Evening star., 1926-12-08

! an order transferring the reserves to
! the Secretary of the Interior and plac-
ing under him the administrative de-
tails of the naval oil reserves" DENLY
! said.
DENLY said he would not care to
quote the Presidents reply, but that
Mr.. Harding agreed with him as to
the necessity and said he would issue
such an order.
In reply to questioning, Mr.. DENLY
testified that while the Judge Advo-
cate General Of the Navy had declared
the proposal to exchange royalty Oil
for fuel oil and store it in tanks for
future use was legal, other officers of
the Navy did not at that time approve
Of the proposal.
When he took the witness stand Mr..
DENLY gave a detalied account of his
various governmental positions and
the fact that he had been a member
in the imperial Chinese customs
service when his father was United
States Minister to China. He also told
of having enlisted in the war with
Spain and later having enlisted as a
private in the Marine Corps. At the
outbreak Of the war with Germany he
was promoted to lieutenant and now
holds a commission as q major in the
Marine Reserves.
Ambrose Discloses Trip.
A trip to Honolulu aboard the pri.
vate yacht of Edward L. Doheny, on
which Arthur w. Ambrose, petroleum
technologist of the Department of the
Interior and one of the chief negotia-
tors of the Elk Hills and Pearl Har-
Dor contracts, was a guest Of the Cali
fornia oil magnate in June, 1922, was
disclosed when the trial was resumed
today.
The story by Ambrose, who had been
called as a defense witness, was wrung
from him by Attorney Roberts and
came as a complete surprise. 1t pro-
duced a near sensation.
Mr.. Roberts had been questioning
the former Government official con-
cerning matters connected with the
Pearl Harbor lease of December, 1922
when he suddenly shifted his course
asking the witness if he had ever re-
ceived any gratuity from Doheny dur
ing his employ in the Government.
Tells of Honolulu Voyage
Somewhat disconnected by the ques-
tioning Mr.. Ambrose replied that If
such could be interpreted as a gra-
tuity. he had taken trip to Honolulu.
when was this?" asked Roberts.
''In the Summer of 1922" the wit
ness replied.
"HoW was the trip made?'
"On a boat" was the answer.
"Whose boat?" he was asked.
HMr nOhanv'S - 40 anCXUorad
His private yacht?" pressed Rob.
erts.
YES" the witness replied.
In response to questioning, Mr..
Ambrose said he had taken the trip
at the invitation of j. J. Cotter, Mr..
Doheny's right-hand man in the ne
gotiations, and had received sanction
of DR.. H. Foster Balm, director of
the Bureau of Mines, his immediate
superior.
Account Produces Stir.
Mr. Ambrose's account of the yacht
ing trip to Honolulu, which occurred
a few months after the award
ing of the April 25, 1922, contract for
the Pearl Harbor construction work,
produced a stir. He said that others
on the trip were H. w. Anderson,
who is president of the Pan-American
Petroleum Co.; Gano Dunn, president
of the j. H. White Engineering
Corporations Mr.. and Mrs. ]. ]. Cot
ter and his own wife. 1t was also
disclosed that William A. Kent, an
accountant in the Bureau of Mines,
was a guest aboard the yacht.
Roberts asked the witness if he
went on the trip to be Mr.. Doheny's
guest. Ambrose replied that he would
not say that positively, as he had
departmental reasons for going
along.
Mr.. Ambrose testified that Mr.. Cot
ter came to his office one day and
mentioned the proposed trip to look
over the Pearl Harbor situation. He
said he had invited DR.. Balm and E.
c. Finney. Assistant Secretary of the
Interior, but that they. could not go.
Reasons for Trip.
Ambrose said he told Mr. Cotter,
that would be very nice" but that
he would have to take it up with his
superiorS.
Mr.. Roberts reminded the witness
that he had nothing to do with the
construction work at Pearl Harbor,
but Mr.. Ambrose replied that there
were matters in which, as a petrole-
UNI technologist, he was interested.
He said that one of the reasons why
DR.. Balm suggested that he go on the
trip was to ascertain the proper time
for filling the fuel oil tanks.
I'VE were very interested in advis-
ing the Navy Department on that
matter" he said, "as we had made a
study of it," He said the trip also
enabled him to represent the fuel de-
partment at the exposition, which was
being held at Honolulu at that time.
During the course of the question
ing Mr.. Roberts asked the witness If
he had ever received any other gratui-
ty from Doheny. He replied mo"
A little earlier the Government
counsel had obtained the statement
from Mr.. Ambrose that he had taken
the December, 1922, lease to Secretary
Denby's office for his signature. Do
heny accompanied him at that time
Mr.. Ambrose's recollection of the
conference between Doheny and
Admiral Robson, during which the
oil magnate threatened to drop all
further negotiations when asked not
to allow the Navy Department to be
bilked, was somewhat different from
Robisons version. He said that as
far as he could remember Doheny ap-
peared considerably put out when
Robson said he didn't want the Navy
to get a bad deal. He declared the
negotiations threatened to break off,
but when Doheny said he was willing
to accept the Navy's proposed royal
ties Robson settled the matter then
and there.
Doheny Feeling Badly"
"I am feeling very badly, but am
here on deck,' Mr.. Doheny remarked
as he put in appearance at court this
morning. The oil magnate's left arm
had been dressed by his surgeon
earlier this morning, and rather than
delay progress of the trial, which is
now rapidly approaching an end, he