That is roughly some surrounding towns, and I take care of the general news coverage in that area.

Mr. Liebeler.

At the request of the President's Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted certain investigations into the facts surrounding a story that appeared in the November 28, 1963, edition of the Dallas Times Herald.

Mr. Schmidt.

Thanksgiving Day; that's right.

Mr. Liebeler.

The story related to the possibility that Lee Harvey Oswald had had a telescopic sight mounted on a rifle at a sports shop in Irving, Tex.

Mr. Schmidt.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Liebeler.

It is my understanding from reviewing the FBI report, that you were ,the reporter that wrote that story?

Mr. Schmidt.

I gathered .facts for the story and gave the facts to the rewrite man who wrote the actual story, but they were from the facts that I gathered. We were checking out several, running down all clues and all possible reports at that time. Anything that might be a lead to the story, we checked out. We checked out many many things of ,that nature, and that was just one of the tips that I checked out.

Mr. Liebeler.

Where did you first get information that Oswald had had a scope mounted on his rifle at this Irving sport shop?

Mr. Schmidt.

We heard of it, I think it was around the police station somewhere. I don't remember where that exact tip came from. We heard that a gunsight had been mounted by a man named Ryder, and they thought at first it was Garland.

Mr. Liebeler.

You mean Garland, Tex.?

Mr. Schmidt.

Garland, Tex.; that's right. Since that was my beat, well, they gave me the tip to check it and I checked it in Garland and found out that there wasn't any Ryder listed in the city directory and so forth, so I did it by process of elimination and checked several towns, and I found, well, I came to rest on Irving, because I found the Ryder there listed as the sports shop man, and I just took it that that was the gunsmith.

Mr. Liebeler.

Do you recall whether Ryder, when you checked the city directory, that Ryder was listed as being associated with a gunshop, or did you just find the name Ryder and call him?

Mr. Schmidt.

I don't remember exactly what I found in the city directory then. It was a process of elimination, and apparently that looked like the only one in Irving, so I checked that.

Mr. Liebeler.

Now, did there come a time when you called Mr. Ryder on the telephone?

Mr. Schmidt.

Yes; this was Thanksgiving morning. In fact, that is the same morning I got the tip. After the process of elimination, I called Ryder and it was early that morning. I called out there, and a woman answered the phone, and he apparently had gotten out of bed, from the time it took. He sounded sleepy on the phone and so forth. So I talked to him then on the phone and asked him about the information I got for the story.

Mr. Liebeler.

How long did you talk to him on the phone about that?

Mr. Schmidt.

Oh, I am just guessing. I would estimate 15 minutes or roughly thereabouts.

Mr. Liebeler.

What did he tell you?

Mr. Schmidt.

He told me I asked if he had a customer--now this is a tip we got, that this Ryder mounted a scope for a customer, and the customer's name on the ticket with the gun was Oswald. And he confirmed on the phone that morning. And the reason I took it as the truth was because I didn't think a fellow would get out of bed early and make up a story half asleep and fabricate a story that early in the morning, and get out of bed on a holiday. He told me that he had a ticket with the name Oswald on it, that it was a foreign-made rifle, that he did put the scope, bored the holes and sighted it in. I asked him if he bought any ammunition, and he said no; he didn't. I think he said he didn't remember him buying any ammunition. He then gave me the prices for the mounting of the scope, $1.50. I think he said he bored. three at $1.50 a sight, and $4.50 for the boresighting--I mean for the hole drilling. And $1.50 for the sighting in of the rifle. And let's see, after he gave me the prices and everything,