The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-09-29
NAVY OFFICER
C0NTRADICTS
AIR COLONEL,
Charges Colonel Mitchell
With disappearing
Facts" in Testimony

Col! William Mitchell. stormy pet
rel Of the army air service, today
was charged with "misrcprcsc nting
the facts" in his campaign to cstab-
lish Il unified air service by lIru-
tenant Homer \. Wallin, L. S n,
attached to the construction corps,
bureau of naval construction and re
pair, Washington.
Lieutenant Wallin, whose home is
Washburn. is visiting Bismarck with
his mother as guest Of Supreme
Court Justice ". l.. Nucsslc.
The navy officer takes direct j..
sue with the army air service col
onels statements contained in A.
sociatcd Press dispat "hcS quoting
Mitchclls testimony before the pre-
idcnt's aircraft investigation.
Maintaining that aircraft cam oni%
be utilized with success in naval
warfare as Il subordinate arm Of sea
defense. Lieutenant Wallin claims
that experiments conducted by the
United States and British nayics
disprovc Mitchcll's contention that
mo surface vessel can exist 50 long
rs aircraft are in existence
Cites Experiment
The navy officer cited an expert
nlcnt conducted by the British navy
during which he stated the "Mon-
arch q, British cruiser, put to sea
under radio control and was bombed
by fleet Of aIrpluncs of the Eng
lish coast.
over 100 bombs were aimed at the
Monarch and not one hit was re-
corded" Lieutenant Wallin stated.
"Similar tests conducted by the
United States navy in the Pacific
tend to disprove Mtchell's claims"
Lieutenant Wallin also claimed
that antf-aircraft guns Offer Il more
rcliable>defcnsc both on sea and land
than Mitchell will admit.
'Anti-aircraft gunnery is improy-
ing every day" he stated.
Referring to Mitchcll's testimony
before the presidents board, as re-
ported in press dirontrn",. tn" navy
officer denied that "G@cat Britain'>
force Of 900 arrlanc5 could hC
landed in Nova Scotia in Z to 10
Gays" from which point American
cities could be reached in ABOUT
,hrce hours.
Contradicts Mitchell
THE public is under the impress
sion that airplancs are high spec d.
long rahgc weapons Of Defense
,cutcnant Walliu declared. "This
ii preston j. erroneous. The cruis
irc radius Of an airplane loaded
with bombs is on an average not
more than 200 miles
The charge that our Atlantic
coast cities are wide open to attack
fro,r he air is the talk of an alarm
! Isl the navy officer asserted Ell
envy aircraft in order to get within
attacking distance Of New York.
Washington or Boston, would have
to operate from Il base approximate
~ POO miles away. No enemy fleet
could ever get this near the Atlantic
coast Us long as the United States
flea. existed
The sinking Of the w ashington'
off the Virginia capeS last winter
disprovcd Mitchcll's claims as to the
relative supremacy of aircraft Oven
surface ShinS in naval defense. in the
opinion of Lieutenant Wallin.
EirpE,nes dropped tons Of bombs
on the Washington, but failed to dc
any serious damage, he stated, add
ing thr vessel was finally destroyed
by navy guns.
Coolidge Interested
Experiments conducted under III,
direction Of Colonel Mitchell ut For.
tress Monroe, Virginia. earlier in
the year, during the congress iona
aircraft investigation. created :
false impression, the navy licutenaNt
declared. The experiments to test
the efficiency Of anti-aircraft gun,
consisted in an anti-aircraft bonn,
bardment of airplancs towing white
canvas targets.
These experiments were conduct
ed with old rquipmcnt.' the office
declared. another point which
Mitchell leaves unsaid is the fact
that canvas sleeves used as anti
aircraft gun targets are not ut al
equal in area to the size Of an air
plane
President Coolidge is vitality in.
terested in the aircraft controversy
Lieutenant Wallin stated, intimatInr
that Mitchell would have been disci.
plincd by the army general staff last
winter. but for the intervention OF
he president.
Speaking for the naval air service
:he lieutenant stated that there is !;
splendid spirit Of competition" il
the organization and that naval av,
jators are entirely satisfied with tho
progress made in naval acronautics