on that. So we were looking around. We had also
planned to take over a private club, manage a private club, with an
option to buy it.
Mr. JENNER. What club was that?
Mr. WEISSMAN. That was the Ducharme Club.
Mr. JENNER. That was in Dallas?
Mr. WEISSMAN. In Dallas; yes.
Mr. JENNER. Where did you become acquainted with that possible business
opportunity?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Well, this had been broached by Larrie. This was one of
the big disappointments. We had been promised by Larrie we wouldn't
have any trouble making a living, that he had jobs and everything set
up for us. That is one of the reasons I chucked my job in New York. I
figured we would be able to survive down there.
We got to the Ducharme Club, after a day or two, and it was a miserable
hole in the wall that you could not really do anything with. But we
were still dickering with the owner on the potentials.
Mr. DULLES. What did this club purport to do?
Mr. WEISSMAN. It was a private club. They sold liquor and beer over the
bar to members.
Mr. DULLES. Entertainment?
Mr. WEISSMAN. They had a dance floor and jukebox.
Mr. JENNER. Who--do you recall the names of any of the people
interested in the Ducharme Club?
Mr. WEISSMAN. The owners?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. WEISSMAN. The only one I know of is Leon Ducharme, the owner.
Mr. JENNER. Did Jack Ruby or Jack Rubenstein have any interest in this
club?
Mr. WEISSMAN. No; not as far as I know.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever meet Jack Ruby or Jack Rubenstein?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Never.
Mr. JENNER. Did you become acquainted with the Carousel Club when you
were in Dallas?
Mr. WEISSMAN. I was never in it, and I still don't know where it is.
Mr. JENNER. You were never in it; you don't know where it is. Did you
hear of it when you were there?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Never. As a matter of fact, in the entire 3-1/2 weeks or
so that Bill and I were in Dallas, we didn't go to the movies at all.
The only two clubs that I can recall that we went into was the Lavender
Lounge----
Mr. JENNER. Where is that located?
Mr. WEISSMAN. That is in Dallas.
Mr. JENNER. Where?
Mr. WEISSMAN. I don't recall the street.
Mr. JENNER. It is downtown, is it?
Mr. WEISSMAN. No; it is not downtown. This is--it was about two blocks
from our apartment. And it is about, I guess, a good 30-minute walk to
downtown from there. And the only other club would be the Ducharme Club.
Mr. JENNER. Where was that located?
Mr. WEISSMAN. That was on Haskell Avenue, in Dallas.
Mr. JENNER. How far from the downtown area, if at all?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Well, to make it conveniently, you should take a bus.
Otherwise, about a 20-minute walk.
Mr. JENNER. From the Ducharme Club to the downtown area of Dallas?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes, sir; and the reason we went to the Ducharme Club
after the fact we decided we were not going to take it, was that that
was a place we could get credit for beer. Larrie had a charge account
there. And that was the extent of our association with that place.