Evening star., 1925-02-17
CONTINUED from First Page.)

mittee is meeting in executive ses-
sion this afternoon to hear repre-
sentativeS of Secretary Weeks and
War and Navy Departments are pre-
pared to defend tho country from
an aerial attack. Decision to call
these Representatives was arrived at
yesterday after witnesses had testi-
fed that the air powers of the coun-
try was badly deficient
Condition OF Defense.
Rear Admiral Hillary Jones. execu-
tive chairman. OF the general board of
the Navy, and Mai. Gen. John l.
Hines. chief OF the Army General Staff,
are giving the committee the condi-
tion of national defense this after
noon. The committee Is meeting in
executive session and no more open
hearings will be held until 10 o'clock
tomorrow morning.
Col. Roosevelt in his testimony be-
fore the Lampert committee declared
he, as Assistant Secretary of the
Navy, opposed any restrictions on
free speech among naval officers
and cited his order which would per-
NIT any one to write anything as
long as 1T was not regarded as a
military secret. He declared in re-
against officers Of divergent views
that while he would respect a man
who disagreed with him he would
not. II In an administrative capacity,
give him the duty of carrying out a
project which was not agreed to.
When I was Assistant Secretary ]
disliked having a yes, yes chorus
around me-"
Sherman Mckenzie Of the House
military committee said today no
more hearings would be held on the
Curry bill unless persons desired to
testify before the committee He said
he thought the bill In it's present
form would have to be amended con-
siderabiy and that he believed Rep
rosentative Curry thought likewise.
Gas War of Future.
Brig. Gen. Amos A. Fries. chief Of
the Chemical Warfare Service, testi-
fed before the committee yesterday
afternoon that gas attacks In the
next war would be fifty times more
important" than in the last and pic
tured raids where 25 to 100 tons Of
gas bombs dropped upon a city would
cause sufficient" confusion to satisfy
the attacking party.
He said II word was brought to the
city of Washington that a gas at
tack would be launched by airpIanes
you would find the population from
90 to 100 miles away, and I would
be one Of the first to go II I didn't
have mask or gas-proof clothing"
Comdr. H. c. Richardson. chief of
the design section of tho Bureau OF
Aeronautics. appeared to deny a story
published yesterday morning in a
| Is so unsafe that flares dare not take
1t of tho ground" The plane in ques-
ton. an observation monoplane de-
signed for "spotting" with tho fleet.
does possess some unsatisfactory
characteristics, Comdr. Richardson
| said. but added his belief they could
be corrected. He agreed with Rep
resentative Lea of California, how
ever, that the type now Is obsolete
for the particular work for which 1t
was built because better plane has
been discovered. We will not, recon-
mend purchase of any more. however"
The committee has been interesting
itself in the plane since charges were
made that 100000 had been spent
on more than 35 of the ships and
| they have proved unsatisfactory.
New Anti-Aircraft Guns.
Lieut.. Comdr. Oscar c. Badger, Ord
nance Bureau, Navy Department, an
anti aircraft expert. declared It was
a wonder to him that any anti-air-
craft shells in the war did hit a plane.
Tho men who come here and tell you
that anti-aircraft artillery in the last
war wasno good for defensive purposes.
are pretty nearly right" he told the
committee. The battleship regards the
airplane as its first line Of defense
and the anti-aircraft guns as the sec
ond No noticeable improvements have
been made in anti-aircraft work since
the war, but the officer said within
two years there would be great de-
velopments. He based this statement
on confidntial Information which he