New Britain herald., 1927-12-23
OFFICERS WIFE AGAIN
 ASSAILS SEC. WILBUR
Widow of Commander Thinks Reply Some
 what Flippant"

BaltllE ore, Md, Dec. 23 (UP)- Secretary Of the Navy Wilburs state . m"nt. in reference 10 the tragedy of the S-4, that submarines were built for warfare" was termed Somewhat hippant' today by Mrs. Roy K, Jones, wife of the command CT Of the sunkcn submarine.
 This was not warfare" Mrs. Jones said. If they knew that. the 1 men on the submarine could not be ! rescued, why didn't they wait unril sumner before operating in tho ] waters where the S-4 sank ." Mrs. Jones asserted that of all the questions she asked yesterday. Lieu ] tenant Commander F. C. Denebrink. spokesman for the navy department, . had given detailed answer on why submarines operated off Province town.
 My question was not why they operated off Proviucetown," Mrs. Jones said but why they operated off | coast where the weather con- ditionS were so bad that rescue yes sels could not get near the sub ! marine. They learned that from the , S-sl."
 In answer to her question of why pontoons were not kept at Province i town, Mrs. Jones said the reply was that it was impossible to tell where accidents would happen, and that pontoons could not be kept at al points.
 'I know pOntoons cannot be kep, in every port" Mrs. Jones continued but if they believe ProvinCetown is tn" ideal spot to work why don'r they have rescue apparatus al Provincetown? Why keep 1t in New York?
 "The whole thing is. I believe. tha' they know there is no rescue possi ble for the boats. That was knowr from the first but they talked abou standing by due 10 weather.
 They have had pontoons anc good weather now for 4N hours hu nave done practically nothing abou it. They say it was possible to ee an air line down yesterday. Wh, couldn't it have been gotten dowl Sunday afternoon? It seems as i they sat perfectly still until Mon day when bad weather began.
 T don't know. l only think. Bu think that the navy departmen knew that it was impossible to carr, out the rescue but did not want t' admit 1t to the public while peopl were still living in the boat l they knew rescue was impossibl why did they let other ships com in while the submarine was maneuv crine?'
 Asserting that her husbands boa nearly had been run down by tn Leviathan, Mrs. Jones said sh thought the public ought to knoN how submarines were treated b other vessels at sea. Commercial yes srls do not observe the law Of tn sea. but blow right on. she said
 NY ulSbIlD lpll lllf Ill Jchli
 way how he had nearly been ru down by the Leviathaq." Mrs, lone continued. He said he was runnin
 on his course and had the right 0 way when the Loviathan appeared He said he intructed his executiv
 officer 10 keep the submarine on it course as it was a United States wa vessel and the Leviathan had n
 right 10 drive the ship out of il
 right Of way. They went on an
 would have been cut in half by tn
 Leviathan if they hadn't scoote out"
 If death Is inevitable to the me ! who man q submarine. Mrs. lone said some provision should be mad for their wives and children. Sh
 said life insurance rates on officer and men in the submarine servic were so high that few could affor : to carry policies.