Maude Gilbert

Girl Will Sleep In Grave Under Northern Oaks

Canal Tragedy Victim's Body to be Buried at Bridgeport, Conn.

companion is freed

White Described Leap of Auto to Coroner's Jury as Accident.

Within a day or two the body of Miss Maude Gilbert, resting in an oak casket, will be speeding northward [to] her old home in Connecticut.

Over the same steel rails on which she rode so happily from [microfilmed hole in original*] storms and ice to the land [ ] all that is mortal of the young woman who met such a tragic death [ ] on desolate Tamiami Trail Wednesday night, will be hurried to the waiting brothers, who, bowed in grief, are preparing a grave in the beautiful cemetery at Bridgeport.

The young woman who found so great a delight walking and riding beneath the palms of Florida and swimming in the warm waters of the southern sea will be gently laid to her final rest under the branches of the sturdy oaks of New England.

There the snows will come, covering the mound; there the icy winds will blow - but the stilled heart of Maude Gilbert no doubt will retain memories of the joyous days she spent in the south. And perhaps the smile she always had so sweetly, so sympathetic and bright in all her pictures - still lingers as she forever rests within a short distance of the home she knew as a child. Beside father and mother, she will feel at home. Perhaps when the summers come the smile may brighten as the spirit fleetingly returns to her body and she recalls the flowers, the perfume of the orange blossoms, the whispering of the pines and the blue and green of the sea of Florida, where for so brief awhile life meant so much to her.

Body at King Undertaking Company.

The body is at the King Undertaking parlors. A number of beautiful floral pieces were sent yesterday by persons who had known the young woman. A wreath was sent last night by Edward F. White, her companion on the night of her tragic death. It was accompanied by a note inscribed "Sincerest sympathy." A number of persons who knew Miss Gilbert viewed the body yesterday. The undertakers announced that friends of Miss gilbert might call at any time before the body was sent north. This invitation is meant strictly for persons who knew her.

So far as the law, is immediately concerned, the tragedy which resulted in the death of Miss Maude Gilbert is a closed incident. A coroner's jury decided yesterday that the young woman came to her death by accidentally driving an automobile, in which she and Edward F. White were riding, into the Tamiami Trail canal. This verdict was reached after White had made a statement under oath.

White Tells of Fatal Ride.

The story of Miss Gilbert's death was related to a coroner's jury yesterday afternoon by White, and the incidents leading up to [her] leaving Miami with White in his [car] were told by other witnesses, while detecti[ves] of the city police force and deputies from the sheriff's office testified concerning happenings since White's automobile plunged into Tamiami canal with Miss Gilbert and White soon after 11 o'clock Wednesday night.

Dr. John B. Shisler testified that he made an examination of Miss Gilbert's body Thursday night and found her lungs contained water in a sufficient quantity to have caused death. He said

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there was a slight abrasion at the outer edge of her left eyebrow, but it appeared to be insignificant and might have occurred after her death.

When she left home Wednesday night Miss Gilbert was dressed in a light tan pongee gown, Mrs. E. D. Dusinbury, 27 N. W. Third street, told the jury. She said Miss Gilbert came home shortly before 7:30 o'clock Wednesday night and inquired if White has asked for her. She did not speak of an appointment with White, Mrs. Dusinbury said. Then, after remaining about 10 minutes at the Trexler residence, 29 N. W. Third street, Miss Gilbert spoke to Mrs. Dusinb[ur]y about being in hurry, saying, "I am late now and must hurry."

Miss Gilbert had previously spoken of White as the man who made the ice cream at the Southern Utilities Company's plant, but never spoke of appointments with him or of going out with him anywhere. The only man she had ever known Miss Gilbert to go about with was Louis Larsen, cashier of the Southern Utilities Company.

In reply to the coroner's questioning, Mrs. Dusinbury said that Miss Gilbert appeared to have her corset on when she left home. She was in the habit of wearing it, Mrs. Dusinbury asserted. She said Miss Gilbert was very nervous at times. She always came home early, by 8:30 or 9 o'clock, except when she went with Larsen to a show.

Miss Gilbert Well Known in Miami.

Miss Gilbert as she was known in Miami, according to Larsen's testimony was married about 10 years ago and had lived with her husband only about three weeks. He said he first became acquainted with her last fall at the Biscayne restaurant.

Larsen and Miss Gilbert had supper together Wednesday night he said, and she spoke of an engagement. "I said," he told the jury, "well then, I will go to the movies alone tonight." She did not tell him, he asserted, who it was she had the appointment with. "I left her about 7 o'clock," he said.

Sorrow for Miss Gilbert's financial condition was what prompted Larsen to take her out to supper and to the movies frequently. She was out of employment, he added, and told him about a day or two ago that she would have to go home as she could find nothing to do in Miami. She would send to her brother for money, Larsen said she told him, or would sell her diamond ear-rings. Larsen said he never saw her with other men or knew her to be with them.

Larsen said in reply to questions by the coroner and one of the jurymen that Miss Gilbert might have gone to Riverside Wednesday night to visit a Miss Westgard, an employee of the Southern Utilities Company, whom he had heard on a previous occasion invite Miss Gilbert to visit her.

According to [La]rsen, offers of financial assistance [were] rejected by Miss Gilbert. He spoke on more than one occasion he said, of finding something for her to do, or helping her along until she could find employment, but she was very touchy on this subject, he added.

White's Story Verified.

When White left the canal where the accident occurred he went to a farm house near the Curtiss Flying Field, he told Jack Ad[a]ms, county detective, Mr. Adams said, and this statement was borne out by the testimony of Charles G. Pratt, detective of the police force. Mr. Pratt said he visited the farm house and the man who brought White to town in his truck told him, Pratt, that White first said his car had broken down in the woods and he wanted to get to town. Later, when they arrived at White's home, Pratt said the man told him, White admitted there had been an accident and his companion was probably drowned.

Among the [articles] found in the car and [identified by] witnesses was Miss Gilbert's [black velvet] handbag containing $40, and [a white] handkerchief which White admit[ted] was his and which Deputy Sheriff Jack Gay said he found tied around the dashboard light. "We didn't find the other two handkerchiefs which have been mentioned," he said.

White, who said he was manager of the ice cream department of the Southern Utilities Company, before being asked to give an account of what happened on the night that Miss Gilbert was drowned to the jury, was warned by Justice Okell that anything he might say might be used against him at a future time and that he did not have to make a statement [unless] he wanted to. White then said that he wanted to make a statement and would tell all he knew regarding the manner [in] which Miss Gilbert met her death. He was then asked to tell the jury just what time he left his office and the time that he met Miss Gilbert.

Did Not Have Previous Appointment.

"I left my office at about 5:30 or 6 o'clock, Wednesday afternoon and drove to my home at 618 S. W. Fourteenth street and remained there until about 7:30 p.m.," White said. "I then left again, driving my car and after driving around a short while I returned home, which was between 8 and 8:30 p.m. After arriving at my home I read awhile and then lay down on one of the beds and later decided to go to town and get supper. This was at about 11 p.m."

"At a point in West Flagler street, and Avenue P, I saw Miss Gilbert standing on a corner. I stopped my car and asked he[r] what she was doing. She replied that she was waiting for a jitney to take her to town. I then told her to get in [t]he car and I would take her to town. She got in the car. She told me that she could drive a car and [asked] me to let her drive and I turned the steering wheel over to her."

At this point the witness was asked by Justice Okell if Miss Gilbert had a package in her hand. He replied that she had; one or two packages.

Q: Did Miss Gilbert get in the front seat?
A: Yes.
Q: Where did she put the package or packages?
A: I don't remember.

The witness was then asked if Miss Gilbert appeared as though she knew how to drive a car after taking the steering wheel, and he replied that she did. White then stated that they drove out old Twentieth street and then to the Tamiami Trail, with Miss Gilbert at the wheel. The witness was next asked if they stopped anywhere, and he replied they did not. The question was then asked if Miss Gilbert discarded the undergarments [en route] to the trail. He replied that she had not. White stated that the automobile was making about 15 or 20 miles an hour when they passed the dredge on the canal and that the car was on the road, about three or four feet from the bank of the canal.

Could Hardly Remember Plunge.

"Both headlights on the car were burning brightly, I could see ahead for quite a distance. I saw the sand-bank and almost immediately after passing it I was thrown into the water. It happened so quickly I hardly remember it. I remember going to the bottom and hitting the soft sand and mud and then I felt part of the car. I came to the surface and looked around for Miss Gilbert. I couldn't find her and then I struck out for the bank. I was then about 12 feet from the bank, I should judge. After arriving at the bank I looked around for Miss Gilbert and couldn't see her and then I jumped into the water again and dived around trying to find her. I then swam across the canal to the north bank. I called her name several times and walked up and down the bank, but could not find her. I waited for about 30 minutes for [...] as it was very dark I finally decided that I could do nothing."

The witness was then asked if he was in the car when it struck the water or if he fell out before it struck the water. He replied that he did not remember, that it all happened so quickly and that he didn't remember anything until he felt the bottom of the canal and felt around and touched a part of the car.

Resuming his narrative, the witness stated that he walked across the desolate country near the canal looking for a road or a house and that after wandering around for some time he arrived at three or four houses and learned that he was on the Curtiss aviation grounds.

"I walked up to one of the houses and I knocked at the door and a man answered," White said. "he then in[vited] me [in] and I then asked him if he [would] take me to town at once. I [told] him that I had met with an accident and he gave me a drink of water. He stated that he couldn't go at that time as he hadn't had his [breakfast] I told him to let it go; that I would buy him breakfast when [we] arrived in town. The man finally [c]onsented to take me home, and after arriving there I changed my clothing and took a bath. I then went to the police station and reported the matter and was then taken to the county jail, where I gave my statement of the accident and was locked up. That is all I know about the unfortunate accident."

Had Never Gone With Miss Gilbert.

The witness was then asked if Miss Gilbert wore a hat the night he met her on the corner and he replied that she had not. He was then asked how Miss Gilbert wore her hair.

He replied that as a rule she wore it braided around her head and that it was braided in that manner the night he met her.

Justice Okell asked White if he had [an] engagement to meet Miss Gilbert at 7:30 wednesday night. He said he met her accidentally.

Q: Did you ever have a previous engagement with Miss Gilbert or have you ever met her and have you ever gone riding with her previous to Wednesday night?
A: No, Wednesday night was the first time that I ever met Miss Gilbert and the first time she ever went riding with me.
Q: Whose handkerchiefs were those found tied on the back of the car?
A: I don't know; I didn't know that there were any handkerchiefs tied to the car.
Q: Well, whose handkerchief was it that was found in the front seat of the [car?]
A: It was mine. I quite frequently use handkerchiefs and leave them on the front seat.
Q: How was the belt to the dress worn by Miss Gilbert separated from the dress?
A: I don't know.
Q: Did you and Miss Gilbert carry on a conversation while driving that night, and what was it about?
A: She talked mostly of automobiles and how she was going to surprise her brothers at Bridgeport, Conn., when she next visited them by knowing how to drive a car.
Q: Was Miss Gilbert despondent or feeling blue Wednesday night?
A: Not that I know of. She appeared to be in good humor and was laughing and talking about the surprise she had in [s]tore for her brothers in regard to driving an automobile.
Q: Are you sure that neither you or Miss Gilbert got out of the automobile from the point you state that she got into your car and the place where the car dashed into the canal?
A: I am positive of that. The car was never stopped after Miss Gilbert got into it.
Q: Did Miss Gilbert, after taking the steering wheel, mention where she was going?
A: She did not, nor did I ask her where she intended to drive.

Companion Knew How to Drive.

Q: Did Miss Gilbert know how to drive a car?
A: Apparently she did. She drove alright until the accident.

White [was] then excused and Louis Larsen, cas[hi]er of the Southern Utilities Company called to the stand. He was asked if he had learned from Miss Westgard, who rooms at 29 N. W. Third street, if Miss Gilbert returned home after 7:30 o'clock Wednesday night. Larsen stated that a lady at the house told him that she had not. The witness was then excused and the justice summed up the evidence that had been presented and [asked] the jury to return a verdict stating in what manner in their opinion Miss Gilbert had met her death.

The articles found in the canal and in the Essex car where exhibited to the jurors. They consisted of a large velvet handbag and several undergarments worn by women, including a corset, a light tan pongee [silk] dress belt, and other articles of feminine wear.

"To me it looks simply like an accident and nothing [else] and that the deceased came to her death as the result of an accident," said Justice Okell. "Of course, you gentlemen are the judges of the manner in which Miss Gilbert met her death, but from the evidence presented here it looks like an accident and nothing else."

Verdict of Accidental Drowning.

The full verdict, which was signed by the members of the jury, was as follows:

"That while driving and operating an automobile along the Tamiami Trail, near the canal on the night of August 10, Miss Maude Gilbert by her own act, by accident, or by losing control of said automobile, drove said car off the road and into the canal and was then and there drowned. For that reason [based] on the testimony of a number of persons we find that Miss Gilbert met her death as the result of an accidental drowning."

The members of the jury were [L.F. McGhan,] Jon Lockridge, Frank [?], W.A. Perry, G.H. Ayler, and Otto H[a]lmer.

The body of Miss Gilbert is at the King Undertaking establishment pending further word from relatives at Bridgeport, Conn., as to its disposition. A telegram was received yesterday afternoon at the undertaking establishment from A.E. Bishop, and undertaker at Bridgeport, Conn., which confused the name of Miss Gilbert with that of Maude E. Gray. The telegram did not explain why the name of Gray was used. The young woman's brothers at Bridgeport are completing the funeral arrangements.

White stated last night that he did not tell the coroner that he did not know where his wife and children were, but that he said that he did not care to give their address.