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Show ' l ROUN0 THE 'wtfRLD. The WnndcrlnKS of an Aged Persian la . Search of His Brother. On the (steamer Belgic, which sailed from San Francisco on Jan. 14, 1890, for Hong Kong, was a paralyzed, decrepit and -emaciated man whose name is Chaskel Halevy. Ho is a native of Bagdad, Bag-dad, Persia, and is about 52. years old, but, through illness, privation and ill usage, he might pass anywhere for TO. He knows only the Persian Hebrew language. lan-guage. In his wsllet he had $40 of American Amer-ican money and steerage passage ticket to Hong Kong. In his inner pocket were letters signed by Rabbi Aaron Messing, of the congregation Beth Israel, of San Francisco, addressed openly to all benevolent be-nevolent Hebrews between San Francisco Fran-cisco and Persian lands, and vouchsafing the bearer to be a worthy object far thnrity. Halevy has a queer history. About two years ago, in Bagdad, he was stricken with paralysis, and then decided de-cided to go to Bombay, where lived his brother, who had amassed a fortune. He traveled on crutches, living on charity, char-ity, bnt in Bombay he was told his brother broth-er had gone to Hong Kong, where he learned that he had settled in Yokohama, Thither he went, only to find his brother mined, and as pr 88 ne- He then decided de-cided to return to Bagdad by way of San Francisco, where lie arrived in the middle of August. He made himself known to some kind hearted Hebrews who aided him, and were much alarm-i& alarm-i& when he disappeared. Rabbi Messing Mes-sing interested himself in the case and found he had been arrested. Mischievous Mis-chievous boys had stolen his crutches, leaving him helpless. When the policeman police-man approached him Halevy, as is the custom in Persia with medieante soliciting solicit-ing charity, threw himself forward to kiss the officer's hands or feet. He seized the policeman's hand and the officer, offi-cer, thinking he intended to bite, struck him several times with his clnb. He wao sent to the almshouse and was then taken before the insanity commissioners commis-sioners and was adjudged a lunatic. At the Insane asylum his beard was shaved off, which is a severe mortification to Persian Hebrews. So much did he feel his shame that he tried to starve himself to death, and was strapped down and milk and bread was forced down his throat. Whenever any of the attendants approached him he would attempt to kiss their hands or feet, and they, as the case with the policeman, feared he was about to attack them and beat him unmercifully. un-mercifully. When found by Rabbi Messing Mes-sing he was in a filthy cell in the asylum and his body was a mass of bruises and contusions. The rabbi secured his release re-lease and soon secured enough money to send the poor fellow borne. Montreal Star. |