Evening star., 1935-02-21
Grief Attracted Notice.

!: Grief Attracted Notice.
The girls had been living in West
End hotel in London for the last foul
or five days, coming to England only
short time after the funeral OF
the British crash victims in Italy
Their tears and Mysteries excited the
interest of attendants at the London
hotel.
(The dead in the crash of the Ace
of Diamonds were Flight Lieut.. Henry
Longfeld Beatty, Flying Officer John
A. C. Forbes. Lieut.. Willis, four other
officers named Allen, Bailey, Rees and
Wogan, Sergt. Wallace and a civilian
named PennD
The girls flew out to death alone
for, aside from the airplanes pilot
there was no other person on the
eight passenger ship. The Misses du
Bois had reserved and paid for every
seat in the plane, apparently in order
to be by themselves on the channel
crossing.
The planes pilot, j. Kirton, did not
notice his passengers disappearance
until an hour later when he was well
out over the channel.
Letters Found on Seats.
Scotland Yard detectives were i'm
mediately sent ou. from London or
the case for two sealed letters were
found on one of the seats in the plane
after the Mortified Kirton took 1t back
to Romford Airport.
officials described the dual deaths
as the strangest air tragedy in Europe
since Capt. Alfred Loewenstein, the
famous Belgian flnancier, disappeared
July 4. 1929. from a cabin plane
over the English Channel.
The two letters were said to have
been addressed to the girls parents
Mr.. end Mrs. Coert du Bois. Their
father is United States consul general
at Naples.
The bodies landed in cabbage
patch, close to the edge Of town. The
impact drove them foot into the
soft soil The first police on the scene
outlined the spot with rows of wooden
pegs.
The plane was operated by Hillman
Saloon Coaches g. Always. Limited
which runs passenger services from
Romford to Paris.
The witnesses who saw the plunge
to death said that the bodies first ap-
peared to be pieces of paper" blown
in the wind.
Kirton said the sisters appeared to
be agitated when they reached the
airport preparatory to boarding the
plane.
Consul Franklin c. Gowen of the
United States consulate in London
took charge of the case on behalf of
the United States officials. The in
quest, which will be conducted under
the supervision of Coroner c. E. Lewis,
Brentwood, will probably be held next
week.
Doors Easy to Open.
A Hillman official said the doors on
their cabin planes lock from the in
side. "a cabin door could easily be
opened from the inside" said the Off
cial when he was questioned as to
whether the pressure from the slip
stream of the propeller would be suffl-
GENTLY strong to hold the door shut
against the strength of two women.
The two letters found in the plane
were addressed one to the father and
one to the mother. The police took
charge of the letters, then sealed the
airplane's doors after they had ex-
amined the 40 pounds of baggage ap-
parently left on the plane by the sis
tiers.
The airplane is a biplane with two
engines and with seats for eight pas
sengers.
Coert Du Bois, 81, father of the
girls, is native of Hudson, N. Y,
but now with his legal residence at
San Francisco. His wife was the
former Miss Margaret Mendell of Bos-
ton. They were married August l,
1910. The two daughters were their
only children.
Out over the English Channel, he
looked back into the cabin, saw the
girls were missing and that a door
was ajar.
He Immediately notified Croydon
(Contin1led on PAGE Column 81