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Show FAILURE OF OUR AIRPLANES. We are perplexed over this failure of the aeroplane board to make head- i way on the weapons of the air which were promised by the tens of thousands. thou-sands. There is something radically wrong, and the weakness must extend to every ev-ery part of this country Tl n days ago an Ogden boy in the airplane branch of the war service passed through here, on his way to New York to Join a brother who is high in the navy's aero service. He had been employed on the coast, assisting as-sisting in the making of Liberty motors. mo-tors. His foreman was a German who, prior to America's entrance into the war, had been outspokenly pro-German At night when work ended, this foreman and the Ogden boy had been I in the habit of turning off the lirhts in the factory. One evening the Ger I man said he would close up the place and his co-worker need not stay. Next day three Liberty motors, when tested, test-ed, were burned out, emery having been applied to the delicate parts. The Ogdemte reported what he knew to the superintendent, but was told to ! keep his mouth shut, as the plant had I Its troubles without becoming involved in a scandaL Nothing was done to prevent pre-vent further treachery, so the Ogden-ite Ogden-ite went considerably out of his way to inform tbe secret service. Then he was called Into the office and sovere-h sovere-h lec tured for his activities. How many Institutions of this kind have bid on airplane production for tbe very purpose of doing as did this coast factory'? Here we see what German trickery can do. What the government should now do is to inquire as to the responsible head of every plant engaged In making parts of airplanes, and loam as to tho financial backing and discover, if possible, pos-sible, the men behind the scenes. Wherever a plausible explanation cannot can-not be given for delay, the contractors should be imprisoned and, if dearly shown to have deliberately blocked construction, taken out and shot. There cannot be too much lieht thrown on this break down In the airplane program. We must fix the blame. i nf |