his nomination as a Trustee of the Port of Bombay. His private benefactions have been on a large scale. He started the Khoja Orphanage at an initial cost of a lakh of rupees, and towards the Bombay Museum Fund he contributed the magnificent donation of three lakhs of rupees. Sir Currimbhoy occupies a high status in the Mahomedan community, holding important offices in various organisations. His son, Mr. Fazulbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim, is a prominent member of the band of enthusiastic and patriotic Mahomedans who are striving to fit their community worthily to play its part. Recently he appealed to his compatriots to furnish funds for the establishment of a modern secondary school at Poona—the appeal being backed by a generous donation of a lakh of rupees from his father, and of two lakhs from his sister, Khanumbhoy. The Hongkong branch of E. Pabaney is situated in Duddell Street, and the manager is Mr. Soomerbhoy Mowjee.
(Founder of the Firm).
JOSEPH CHAN A TONG
(Partner).PETER CHAN A TONG
(Senior Partner).
CAWASJEE PALLANJEE & CO.
Among the Bombay merchants carrying on business in the Colony there is little doubt that, from the point of view of seniority, Messrs. Cawasjee Pallanjee & Co. take a premier place. Established at Canton in the days of the Honourable East India Company's "Factory Sites," they did a flourishing business in the southern Chinese capital until the time of the opium war, when they were forced to remove to the neighbouring Portuguese Colony of Macao. At that time, however, the Portuguese Government did not encourage foreigners to settle in their city as traders, and so the Company transferred their office to Hongkong as soon as the island was acquired by the British. Messrs. Cawasjee Pallanjee & Co. are general importers and exporters and commission agents, dealing especially in Chinese silks, Indian opium, and cotton yarn. The founder of the firm was Pestonjee Cawasjee, who died at Macao shortly after the war (i.e., in 1842). The present proprietors—Messrs. Rustonjee Cooverjee, Homusjee Cooverjee, Eduljee Cawasjee, and Pestonjee Cooverjee—are his descendants. They reside in Bombay, the headquarters of the firm, which is there known as Cursetjee Bomanjee & Co. There is a branch also at Shanghai. The Hongkong office is at No. 22. Stanley Street, and is managed by Mr. S. C. Khan, who has been in the Colony for several years. He is assisted by Mr. S. E. Sethna, son of Eduljee Cawasjee, and Mr. F. H. Sethna, the son of Hormusjee Cooverjee. Every three or four years the manager and assistants, if they wish, are relieved. Thus Mr. Khan is shortly going to Bombay, and will be relieved by Mr. D. K. Sethna, a son of the late Mr. Cawasjee Pallanjee, one of the original partners of the firm.
TATA, SONS & CO.
This firm was established in the early fifties, and was one of the first Bombay houses to open a branch in Hongkong. In India the firm does a large business in cotton, yarns, pearls, and metals, and acts as agents for the Swadeshi Mills, the Central India Mills, the Ahmedabad Advance Mills, the Hydro-Electric Company, the Tata Iron and Steel Company, the Union Fire Insurance Company of Paris, and the South British Insurance Company. The Tata Iron and Steel Company is the biggest Swadeshi enterprise in India, having a capital of two crores and thirty lakhs of rupees, and the object of the Hydro-Electric Company is to supply electric power to some fifty mills in the city of Bombay, which are at present run by steam-driven machinery. The electric power is to be generated from a waterfall at Lanowlee, some 80 miles from Bombay. Messrs. Tata, Sons & Co.'s headquarters are at Bombay, and there are branches at Shanghai, Kobe, Osaka, New York, Rangoon, London, Paris, and Tuticorin, as well as Hongkong. The partners in the business are Messrs. D. J. Tata, R. J. T. Tata, and R. D. Tata. One resides in Bombay, another in Paris, while the third spends most of his time travelling between the various establishments. The offices in Hongkong are at No. 6, Ice House Street, and the manager here is Mr. B. D. Tata. In Hongkong the firm trades in opium, Indian and Japanese yarns, Manchester piece goods, and sundries.
