New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-25
NATHAN STRAUSS CHARITY.
HIS SCHEMES TO HELP THE POOR OF
NETWORK CITY.
HE TALKS ABOUT HIS COALYARDS. LODGING
HOUSES AND DEPOTs OF DISTRIBUTION.

i am or opinion that III we nad ABOUT twenty men
OF the stamp and character Of J. PierpOnt Morgan.
New York victim of the unexampled period OF dis.
tress through which now passing. would be-
oblig ID ask for relief tide the necessities
OF the passing hour. and to ask for II In vain.
This is what Nathan Straus said one day last week
to the writer. He sitting in his private office.
/ which is plainly furnished apartment on the sixth
! floor OF the weknown drygoods house of r. II.
/ Macy Co. in which he himself is partner. Mr..
Straus. after consulting with the heads OF the
various departments in this great establishment,
had dismissed them, having heard their reports for
! the day. when he asked for some information
concerning the many agencies of relief in which he
! is interested. and how the work advancing
throughout the city He does not appear 10 be a
strong man by any means. Anybody could see
this without taking note Of a of medicine
bottles which stood the desk before him. He
speaks in low. quiet voice. has retired look. and
could never be mistaken for a man who thinks that
money making is the primary essential In human
happiness, much less man who is the moving spir
1t in great commercial concern, where more than
l,Joo persons are employed and where the trade
annually amounts to millions OF dollars.
THE truth is" said he that the only business
which with truth be said to be In a thriving
condition this moment in this city IL the busi-
ness Of relief New-York has been stirred by the
narrowing accounts which have appeared in the
newspapers of the misery and want which thou
sands have been subjected through fault Of their
own, and the response has been generous indeed"
HIS ADMIRATION FOR MR.. MORGAN.
lie was about to pronounce eloquent eulogy
the disposition shown by Mr.. Morgan to do
than mans part in helping assuage the suf-
ferings Of the poor when his attention recalled
to the fact that The Tribune specially
cerned at that moment in hearing something OF the
efforts which he himself was making TO bring COM
fort into the cherries homes OF thousands Of his
faI
this. From "A secure nook in a dark corner Of his
pocketbook he drew forth small piece OF card
board and handed it the writer.
God bless YOU. was written across the face. and
underneath the words. james J. Murphy.
president Typographical Uniop No. g.
Now" continued Mr.. S,raus Il would rather
have that card and its simple inscription. and
mean to cherish it more carefully than I would
columns Of public praise" He explained further
that IL had come TO him with an invitation to attend
the memorial celebration in the Fifth Avenue Thea
tire in memory OF George W. Childs
II unable to GO" said he but my wife went
and charmed with all that took place all of
which she considered eloquent as WEI, suitable
and expressive. Isn't il vcritabc benson in what
a Congressman Cummings said in his speech, may
by some be called sordd age. to soc the death OF
one Of fellow citizens celebrated with such
paeans Of praise not here alone but throughout all
quarters of the land
so ONE SHOULD EE HUNGRY.
II DO not think that either in abnormal normal
times in this great. rich capital anybody should bc
hungry. It is the metropolis OF the western henri
sphere ana AZ the present rate OF expansion il WI
not be so very many years before it bears tn" same
relation 10 the eastern hemisphere and will then b.
known the capital Of the world. True people
cannot be made rich by laws Of Congress no moro
than they can by act OF Parliament, but II Is
tain that in this great and powerful country. no
matter how grave and unprecedented financial
crisis may hr. no consilertbl" number ~ citizens.
no citizen. in fact. should bc heard to call
aloud Tor relief. ana to call in vain. In the great
centres Of r.pu'a'icn IT, Europ. with their millions
OF armed men. and the heavy hand which bears
upon tho masses by reason Of long-contnu"l class
legislation. and the unjust cxactlons which the law
permits pamp"rcd aristocracy 10 impos" upon the
common people. squalor and misery will always
abound. Look at The newspaper accounts OF tn be-
dragged. haf-naked and half-starvcd thousands
vino marched 10 hyde Park in London last Sunday.
I;ut here whcre have none Of these unfavorabe
conditions. We should hav" non" Of these unfavora-
bic results OF course. there will always be poor
people. but when their numbers reach undue pro-
portions at the present time. It becomes the
duty Of every man who has something TO spare 10
give and To give generously and To give quickly.
As to the humbl" part that | have felt cal Il
upon TAX" IN this good work I would prefer
greatly not to speak about it-indeed would. So
much however. has been written about IT, not
wiihstanding repeated protests on my part and -
Inaccurate hay" been most Of the statements. that
deem it proper. since you determined to pub
lish something. TO have what YOU publish accurate.
II is not correct for instance that the coalyarIs
and grocery stores and free lodging houses that |
have started In various sections of the city have
been set in motion through my agency by MIR Nor
Ean's money. The big depot In Grand-st.. which
used 10 be a museum. was fitted UP at his expense
and Mr. Morgan is paying all the expense in con /
nection with Il. DO it on arge scale posi- /
bic said he TO me only be careful to see that /
those who receive are not pauperzed or democrat !
lied
\ LODGING HOUSE GIVEN.
The lodging house in Wooster-st was given to me
voluntarily by l.. Tanenbaum. real estate man /
who paid the expenses I'm connection with fitting IL
ont. These the only exceptions where outside |
assistance has come to me 1t is have
ceived offers Of assistance from many other quar-
ters but have invariably refused them. I hope /
to continue duplicating and reduplicatng the work |
in which am now engaged. until the agencies over /
which | have control will be all sufficient to meet /
the Of every worthy person who Is In distress
OPENING a tiny notebook. he examined the pages /
carefully by one for time. and then said: Il /
am running a coalyard West Fifty-sccond-st and .
the North River and from there serve from 200 .
to 1000 people every day with coal representing an .
average number of pals of coal daily that are car
red off Of perhaps 900. 1t Is borne away mostly .
by women and children. ! started this place last
during the cold weather. ana TINS winter l /
am doing more than three times the business | did I
last winter At Thrd-st. and the East River |
started a coalyard last year. and during the warm
weather I added sterilized milk to he used prnci-
nauv for sick children. Few ingredients there
yybicb absorb foreign and dcetcrlous substances
more rapidly than does milk, and the drinking OF 1t
of course is fatal to thousands OF little ones who
are beset with so many other dangers by reason OF
their parents poverty. and the filthy. iii-ventiaed
anar,rrents in which they obliged to live. that
,bougbt an effort might be made to fight away the
dancer involved In the consumption OF impure milk.
and am glad to say that az far as have tried.
have euccceded We get 1t up first to the boiling
point and then allow 1t to cool off, and afterward
rubber stopper is put ill., and 1t Is brought again to
roor tho boiling point, but not allowed to boil. The
80, are all killed | supply the milk In bottles. /
with n nipple attached to each bottle. so that the
chtd 10 hound to get II pure i have had bottles
z,,,,t.d on he bottom when !