Viewing page 23 of 75

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

GULLION'S TACTICS DRAW HOT REBUKE IN MITCHELL TRIAL 

Failure to Heed Court Warning Arouses Sharp Displeasure of Winship. 

'STOP MEANS STOP,' ARMY COUNSEL IS INFORMED 

Reid Earlier in Day Takes Judges' Order as a Personal Affront. 

Continuing to show its displeasure at the conduct of counsel of late during the Mitchell trial, the court this afternoon severely lectured Maj. Allen Gullion of the prosecution for failing to heed the admonitions of the court. 

The afternoon flurry, which followed an earlier flare-up between the court and Representative Frank R. Reid, chief counsel for the defense, occurred when Maj. Gullion continued to shout his protests at the questioning of a witness by Mr. Reid, despite stern efforts of Col. Blanton Winship, law member of the court, to quell him. 

Raising his voice to a high pitch, Col. Winship said: "I want this understood--when I say stop, I mean that you shall stop right there." Col. Winship added that he felt he was capable of handling situations that arose upon asking the advice of counsel, but indicated his resentment of the persistent disregard of his attempts to quiet the frequent wrangles between counsel. 

Maj. Gullion apologized to the court and complimented the law member on his fairness. 

Mr. Reid this morning took offense at a formal warning issued by the court against "insulting" of witnesses. 

Taking the court's admonition as a personal rebuke to him in connection with yesterday's spirited furore between himself and Maj. Gen. William S. Graves, Mr. Reid interrupted the opening efforts of the prosecution with a demand that the warning be made to apply not only to the defense but to the prosecution.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin A. Poore turned to Maj. Gen. Robert Howze, president of the court, and suggested that it was apparent the defense had misinterpreted the court's announcement, and had regarded it as applying solely to the one side.

Court Voices Regret. 

"I certainly did understand it that way," Mr. Reid stated.

Gen. Howze expressed regret that the defense had "taken it that way" and pointed out that the admonition has been directed at both the prosecution and the defense. 

The ban on "insulting" of witnesses was announced after a long conference in an ante-room, during which the opening of the regular court session correspondingly was delayed. As the generals filed into the room the president picked up a copy of the official court-martial manual and read from it the paragraph concerning protection of witnesses. 

The tilt yesterday between Gen. Graves and Mr. Reid occurred during a controversy between the latter and Maj. Allen Gullion, assistant prosecutor, over the "personal" mature of questions being put to a prosecution witness.

Maj. Hullion at the time declared that the court should not permit the witness to be subjected to "unfair questions," and he referred to the paragraph governing restrictions on examinations of witnesses.

The only witness who testified at the morning session of the trial today was Comdr. Kenneth Whiting from the Naval Bureau of Aeronautics, an expert on aircraft carriers. He declared the United States led the world in naval aviation, but admitted that she was behind with respect to aircraft carriers. He said that America's only carrier now in commission, the Langley, ranked fourth among the seven carriers now in existence. 

Court Reads Order.

The test of the paragraph for the "protection of witnesses" contained in the court-martial manual and which was read by Gen. Howze when court opened follows:

"It is the duty of the court to protect every witness from irrelevant, insulting or improper questions, from harsh or insulting treatment and from unnecessary inquiry into his private affairs. The court must forbid any question which appears to be intended merely to insult or annoy a witness, or which, though pertinent itself, appears to be needlessly offensive in form."

"Please take notice," the president of the court warned when he had completed his reading.

Maj. Gullion had scarcely begun to question Comdr. Whiting regarding his experience in aviation when the interruption of Mr. Reid took place. Maj. Gullion had asked the witness if he were not the first man to demonstrate the feasibility of launching a human being from a submarine through a torpedo tube, and defense counsel, arising to face the court said:

"Under the admonition of the court the rules of the manual regarding inquiry into the personal and irrelevant affairs of the witness should apply to the prosecution as well as to the defense, and I object to that question.

Thinks Warning Personal.

"It seems that Mr. Reid regards this warning of the court as directed only at him," remarked Gen. Poor.

"I certainly did understand it that way," the Illinois Representative replied empathetically.

"I don't see why he should have taken it that way, when I said expressly that it applied to all parties," said Gen. Howze.

"I know you said that," Mr. Reid rejoined, "but I was talking about how I understood it."

"I am very sorry, Mr. Reid," President Howze said. "I didn't mean it that way."

Maj. Gullion, between sips from a steaming mug of coffee, which he had poured from a quart jar brought into the room by an orderly, then continued to question the witness.

Describes Plane Carrier.

Comdr. Whiting was qualified before the court as an expert on aircraft carriers. He testified that the U. S. S. Langley, the Navy's only commissioned aircraft carrier, ranks fourth among the seven existing aircraft carriers now in commission in the world. He that the Langley was the "slowest of all carriers in the world," but pointed out in [[on]] her behalf that she has the largest storage space for planes of any carrier, that her landing and launching efficiency with regard to airplanes is as much as could be desired, and that no injuries to personnel have ever occurred from the small percentage of crashes which have occurred on her deck.

Comdr. Whiting told the court that when the new converted battle cruisers, the Saratoga and Lexington, are put into commission as aircraft carriers they will be as large as any carrier in the world, more powerful than any, and should be capable of great speed. He said they will be "quite modern" when completed. He told of the Nacy's interest in carriers over a long period and pointed to the recommendation of the general board in 1915 that two large vessels exclusively for operation of planes with the fleet be constructed He said that Col. Mitchell had recommended the building of two aircraft carriers "some time during the period between 1919 and 1925, but added that it was four years before that time that they Navy general board had made its recommendations.

British Service Cited.

The questioning then turned to Great Britain's experiences with a separate air force, and the prosecution put into the record part of a report by British national defense committee in which some modification of the air ministry operations was suggested.

Later on the British unified air force plans again came in for discussion, with Mr. Reid entering vigorous objections to the line of questioning put out by the prosecution. The court sustained several of these objections, and Maj. Gullion explained that he through the witness was qualified to express his opinion of the success of Great Britain's air policies under a unified plan.

He withdrew his questions, however, and asked instead how America compared with Great Britain with regard to the air service. 

Says U. S. Leads World. 
"We lead the world in naval aviation. We are behind in carriers," asserted Cmdr. Whiting. The witness told in detail of the provisions being made by Great Britain, Italy, France and Japan for operation of planes with the fleet, and he declared that the United States is leading all other countries with regard to catapults for launching planes at sea, and operates more plates with the fleet than Great Britain despite the fact that the latter nation is ahead with respect to aircraft carriers. He said that Japan has one carrier in commission and two others in process of conversion; that the French are converting one ship into a carrier at present, and that Italy has no carriers. 

Commander Whiting told of the bombing of the battleship Washington, which has come in for criticism by Col. Mitchell, and defended the conduct of those tests. He explained that it was the plan to test the vulnerability of the ship; first, to underwater explosion; second, to armor-piercing bombs dropped from airplanes on her deck, and third, to gunfire. 

He told of numerous charges of TNT being exploded against her hull and of the dropping of a 14-inch shell from which the explosive charge had been removed. In the latter case, he said, it was the sole intention to find the depth than an armor-piercing shell would penetrate her deck. He denied that it was "misleading" to say that a 2,000-pound bomb had been exploded against her hull, as he declared the 1,000 pounds of TNT used approximated the explosive power of such a bomb.

He also denied that it was misleading to drop a non-explosive bomb on the deck of the Washington during these tests.

Says 99 Planes are Ready.

Turned over to Mr. Reid for cross-examination, the witness testified there isn't a single fighting plane in the Navy on active duty today that can compare with the Army pursuit place now in service. After lengthy questioning on the number of planes in the various squadrons with the fleet the witness arrived at a total of 99, all of which he said should be ready for action.

Mr. Reid went into great detail on the performance of the new torpedo, bombing and scouting plane of the Navy known as the CS and finally developed an answer to his question that this type of plane never had carried a 2,000-pound bomb to an altitude of 6,000 feet. Comdr. Whiting previously had testified that the full load ceiling of the CS was 6,500 feet. He added he never knew of a 2,000-pound bomb being dropped from this altitude.

The torpedo planes with the fleet, Comdr. Whiting said, are equal or compare favorably with the same type of craft in other navies. "Can the British bring pursuit planes to sea?" asked Mr. Reid.

"Yes," replied the witness.

"Can we carry pursuit planes to sea?"

Have no Pursuit Planes.

"We could if we had them."

"Well, do we have any?"

"No."

"What is the purpose of planes with the fleet?"

"For observation and offensive work."

"Then if the Navy cannot take pursuit planes to seat it is not equipped offensively? The British can?"

"I said we can take them to sea when we get them."

The witness was subjected to lengthy cross-examination on the matter of carriers, since he had qualified as a carrier expert. Numerous questions brought out the fact that the Langley, the Navy's experimental carrier, carries 36 planes ready for action and 60 in the hold. However, the witness admitted that the flying deck can accommodate only about 10 at one time, and in order to get more planes in the air they had those on the fly-off deck take the air to make room for those below.

Asks Information Source.

Mr. Reid demanded the source of Cmdr. Whiting's information on foreign carriers and asked if it always was correct. Cmdr. Whiting replied it not always was correct, but it was given him in naval attache reports, publications, photographs and from personal conversations with persons who had seen the ships in question. The object of Mr. Reid's examination along this line was to exonerate the accused from statements made before congressional committees that the British ships Rodney and Nelson were half battleships and half carriers. Cmdr. Whiting said his first information on the two ships was to the same effect, but since they have been launched and persons have seen them it develops they are not what was originally rumored to be. 

Cmdr. Whiting said he had not seen foreign carriers since 1918 when he was aboard a British and a French ship of this type. It is on the information he obtained personally at that time that he bases his conclusion that the landing facilities on the Langley are as good as, if not better than, other nations'. He admitted the possibility of an improvement in the method of retarding the speed of airplanes once they hit the deck of foreign carriers, but declared he had no positive knowledge to this effect. 

Cmdr. Whiting vigorously defended the test conducted against the hull of the battleship Washington the early part of this year, and declared the Navy did not attempt to give the impression that airplane bombs could not sink a battleship. The tests were in three phases, he said, first, to determine the effect against the bottom of high explosives placed in the water alongside; to determine the effect of an armor-piercing shell, built like a bomb, and dropped from an airplane onto the protective deck, and, third, the effect of gunfire against the sides of the ship which embodied the very latest in battleship construction. 

When Mr. Reid read testimony given by Admiral Hilary Hones before the Lampert aircraft committee about the tests which he said was "misleading," the witness declared the admiral had given a very fair examination of what took place and what was intended. The court then recessed for luncheon.