One of the oldest residents of Harbin, Mr, J. A. Topaz, has. just assed away. Mr, Topaz was at one time a very rich merchant Biagovestchensk, owning gold mines, steamships and' property. He also had factories which ho' abandoned when he came to Harbin in 1910 and commenced activity in this ity, his Initial venture being a soap works, the first of fits kind In Harbin, For several years he carried on business amassing a fairly large fortune which hho invested in property, one of the largest being a house in Commercial Street occupied by the Brilish School of Commerce, and at one time the residence of the Russian railway engineer, Boris Ostroumof,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.