The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-03-25

Miami, Fla. March 25.-Of the six
persons who left here Wednesday for
forty-fiVe minute airplane trip to
Bimini Island, two women died OF
exhaustion after the flying boat was
forced to land owing to broken pro-
reller; a man and u woman became
Eanic stricken and jumped overheard
and were drowned and fifth slipped
into the sea Thursday morning from
sheer exhaustion. Robert Moore, the
pilot and the sixth person on the
craft, was picked up by the tanber
William Green after clinging to the
wreckage of his machine for fifty
hours and was landed here today by
submarine chaser.
The William Green bound from
Tayonne, N. j., to Tampico picked
up the wrecked plane and its lone
survivor 13 miles north of this city
and Al miles from the east of the
Indian river inlet.
The sub-chaser 154 arrived in port
this morning at 10 o'clock after hav-
ing transferred tile ,dalirious pilot
from the William Green. He was
the exposure will result in his death.
According to the disconnected
story which the exhausted and deliri-
Gus pilot told during intervals when
he was rational the two women died
in his arms from exhaustion, two of
the passengers became panic strick-
en- and jumped overheard to their
deaths, the surviving male passenger
finally slipping quietly into the wa
terry grave Friday morning as a re-
suit of sheer exhaustion.
The incoherent story of the trag-
edy as told to members of the crew
by the pilot before he lapsed into a
semi-conscious condition is to the ef-
feet that shortly after the Miss Miami
left this port last Wednesday morn.
ing, broken propeller, forced her
down and she rode the waves in
safety drifting northward in the gulf
stream. Nothing happened until
Thursday morning when the hull of
the flier began to leak as result
of hitting against something. Men
and women passengers tooks turns
using the pumps until all became ex-
hausted and one of the women on
Thursday night, which one Pilot
Moore could not say jumped over
board. A man whom he thought
was her husband, leaped after her
and both disappeared never to be
seen again.
The fate of the man and the wo-
man depressed the other two women
and they tainted away but were sup,
ported by Pilot Moore for seven and
a half hours. In the mean time
another man, completely exhausted,
had slipped into the raging waters
and was gone forever. After seven
and al half hours the two women
died in the arms of the pilot and he
gently dropped their bodies into the
water which had now claimed four
passengers.
This left only Pilot Moore and Au.
gust Bulte, vice president of the Lar.
ibee Flour Mills corporation of Kan
sas City, who took turns manning
the pump in an effort to keep the
flying boat afloat. They kept at
this until Friday morning when they
were so exhausted that they could
not man the pump any longer. About
this time a huge wave came along
and overturned the flier.
Butte and Moore scrambled over
the side of the boat and Moore fas
tened a rope around himself to sup.
port him in case he became uncon.
scious. Standing on his feet he
waved a white handkerchief keeping
this up all day long.
After praying for help, Butte, real
izing his condition and that death
was not far away, took roll of
money containing $4,000 from his
pocket and handed it to Moore say
ing: "You are a younger man and
may be able to come through but
cannot hold out any longer then he
too, dropped to his grave beneath
the raging waters Of the Atlantic
According to the story of Moore
nine boats passed the Miss Miami af-
ter she was down, one. so closely
that he could read her name but they
did not see the wrecked craft. He
said that on Wednesday and Friday
he saw planes flying overhead but
saw none on Thursday -
Mrs. J. Stewart Williams, wife OF
the consulting engineer in the en-
p)oy of the Pan American Petroleum
company was aboard the tanker and
took charge Of the stricken pilot
when he was rescued. In his de.
liriuni Moore fahcied she was his
mother and kept REPEATING: Mother,
you made me give up the aut0inobile
a1aI w. E ri s Is 4. q.