Evening star., 1936-07-17
COUSIN IS MAKING
DEFENSE PLANS
FOR RFARNSW0RTH
Comes to Take Charge
Pending Arrival of Accused
, Mans Father.
EFFORT TO RAISE BOND
IS NOT CONTEMPLATED
Believes Former Naval Officer
Will Be Better Off Under
Strict Observation.

Plans for the legal defense Of John
3. Farnsworth against espionage
charges will be made today with the
naming of counsel, Ward Farnsworth,
Chicago real estate man and cousin
OF the dismissed lieutenant CON-
mander, said this morning.
Ward Farnsworth, who arrived last
night to take charge of his cousins de-
fense, pending the arrival of the
cashiered officers father, Frederick w
Farnsworth of Cincinnati, Ohio, said
he did not intend to have furnished
the $4,000 bail set by United States
Commissioner Needham c. Turnage at
his arraignment Monday. A hearing
has been set for July 29.
IT believe my cousin is obviously in
. very bad physical condition and will
probably be better of under strict OBJ
servation than if he were released,
Ward Farnsworth explained. Il hard
~ knew him when saw him yester-
day"
Does Not Know Plans.
IT don't know what his defense will
be and can't say until after he has
talked with his attorney, whoever ii
may be.
II do know that he has been COM
pletely irresponsible during the past
few years, and that it may have re-
suited from a crack-up In which he
was injured at Pensacola, Fla, in 1927
His condition, I believe, has been ag-
gravated since his dismissal a year
later. I can't say yet, however, that
there is sufficient grounds for claiming
insanity"
Meanwhile in his District Jail cell
the former officer maintained his lnno-
cence of selling naval secrets to the
japanese Navy, and declared that any
photographs he had turned over to the
japanese government in his efforts to
get Job as an aviation instructor In
the Japanese air forces were "about as
modern and valuable as the plans OF
Admiral Dewey'S flagship"
Sought to Avoid Trouble.
He further claimed that the photo
graphs were given to the japanese
agent, whose name has been withheld
TO avoid official complications between
the Japanese and American Govern
ments, only to substantiate state
ments regarding his qualifications as
q naval expert in his efforts to obtain
q position as naval aviation in
sJructor.
Farnsworth also admitted having
had at one time copy of the conf
dental document, Service of Infor-
nation and Security" which he is
accused of selling to the Japanese
navy, but claimed that it was 10 or
IS years old at the time and that he
had never turned it over to the
Japanese.
The accused officer, who was dis
missed from the Navy in 1927 for
conduct tending to injure the morals
of the service" said he also had since
seen a revised copy of the document.
He had obtained possession Of q re-
vised edition several months ago,
while his application for a commis-
sion in the Japanese military forces
was supposed to be under consider
alton in Toxic" and had glanced
through it during a noon hour to
brush up on any late developments
IN naval operations and tactics
should his application be accepted,
he said.
Never had he given that informa-
ton to the Japanese, he protested,
merely intending to make an impress
sion as q person familiar with naval
matters. He had not thought much
of the document, however, as he later
learned it was no longer in use.
Attempts to Find Jobs.
Farnsworth related philoSophically
q discourag:ng series Of attempts to
obtain regular employment since his
discharge from the Navy after a
court martial in Philadelphia nine
years ago. He had worked for the
airship division Of the Goodyear Tire
and Rubber Co. for a while, as he is
an airship as well as an airplane
pilot, but had been unsuccessful In
obtaining a pilots berth with any
commercial airline. He lost a job
Is statistician with New York Sc
curities house when his dismissal
from the Navy was discovered.
Thereafter he had applied to the
Chinese, Argentine and Russian gov
ernments with offers to instruct and
advise their aviation forces, before
applying to the Japanese.
I'm not asking for any sympathy,
haven't made any confession and
III tell my story in court when the
time comes, he promised"