LOSS OF DIXMUDE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 311, 31 December 1923, Page 5

LOSS OF DIXMUDE.

THEORY OF EXPLOSION. \ t 1 THE COMMANDER'S "WATCH. I I j TWO FIRE BALLOONS FALL. ray Cable.—rrcss Association.—Copyright.) (Received 10 a.m.) PARIS, December 30. Verisimilitude is lent to the theory that Ihe Dixmude exploded over the Mediterranean by the fact, that th-e tratch found on the body of Commander firenadan stoppecd at fifty minutes past tfo, which is the time the stationmaster jt Sciacco nnd other railwaymen stated they saw a light over the sea line, and t« balloons atire falling into the sea.— |_, and N.Z. Cable.) PARTS OF DIXMTJDE. TOUND BY FISHERMEN. (Received in. ZO a.m.) PARIS. December 30. Fishermen at Sciacco state that before discovering the body of the commander of the Dixmude they found two wires in their nets presumably belonging to the structure of the airship. They also declared that on the night of December 31 the inhabitants saw rockets lired southward of San "Marco. Other fishermen found wire in their nets apparently part of a headpiece used in sending messages.— (A. and X.Z.) an Official coM_r>JNiQ*o_r. SEARCH OF COASTS. LOXDOX, December 30. It is generally accepted that the French airship Dixmude, with its complement of 50 of all ranks, has been lost at sea. The report that the airship was seen by natives over the Sahara was erroneous. A communique issued by the French Ministry of Marine does not mention the loss of the airship, though it confirms the news of the finding of the body of the commander. Lieutenant Duplessis de Grcnadan. by fishermen .six miles off the shore of South Sicily, near Girgenti. A thorough search of the coast by French warships for other traces of the airship and its crew has so far proved fruitless. Tlie body of the commander was identified hy documents in pockets of the clothing. (A. and X.Z. and Reuter.)