The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-08
HE TELLS OF A LEAK
NAVY DEPARTMENT IS NOW ON THE
 DEFENSIVE.
Witness in Liiley Investigation Was Regular, Supplied With Con- fidential information From
 Official SOurcea--NO
 Namen Given.

Washington. April 7-The Navy De- pertinent and not the Electric Boat Company, was virtually under investi- gation today by the special house com Tnittee inquirtng into, charges preferred against that company hy Representa-
 The' nucstton as to whether the com pany had used illesitimate means to promote legislation in it's favor was forgotten in the admissions made by the witness to the effect that he had secured extracts of reports made to the navy department supposed to be con- fidential.
 The witness was Robert Skerrett Of New York. formerly employed In the navy department and at one time the European representative of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company. He stated frankly that while in the employ Of the Lake company he received anony- mously extracts from reports made to the navy department and that he used these extracts in technical articles pre- pared for publication in magazines.
 Questioned as to the source. he re- piled that he did not know. from whom they came and that he had accepted them as correct and used them in his articles.
 The climax of MT. Skerrett's testi- mony came when he was asked by Chairman Boutell if he did not con slider that his action in publishing in- formation which the United States gov ernment regarded as secret was nigh ly dishonorable." His reply was;
 No; think 1t was indiscreet."
 It is the evident intention of the com mittee to follow up this new line Of evidence and If possible discover the leak in the navy department.
 If it is doubtful whether witness before a Congressional committee was ever put through more searching ex- animation than Mir. Skerrett.
 The first report to which reference was made was one prepared by Lieu tenant Nelson, U. s. N., who conducted a series of trials of the Holland boat at Narragansett in 1904. While abroad MT. Skerrett wrote an article on sub marines in which he quoted from Lieu tenant Nelson's report.
 Where did you get that part?" asked Mir. Stephens.
 T do not remember. Before I left Washington I went to my friends in the navy department and said to them: If there is Anything you can give out at any time of interest. send it along They knew that I was writing on naval topics"
 Mir. skerrett said that from time to time while he was in Berlin he re- IGCtlN6u lypCWTlltCh cANIakts AAOAA various naval reports These extracts came to him in plain envepoles and there was no writing on them to indi- cate who had sent them. He had no idea from whom they had come. They were forwarded to Him from Washing ton through the office of the Lake com pany in Bridgeport.
 An article the witness had written concerning certain details of the Hol- land boat was next taken up.
 Mir Littleton through the committee pressed the witness as to where he got his information.
 Mir Skerrett said it had been given by a foreign officer.
 Pressed by Mir Stephens to give the name of this official Mir. Skerrett said that his memory was faulty stating that he had met him in London. As a matter of fact. he had received the information while conversing with na- val officials at The Hague. He said that he was there in the interest of the Lake Boat Company and while dis cussing submarines with the general constructor of the Dutch navy whose name he did not remember. and with Lieutenant Commander Boudin and Lieutenant Kester, the information was divulged.