Painful anxiety has been caused by the disappearance of the
Italian airship, Italia,' manned by General Nobile and a crew of fifteen, including the scientific staff. The airship had circled round the North Pole and was on her way to her base when she met with extremely bad weather. On Friday, May 25th, the last wireless message was received from her. Since then there has been silence, diversified by the usual will o' the wisp rumours which, when they alleviate gloom, only make it profounder afterwards. The ' Italia,' it is said, could keep the air for about a fortnight, though her supply of petrol must have come to an end by last Saturday. She carried enough food for four or five weeks. Steamships and aeroplanes have been sent out to search, but the difficulty is to know where to look. There is no clue as to whether the Italia' has drifted north, south, east or west. She Carried valuable lives and deep sympathy is everywhere expressed with the Italian nation.
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