The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-04-27
Dip Flags of 6 Nations in
Solemn Tribute at
New York.
THOUSANDS VIEW BODY
Streets BedeCked to Greet
Ocean AViatOrS Draped
With Crepe.
BY CARL d. GROAT
United Press staff CORRESPONDENT

NEW YORK, April 27.--Six ma
tions united in a common bond
of homage to a gallant American
aviator today when the body of
Floyd Bennett lay in state at the
list Regiment Armory for an hour
and half before being taken on to
Washington for burial among the
Nations honored dead in Arlington
cemetery.
Flags of the United States, Ger
many, Great Britain, France, Can
ada and Ireland, which had been
raised to honor the German Irish
crew Of the transatlantic airplane,
Bremen, were dipped in salute when
BENEFITS body arrived from
Quebec.
They were dipped again as the
military and police escort carried the
body Of the flier back through the
bedecked streets to the Pennsylvania
station, where it was placed aboard
a special train for Washington.
Thousands See Body
In the brief hour that Benefits
body lay in state at the armory
countless thousands Of representa-
tives of all countries passed by the
bier.
Then the doors were closed while
his mother, his widow and other
close relatives and associates of
Bennett knelt in silent prayer beside
the casket.
The funeral train left shortly aft
er 10 a. m. Besides Benefits body,
it carried his relatives, Commander
Richard E. Byrd, whom he had
piloted over the north pole and del
egations from the North German
Lloyd line, the Irish Free State,
German and Irish societies and
representatives of the City of New
York.
Bennett had lost his life on an er-
rand which he hoped would hasten
the release of the Irish
fliers stranded on Greenly Island.
The streets through which his
body was carried from Grand Cen
tral Terminal to the Armory and
then to the Pennsylvania Station
presented a strange combination Of
decorations.
Flags Draped With Crepe
The flags which had been put up
as part Of the welcome planned for
the German ocean flierS were pulled
down to half-mast and some of the
gayer decorations were draped with
crepe.
Four seaplanes circled above the
station as the train pulled out and
the bell in the station tolled.
Streets leading from the armory
to the station and the area around
the station itself were congested by
the hundreds Of thousands of per-
sons who had hurried uptown for
glimpse of the body or of the pro-
ceSSion.
The train bearing the valiant avi.
ator's body arrived at Grand Cen
trail station from Quebec at 7:30
a m. and was met by a large crowd
of mournerS.
The body of the man who died
of pneumonia in a Quebec hospital,
after a daring flight into the north
lands to aid the stranded trans-At-
lantic tlierS, was placed on a mill
tary gun carriage to head a process
sion to the Seventy First Regiment
Armory where it lays in state.
Through streets decorated for the
now postponed reception of the
German-Irish voyagers, the solemn
procession followed the flag-draped
casket.
Bare Heads Reverently
Behind the gun carriage came a
detachment of mounted police, fol-
lowed in turn by a company of the
list National Guards, a company
from the Regular Army and a de-
tachment of sailors from the Brook
lyn Navy yard.
In the street beyond the station
thA procession had been joined by
a Navy band which played a dirge
as the cortege moved into Park
Ave.
Streets from Grand Central to
The Armory we're lined with people
who barred their heads reverently
as the caisson passed.
BY the time the cortege had
reached the Armory hundreds of
thousands of persons had poured
into the area and it was only with
great difficulty that police cleared a
path for the procession.
AS the body was being carried into
the building the Navy band played
Nearer My God to Thee" Flags
dipped, policemen saluted and the
soldiers and sailors in dress uni
forms presented arms. Across the
street in an upper story window a
woman was weeping.
Allowed Fleeting Glimpse
True mourners and the idle
curious alike formed a single file
and passed in through the Thirty
Fourth st. entrance of the armory
Rich and poor, well-dressed
and shoddy, taxi drivers, business
men, mothers carrying babies and |
young girls made up the motley !
bhrong.