Jewish Trader Halts Uprising by Filipinos

The late Silas Aaron Hardoon, who was called the “20th Century Caliph of Bagdad” and founded synagogues in and around Shanghai, and Morris (“Two-Gun”) Cohen, who trained the Cantonese soldiers of the head of the Southern Republic, Dr. Sun-yat Sen, may stand as the most glamorous types of Jew to be found in China, but there are others.

Since treaty ports were opened a hundred years ago, Jewish soldiers of fortune and merchants have found their way into all parts of Eastern Asia, as well as China.

There is, for example, E. J. Haber, a successful Manila and Shanghai merchant, who has had considerable influence on the affairs of the East. He has seen most of the wars in China since the Boxer Rebellion; and he has supported successful lords of war in their enterprises. For the last twenty years he has been a power in the Philippine Government by virtue of his lobbying abilities. Years ago Haberer was largely responsible for averting a Filipino uprising in an attempt to gain independence. Haberer spoke to the leaders of the proposed insurrection, and the move was indefinitely delayed in favor of diplomatic efforts for the same end.

Herbert Lewis, of Brooklyn, typifies the present soldier of fortune in China. Lewis has recently returned home after three years of newspaper work in the Far East. After “kidding” the captain of an American vessel into letting him go to China, Lewis disembarked at Shanghai penniless.

He immediately obtained work with the Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, and shortly afterwards went over to The China Press. After covering wars, floods, famines, murders, and other outstanding stories in Shanghai, he went to Manila, where, as writer for the Philippine Free Press, he became acquainted with the Philippine political situation.

Then followed a correspondence-ship in Manchuria. And until recently he has been covering the highly important developments in the vicinity of Tientsin and Peiping as managing editor of the North China Star.