Imperial Valley press., 1931-04-01
OF
AIRPLANE CRASH
GETS UNDER WAY
Continued from page y

mobile accident" Nlgro ,old them
in Kansas City. Il don't know how
badly he was hurt; not badly, l
think
The boys. frightened. began to
cry. Nigro promised them he would
bring them here, first ealing Mrs.
Rockne at Miami, Fla. Upon reach
ing here, the doctor told the boys
OF their fathers death. Weeping,
scarcely able to speak, the lads fol-
lowed their friend TO the under
takers. After a moment inside,
they came out, dazed, and began the
wait through the night until the
early morning train that was to take
them home. They sat with Nlgro
huddled in a little restaurant, one
of the few places besides the sta
ton that is open all night in Cotton
wood Falls.
Praying and weeping, the three
of them kept their lonely vigil until
train time.
Earlier DR. Nigro had collected
the few scraps that could be identl-
fled as Rockne's personal effects.
There were two suit cases. torn al
most to shreds. From one a pair
of the coach's shoes had been sal
Yaged, the heels broken off by the
force of the airplane's fall. Rockne' S
clothing had been ripped to pieces.
While reports of the air disaster
remained vague and conflicting, the
mechanics of investigation got un-
der way.
A coroners jury was chosen last
night The inquest was to be held
today 1t was uncertain whether
the jury would make any thorough
attempt to probe the causes of the
crash.
Two representatives of the de-
partment of commerce had arrived
today, Leonard Jurden and B. NJ
Jacobs. They will send their re-
port direct to Washington. Several
officials of the Transcontinental &
Western Air Express also were here
Four witnesses of the crash have
been found-Edward Baker and
Arthur Baker, sons of the owner of
the farm where the plane fell. and
R. C. Blackburn and Clarence H
McCracken. All are farmers.
From the stories they told and
from other known evidence, these
facts emerge:
Pilot Frye radioed at 1881 that
he was flying in bad weather, amid
heavy, low hanging clouds to earth
between 1924 and II a. m.
When it crashed, the plane was
flying about six miles off the course
customarly followed from Kansas
City to Wichita, the next stop or
the transcontinental air lane. Its
altitude was about 1000 feet.
Before the crash. a broken wing
dropped from the plane. The plane
had been inspected twice last week
according to officials of the line
and found to be in good condition
Other data bearing on the cause
of the crash was largely conjecture
One theory was that the wings Of
the plane had become coated wit.
ice, causing the breakage, but per.
sons who were the first to reach tbs
mangled ship said there was no ict
on the wings.
Burton Stevenson, a pilot from
Kansas City who flew to the scene
of the accident, said that Pilot Frye
because of unfavorable weather
might have decided to turn back t.
Kansas City. To get bearings from
the ground, the plane would have
had to lose considerable altitude il
doing So Stevenson suggested, tht
plane might have gone into a dive
that caused the wing to crumblt
when the pilot tried to pull out
Death came instantly for all those
aboard. Four of the occupants, in
Guiding ROckne. were thrown cleal
off the ship. The others died il
the wreckage. Their bodies were
eXtricated from the twisted mas,
with difficulty.
Mail sacks, suit cases and travel
ing bags were scattered half a mile
from where the planes three motors
had buried themselves in the ground
Tennis racquets and golf balls from
the sample case of j. H. Happier, a
sporting goods salesman, were scat
tered all over the pasture.
KANSAS CITY, Mo, April l. U.P)
The funeral party of Knute
Roc!;ne moved on toward South
Bend today after a brief pause
here.
1t will reach its destination at
11:20 p. m.
Rockne's two sons, William, IA.
and Knute, Jr, II, Charles Ander-
son, assistant Notre Dame coach.
stead of loaf of bread, tell me and
I'll make the next story about Uncle