The Washington times., 1925-11-18
WILBUR IS
ACCUSED At
PROBE
Witness Claims He Was Back
Of Effort to Stifle
Testimony
Continued from First Page)

y
the naval board. to cite Kennedy
for contempt IL he failed to appear
before the Shenandoah court.
The action of Leonard, in threaten
ing Kennedy with contempt, led
CONGRESSMAN Frank r.. Reid (Rep)
Of Illinois, chief of Mitchell counsel,
to denounce the Shenandoah court.
Scored BY Reid
"This is an extraordinary pro-
cedure for q naval court Of inquiry
to presume it takes precedence
over a military court-martial," said
Reid. II am surprised at the nerve
Of these people. It Is not fair.
They have threatened Major, Ken.
nedy with contempt and think the
I Presidents attention ought to be
called to this action of the Shena-
doah court"
The courts law member, Colonel
Blanton Winship, then developed
the fact that Kennedy had been
properly subpoenaed by the Mitchell
court.
There can be no question be-
tween this court and q court Of
inquiry" ruled Major General
Robert L. Howe. president of she
court. THE witness will remain
here and the Judge advocate will
inform the naval court that the
witness is here and, when he is
finished here, he viii be directed
to that court
Kennedy Testifies
Major Frank M. Kennedy army
aircraft expert from McCOok field,
Ohio, Endorsed Heinen's statements
that reduction of gas valves on the
Shenandoah cut down the airship's
safety. A proper number Of gas
valves, Kennedy said, were abso-
lutely necessary for its safe opera
ton.
Touching on the reduction Of
valves in the Shenandoah, Kennedy
said gas always expanded when an
airship rose.
what happens IL that gas can
not be discharged through safety
valves?" asked Reid.
: 1T may be discharged through a
manifold or 1t will rupture the gas
cells" said Kennedy. II this hap
pens. 1t Is very possible for the
structure to break"
Kennedy told OF visiting the
Shenandoah wreck. He said he
found the Sleeves OF the manifold
tied down. The Sleeves" he ex-
planned ran from the gas calls TO
the manifold outlet.
When he attempted to describe q
conversation with one Of the Shen
andoah survivors, the prosecution
objected. As q result the defense
asked that member OF the Shen-
andOah crew, named Collier, be sum-
moned as witness.
With the army general staff
openly directing the prosecution OF
Colonel William Mitchell, the
court martial of the century"
moved swiftly today toward final
verdict.
The jury of generals hopes to
wind up the sensational military
trial by Thanksgiving Day, while
counsel for both sides promised to
speed up their examination of wit
nesses. An announcement by Con-
gresham Frank r. Reid, Mitchell's
chief counsel, stated the defense
probably would rest its case by
the end of this week. While
number of Government witnesses
will be called in ..rebuttal, there
was a possibility the trial might
end before Thanksgiving.
Staff Man PrOsecutes
Inc army SSHcIdA SbuAA tAO0AA ''AA@AS
entered the case directly for the
first time since it brought about
Mitchell's court-rpartial on charges
of conduct preJadicial to military
discipline" by having publicly criti-
cized the administration of aviation.
This occurred when the War De-
partment assigned Major Francis
Wildly. a representative Of the gen.
eral staff, as a new assistant trial
Judge advocate. Wildly virtually dis
placed Colonel Sherman Moreland,
who handled the case to date, and
took charge of the cross-examtna-
ton Of all defense witnesses.
In the trials latest developments,
witnesses for Mitchell testified that:
/. The War Department turned
down requests for meteorological
stations along army air routes, for
the protection of filters, because OF
lack of funds"
2. Only 81 per cent Of all stu
dents who enter army flying schools
are graduated and only one in three
men is suited to become pilots.
8. The army will face shortage
of trained pilots in time OF war I'M
less the War Department makes
new provisions for increasing the
flying personnel, all recommends
lions for this purpose to date haV.
ing been rejected by the general
staff.