Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/234

226 is an offshoot of the still older house of David Sassoon &amp; Co., the founder being a son of Mr. David Sassoon. Like the parent firm, Messrs. E. D. Sassoon &amp; Co. are largely interested in Indian opium and Indian cotton yarn. They also have a large Manchester department and act as commission agents and bankers. In India they own five big mills—the Jacob Sassoon mill, operating 100,000 spindles and 2.000 looms; the E. D. Sassoon mill, the Alexandra mill, the Rachel Sassoon mill, and the E. D. Sassoon Turkey Red Dye Works. For many years they have been interested in a variety of undertakings in the Colony, and are owners of considerable property.

The head office is at Bombay, and there are branches in London, Manchester, Karachi, Calcutta, Hongkong, Shanghai. &amp;c. Mr. J. E. Sassoon is now the controller of the business at headquarters, his partners being his brothers, Messrs. E. E. Sassoon and M. E. Sassoon. The whole of the firm's interests in South China are supervised from Hongkong, where Mr. A. J. Raymond is in charge. His post is a very responsible one, including as it does a seat on the directorate of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and on the boards of several other local companies, but he receives able assistance in the management from Mr. C. S. Gubbay.  

of the most lengthy records in the Colony is that of the house of P. F. Talati, which commenced business in Hongkong during the early years of the British occupation. It was founded by Mr. F. M. Talati, grandfather of the present partners, and for many years bore his name. On his death, in 1868, the house came to be known under the present style of P. F. Talati. Essentially Bombay merchants, the firm have branches at Calcutta and Hongkong, managed by the partners, Messrs. P. F., A. B., and M. P. Talati. Their extensive correspondence with their many agents has continual reference to precious stones and general Eastern produce. An extensive business is done with Europe, Africa, Persia, and India in silks, metals, drugs, and essential oils, the house having a high reputation for the quality of its goods. The Hongkong branch is managed by Mr. M. P. Talati, of whom a biographical sketch follows.



MR. M. P. TALATI, of Wellington Street, Hongkong, who was born in Bombay in 1872, is one of the leaders of the Parsee community in the Colony, and a trustee of the Hongkong, Canton, and Macao Zoroastrian Charity Funds. He was educated at Elphinstone College, and, after extensive travels, joined the business of his family, who enjoy the distinction of being one of the oldest and most highly respected Parsee families in Bombay. He is now a partner in the house of P. F. Talati, and has charge of the Hongkong branch. The firm holds the reputation of being one of the oldest trading in the East. Mr. Talati is closely connected with the "Sirdar Dawur" family, the first Parsee family of Surat. This family is held in esteem by the British community in India by reason of the services which it rendered to the British Government in the building of the British Empire. Mr. Talati married Kuverbai B. Modi, a daughter of Burjorji E. Modi (the son of Sirdar Davur Edulji K. Mody), a very highly respected judge of Surat, by whom he has one son. Having good business connections with almost all Eastern ports, Mr. Talati has extended his trading relations to Europe, and is now working with many well-known European houses.



 of the largest trading firms between India and the Far East is that of E. Pabaney, which does an immense business in opium, yarn, cotton, silk, tea, and other valuable merchandise. The firm was founded by Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim, who was born in Bombay in 1840, and at the age of sixteen went into business there on his own account. Foreseeing the possibilities of the Far East, he opened a branch of his business in Hongkong in 1857. The success of the venture led to the establishment of other Far Eastern branches, and to-day the firm has an enormous stake in Oriental commerce. Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim is one of the leading members of the Khoja community, and comes from generations of traders, his father having been an owner of ships trading between India, Arabia, and Africa. He has ever been mindful of the obligations which devolve upon leading business men, and his public activities led to his being made a Justice of the Peace in 1883, and, more recently, to