A search was on yesterday for the body of Bandsman H, Durrant, of the First Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders, who was' reported to have jumped into the Whangpoo River from a sampan late on Wednesday evening, The Customs River Police learned that the young soldier engaged a sam-pen at®Pontoon 11, off The Bund, on Wednesday evening and directed the sampan man to go towards Pootung. The time was shortly after 11 o'clock, according to the operator of the boat, who related that when were near-the Pootung side the h soldier suddenly leaped over-boad and defied efforts of the sampan man to save him, In the sampan were discovered a farewell note, purported to have been written by Durrant, and. the soldier's cap, belt and small cane. The British military authorities were at once notified.
The report of Durrant's disappearance prompted the River Police to make a thorough search of. the Whangpoo, but at dark last night no trace of the missing man had been found. The scrutiny will be resumed at daylight today, and it is hoped to recover the body within one or two days.
According to the investigators, there were no definite indications as to the. motive for the alleged suicide.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.