Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-27
. MORE LIGHT ASKED
/ BY COURT MARTIAL
Final Arguments in Stunt
/, Flying Case Deferred for
Further Testimony.


naval aviator accused of having vic
lated low-f1ying regulations oVe
Washington, July "a had rested il
case with the presentation of TIVE
witnesses and both sides indica tee
they were ready for final arguments
the Navy urt-martial. sitting at thu
navy yard. today ordered further
testimony on the activity of militar,
planes on the date of the alleged of
Tense.
Comdr Leo f. Wclch. president o
the court. ordered the trial judge ad
vocate, Capt. ii. y. Potter, Marine
Corps. to call as witnesses, Monday
morning. the commanding officers o.
the naval air station at Anacostia
Of Boiling Field. of fighting plane
squadron ), based at Hampton Roads
Va, and OF the fighting plane squad
ron based at Quantico. Va.
Comdr. WelCh said the court wanted
10 hear testimony from these witnesses
on "all activity of planes under THEN
command between and 3 pm. july
-. 1927" and also testimony on the
markings of planes in their command
Court was then adjourned to meet al
10 O'Clock Monday morning.
Testimony of Defense
The defense based it's case on the
testimony of W. r. Mitchell acting
chief technical expert of the Board OF
Mediation. who lives at 2901 Connects
cut avenue. short distance from the
Calvert Street Bridge over which one
Government witness yesterday tosti.
fed he saw a Government plane make
a loop.
Mr.. Mitchell said between I and 80
o'clock Sunday afternoon July "a a
two-seated commercial airplane bear.
ing the number "a" on the lower left
wing flew over the rear Of the Connec.
ticut avenue address at an altitude of
about 300 or $50 feet. He said the ship
was a biplane, was painted gray and
looked like a Curtiss training plane"
Since that time he has seen a plane
resembling that one and bearing the
same numbers. "a" on two different
occasions. he declared
The plane made two steep banks
while under his observation and cir
cled around the place where he was
1tanding. Between the hours of
and o'clock he saw no other planes
IN the air. he said
Never Saw Regulations.
Lieut.. Condr. Isaac Schlossbach.
until recently Lieut.. W'illiamson's
commanding officer. was the other de-
Tense witness. He stated he never
saw the air regulations as promu.-
gated by the Department of Commerce
until presented with a copy in court
to-day. In giving his definition of
acrobatics Comdr. Schlossbach de-
clared diving" was not acrobatits.
He knows of no regulations. written
or oral. governing flights Of aircraft
nth 1o
sense rule" to fly high enough to be
able to make safe landing on the
outskirts of a congested area.
Fifty minutes before the defense be-
gan it's. case Capt. Potter rested for
the Government. after taking the
stand as a witness and identifying the
accused. Heretofore no Government
witness had identified Lieut.. William
son as an officer of the aircraft squad
rons. scouting feet. Capt. Potter said
he made the officers acquaintance at
the Marine Barracks on August IS. at
which time he had no intimation that
he would be selected to serve as pros
ecutor on the court-martial.
The case this morning hinged about
the contention that naval aviators are
bound by the regulations promulgated
by the Department of Commerce and
which the young naval aviator is
charged in the specifications with
having violated. The accused
through his counsel, Thomas William
son of Edwardsville, ILL.,. his father
and Capt. Field Harris Marine Corps,
vigorously contended that the airman
was not bound by these regulations,
while Judge Advocate Potter main
tanned through his evidence that he
was.
I Three Witnesses Heard.
Three witnesses were heard this
morning, Paul j. Croghan, chief of
the. press relations section of the De-
parfment of Commerce; Capt. A. p.
Fairfield, director of ship movements.
Office of the chief of operations, Navy
Department, and Lieut.. Comdr. d. C..
Watson, executive officer of the Naval
Air Station,
Capt Potter put Mr. Croghan on
the stand to prove that the air COM
merce regulations had been widely
disseminated through the press and
also through the War and Navy De-
that no one but the Secretary of the
Navy could give a pilot authority to
violate naval low flying regulations
and no one in the department could
authorize a pilot to violate the COM
merce regulations. In his opinion,
Capt. Fairfield declared. naval pilots
are bound by the air commerce reg
ulations except when engaged in mill
tary maneuvers and over areas sub
ject to naval administration.
Comdr. Watson presented official
files from the Naval Air Station show
ing the date and time of Lieut..
Iia =. ny, l.4
ton on the afternoon of July "A for
Norfolk and alse giving the number
of the airplane.
Pace Testimony Damaging.
Evidence, confined almost wholly
10 vague accounts Of an airplane
flight in the vicinity of Sixteenth
street and Columbia road at the time
the alleged offense' was committed,
was introduced by the prosecution
yesterday afternoon. In no instance.
except possibly one. did the witnesses
even approach a hazy connection be.
tween Lieut.. Williamson and the
plane. However, there were witnesses
who testified that at no time was
the ship above 900 feet, in their
estimation Of its height while view
ing il from the ground. One witness
said it's altitude ranged from 800 feet
10 1000 feet.
Comdr. Ernest NJ. Pace Of the de-
sign section. Bureau Of Aeronautics,
gave the most damaging testimony. He
declared he saw the plane diving and
looming with full power about a
block away from his residence, 1925
Kenyon street. and that at no time
was the plane over an altitude Of
] 900 feet or below 300 feet. The
ship, Comdr. Pace said, was Of the
type used at Hampton Roads, Va,
and the witness added. he was able
TO see an "F' on the side Of the fuse
lage.
\ mild furry was caused in the
courtroom over the testimony of Miss