SOUGHT AND FOUND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 132, 17 March 1936, Page 3

SOUGHT AND FOUND

FAMILY IN CHINA. BOYS' BRILLIANT CAREERS. The story of the search among the teeming millions of China for an unknown ex-resident of Masterton is contained m a letter received by a local resident from Saigon, in French IndoChina. In 1909 a popular Chinese fruiterer named Ah Lop, who kept a shop in Queen .Street. Masterton, returned to China with his family. He had several children who were educated at the Masterton School. Two of the boys, Jimmy and George Lop, were clever children at school and made many friends, the former giving promise of being an exceptionally good footballpr, playing with the Red Star Club.

“Somewhere in China.” All trace of the family was lost by those who knew them in Masterton, though news filtered through that Jimmy and George had had brilliant careers at college “somewhere in China.” About the middle of last year a resident of Cambridge Terrace, Masterton, wishing to get into touch with Jimmy and George Lop, of whom he had lost sight since 1909, entrusted a letter for Jimmy to Mr Chung Yet, a local Chinese who was returning to China to live, to give to Jimmy should lie drop across him among the teeming millions of China! Mr Chung Yet did not know the Lop family; they were to him as the millions of other families in China. On the face of it the task seemed to be impossible of accomplishment. Rut the Chinese have means and methods of tracing persons and property such as is unknown to Europeans. Mr Chung Yet undertook his mission with an assurance to the writer of the letter that the task was within the realm of accomplishment. Tlie writer himself had little hope of Mr Chung Yet’s success. The letter after a weird journey of several months was delivered to Jimmy Lop at Hong Kong, to which place he was traced from Saigon, where he resided. The search was carried out through hundreds of channels in various parts of China by as many Chinese. Mr Chung Yet and his assistant searchers experienced many thrilling adventures in their work, often being looked upon as spies or Japanese agents. Among Teeming Millions. It was certainly a wonderful piece of work (says the Masterton correspondent of the Auckland “Star”) to _trace an unknown man among the millions ol population in China. Both Jimmy and George Lop replied to the letter. Ihe former is head of the Correspondence Department of the Shell Oil Company at Saigon (French Indo-China), with a staff of some 40 clerks, and George is flourishing in business as a shipping agent and freight broker in Saigon. The other living members of the family are in Hong Kong, though Mr All Lop and two of the children are dead. Mrs Ah Lop belonged to an aristocratic Chinese family.