Toward the end of the last century the Jews of all the world became aware at last of their isolated brethren in China.
Several abortive attempts were made to bring help to the Jewish colonies in China. Amongst those interested in Shanghai in this movement were Messrs. Lewis Moore, S.J. Solomon, Abraham, Sir Edward" Sassoon, and others. Letters and messengers were despatched but beyond ringing few individuals to Shang nothing tangible was achieved. Fah Hitsch ae he late ward I. Ezra were authorities on the subject of Chinese Jews. Major Lehmann of the ci-devant German garrison in Kiaochou, according to Mr. S. J. Solomon, visited a. place about a "hundred miles southwest of Kaifengfu, where there were about 500 native Jews, most of whom were engaged in the silk pice goods trade. From this it would appear as if the greater part of the Jewish colony at Kaifengfu in order to escape persecutions perhaps, or for other reasons, migrated to a near by place. In his book:
'Wandering in Northern China' (The Century Ca. New York [Condon, 1923), Harry A. Franck, the author' of "A Vagabond Journey Around the World" describes a visit to the Jews in Kaifengto. found them to the number of 200 very poor surroundings. He states that they intermarry with the Chi ese and some have even taken thus not been practised for xonera tions. Their features in no wise distinguish them from their neigh-ours, the Chit Chao' was the "head Jew" and the consisted of eight families with seven family names between the If anything they were more friendly and communicative to Mr. Franck than pure Chinese of their class would have been. As a last relic of the former Synagogue he found a memorial stone in the compound of the Kaifeng Mission of the Canadian Episcopal Church bearing a sketch of Hebrew history and the names of the patriarchs. "Once it bore also the names of the principal Jewish families in Kai feng, but they wore obliterated in order to throw off the scent those who tried some decades ago to per-secure them."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.