Ship Refuted s. Sagres Never Carried Chinese Troops Hongkong, May 19.
The allegations made against the British steamer Sagres, which is at present detained by the Japanese authorities, by Rear-Admiral Kanazawa, spokesman of the Japanese Navy Office in Tokyo, were refuted by Messrs. Williamson & Ca., owners of the vessel, in a letter appearing in local newspapers today.
In an interview yesterday the spokesman alleged that the ship "was found carrying a large number of Chinese regulars," and that further investigation at Mako revealed that "the cargo consisted of Chinese Government salt and that the vessel had made seven previous voyages for the same purpose."
The Japanese naval authorities, he added, thus concluded that the Sagres had been "assisting the Kuomintang Government."
Messrs. Williamson & Ca. today declared that no soldiers, or even passengers, were aboard the Sagres at the time of the ship's seizure, and also that the vessel had in no way been employed by the Chinese authorities for military purposes.
The correctness of her trading, the owners added, had been established and, therefore, she was wrongfully detained.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.