"When Ho told us about the presence of the two boats," witness stated, "I explained to him that mere words amounted to nothing, and that he must produce some documents. Li, (another of those involved in the case), brought three documents over, and handed them to Ho. These were bills of sale, a bill of lading, and a guarantee paper."
Witness continued that they later visited Mr. Ando, a previous witness in the case, and discussed the matter, and he promised to "take the matter up." Ando ook charge of the documents, but Tater handed them back. "I put my name to the documents," witness deciared, "because it was necessary to have the name of some person not of Chinese nationality in Order to get the goods removed.'
Ho was then informed that everything had been fixed up, and on December 23' Ho, Li and the witness met at the Oriental Hotel and discussed plans for taking the boats across the following day, as the permit was effective on December 24.
Li supplied the necessary funds for ihe venture, and it was decided to make use of official lighters, and to bring across two boats laden with oil. A Mr. Mori, friend of Ando's, introduced them to the military water police, and a lighter was placed at their disposal.
After one unsuccessful attempt on December 24,, Ho, Ando, Li and the witness met @t the Astor House on the following day, and shortly after 10 a.m, proceeded to the office of the military water police. A party consisting of Ando, two gendarmes and the witness then went to fetch the boats, visiting the offices of the naval detachment in Pootung 1o obtain the necessary permit. One boat was towed across the river to the jetty occupied by the military water police, off The Bund gardens, and the party then went back to get the other boat.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.