The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-13
PLANES WERE NOT DESTROYED SAYS AIR CHIEF General M. M. Patrick De- nies That Machines
 Were Burned. SOME SALVAGED
 FOR ECONOMY Only When Expense Elk ceeded Value Was This
 Done.

Complete refutation of statements made before House subcommittee Investigating war expenditures that serviceabIe and valuable airplanes have been wantonly destroyed by the American Expeditionary Force is made in q statement by Col. M. M. Patrick, U. S. Engineers and late Major-General and Chief of Air Ser vice, A. E. r.
 Staten ments that a million dollars worth" of such planes were destroy ed have been made before the sub- committee Investigating war expendi- lures overseas, of which Represen- tative Royal c. Johnson. Republican, of South Dakota is chairman.
 Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who came to public attention by his inves tigation of aircraft production in America which resulted in the inves- tigation by Judge Hughes, filed sev- eral photographs of parts of planes purported to have been burned. Con- trary to the opinion of experts in the army air service, MT. Borglum made the unqualified statement to the conn mittee that it was possible to tell from the photographs whether a plane or it's parts were actually ser viceable and safe for flyers.
 Denying that single part of a plane from which the Government could derive a penny a value either by sale or use had been destroyed
 General Patrick prepared and filed with Representative Flood, a member of the Johnson committee, a state- ment in which he said:
 When hostilities ceased, ther wero in possession of tho American Air Service planes of varying types and all stages of repair, from new and unused planes to those which were complete wrecks. The question of their disposition was given careful study
 'I at once gave orders to return to
 the United Gates all Liberty en- zines which were serviceable.
 About the disposition of the re- mafnder l appointed Boards of Survey, each composed of officers of ability who were conscientious and careful. Their orders were to inspect every plane in our possession and to recommend to me what should be
 done with each one"
 General Patriclls' statement then shows that the plane and material fell into four classes: Those which had been crashed, most of them in training service or in battle, and were beyond repair; those used at the training schools and which were worn out from fair wear and tear;
 others which had deteriorated in
 storage. planes being very delicate end deteriorating very rapidly, and others which were useable, but prac- tically obsolete and which would have been discarded very soon even
 if the war had gone on, for more modern machines.
 After having examined each of these planes, General Patrick's statement continues, the Boards or Survey arranged them in classes and recommended, "the Boards of Survey arranged them in classes and recom-
 mended, in general. that they be off, fered for sale, and if unsaleable, that they be salvaged, by 'salvaged Is meant the taking off of all the valu- able parts, such as motors, tires, ln- strurnents and the like, which can be used to repair other planes, O. which have a money value.
 "I approved the recommendation
 of these boards, I inquired Of the French Government and was told
 that they would not purchase any or +bIa material. There was no market for this material. It was. therefore. salvaged as outlined above. Some of the wooden fragments were sold and the remainder, which could not be used by us nor sold, was de- stroyed.
 .I do not know of my own knowl- edge that a single useable plane was destroyed . but I am well satis- fled that no plane was destroyed which could be disposed of in France. or which would have brought as much money in the United states as
 it would cost to get it here.
 .sThe matter of shipping any of this material to the United States was fully considered. I had estimates made of the cost of storage. of pack ing and of transportation and am o11ite convinced. in the cases of all l the planes which were salvaged, that this would have been decidedly un- economical
 "T41e salvaging of this material was part of the inevitable waste or war, | but the American Air Service in l France did everything possible to re- duce this waste to the minimum. It | is apparent that it was necessary to decide whether it would pay to ship material to the United states, and | after careful study and in the ex erctse of the best judgment, 1t was | decided that this would be further
 waste of Government money.
 l Attention may be called to the fact | that the packing of single DII-4 | plane in the United States for ship | ment to France cost in round num- | bers about s2S9. Estimates made in | France showed that 1t would cost | there not less than about $500 to | pack up a plane without the engine, that prior to packing it there would be a considerable expense while the | planes were in storage, in order to | keep them in condition, that there | would be to the cost of rail transpor | tation and the cost of ocean trans | portation to the United States. with | further freight charges and charges | for handling after the packages ar | rived here Some of the cases which | contained the planes which were act | ually shipped to the United States oc l cupy a space of not less than LOO | cubic feet The size of this task am | it's e illness can be judged iron