Evening star., 1923-02-19
SAYS CR0NKH|TE
RECORDS FAULTY.
Major General Declares Army
Smothered Inquiry Into
Death of His Son.

The War Department was satisfied
with grossly imperfect record" Of
the proceedings In the case of the
death OF Maj. Alexander P. Cronk-
hite At Camp Lewis, Wash. October
26. 1913. notwithstanding that they
did not comply with Army regula-
tions. Maj. Gen. Alexander Cronk-
hite. father OF the dead Army officer,
declared in a statement today. at
is 4 fact that the Department OF Jus
tice at my instance sought and failed
to obtain more substantial records"
| Gen. Cronkhite added
| Gen. Cronkhite recently was re-
tired. after having performed notable
war service as wartime commander
of the S0th Division His friends now
! are seeking to have the whole case.
which: they allege. resulted in Gen.
Cronkhite's being "railroaded out OF
investigation.
In reply to a request made by him
in the fall OF 1921, Gen. Cronkhite
says. the War department furnished
/ copies OF the findings Of a board Of
! inquiry into the death Of his son; 4
/ typewriter autopsy report, and
copies Of the proceedings OF the board
of inquiry.
The document purportine to be 4
| copy OF the autopsy which was fur
n.sheu me. was unauthenticated and
the statements therein have been
proved false and the docGment falsi-
fed,' Gen. Cronkhites statement
| charged today,
Gen. Cronkhite's Statement.
Gen. Cronkhite's statement in full
| follows.
Having charged that there were
! grave irregularities in the War De-
| partment with respect to the records
| OF the proceedings In the case OF the
| death OF Maj. Alexander P. Cronk-
hite at Camp Lewis, Washington,
| October 25. 1915, ] now propose to
substantiate that charge which. in
spite Of repeated requests, I was not
permitted by my military superiors
\ to do.
After two years Of futile search
for the official records in the case, on
September 8, 1921. I addressed the
Following categorical request to the
( adjutant general Of the Army:
II request that l be furnished pho
ticated proceedings, Of the: fa) in
| quest; (b) board Of medical officers,
| 10 determine cause Of death; (c) au-
! topsy; (d) board TO investigate the
hite. c. of f. 2lsth Engineers. con-
Eened by 5. .. u, Par. 9. Camp Lewis.
! Wash, 1918. A. CRONKHITE,
| Major General"
| Received Three Documents.
| munication / received a letter with
three Enclosures and was informed
that all the documents desired could
not be furnished.
mo report Of an inquest and no re-
! port Of a board Of medical officers
were furnished me. though Army reg
| ulations require that the same be Of
| record. All that was furnished me
were photostatic copy Of what pur-
ports to be the findings of q board Of
| which is declared to have met at
Camp Lewis on October 30. 1918: a
| typewritten autopsy report. and pho
| tostats Of four typewriter sheets en-
| titled Proceedings Of the Board OF
| Inquiry on the Death Of Major Alex
| ander p Cronkhite, c. Of E., 213th
Engineers. u. S. A
'In the document purport!ng to con-
stitute the findings which Is dated
November 3. 1918. 1t is declared that
three witnesses were examined-Ros-
| enbluth, Pothier and surgeon who
was not present when the shooting
occurred. Pothier subsequently vol
! unfairly confessed under oath that he
killed Maj Cronkhite at the insti-
cation Of Rosenbluth.
THE document purporting to be a
| copy Of the autopsy which was fur
nished me was unauthe nticated and
the statements therein have been
proved to be false and the documents
falsined.
1.-The photostatic copy Of what pur-
ported to be the report OF the, board
| of inquiry which was furnished me
consists of four photostats of an uh-
dated. unsigned. unauthe henticated
!typewritten document, which is
manifestly not even. the original. 1t
that the witnesses were sworn, or
who conducted the inquiry. In addi-
tion to what purports to be the tes-
timony of Rosenbluth. Pothier and
! the surgeon, there is included what
purports to be the testimony of an
other witness whose name appears
in the alleged findings as a member
Of the board OF inquiry.
! The facts are that another board
| was also appointed to investigate the
case. did investigate the case and
| made q report thereon. which IL not
! Of record. The names Of those who
/ sat on this board are known to me.
yet, as far as I have been able
to discover, the War Department was
record constituted BY the documents
described hereinbefore, notwithstand-
| ing the fact that they do not comply
with the requirements Of Army reg
ulations, and It Is a fact that the De-
partment of Justice. at my instance.
sought and failed to obtain more sub
stantial records. ,., ...