At Funeral of Airman Who Plunged to Death Escorted by a troop of First cavalry, the body of the army aviator was taken from the hearse to the church shortly before 10 o'clock. As Mrs. Walter Taliaferro, the wife of the dead aviator, entered the church ,where less than five months ago she was married, she nearly collapsed. Lucien H. Taliaferro, his brother, tenderly supported the bereaved widow. |
The casket, draped with the Stars and Stripes, was placed directly in front of the pulpit on almost
the same spot where Lieutenant Taliaferro and his bride were made husband and wife on April 29 last. A pathetic feature was the fact
that Rev. Charles L. Barnes, rector of St. Paul's, was compelled to read the funeral service within so short a time after he had
officiated at the wedding of the army flyer. The little church as packed with officers and enlisted men of the army, navy, cavalry, marine corps and by civilians from every walk of life. More than 200 floral offerings were banked about the casket and pulpit, while more than 100 floral |
pieces ....from all ports of the United States, were received at the Taliaferro home on Third street. Blooms Drape Dead Probably the most beautiful floral piece was that sent by five affiliated personnel of the signal corps aviation school at North Island. It was a replica of a Curtiss military biplane in which Lieutenant Taliaferro met his death. The propeller, fuselage, wings and ailerons were covered with asters and American Beauty roses, while entwined around the stay wires and pilot's seat were small ferns and baby roses. Other floral pieces were from the officers of the signal corps aviation school, from the messmates of the dead aviator at the Hotel del |
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