Evening star., 1937-03-21
Crash
Continued From First Page)

is matter of stenographic record by
the department.
Letters written by the investiga-
tors adviser, discharged employe
OF the Bureau of Air Commerce, in
themselves furnish conclusive evidence
of a plan to work up a case designed
to show incompetent and inefficient
maintenance of air navigation facili-
ties by the Bureau of Air Commerce.
One Of the discharged employees
letters, photostatic copy of which
is in possession of the department,
reveals the plan in the following
language:
II believe I am going to work up
a darn good case placing the blame
of the crash on the radio range at
Kansas City being out of alignment.
- Don't you thing I should play up
the improper functioning of the aids
as much as I can? Also show how
the course led Bolton (the pilot into
trouble; get them presumably the
company to concede the weather as
reported at Kirksville and blame the
aids"
First Contention Abandoned.
After this letter was written, John
son said, the Senate investigator
abandoned the original principal con-
tention Of the company, as did the
company itself, that the accident was
due to erroneous weather reporting
by the departments airWays keeper
at the Kirksville emergency field"
There also appears in the published
record made public last night a brief
filed with the Copeland committee
by Representative Keller of Illinois, in
which it is charged that the Senate
group was misguided by their in
vestigator, Hartney." Col. Harold
Hartney was chief investigator for
the committee.
This statement" Representative
Keller said, affords an opportunity
to open up and tell of the sorid at
tempt on the part of Hartney and
others to sacrifice an innocent $1,000
per-year Government employe to allow
an airline to escape responsibility for
crash"
When Rex Martin, assistant director
OF air commerce, came to the defense
of the accused airWays keeper, Rep
resentative Keller charged in his brief,
he was Threatened with dire conse-
quenceS." At the insistence of Col
johnson, Keller said an investigation
OF the charges against the airWays
keeper was made by Post Office De-
partment inspectors.
Col. Hartney was not agreeble to
the investigation, threatened Martin
IN the presence of witnesses with dire
consequences because of his insistence
that 1t proceed, attempted to have it
called off before it was finished, and
when finally completed he arranged
to have the inspectors report pre-
sented to the committee in executive
session." Keller said In his brief.
Jones on Job.
THE post office inspectors report
Is conclusive as to the fact that Jones
&C. H. Jones, assistant airways keeper
at the Kirksville aiport) was on the
job"
The charges against Jones, the rec
ord shows, were that he was absent
from his post and was in the company
of a woman of questionable character"
on the night of the crash.
The report of the post Office inspec-
tors, w. j. Means and Tom j. Cargill,
included in the record, shows Jones
was at his post of duty on the night
in question" and that "the woman in
question is mythical"
Appearing before the Copeland COM
mlttee in person, the published tram
script shows, Representative Keller
repeated his charge that Hartney
threatened Martin with serious diff
ficulty'' if he persisted in his defense
of Jones.
"Hartney kept his promise in this
regard at least" Keller said. Failing
to show Jones as the murderer of
Cutting, the Investigators decided they
must have a goat and thenceforth
prosecuted vigorously the original con-
spiracy to lay it onto Martin
This conspiracy is fully shown
from its inception by the three let
ters of Jay A. Mount, denoted en-
ploye, later fired for dishonesty. These
letters show the underground con-
nection between Mount, Jack Frye,
president of the T. w. A., and the
chief investigator, in the procedure
which was actually followed to place
the blame for the Cutting crash on