Sky Cruise : A flight on the Hindenburg

The ‘Sky Cruise” Passenger List: October 5th- October 8/9 1936.

It is possible to identify most of the few passengers described by Mr. Courtney, through the manifest available at Ancestry.com.  The Texan disappointed by the daily timetable was 64 year old James Flanagan of Henderson, Texas. The Japanese Diplomat was N. Shibusama, of Tokyo, serving in Berlin. Courtney’s cabin mate was either Alan Charles Seymour Higgins, or Ralph Wilson, both English Officers. Reading between the lines on the manifest, one spots several human interest stories one wishes Mr. Courtney had fleshed out. 20 year old Emma Gager, London hairdresser, embarking on a “New England Honeymoon.”  She was unmarried (her father’s last name , given on the manifest, was Gager) and a line has been drawn through the sentence “New England honeymoon.” Was she to be married in the U.S.?  Joseph Bonelli and Dora Pils, traveling to the same Philadelphia address, with Dora answering “always” as to the length of her stay~ were they marrying? Eugen Ott, en route to a Diplomatic position in Tokyo, and Ralph Wilson en route to New Zealand~ what might their stories have been, and why did they choose the Hindenburg?  Given the lengths of their respective trips, the time saved aboard the Hindenburg did not justify the $400 fare. 

Ahrens, Francis. 34. Johannesburg, South Africa. U.S. destination, Plaza Hotel, NYC. Traveling with Stanley Anderson.
Anderson, Joseph. 47. Washington, DC.
Anderson, Stanley. 54. Johannesburg, South Africa. Merchant.  U.S. destination, Plaza Hotel, NYC. Traveling with
   Francis Ahrens.
Bartz, Werner. 41. Officer. Stettin, Germany. Round-trip.
Berger, Max Bruno. 26. Waldheim, Germany. Merchant. Round trip.
Blaich, Theo. 36. Tiko, Africa. Plantation Farmer. U.S. destination: meeting Mildred Blaich at the Hotel New Yorker,   
   NYC, NY.
Bonelli, Joseph. 27. 4/9/09. 6153 Vine Street, Philadelphia PA. Traveling with, and may have been engaged to, Dora   
   Lucia Pils.
Campbell Tyrie, Mrs.Betty. 33. London, England. U.S. destination, Warwick Hotel, NYC, NY.
Campbell Tyrie, James Alexander. 33. London, England. Publisher. U.S. destination, Warwick Hotel, NYC, NY.
Christianson, Carl. 52. Magdeburg, Germany. Director. U.S. destination, Zeppelin Corp. 356 4th Avenue, NYC, NY.
Conn, Harold Webster. 32. Goodyear Employee.
Courtney, William Basil. 42. 2/19/1894
De Grandcourt, Charles. 40. London, England. Producer. U.S. destination, Statler Hotel. Meeting Mrs. de Grandcourt 
     at Truesdale Lake, South Salem, NY.
De Masso, Joseph. 28. Hartford, CT. A line is drawn through his name on the manifest; he may not have embarked.
Donderer, Hans. 30. NYC.
Eberhardt, Harriet Kimball. 35. 10/7/1901. 46 Walbrooke Road, Scarsdale, NY.
Flanagan, James W. 64. 10/26/1872. Henderson Texas. Waldorf- Astoria Hotel, NYC.
Forester, Lawrence F. 32. Alliance, Ohio. Goodyear Employee.
Froehlich, August. 54. 916 Temberton Road, Detroit Michigan.
Gager, Emma Dorothy. 20. London, England, Hairdresser. US Destination, Statler Hotel, NYC. Notation on manifest
   reads “New England Honeymoon.”
Gilmer, Francis Hook. 37. Goodyear Employee.
Griesser, Richard. 68. 5901 Kenmore Avenue. Chicago, Ill.
Grossmann, Edward. 36. 8/2/1900. Chicago Beach Hotel, Chicago Ill.
Haye, Margarete. 31. The Hague, Holland. U.S. destination, Savoy Plaza Hotel, NYC, NY.
Heinrich, Ernst. 50. Selb, Germany. Manufacturing Director. U.S. Destination, 51 West 32nd Street, NYC, NY.
Kayser, Ernst. 37. Berlin, Germany. Journalist. Round trip.
Kelly, Kitty. 32. 4/27/04. Los Angeles, California.
Koehler, Raimund. 57. Leipzig, Germany. U.S. destination, Trade Fair. 10 East 40th Street, NYC, NY.
Meininger, Florian. 61. 1248 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
Miller, Fannie L. 59. 1/1/1877.  F.D. Box 838. Davenport. (Iowa? State not noted on manifest.)
Mueller, Vincenz. 76. 419 Monroe Avenue, Lake Forest, Ill.
Mulligan, Davis. 36. 8/12/00. Washington, DC.
Ott, Eugen. 47. Attache. In transit for Yokohama and Tokyo, via Vancouver, aboard the Empress of Canada.
Pils, Dora Lucia. 25. Stuttgart, Germany. Actress. US Destination listed as home address of passenger Joseph Bonelli.
   Her answer to “length of stay” was “always,” which implies that, possibly, they were marrying. A Dora Bonelli, of the
   correct age, died in Illinois in December,1993. The same month,a Joseph Bonelli, of the correct age, died in  
   Pennsyulvania.
Powell, Adolph J. 45. 11/2/1893.
Roehrs, Dr. Wilhelm. 37. Berlin, Germany. Chemical Engineer. U.S. destination, Bakelite Corp., 247 Park Avenue,
    NYC, NY.
Schupp, Adam. 67. 1620 Linden Street, Brooklyn, NY.
Schwitzky, Alice. 51. 3/9/1885.
Seymour Higgins, Alan Charles. 37. London, England. Army Officer. U.S. destination, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, NYC, NY.
Shibusama, N. 47.  Tokyo, Japan. Diplomat, Berlin Germany.
Soltau, Dr. Karl. 36. Meteorologist. Round Trip.
Stauber, Louis. 22. 6/27/1914.
Teeter, Lorton H. 56.  8/12/1880
Thiemann, Friedrich-Wilhelm. 26. Assistant. Frankfurt, Germany. U.S. destination, F.W. von Meister, 354 4th Avenue
   NYC, NY.
Vermehren, Julius. 58. Hamburg, Germany. Merchant. U.S. Destination, Irving rust Co. Wall Street, NYC, NY.
Wahl, Ernst. 38. Berlin, Germany. Engineer. U.S. Destination, Blackhouse Co. Alleghany, Pennsylvania.
Whitney, William Dwight. 37. 8/26/1899
Wilson, Ralph. 28. London, England. Army Officer. In transit to New Zealand, via Los Angeles.
Wilson, W. Lewis. 59. 2/18/1877
Zunino, Frank Jr. 40. 2/15/1896. 655 Park Avenue, NYC, NY.
Zunino. Mrs. Elizabeth. 28. 9/16/1908. 655 Park Avenue, NYC, NY.
(?) Frank. 25. U.S. Citizen. Surname illegible on manifest.
(?) Vincent. U.S. Citizen. Surname illegible on manifest.
Tyler, (?) 47. First name illegible on manifest. Appears to be Reginald.