Our friend “Judas Maccabaeus” has sent us an interesting account of his sojourn in and around California. His remoteness from the centres of civilization, so to speak, makes his news particularly suggestive.
It happens sometimes that ignorance is bliss. For instance, if one travels for a month on the ocean, the ship not being supplied with any apparatus for receiving wireless messages. As "bad news travels fast enough," I am glad that the facts of the horrible persecutions of Russian Jews did not reach me in Manila, before I embarked for the United States on Nov. 12. Altho' the Manila newspapers had given a few terse dispatches about the events in Odessa. I did not take much stock in them, because their telegrams are not always reliable and, again, it was beyond the scope of my comprehension that Russia, humiliated as it was, should disgrace itself again. The lonesome trip across the Pacific would have been a torture to my mind had I known the truth about the martyrdom inflicted upon our race in Russia.
Passing that part of Formosa, now famous in the world's history by reason of the strate~ of Admiral Togo, I reflected upon the vicinity of the Russian autocracy. Used to persecute weaker nations it finally made the mistake of "tackling" Japan. The story of David and Goliath repeated itself. As my heart had rejoiced at the defeat of the Russian nav~~ it swelled again with joy that I could see the spot where the combat had transpired. I trusted in those moments that Russia had learned its lesson, that the Jews would receive that justice to which they are entitled. But "ignorance indeed was bliss."
Three Russian transports were lying in Nagasaki Bay, loaded with thousands of
soldiers who had been prisoners of Japan. The feeding was wretched, the men muttered. The commanding officer prevented an outbreak by a characteristically Russian method. It seems that in Russia human life has no value at all. The government orders a wholesale slaughter of the people and the people answer with a retail assassination of government officials. In this Nagasaki case the commanding office had a torpedo boat at his disposal and ordered it to be ready for action. It is easy to imagine what the result would have been.
I met on the boat an old Greek whose acquaintance I cultivated because he could inform me on Turkish methods. Having discovered in him a sympathetic soul, I talked with him about the possibility of Jews establishing an independent state in Palestine. This idea aroused his enthusiasm. The old man's fault is that he cannot remember the names of persons with whom he has discussions. He therefore buttonholed me the next day and repeated word by word my explanation of Zionism, giving as the source of his information "a very intelligent young man." I was amazed. I answered that I fully agreed with those views and that they were a credit to the mind of "that young man." After this conversation, my Greek friend begged me to interpret his latest dream, for he labored under the fond delusion that every Jew is gifted with Joseph's ability. It was in vain that I pointed out to him the oracles that were issued from his native Delphi; he persisted that I ought to be able to emulate Joseph's example.
Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted, of roast pork and plum pudding. I traded my meat for the pudding, which I enjoyed, while the other man, like others, suffered indigestion. Smilingly I pointed out that