At the Japanese conference yesterday afternoon the naval spokesman stated that a petrol tank had fallen off the last of four aeroplanes Which were flying over he Soochow Creek. As the wind was blowing toward the Settlement, the tank was wafted onto the intersection of Myburgh and Sinza Roads.
Questioned as to how large the tank was, he replied that it carried between two and three gallons of petrol and, as an afterthought, said that it was used for emergency purposes. Asked whether it was welded or bolted to the aeroplane, the spokesman inferred that he could not enter into technical details.
Neutral observers, stated a journalist, reported that distinct odours of phosphorous were smelled immediately afterwards and that a white powder lay on the roads. The spokesman had no knowledge of this, he stated. Another journalist stated that physicians insisted that the burns resembled those made by Phosphorous and not by gasolene, whereupon the spokesman asked if the doctors were not influenced in their verdict by having previous information regarding the alleged causes, In conclusion, the spokesman averred that at no time since the beginning of hostilities had Japanese naval planes carried incendiary bombs.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.