Maude Gilbert

Click thumbnail below for scanned image of this article.

AUTO LEAPED FROM TRAIL
INTO WATER AT MIDNIGHT

Edward F. White, Married Man,
Returns at Sunrise to Tell of
Maude Gilbert's Tragic Death.

STRUGGLES THROUGH DESOLATE EVERGLADES ON WAY TO MIAMI

Discovery of Young Woman's Garments in Sunken Machine Gives Rise to Theories; Inquest Today.

As the sun was sinking last evening the body of pretty Maude Gilbert lay on the bank of Tamiami Trail canal from which it had been lifted by a diver. The body had lain in the turbid waters of the canal for nearly eighteen hours. Five or six divers had spent several hours searching for it. Charges of dynamite had been exploded in vain efforts to bring it to the surface.

Death came to Miss Gilbert under most tragic circumstances at midnight Wednesday. It was while the rising moon was illuminating the desolation of the Everglades that Edward F. White says the girl drove an Essex automobile over the bank into the canal. She sank into the swirling waters, he says, and never arose.

Never Arose From Waters.

White, who is now in jail, held for investigation, declares that he swam for several minutes in search of the young woman, but, failing to locate her, climbed the opposite bank and made his way to the city, arriving early yesterday morning.

The scene of the tragedy is about seven and one-half miles west of the city on the Tamiami canal, about one half mile beyond where the canal turns to the south. It was there yesterday afternoon where were gathered scores of automobiles whose owners lined the bank to peer into the waters in the hope of being able to locate the body. Ti was not an idly curious crowd, but composed of men and women whose hearts were filled with compassion for the young woman whose life had gone out so suddenly and under such unusual conditions.

Many Picture Her Death Struggle.

Some of them made mental pictures of the leap of the automobile from the Trial into the canal, where the water is from five to fifteen feet in depth, they visioned the occupants of the machine, Miss Maude Gilbert and Edward F. White speeding on the Trail, as the moon alternately shone in all its brilliancy and then, as if by magic, hit its face behind a fleeting cloud; they visioned best they could the swerving of the machine to the right, it having been headed westward, and then, closing their eyes, tried to imagine they heard the noise of the terrible splashing of the water as the machine and its occupants disappeared from sight.

It was not difficult to picture the struggles of the young woman as she may have attempted to free herself from the machine. It was not then known, as these spectators stood for hours in the broiling sun, that possibly, Miss Gilbert never reached the surface of the canal after the plunge of the machine. Her body was found later in the day almost in the identical spot from which the automobile had been raised by derrick earlier in the day.

Marked Spot By Stick.

While the spectators also could vision Edward F. White struggling in the canal, looking first one wan and then the other for the body of his companion, and then take a mental glimpse of him climbing the high, sun-baked bank to a point where he, to mark the spot of his dark adventure, placed a stick; yet, in view of many facts later developed, they permitted their minds to conjure other theories than accident.

They recalled Edward F. White's quoted statement that he had casually met Miss Gilbert on the street late at night, invited her to ride with him and that he, at her request, had driven out toward the Trail. They, too, were familiar with the story that she had insisted on driving the automobile and that it was while she was at the wheel that it made its death leap.

As these statements were considered, there came the statement of Mrs. E. D. Dusinbury, in the rear of 29 N. W. Third street, that Miss Gilbert had mentioned to her at 7:30 Wednesday night that she had an engagement to meet White. They could not reconcile this with the story of the accidental meeting, although on this point there may be evidence later to substantiate White's statement.

Some expressed themselves as curious to know why White had taken all the time from midnight until morning to reach the city to make a report of the tragedy. This, he explained, was due to the difficulties of crossing the glade lands and his worn-out condition.

White Directs Rescuers.

But yesterday afternoon as the grappling hooks and chains were being fastened to the sunken machine and as recovery of the body was momentarily expected. White stood on the canal bank with sheriff's deputies and others and talked of the hour in which he said he faced death. He seemed cool and collected.

At this time he had made no attempt to explain how the undergarments of Miss Gilbert came to be in the machine. The presence of this underwear apparently was the chief cause of mystery and, it may be said, constituted the real reason for the county authorities holding White for further investigation.

It was between 5 and 6 o'clock when a diver discovered the body. The crowd had contently grown until the bank was darkened with men and women. A chill of horror struck many as the diver lifted the body from the canal and it taken by sympathetic hands and gently carried up the jagged canal bank, as if to spare the unfortunate young woman further bruises. The only mark was an abrasion over the left eye.

Reverence for the dead led many to uncover their heads as the body lay beneath a sheet until an ambulance arrived.

White to Repeat Story to Jury.

Ownership of the undergarments found in the automobile was established when examination of the corpse at the King undertaking company's morgue showed that the young woman was attired practically only in her outer-apparel. White will be expected to explain certain details relating to the undergarments at the coroner's inquest at 4 o'clock this afternoon.

White was said to be unconcerned in jail last night. He lives at 618 S. W. Fourteenth avenue. His wife and children left at 4:40 Wednesday afternoon for a visit with friends in North Carolina.

No charge has been made against White; none may be made. When under oath today, he relates the complete details of the tragedy, any suspicion which may have been aroused as to any other cause than accident may be entirely dissipated.

Withal the lonely spot on Tamiami Trail long will be noted for the tragedy which took the life of Maude Gilbert, the pretty Connecticut girl, and which no doubt will be ever a shadow in the life of Edward F. White.