Evening star., 1942-12-21
u|tyWireSo|d
For War Use,
U. Charges
Goods Withheld From
Bottle Areas; Tests
Reported Fixed
BY the Associated Press.

NePOIte0 TlXeO
BY the Associated Press
Attorney General Biddle an
nounced today the indictment Of
Anaconda Wire g. Cable Co., in
what he called lone of the most
reprehensible cases of defraud-
ing the Government and endan-
gering the lives of American
soldiers and sailors"
The Justice Department said the
Marion Qnd) company was charged
with turning out defective wire in
meeting 100000 in Government
orders. Some of its wire went to
Russia, an Official said. resulting in
a Soviet complaint, while the United
States Army had ordered that COM
munications wire from the Ana
conda Co. be used only for maneu-
vers-not for combat.
Besides conspiracy to defraud, Mr..
Biddle said the indictment of the
company and five off1cerss returned
at Fort Wayne, Ind, charged con-
spiracy to present false claims in
the production and sale of wire and
cable used by the armed forces for
combat communication purposes"
This is one Of the most reprehen-
sible cases of defrauding the Gov
eminent and endangering the lives
of American soldiers and sailors ever
to come to the attention of the De-
partment of Justice" Mr.. Biddle
said.
II can conceive of nothing moro
vicious or treacherous than delib-
erately supplying our armed forces
with defective war material: and I
am informed that only the alertness
of Government inspectors and the
promptness with which the War
Fraud Unit and the FBI investigated
complaints in this case has prevented
enormous quantities of defective wire
and cable from being transported to
our troops overseas
The Justice Department charged
the defendants secretly installed"
behind sliding panels under test
tables, mechanisms that enabled the
passing of inferior or defective ma
terials.
Tom C. Clark, chief of the War
Frauds Unit, revealed that the So
Wet government had twice pro-
tested to lease-lend officials that
| practically half of the wire manufac-
tured by this company and delivered
to the Russians had proved defec-
tive.
Defendants Are Named.
In addition to the company, the
Justice Department said defendants
named in the indictments were Thor
S. johnson, general manager of all
Anaconda mills; Frank E. Hart,
manager of the Marion division of
Anaconda; Don R. Carpenter, super
intendent of the Marion plant;
Chalmer Bishop, chief company in
spector at Marion, and Frank Kun
kle, assistant chief company inspec-
tor at Marion.
The Justice Department thus de-
scribed "the conspiracy to circum-
vent Government requirements and
specifications" in the manufacture
of wire and cable:
without the knowledge of Gov
ernment inspectors, the defendants
secretly installed a transformer or
circuit breaker on insulation -resist-
ance test equipment. 1t was COM
monty called button box by those
operating it.
Charge Box Was Manipulated.
by secretly manipulating the but
ton box during tests of wire and
cable, company officials and inspec-
tors we're able to pass inferior or
defective material which did not
actually meet rigorous Government
requirements of 1900 megohms per
1000 feet of field wire BY using
this button box the galvanometer
reading of the megohmS of resist
ance could be raised as high as 10
times the actual resistance existing
in the wire. Thus, wire actually
having 220 megohms of resistance, by
the use of the button box, would test
1900 megohms or more"
The indictment included eight
counts.
Mr.. Clark said the complaint from
Russia contended that tests of the
wire, sent there for combat use,
showed that when put under water
for three hours, instead of 2,200
megohms, the resistance of the wire
dropped to less than so megohms;
that the wire was poorly impreg-
mated: that the braid had insuff1-
cient mechanical strength; that the
rubber insulation cracked when bent
and the impregnation compound
separated from the braid.
Mr.. Clark said the Justice De-
partment first heard some rum
blings" about the Anaconda plant
in September, when report was
submitted by Cyrus Shipp, in
spector for the Signal Corps.
Shortly afterward a tip-off came
in letter to the Justice Depart
ment from an Indiana citizen whom
Mr.. Clark would not name.
The indictments, according to
Mr.. Biddle, also Charged that in
carrying out the conspiracy the
defendants removed inspection Ia
bells from tested and approved wire
and cable and placed them on un-
tested material"
Through this device" the de-
partment statement said the III
dictment charged. "the defendants
produced and sold to the Govern
ment large quantities Of wire and
cable which never were subject to
test and which were in :act in
ferior and defective.
Mr.. Clark said no accurate esti-
mate on the amount of defective
material supplied the armed forces
was as yet available.
He told newspapermen that the
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