The Pittsburgh Press (December 4, 1942)
Boston club laxity shown
Place wired without permit, worker testifies
Boston, Massachusetts (UP) –
Nearly 200 more witnesses will be called at the Cocoanut Grove inquest to substantiate fresh evidence of official laxity in connection with the holocaust that claimed 492 lives, it was disclosed today.
Latest evidence of irregularities came in the testimony of a Boston Navy Yard worker who said city inspectors knew wiring was being installed at the club without a permit, license or professional skill.
Another revelation was that Attorney General Robert T. Bushnell had viewed a bundle of checks for meals served free to persons of political importance.
Benjamin Elfman, a Boston Navy Yard worker, indicated the electrical work was done by a yard machinist – Raymond Baer – who once ran a burlesque theater switchboard for Barnett Welansky, the club’s owner.
Mr. Elfman said Mr. Baer called him in to put in wiring, but he refused to do it without a permit. Mr. Baer, he said, didn’t object to doing the work without a permit.
Investigators were also seeking to learn where materials for new work at the club were obtained. Contracts and specifications were seized for examination. As far as could be determined, no permission for the work was given by the War Labor Board which, under wartime regulations, permits only $200 worth of new construction or remodeling on such projects.