Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-14
WASTE IN A|RPLANE
FUNDS IS CHARGED
u. S. Paid $3.50 for Lumber
Worth $3.50, Declares
Providence journal
CONGRESS INVESTIGATES

" w y N Z - y INNES lOh co
Washington. July IA new in
vestigation of American airplanp pro
duction, or rather the lack of produc.
ton, during the war had its birth Yes
terday In charges of ilagrant waste of
public funds, of incompetence. of dis
honesty and Of dissipation by army
officers.
The charges are made hv the Provi
dence (R. ~ Journaf ana submitted
with affidavits supporting them to the
House committee investigating WarJDc-
partment expenditures.
This latest official opening of mod
ern Pandora $ box uuCOvers a phase of
aircraft emergency manufacture not
heretofore revealed in detail, that Nf the
production of spruce lumber in the
Northwest. The subcommittee on air /
craft production. headed by Representa-
tive Frear. of Wisconsin. is to inspect
the spruce forests for first hand con
firmation of the charges made by the
newspaper.
Summary Of Charges
The committee withhulds Just now the /.
text of the affidavits submitted by the {.
Providence journal. \ statement coy
ering the substance of these documents
was issued tonight. however, by the
publicity representative of Republican
members of the committee. and part
of it follows:
''TheSc afiidavits deal chiefly with the
getting out of spruce timber, govern
ment railway construction and other aC-
tivities of the airplane service of the .
Pacific coast. They declare that the
government was subjected. under the
cost-plus system, to a cost of virtually
$3.50 a thousand feet of spruce when .
private concerns were procuring the
same kind Of spruce for from $3.50 to
S17S a thousand.
1.-The charges assert that some of the
companies given contracts for the con
struction of railroads and the prOdu"-
tion of spruce timber had no practical
logging experience or knowledge; that
the waste caused by these companies in
the building of camps in inaccessible
localities, camps which had to be nban-
doned ran into many thousands of dol
lars; that there was an utter lack of
proper care of fOOdStuffS and that in
many cases hundreds Cf dollars worth |
of -four and lard were CarclesSly thrown
in the mud at the side of a road and
left to rot. In one instance even stoves
were left by the roadside exposed to
the weather and ruined.
There are atfidaVitS alleging that /
many miles of two-inrh plank road
were built into the forests and never .
used; also the construction of camps /
where spruce lumber was fCllcd, but not ,
a stick aver brought out.
No Attempts at Salvage
"Afidavits by men on the spot assert
that camps were STARTED. that hundreds
of workmen. as well as United States .
soldiers. were transported to the locality .
and that. after ShaCkS had been built.
roads constructed and provisions and .
equipment brought in instructions were
received to abandon the camps. So far
as could be learned no attempt whatever .
was made to salvage any of the material
used in the construction.
''Besides this, much of the correspond .
ence which emanated from the office of
Colonel Bryce L. DisQue. in charge of
the spruce production division, in re
gard to the letting of contracts for the
construction of railroads and the pro
duction of spruce. was also turned over
to the committee.
Practical lumber men, as well as
railroad men. are authority for the
statement that the cost plus system
adopted by Colonel Disque for the con-
struction of railroads into the forests
and the production of spruce sent the
price of the lumber to such q point
that in the aggregate the government /
paid virtually $500 n thousand feet for
the spruce it procured. while private
interests were getting out the same kind
of logs at cost of from $3.50 to Sis
n thousand feet. One of the biggest
lumber men on the coast asserts this
to be fact.
The process of riving. the splitting
of logs into quarters by means of
wedges, was inaugurated by Colonel
Disque. and although he succeeded for
a time in getting out the material. the
waste was terrific
According to the letters written from
the Office of Colonel DisuuH. Wien this
officer first took charge on the coast he
had decided that the government should
not build any railroads into the forests.
But he reversed himself after a few
months and finally awarded a cost plus
contract for a railroad into a tract
said to have some billions of feet of
standing spruce.
"a lumber man is alleged to have
said in the presence of two witnesses
In the Benson Hotel at Portland that
he was one of four men who could get
contracts from the government, but be
fore they could be got it was ncces-
sary to take the officers out and wine
and dine them.
THE Providence journal also has
submitted evidence showing intOerabIe
conditions attending the inspection of
spruce at the factories. which appeared
to prevail especially in the east One
instance is alleged of 21 900 feet of
No. l spruce delivered to a Massachu
setts factory, out of which the inspec-
tors passed only 400 feet. The balance.
&c, 1000 feet, having been ordered scrap
ped. was used for Grating airplanes
when they were shipped from the fac
tory"
NrNrrknI 70 nj rnrlrIn