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Title: MITCHELL DEFENSE IS ENDED WITHOUT COLONEL ON STAND Mark. State -11/19/25 Accused Officer Will Not Testify-Prosecution Prepares Rebuttal. FAMOUS FLYERS BACK CHARGES OF MITCHELL Rickenbacker, Chambers and Wade Add More Details to Dark Picture of Air Service. Completing the examination of defense witnesses, the court-martial of Col. William Mitchell entered its final stages this afternoon after a day featured by the appearance for the defense of three of America's outstanding flyers. The defense announced that Col. Mitchell would not take the stand in his own defense, but that is was ready to dispose of the stipulated evidence and then rest its case upon exhausting its long list of witnesses by the appearance of Eddie Rickenbacker and Reed Chambers, American aces, and Lieut. Leigh Wade, around-the-world flyer. The prosecution will then begin its rebuttal drive and after a few other skirmishes the jury of generals will be ready to announce whether they believe Col. Mitchell guilty or not guilty of violating the ninety-sixth article of war. Statements today of a fourth witness-H.W. Sheridan. Air Service observer aboard the Langley, Navy aircraft carrier during the Hawaiian maneuvers-to the effect that there was mismanagement of the ship and its planes-were branded by the prosecution this afternoon as "inaccurate." "In other words, he doesn't know what he is talking about," the court was told by Maj. Francis B. Wilby, general staff member of the prosecution. The judge advocate was granted a delay in order to consult a 200-page document which it was claimed would prove the incorrectness of many of the witness' assertions. All three of the first named testified in support generally of various statements made by the accused in criticism of the Government's air policies. Capt. Rickenbacker, among other things, told the court that America stands eight among the nations of the world in regard to air power, naming, under cross-examination, France, England, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan and Poland as leading this Nation. His statement first was stricken out, but by cross-examination it again got into the record in a different form. Subtitle: Scores Parachute Lack. The witness said it was "suicide" to send aviators aloft in an airship without parachutes, in the same way that it would be to send a ship to sea without life preservers. Col. Mitchell had made substantially the same claim in his arraignment of the Navy for "criminal negligence" in connection with the Shenandoah crash. Rickenbacker and Chambers both declared that the present flying equipment of the Army would be useless in the event of another war, and the former added that they are extremely dangerous under any conditions. "The graveyards near the various flying fields prove this to be so," the witness announced, but his remark was ruled out on objection by the prosecution. Lieut. Wade criticized the Navy's handling of the Hawaiian flight, declaring that 200 miles apart, in his opinion, was too great a distance between pilot ships. Subtitle: Make Flight Hazardous He said that ships this distance apart, in his opinion, would make the flight hazardous to human life. Answering a hypothetical line of questions, Lieut. Wade said that there should have been only tow men aboard the Hawaiian planes, and that they should have used smoke bombs for getting their bearings, instead of depending on radio. Representative Frank R. Reid, chief counsel for Col. Mitchell, announced today that the defense would complete its case this afternoon or tomorrow and that the accused would take the stand in his own behalf. Lieut. H. W. Sheridan of Keely Field, Tex., who was the Army Air Service observer aboard the aircraft carrier Langley at the Hawaiian maneuvers, told of an incident during the operations when the Langley came within five feet of being "destroyed" through collision with the West Virginia on leaving San Francisco Harbor for the Hawaiian Islands. His testimony about the maneuvers was objected to by the prosecution on the grounds it might be secret, but the witness replied: "There is nothing secret about it unless we want to suppress the condition of aviation in the Navy." Subtitle: Suprised at Figures. Both Rickenbacker and Chambers expressed surprise at figures quoted by Maj. Francis B. Wilby, general staff member of the prosecution, regarding the percentage of hits made by American anti-aircraft batteries during the World War. Both aces agreed that their experiences had taught them that anti-aircraft fire was absolutely ineffective and Chambers announced that the figures quoted by Maj. Wilby "were extraordinary." "I have wondered why I was not officially credited with more German planes," Chambers announced to the court. When the prosecution asked Rickenbacker if he did not know that official records showed the America's bombing planes during the war flew at altitudes over 12,000 feet, the witness responded vigorously that he certainly did not know it, and challenged the accuracy of the records. He said he never flew above 10,000 feet. Asked if he knew why the records should be falsified he said he couldn't express an opinion about that, but told the court that he wouldn't be surprised at anything stated in the official records. Subtitle: Record of Army. Under cross-examination by Maj, Wilby, who sought the witness' opinion regarding figures quoted to show the effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire in the World War, Mr. Chambers expressed great surprise that such a record was claimed by the Army. Maj, Wilby asked Mr. Chambers if he was aware that out of 520 shots fired by the 5th Anti-Aircraft Battery during the war, one enemy plane was brought down and out of 2,116 shots fired by the 2d Batery, two planes were destroyed. The witness replied that if this were true it was "extraordinary." The prosecution continued to quote figures for other anti-aircraft batteries and quoted a total of 17 planes destroyed out of 10,723 shots fired or an average of one plane per 605 shots. As Maj. Wilby read a paper, Mr. Reid entered an objection on the ground that the paper should be introduced, but this objection was overruled. "Are you aware that 605 rounds, the number proved necessary during the war to bring down on plane, can be discharged in 10 minutes?" demanded Maj. Wilby. Subtitle: Never Saw It Happen. "I never saw any such results in the thousands of shots I saw fired in actual service," replied the witness. But if such records were proved to be true, would this change your conclusion?" asked the prosecution. "Not in the slightest." asserted the witness in positive tone. Then Maj. Wilby quoted the figures designed to show the apparent effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire during the war. Mr. Chambers ejaculated: "No, I'm not aware of all this. It makes me wonder why I was not given official credit for the other planes I shot down." Chambers officially is credited with the next highest number of enemy planes to Eddie Rickenbacker's total. Subtitle: Construction of Amphibians. Lieut. Wade, who followed Mr. Chambers to the stand, described the construction of the amphibian planes used by the Navy for the Macmillan expedition and supported Col. Mitchell's views that they were not strong enough for use in the Arctic and that they had not been properly tested. He told the court they were still considered an experimental type of plane. Switching to the Hawaiian flight charges of Col. Mitchell, Mr. Reid questioned Lieut. Wade regarding the placing of the Navy patrol vessels for the flight. The world flyer expressed the opinion that 200 miles was too great a distance by which to separate the patrol ships. He said to have them this far apart was hazardous to human life. He said that in his opinion the Hawaiian planes should have had but two men aboard and should have carried smoke bombs, plenty of gas and oil and extra rations. He said he would have used the same system for the Hawaiian flight as he and his mates used in the round-the-world flight. Subtitle: Use of Radio. When Mr. Reid asked the witness regarding the advisability of using radio to get bearings during a long flight, Maj. Gullion arose to object on the grounds that while he would like to hear more of Lieut. Wade's "interesting narration" Comdr. Rodgers or Capt. Moses could give the best evidence in this connection. Mr. Reid protested that the defense had asked for Capt. Moses, Comdr. Rodgers and "nearly every one else," but hadn't gotten them, whereupon the prosecution announced that the assistant defense counsel had been notified yesterday that Capt. Moses was in town and cound be summoned at any moment. The controversy ended with an agreement to call Capt. Moses. Changing the line of questioning in deference to the wishes of the prosecution, Mr. Reid questioned the witness as to the methods of navigation employed by the world flyers over long expanses of water. Lieut. Wade explained that no use was made of radio because of the extra weight entailed by such apparatus, but that smoke bombs were used instead to enable the aviators to place their bearings and check their angles of drigt. He testified that this system worked out very satisfactorily. He said that if they had used radio there was the possibility of it falling, and in that event they would have been left to navigate for themselves. Lieut. Wade told of the forcing down of his ship, the Boston, In the North Sea, near the Faroe Islands and of being picked up by a British trawler and turned over to a Navy destroyer. In the response to a question by Mr. Reid, Lieut. Wade admitted that he was seriously considering getting out of the Army Air Service, explaining that there was "very little opportunity for a future in it." Subtitle: Destruction Was Accident. Lieut. Wade declared in his opinion the Navy did not give the Arctic planes sufficient test before taking them north. "Do you consider the matter of air navigation still to be in the experimental stage?" asked Maj. Gullion. "I do not," the witness replied. "Did the Navy destroy your plane?" questioned Mr. Reid. "Yes." Maj. Gullion drew from the witness that the world flyers "in practically every case were consulted by the Navy before any decision was made affecting the flight and that the attitude of the Navy was one of cooperation." Lieut. Wade further declared in answer to questions that the destruction of his plane in the North Atlantic was an accident and "not malicious." President Howze took up the questioning for the court and asked the witness if the United States is exposed to a foreign air attack, and Lieut. Wade replied he desired not to answer the question in open court, as it involved confidential matter. He added however, it would be possible for an enemy air force "to come overland and establish its own base on our territory." Subtitle: Rickenbacker on Stand. Capt. Rickenbacker, America's ace of aces, with 26 enemy planes to his credit, took the stand after the world flyer and qualified to testify by relating his interesting war record. He spent 300 hours flying over enemy lines, he said, but enemy anti-aircraft fire never kept him from carrying out his mission. To his knowledge no American plane was brought down by enemy ground fire, with the possible exception of Lieut. Hamilton Coolidge, who, the witness thought, was caught in an American artillery barrage. One enemy plane was shot down by American anti-aircraft, he testified. The famous ace, nine times decorated with the American Distinguish Service Cross and numerous foreign honors, declared that although enemy observation balloons were protected by "flower gardens" of incendiary ammunition, phosphorus balls called "flaming onions" and a constant antiaircraft cross-fire, this did not prevent him or other American pilots from shooting them down. No American pilot was killed in these attempts, he added. Reserve officers, the witness said, should have at least one hour of actual flying per week aside from any military instruction on the ground in order to be of value to the country in time of emergency. Subtitle: Experience of Langley. Lieut. H. W. Sheridan of Kelly Field, Tex., and Army air service observer aboard the aircraft carrier Langley during the Hawaiian maneuvers, took the stand to give testimony, as Mr. Reid said, to show the Langley "couldn't keep up with the fleet and that there was mishandling of planes on board." Lieut. Sheridan began his story by saying the fleet was to leave the harbor of San Francisco with the object of clearing it in the shortest possible time, when Col. Moreland objected and asked the witness if he, in uniform, did not consider his testimony secret when it concerned war maneuvers. "There is nothing in my testimony I consider secret," replied Lieut. Sheridan, "unless we want to suppress a condition of aviation in the Navy." Col. Moreland jumped up and snapped out:" I move to spike out that answer as a matter of common decency," Motion Not Acted On. The motion, however, was not acted upon. Returning to his testimony the witness said he had been told by two officers on the Langley and saw by documents that the object was to clear the harbor when Maj. Wilby this time interrupted to low if the witness was telling about the problem. "You don't, know anything about Navy problems," smilingly said Mr. Reid. "Your business is with the Army." Mix-Up of Ships. Mr. Reid then asked if there was a mix-up of ships on the way out and the witness replied there was. "Was the Langley nearly destroyed?" he asked. "It was. It came within five feet of colliding with the West Virginia." Maj. Gullion this time objected and his action drew a rebuke from Col. Winship, the law member, who said it was the city of the trial judge advocate or the man appointed for cross-examination to object and not any one of the assistants. The witness again returned to his story. The Langley left San Francisco April 15 and arrived off Hawaii on the 27th. It traveled at a speed of 12 knots, and the fleet stayed behind all the time. When the maneuvers began the problem was to seize a land base on the Island of Molaki, the witness said, and the Navy needed planes to attack. There were not enough in the fleet and only 17 on the Langley, and in the problem provision was made for "constructive" planes or in effect simulated craft. To get them from the hold of other vessels it was necessary to come alongside and transfer them to the flying deck of the Langley. The object was to bring these half-assembled planes on to the deck and "fly them immediately to the field," The witness explained, however, that it was clearly understood by both sides. One of the ships to deliver the "constructive" planes was the Camden, which did not come alongside, however, owing to the danger from the swells, Lieut. Sheridan said. "During the night the constructive planes were transferred to the Langley, however, and at 3 a.m. they were flown to the landing field on Molaki," he related. "Up to this time there had been no actual flying from the ship. On the afternoon of the 26th two planes took off for scouting purposes, flew a few minutes and returned. The next morning 15 planes left, four crashed and two landed on the deck." At this point Mr. Reid interrupted to request a recess for lunch and announced he would continue with the witness this afternoon. --- BALTIMORE AMERICAN Arthur Brisbane NOV 19 192[[?]] Is our national aircraft department well managed. Does it ENCOURAGE FLYING? That question interest President Coolidge, who has strived earnestly to encourage flying, commercial and military. The President got an answer to the question yesterday from Lieut. Leigh Wade, a first-class American aviator, one of those that made the first flight around the world. He says at the farcical and disgraceful Mitchell trial: "I intend to resign from the Army Service because it offers little opportunity." There are some other resignations that would please the people more, and the President ought to urge them.
