Plunges from Sampan After Tying Stone to Neck Search for the body of Capt. Hans: Toft, retired master mariner and old China hand, was being made in the Whangpoo River on Thursday following a report to the authorities thet the elderly seaman bad jumped into the middle of the stream from a sampan. Two messages, written in English and saying that he was committing suicide, were left behind by the captain, who was known to have been despondent for some time over health, financial difficulties and falling
Capt. Toft, who was 63 years of age and a-Danish subject, left his residence in Range Road sometime) early on Wednesday and at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon walked on to the Wayside Public Jetty, where he engaged a sampan. He was carrying a lar and obviously very heavy object, wrapped in paper, ana told the sampan man he was going to Pootung. He was wearing 1 in coat, As the sampan approached the middle of the stream, in the vicinity of Buoy No. 8, Capi, Toft took off hhis hat and raincoat, unwrapped the parcel, producing a large stone and piece of rope, and started to tie the rope securely about the stone. The sampan man, who later reported the tragedy to the River Police, said that it was not until Capt," Toft lashed the other end of the rope about his neck that he realized what was happening. But before he could interfere the former shipmaster had flung himself into the river, whoge muddy waters immediately' closed over his head.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.