THE JEWISH 'CHRONICLE
10
JEWS OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE
OBITUARY
(Continued from Page 7)
As was seen in our survey of the
early sea trade with China, the sea-
MRS. SOPHIA ROTHSCHILD.
hway was a very ancient one. On
4g rise of Mahometanism in the seventh Mrs. Sophia Rothschild, widow of
century the Arabians entered largely into Kaufman S. Rothschild, who, for
the sea trade with the far East. The many years was in the leaf tobacco
Jews also, it was noticed, went as far business in Detroit, died Saturday in
as Canton and Canfu (Ning-po) as her home, 154 Delaware avenue. She
early as the third century, but they did was 69 years old. The funeral was
not form at that time any distinct colo- held Monday afternoon.
nies. It was not until the Mahometans
Mrs. Rothschild was born in Bre-
usurped the commerce between China men, Germany, and came to this
and the West that the Jews dared, under country when a young girl and settled
Mahometan patronage, to form settle- in Detroit with her family. She was
ments in China along the sea-coast. As one of three sisters who married three
late as 1600 these sea-board settlements brothers. During her life she was act-
were even larger and more prosperous
ive in Jewish social and charitable
than the colony at Kai-fung-foo. Most circles.
She is survived by a son, Sigmund
of them were in easy communication
with the latter city by means of the K. Rothschild, real estate dealer of
Hoang-ho River, near the mouth of Detroit, and four daughters, Mrs. Os-
which several were situated. Indeed, car Lowman, Connecticut; Mrs. Mor-
the Jewish colonies throughout China ris G. Pflaum, Minneapolis, Minn.;
were cognizant of one another's exist- Mrs. Louis A. Marymont, and Miss
ence, and, like the Jews of India, sus- Blanche Rothschild, of Detroit.
tained intimate relations by means of
itinerant traders as late as the seven- PRESIDENT OF JEWISH PUBLI-
teenth century.
CATION SOCIETY DIES.
The Jews in the extreme north of
China, in the regions of Peking, arrived Morris Newburger, One of Philadel-
by still another route from the West,
phia's Most Prominent Jews,
and, moreover, they were among the
Passes to Rest at Age of 83.
latest arrivals as colonists in the empire.
They entered the Northern provinces
Philadelphia, Pa.—In the death last
with the army of Kublai Khan, in the Friday of Morris Newburger, the life
days of Marco Polo, in the thirteenth of one of the foremost and worthiest
century; but they had been spread for of the members of Philadelphia Jewry
upwards of• six or seven hundred years was concluded. Mr. Newburger was
through what we today know as In- in his eighty-third year. He had been
dependent Tartary—in Samarcand, Cash- a leading factor in the commercial,
gar, Bokhara and Karakool, and north- financial and institutional life of this
eastward into Mongolia—in Tarbagatai. community for a generation, and
Cobdo (or Gobdo), Karakorum • and throughout his many years of activity
Ourgo. The Mongol conquests were the and usefulness was an honored and
final causes of the widest dispersion of highly esteemed citizen.
the Jews through these arid regions im-
For upwards of twenty-five years he
mediately north of the Great Wall, and had been a trustee of Keneseth Israel
of their settlements within the limits of Congregation, and had served for a
the empire, near the northern capital of lengthy period as.•its,,vice-resident
the Mongul conqueror. Of these Jews and chairman of it school committee.
we know but little; together with the He was also a member of the board of
thriving colonies on the sea-coast their governors of the Hebrew Union. Col-
identity has been lost in the immensity lege, at Cincinnati, Ohio.
of the empire, and the Kai-fung-foo
What gave Mr. Newburger national
colony is following rapidly in their prominence, however, was his position
wake.
as president of the Jewish Publication
Occasional reports reach us of fresh Society of America. He had assumed
discoveries of Jewish-Chinese colonies, an active part in the establishment of
but these are invariably repetitions of that society, and on its organization
cases of mistaken identity. The Chi- Was selected to the office ■ which he
nese Jews are identified by the Chinese filled for many years with exceptional
with the Mahometans. The very in- ability, marked earnestness, and entire
scription—"Israel"—upon the large tab- devotion to the cause of that compre-
let that once appeared at the main en- hensive institution. He was also a
trance to the Temple now adorns the member of the executive board of the
walls of the Mahometan Mosque. The Union of American Hebrew Congre-
startling "intelligence" that occasionally gations.
appears in the Jewish press disclosing
The translation into English of the
the existence of newly-discovered set- Jewish Publication Society's recently
tlements of Chinese Jews savors of the published Bible was in large measure
days of Benjamin Tudela. Such discov- due to Mr. Newburger's initiative
eries really refer to large bodies of Ma- while president of the society, and its
hometans among whom the Jews have completion and publication only a few
intermarried for centuries in China. months ago brought much gratifica-
These colonies of course exhibit the tion and pleasure to the last days of
Arab type whenever the Mahometans his life.
among whom the Jews have intermar-
ried are descendants of Mahometan-
An agricultural mobilization com-
Arabian colonists. Such is generally the mittee has recently been appointed by
case in the sea-board regions, where the
Louis •Edward Levy, president of the
Mahometans settled in large numbers Philadelphia Kehillah, to help place
as early as the ninth century. When- Jewish high school and college stu-
ever the Jews have married the native dents on Jewish farmS. The com-
Chinese Mahometans, as at Kai-fung- m;ttee is co-operating with the
foo, the Chinese type has prevailed, the
school authorities who arc heading
infusion of Jewish religious customs the school mobilization movement.
alone serving to mark the inter-mingling
of Jewish and Chinese-Mahometan
blood. A recent newspaper communi-
cation concerning a remarkable people .
at Hong-Kong is one of the latest testir
250-254
monials of the influence of the early
Jewish settlers upon the Mahometan
WOODWARD
Arabs.
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Dancing every day at
PALAIS DE DANSE
•
Conceded
to be the prettiest smmmer
ballroom in America, featuring Bert Shook
and his superb orchestra of sixteen artists.
The Selection
of a
Wedding Ring
T
HE little circlet of precious
metal signifies all that is
best in life.
It is an emblem of love
and loyalty—of truth and of trust.
As such, the proper selection of
the wedding ring is a matter of
real moment.
14-Karat Gold
$5.00
18-Karat Gold
$6.50
Carved Green Gold
$10.00
Platinum (Hand-carved)....$20.00
We are much gratified by the
impressive expression of confi-
dence indicated by the large num-
ber of wedding rings sold by us.
ally
Woodward at Gratiot
"The Sallan Corner."
k41
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Every Order Appreciated
B. SCHROETER
FLORIST
Phone Main 1625
56 BROADWAY
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MauriceliFinhel-Architect
309.11 SunBuilding Cadillac 5584
411••••••••• ■ •000.4~04, #*
RussetG
250-2 54
WOODWARD
JULY CLEARANCE SALE
BIG REDUCTIONS
THROUGHOUT THE STORE