Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-11-03

4 49,
spare time in yachting. automobiling
! or riding TO hounds. They must have
| hobbies The Straus hobby is hard
work. \ brief account of his life may
serve to prove this.
Lazarus Straus was the father of
| three sons I'll of whom have become
/ noted. Isidor has been in congress and
: heIped to write the Wilson tariff bill
= Nathan for years has furnished ster-
| iliZed milk TO thousands of New york
babies no doubt saving many lives,
and he Is prominent in the politics Of
his city. Oscar. as the old fashioned
biographer would say. is the subject
of this sketch" Nj are great mer-
/ chants in New York and Brooklyn.
Lazarus Straus was farmer in Bava-
ria, where his sons Were born. He
: espoused the cause Of the revolution of
| 1913 and some time later was com
PEELED to take refuge in America He
| settled in little Georgia town, where
Oscar Straus passed most of his boy
| hood. At the close OF the civil war the
family removed to New York, where
the father established the house of L.
StrauS & Sons. large importers of pot
terry and glassware. Oscar. the young
est son. entered Columbia university,
partly paying his way by writing for
the newspapers. for the elder StrGus
was not well to do ut the time. In
1871 Oscar was graduated near the
head Of his class. He was class poet,
defeating in the contest for that honor
Brander Matthews. the we'll known lit
erary man and educator. who recently
took 4 foremost part in the crusade for
simplifed spelling. Young Strnus stud
led law and two years later began the
practice. He was one of the first law
yeTs in the United States TO prosecute
Il railroad for making Illegal freight
rates for the benefit of favored patrons.
In this case he worked so hard that his
wei"ht was reduced to ninety nine
pounds
Then" says Mr.. Straus. al decided
that / would go to Il doctor. The ply
stefan told me that my only chance to
live lay in changing my work. Ny ia
ther and brothers had wanted ME to
go into their firm. and WENT
Sought Recreation In Reading and Writing
It was only Il change of work. not
cessation. Oscar Straus took charge
of an important branch of the bust
ness. which had grown to enormous
proportions. He determined to read all
the letters received and answered per-
sonally the most important This kept
him at his desk from about $50 to 6
O'Clock every day. Every evening in
his library Mt home he sought recrea
ton in reading and writing He was
too busy to go ont to the libraries for
books needed in his historical re
searches. so he sent out and bought
them. keeping agents constantly on the
watch for valuable works Thus lie
accumulated what is regarded rs one
Of the finest private libraries IN the |
United States.
But with all his devotion to business |
and to literary labors Mr.. Straus al
ways found time to take an active part |
in the various movements for civic bet |
terment which We're in progress from |
year to year. Through magazine arti- |
Giles. lectures and addresses his atti- |
-tude in relation to many important |
matters was made known. He served |
as trustee for the Baron de Hirsch re-
lief fund for Russian immigrants. He |
helped to organize and was president |
of the National Civic federation. He |
was one of the founders of the Young |
Mems Hebrew association.
\ list of all the Societies-political. |
charitable. civic ana literary-to which |
Mr.. Strauss belongs and in which for
years he has been prominent would !
look like Il catalogue
Never Il Pyrotecilnic Politician.
Nobody can say that President
Roosevelt has selected for the com
merce and labor portfolio an inactive
man. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr..
Stratus never has been Il pyrotechnic
politician and that he has preferred his
library and his home life to the an
plause of listening muItitudes. Nor
can we say that here is an cxaIsble of
the scholar in politics. Mr.. Strauss is
the scholar in craftsmanship 1t may
be doubted with very good reason that
Mr.. Straus could be elected constable
Of township through his own appeal
to the voters. His brand of personal |
was not made for practical
politics
New York, which knows Oscar
Straus. was not surprised when the
president announced his selection rs
secretary of commerce and labor. It is
said that President Mckinley once con
sldered for secretary of state
when &c Hay had some thought of
'etiring. Mr. Straus belongs to the
ype Of man who always gets there.
lie has had TO struggle to succeed.
lie just kept on at work Fortune
rave him the facilities for working
md nature cnt&wcd him with taste