MISSING MILLIONAIRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1056, 21 August 1930, Page 9

MISSING MILLIONAIRE

HAD SPENT A FORTUNE IN CIVIL FLYING MR. VAN LEAR BLACK • Reed. 10.5 a.m. NEW YORK, Wed. j Naval and coastguard forces in ships ! and airplanes have abandoned the | search tor Mr. Van Lear Black, the j missing millionaire publisher of the j “Baltimore Sun,” who disappeared ! from his yacht Sabalo. Mr. Black was known all over the world as an enthusiastic long-distance flier. That his death was accidental is not questioned. A message from London says the news of Mr. Van Lear Black’s deatn was received there with regret. The newspapers recall his sensational flights over Europe at the beginning of 1927, many of which were remarkable. Mr. Black was 52 years old when he began flying. Since then he must have spent a fortune on aviation. He had two machines built at a cost of £IO,OOO each. His aim always was to demonstrate the value of commercial flying, as opposed to spectacular flying. READ AND WROTE ALOFT To show what could be accomplished by an ordinary business man he must have flown hundreds of thousands of miles. The almost casual w ay in which Mr. Black accomplished difficult flights in a single-engined machine so impressed the Dutch public that they were led to starting a regular Dutch air mail route to the East Indies. Mr. Black always flew in an ordinary lounge suit with evening clothes in his baggage. He had with him a valet. He spent much of his time In the air reading or writing, and he always carried a good supply of newspapers because he found that a gift of the latest news was the most acceptable and surest passport at outlandish spots.