Mr. Liebeler. Did he appear to be in any way mentally unstable?
Mr. Ballen. Appeared to be just a little too much a hard head.
Mr. Liebeler. What makes you say that, Mr. Ballen?
Mr. Ballen. Too much a hard head?
Mr. Liebeler. Yes, sir; what do you mean by that?
Mr. Ballen. I—just his general conduct, his general responses, general bearing. He just seemed to be a little too aloof from society, and just seemed to know all things and everything a little too affirmatively, a little too dogmatically, but as far as feeling that he was mentally ill, I didn't come away with that feeling.
Mr. Liebeler. Do you remember any specific example of his efforts at self-improvement or self-education that you could give us?
Mr. Ballen. Well, he just indicated a wide range of readership, literature, and the fact that, my impression was one of a little curiosity, a chap out of Fort Worth who would go to the point of reading and becoming familiar with Marxian literature just struck me as someone who was displaying more than the normal amount of initiative.
Mr. Liebeler. Did you know at that time that he had received Marxian literature?
Mr. Ballen. Yes; I think I knew even in his offhanded reference to comments on those that he was using Marxian terminology.