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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.