Consul at Nanking, with other British officials, met. the Japanese commander, who said that the British flag could not be discerned owing to fog and black smoke.
Therefore, the Japanese command der believed that they were, enemy vessels.
Furthermore, the statement asserts, "it was the duty of his detachment to sink all enemy vessels on the river."
The British requested the der not to fire on them, and the commander agreed. i The statement concludes by reiter-atiing that the high commander and all Japanese units did not dream that any third Power vessels would be in the dangerous fighting area.
There were, however, British ships in the fighting area, and these, the document states, were unrecognizable as British owing to a dense fog. Instead, they seemed to be landing Chinese on the river bank. The firing, the statement adds, was entirely unintentional, and the unfortunate affair is sincerely regretted.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.