Evening star., 1923-12-30
BELIEVE D|XMUDE
FELL NEAR SICILY
italian Experts Think Giant
Craft Fell on Morning
of December 22.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
SC1ACCA, Sicily. December 9Th.
French dirigible Dixmude wa.
wrecked early in the morning of De.
cenber %, six miles Off the coas,
OF Sicily near Cape St. Mark. Thi.
Is the conclusion reached by experts
Of the italian navy. who are now
engaged in searching for the bodie.
OF those who perishsd when the Dix.
nude fell into the sea.
Besides finding the body Of tn,
commander of the Dixmude, thu
Sciacco fisherman have netted ,wirins
which is surpassed TO be part OF tn,
radio apparatus of the dirigible.
The heaviest gale In many year.
is raging In the Mediterranean and
some OF the French warships which
were of shore this morning hurriedi,
put out to sea.
The fishing community at Sciacca IL
notoriously poor. but the fishing foll
collected enough money to buy q
wreath for the body Of Lieut. Grena.
dan.
ALL HOPE ABANDONED.
By the Associated Press.
PARIS. December 29.-Hope ha.
been abandoned of finding any sur
vivors from the missing French dirig-
ible 'Dixmude. and the government to.
day began sending high officials tc
the families of the fifty victims tc
extend its sympathy and also to ex.
press its admiration for the heroic
qualities of the airship's crew.
All available warships are being
concentrated for an organized search
Of the Mediterranean in the vicinity
Of Sicily where the body of Lieut.
De Plessis de Grenadan, commander
Of the Dixmude, was found, and this
search will be continued until 1t Ii
quite certain that nothing more car
be learned OF the fate OF the grea,
dirigible that vanished in the night
The Dixmude is officially regarded
as lost at sea- All the French lant
forces in Africa, as well as the civil
authorities, are on the alert for any
Information. but the search in the
southern Algerian region was aban.
doned today, the searching partie:
being ordered to return to their posts
The sea search, however. is hoped te
yield something eventually! The fac
that nothing has yet been found Is not
discouraging these efforts and squad
rons Of airplanes will fly over the water
hoping to spy something in the depths
that may clear up the mystery. 1t IL
hoped a message Of some kind, perhaps
in floating container, may be found.
An extremely heavy sea is still run.
ming OF Sciacca, but the French war.
ships Mulhouse. Calais and Annamite
reached there this morning and French
naval officers went ashore to thank the
Italians Several Of the smaller French
warships have put into sheltered water.
temporarily because Of the storm.
|: The naval attaches Of the United
States, Great Britain, Spain and sew.
eral Of the South American countries
and the Belgian military attache called
today at the ministry Of marine and
presented the sympathy Of their gov
ernments over the Dixmude disaster
King George Of England and the .ail
and marine ministers of several nations
together with many other officials and
notables, also sent their condolences.
MAKER DEFENDS DIxMUDE.
! AKRON, Ohio. December 29.-capt
Ernest A. Lehman. designer of the
French airship sDixmude, who ar.
rived in this city today from Ger.
many to become associated with a
local rubber manufacturing company
in the manufacture Of airships. said
"The disaster that apparently has
oyertaken the Dixmude emphasizes
tho factsthat the successful operation
Of aircraft, must be linked up with
adequate landing and mooring facili-
ties and a thoroughly trained per-
sonnel. \, .se 80
by a thoroughly trained person
mel" Capt. Lehman said, 81 mean those
who have had sufficient experience to
handle airships not only under normal
conditions, but under, emergency
conditions.
aNewspaper reports indicate that
the ship started with less fuel and
more ballast than II should have car
rtsd. but Il would be unfair to form
! fCeaGinusA On Pags:3s Column - s