The New York herald., 1922-03-25
Continued from First Page.

the aviator had been taken on board,
consequently the seaplane must have
dr-ifted or been swept by the winds be-
fore going down into the sea. far out
of its course.
The passengers with moore who, II is
almost certain from the wording Of the
intercepted radio message, nave been
drowned, were Mr.. and Mrs. August
Bulte and Mr.. and Mrs. Lawrence f..
Smith of Kansas City and Mrs. j. S.
Dixon of Memphis.
The seapane, big machine which
Moore had named Miss Miami. set out
on Wednesday morning for Bimini. The
weather was favorable at the start, but
q few hours later storm developed, ac-
companied by heavy seas and high
wind. IL was thought at the time the
storm might interfere with the flight
and perhaps delay the plane in its trip
to Bimini, but no particular fear for
the safety Of Moore and his passengers
was expressed.
The storm continued however.
throughout the day and the night, and
Thursday morning friends of the pilot
and passengers, learning that the
weather outside the harbor was un-
usually heavy. began TO be alarmed
No word was received from Bimini that
they had arrived. although radio mes
sages were sent and all ships asked to
look out for them.
Every available airplane. seaplane and
yacht at Miami and Sea Beach started
to search for the missing plane. and
all during Thursday and Thursday night
they swept the seas within a distance
Of two hundred miles north. east and
south OF this port.
Search by Giant SeapIan~.
But although the men in the search
ing planes had high powered glasses
and were able to command a view of
the sea for miles ahead. they found no
trace of the missing seaplane. A special
search was made to-day by the giant
seaplane Cuba, which cruised 260 miles.
those on board scanning the sea with
powerful glasses. But the cruising and
the searching We're in vain.
No trace of the plane was visible
among the keys off the Florida coast,
and nothing could be seen of her in
the long sweils OF the ocean. The Cuba
returned to port late this afternoon. re-
porting failure.
All Of the wireless stations along the
Florida coast have been kept busy since
Wednesday sending out messages to
ships asking that a careful lookout be
received from many ships that this was
being done, and requests were made
that they be sent any informa tion which
might help in the search. but no sue
cess attended any of these efforts.
From the scant information which
has been received from the tanker It
is believed that Moore was utterly ex-
hausted when he was picked up. He
must have managed to cling to the
,r1l-.. H.
fallen into the sea and after the five
passengers had slipped off into the
water and were drowned.
The wording of the radio message
indicates that Moore when picked up
was in such bad condition that he was
not even able to give the name of his
seaplane and Capt. Wachsmuch wired a
description of its color in order that
those on shore might be able to iden-
tify it.
Engine Trouble Suspected.
Aviators here who are familiar with
Moores flying methods and with the
weather and the winds on the route to
Bimini believe the seaplane must have
developed engine trouble not long after
ii left here. Under ordinary weather
conditions it would have been possible
for Moore to have repaired his engine
and continued the trip. but the high
winds made 1t impossible for him TO
handle the craft. heavy as II was and
laden besides with six persons.
SO far as available information shows
Moore must have tried to turn his plane
and get back to Miami. or at least to
some point along the Florida coast
With the engine working poorly Moore.
II is believed, was not able to raise her
from the sea and she drifted with the
waves. Apparently the plane had drifted
between 100 and 200 miles from her
course.
Avators hero are able TO reconstruct
something of the things that must have
happened when Moore realized that his
plane was helpless and that the only
hope for himself and his passengers wns
that they might be picked UP by some
vessel. There was room for all on the
plane. but there was no food save the
sandwiches and the therrnos bottles
filed with coffee that such parties
usually take. Indeed, * Is not actually
known that the five passengers with