lat Denial by Marshal Chang, Tsu-lin: Why Destroyers Did Not Return Fire Tokyo, Mar. 15.
Official advices from Mukden state that Marshal Chang Tso-lin, questioned by the Japanese Consul-General, emphatically denied the accusation that his fleet had been flying Japanese flags, which the Peking authorities alleged as one reason for the misunderstanding which resulted in the Japanese destroyers being shelled.
The Foreign Office likewise flatly denies the report alleging that the authorities at Port Arthur allowed Marshal Chang Tso-lin to use their wireless for military purpose It is understood that the Foreign Office and the Navy Office opinion ly at present divided with regard to the Lest action, though a Cabinet being held this afternoon The Diet is not sitting to-day, but interpellations on the Government's attitude concerning the Taku incident are expected to-morrow, A Foreign Office spokesman emphasized Japan's desire to avoid friction with China and to treat the motter as leniently as possible.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.