The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-01-19
KLOOR silent
ON FIST FIGHT
Commander of Balloon Flight
Evades Questions of Board
of Inquiry.
TELLS OF HARDSHIPS
Kloor Says Every Member of
the Party Worked for the
Success of Flight.
TELLS OF HARDSHIPS
(By Associated Press

ROCkAWAY, N. Y, Jan. IS
Carefully avoiding any mention of the
fist fight between Lieutenants Hinton
and Farrell, which brought to a sur
prising denouement their recent bal
loon flight in Canadian wilderness
and tramp back to civilization, Lieu
tenant Louis A. Kloor, Jr., who COM
manded the party. described their ex-
periences in detail today before the
court of inquiry Investigating the af-
fairs under orders from Secretary of
the Navy Daniels.
Newspaper accounts have reflected
on the actions of your two compan-
ions,' the court told Lieutenant Kloor,
now state what you know of the
personal conduct of the party from
the time of leaving the air station
until your return"
Dodges Mentioning Fight.
Picking his. words with care, Lieu
tenant Kloor paid high praise to the
personal conduct Of his companions
until they reached Mattice, where the
alteration occurred. That's all I
have to say he declared, but the
court reminded him his story had not
yet brought the .a4rmen back to Rock
away
Then he mentioned that Lieutenant
Hinton had left the private car in
which the t&o of them We're seated
shortly after arriving at Mattice to
deliver to Lieutenant Farrell Secre-
tary Daniels order against granting
interviews.
Hinton said he would tell Ferrell
and in doing so he had to go to the
Hudson's Bay company store, after
Were occupying in the private car
Lieutenant Kloor said.
1t was while Hinton was gone on
this mission that the fight occurred
but the witness made no mention of
ii.
''The conduct of Lieutenants Hinton
tice to this station" he continued,
was in no way questionable"
Smiles at Reporters.
Concluding his testimony, Lieuten-
ant Kloor turned to the press table
and smiled at a dozen newspaper men,
who were amusing themselves by dis
cussing his apparent evasion of the
question on the aeronauts conduct.
He was then excused by the court.
During the. weeks they spent in ice
bearded forests at Moose Factory and
in trudging through the snow back to
civilization, Lieutenant Kloor said
each of the men made sacrifice after
sacrifice" He did not think there
was any one particular hero" The
party left Rockaway with food to pro-
vide three meals for three men, he
said They carried no balloon log,
and the only maps were charts of the
states of New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
"How Should We Know"
After explaining that it would have
been" as easy as falling off a log"
for the party to have landed at Wells.
n. Y, on the evening they left here,
Lieutenant Kloor said. They failed to
locate Wells on a chart before going
onward. When they asked inha abitants
100 feet below them how far it was
to Albany, he added, the only reply
was How should we know?'
you've put Wells on the map now,
SO you'll know where it is the next
time" remarked Rear Admiral Kline,
head of the court.
Lieutenant Hinton sat near Lieu
tenant Kloor throughout his testi-
mony. He probably viii be quizzed
tomorrow, and Lieutenant Farrell
also if the latter RECEIVERS sufficiently
from a slight attack OF tonsilitis