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"Do you think it fair to Gen. Drum to make a statement you have made without taking into consideration the geographical position of this and other countries?"

"I think it is."

Representative Reid then arose and said when Gen. Drum made his statement he said it was evident from these figures that the flying personnel compared favorably with other nations. Mr. Reid indicated he desired no further examination, and President Howze took up the questioning for the court. He inquired of the organization of the various European air powers, and then asked: "What do you mean by the term propaganda?"

"It is information given out with the view of influencing the minds of other people as you would have them influenced," replied Maj. Arnold. 

"What percentage of the airplane crashes you have talked about were due to material  defects and errors of judgment of the pilots?"

"Twenty-seven per cent to structural failure and 57 per cent to judgment."

Maj. Arnold thought the American casualties in aviation were about on a par with England. 

DECLARES TROPICS CRAFT GIVEN BYRD
Wash. Star 11/11/25.
Lieut. Col. Gilmore Backs Mitchell Charges in Court-Martial.

Testimony corroborative of Col. Mitchell's charges that the MacMillan Arctic expedition used improperly designed planes; that the National Guard and reserve flying units are neglected, and that the Navy did not ask the Army for parachutes to use on the Shenandoah, was made to record during the session yesterday afternoon. 

Lieut. Col. W. E. Gilmore, chief supply officer of the Army Air Service, stated that the planes used by Comdr. Byrd in the North where borrowed by the Navy from the Army, which had purchased them for use in Hawaii, the Philippines and Panama. Col. Mitchell has charged that these ships where designed for use in the tropics. Col. Gilmore also said that while the MacMillan party was on its way North the Army was still testing this type of plane that McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, and that during a test on July 1 a serious defect had developed in the stabilizing and elevating apparatus. 

Asked That Navy Be Warned. 

Representative Reid introduced in the record a letter from the commander of McCook Field to the chief of the Air Service, calling attention to this defect and urging that the Navy be informed of this development before the MacMillan party proceeded any further. The letter said that tests of the plane would be greatly delayed. 

Col. Gilmore also told the court that the Army had 2,000 parachutes on hand at the time of the Shenandoah crash, and that the Navy had  not requested any of these. 

Lieut. Col. W. G. Schauffler of this city, in command of the Air Reserves for this district, told of being under fire repeatedly over the German lines during the last war, but of the ineffectiveness of this kid of gunfire. He said that the flying reserve group for this district but a "paper organization," and that there is little opportunity for the reserve flyers to get together and obtain the necessary flying practice. He said he thought that possibly 500 of the 6,000 reserve aviators in this country could be made fit to fly within a week or two of training in the event of war. Most of then would be useless in war time, he declared. 

Maj. Henry J. F. Miller, in charge of Air Service Matters in the Militia Bureau, told of the National Guard flying units in various States, and testifies they suffered from insufficient equipment. What planes they have available, he asserted, were JN Training Ships, a type he considered "bad business" to use. 

Coolidge Urged To Let Mitchell Attend Banquet
NEW YORK, Nov. 9.
PRESIDENT COOLIDGE has been urged to allow Colonel William Mitchell, now detained in Washington under technical arrest, to visit New York as the guest of honor at an American Legion banquet Wednesday night. The petition reads:
"As Commander in Chief of the Army—with power to so act, we, representing Aviator's Post, No. 743, American Legion, New York city, respectfully ask that you allow Colonel William Mitchell to be guest of honor at our dinner Armistice night, at the hotel Roosevelt, New York city. Hundreds of men who served with Colonel Mitchell, during the war, will appreciate your favorable action in the matter." Recall - 11/10/25

Mark Star - 11/11/25
[[image]]
AT THE MITCHELL TRIAL YESTERDAY. Capt. Robert Oldys and Col. Mitchell in the courtroom. The captain was the first witness at yesterday's session, and he testified regarding the death of Maj. Sheldon Hartley Wheeler of the Hawaiian group of flyers.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood.

Mitchell Denied Leave to Speak On Armistice Day
By the Associated Press. Star - 11/11/25
Permission for Col. William Mitchell to go to New York today to make an Armistice day address has been denied by the War Department.
The aviators' post of the New York City American Legion wanted the Air Service officer to speak before it, but the adjutant general informed thee post that the request could not be considered because Col. Mitchell's presence at his court-martial here was necessary.

His Threats Caused Death of Flier, Says Witness
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MAJ. GEN. C. F. SUMMERALL, Ousted member of the Mitchell court-martial, where threats to hold fliers in Hawaii personally and financially responsible for damage to their planes caused the death of Major Wheeler, a pilot, according to Captain Robert Oldys, of the war planes section of the War Department, who testified today in defense of the flying colonel.