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Most probably this is due to what
can be called a certain indifference on
the part of Natnan Straus to his busi
ness successes. He took them as a
matter of fact, without pride, merely
with the gratifying knowledge that he
was nearing his goal. The merchant
prince, as he was then called, had an
interest which transcended his business
interests. His goal even then was to
give most of his time to the relief
of human suffering. The more his
business activities expanded and the
greater his commercial success the
more keenly did he see and feel the
misfortunes of the poor.
Known among his employes as a
stern executive who demanded whole
hearted devotion and loyalty to the
firm, he, unknown to them, took a
deep interest in their personal welfare.
When one of his employes was in
trouble he investigated the case and,
if it was worthy, attended to the most
minute details of rehabilitating the in
dividual or family, with an unusual and
paternal love. His assistance was
given anonymously, and his close co
workers had strict orders to keep the
secret. The case of two girl employees
who had practically starved themselves
in order to keep their sick mother gave
him the idea of opening a large dining
room for the employees of his depart
ment store, where a full meal could be
bought for five cents. Later this inno
vation of supplying employees with de
cent food on the premises, at cost price,
was copied by many other firms. To
Nathan Straus belongs the idea and
the credit for the first execution of it.
While this innovation may appear in
significant alongside his huge philan
thropic work of later years it is char
acteristic of Nathan Straus, the humani
tarian. His sensitive nature viewed tra
ditional charity methods as of but tem
porary and hence minor value. The motto
which became the guiding principle of his
humanitarian work was: "Help people to
help themselves without loss of their
self-respect.”
As one of the directing minds of
Macy’s, and also as one of the partners
in Abraham and Straus, the largest de
partment store in Brooklyn, Nathan
Straus took a keen and active interest in*
many commercial enterprises the mere
routine work of which must have re
quired superhuman energy and vitality.
Nevertheless his philanthropic work ex
panded simultaneously with his business
undertakings. His distinct personality, his
| original views made him reject exist
ing methods of charity. Not that he re
fused to contribute to numberless insti
tutions, regardless of race or creed, but
his humanitarian intuition led him to more
I subtle and tactful methods.
One extremely hard winter an adver
tisement appeared in a number of news-
I papers saying that anybody too poor to
I buy a turkey for his Thanksgiving dinner
Icould get one sent to his home free of
■charge, no questions asked. The adver
tisement was unsigned. Thousands of tur-
■cevs cheered thousands of depressed
b 'tnes. For many years no one knew
■hat the giver was Nathan Straus, who
discovered this exquisite way of cele
brating Thanksgiving Day.
I It was inevitable that the political world
Bhould begin to take cognizance of this
ban who was becoming one of the most
The Southern Israelite
Page 13
popular figures in New York City. His
organizing genius as evidenced in his
gigantic business enterprises, and his gen
uine love for the community, as proved
time and again by his many philanthro
pists, had made him one whom the gen
eral population respected and admired.
When, in 188d, Mayor Grant looked for
a distinguished man to strengthen his
cabinet lie appointed Nathan Straus Park
Commissioner. The latter held this post
for four years, establishing a splendid
record of efficiency, always mindful of
the younger generation, improving park
playgrounds and adding great prestige to
the Grant administration.
It was in 1892 that Nathan Straus, rest-
■ss in his search for the alleviation of
suffering humanity, originated milk pas
teurization. He kept a cow in his summer
home in the Adirondack's. As lie himself
once told the story: “One day the cow
became sick. I couldn’t seem to do any
thing for her and she died very suddenly.
It did not seem possible to me that she
should have died from natural causes.
I thought that she might have been poi
soned. So I had a post-mortem held to
assure me. The doctors found that the
cow’s lungs were eaten away, and that
she had died from tuberculosis. I realized
at once the menace of such a condition
among milch cows to public health.”
In the same year Mr. Straus estab
lished a pasteurization laboratory, as well
as distributing depots and stations in New
York City. The now immortal story of
the Straus pasteurization work is well
known. Suffice it to say that the death
rate of children in New York City fell
from 125.1 per thousand in 1892 to 15.8
per thousand in 1925, a saving of 445,000
lives in thirty-three years. The thorough
ness of Nathan Straus’ effort to combat
infant mortality, his complete absorption
in the task, is emphasized by his own in
vention of a home pasteurizing device
which anybody could purchase for $1.50,
the cost price, at any Straus station. He
even broadcast the method of making the
(Continued on page 14)
Visit our Fount on the main floor
Lunch with us in our lower
floor Fountain Room.
Visit Jacobs New Store . . .
Comer Peachtree and Marietta
JACOBS BACK HOME
AT FIVE POINTS
The Crossroads of the South
In 1884 JACOBS
opened at Peachtree and Marietta
in the old Norcross budding
It’s a matter of real sentiment with us, going back to
the site of the old Norcross Building where your father
and grandfather traded with us in 1884! Back home to
Five Points—the cross-roads of the South.
We’re as much at home at Five Points as Joel Chan
dler Harris’ Br’er Rabbit when he was thrown back in
the briar patch right where he belonged. For it was on
this very spot that Dr. Joseph Jacobs founded the orig*
inal JACOBS STORE from which grew the sixteen
stores all over Atlanta.