Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-10-27

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 tery and glassware. Oscar, the young ! est son, entered Columbia university.
 partly paying his way by writing for
 the newspapers, for the elder Straus was not well to do at the time. In 1871 Oscar was graduated near the head of his class. He was class poet. defeating Tn the contest for that honor l Brander Matthews, the we'll known lit. erary man and educator. who recently took foremost part in the crusade for
 simpllHed spelling. Young Strnus stud. jed law and two years later began the practice. He was one of the first law
 yers in the United States to prosecute
 n railroad for making illegal freight rates for the benefit of favored patrons. In this case he worked so hard that his | weight was reduced to ninety-nine pounds.
 Then" says MT. Straus, "I decided
 that would go to doctor. The phy-
 sician told me that my only chance to live lay In changing my work. My fa- ther and brothers had wanted me to go into their firm. and went"
 Sought Recreation Ia Reading and Writing It was only change of work, not cessation. Oscar Straus took charge of s.il important branch of the busi- 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 9:S0 to o'clock every day. Every evening in
 his library at home he sought recrea-
 ton in reading and writing. He was l too busy to go out 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 he accumulated what Is regarded as one of the finest private libraries in the United States.
 put Wltu Alb ucNOllOh lO Ou6iACSS
 and to literary labors Mir. Straus al- ways found time to take an active part in the various movements for civic bet torment which were in progress from year to year. Through magazine arti- cles, 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.
 A list of all the societies-polftical,
 charitable. civic and literary-to which Mir. Straus belongs and in which for years he has been prominent would
 look like a, catalogue.
 Never . Pyrotechnic Politician. Nobody can say that President Roosevelt has selected for the com-
 merce and labor portfolio an inactive
 man, notwithstanding the fact that Mfr. Straus never has been a pyrotechnIc politician and that he has preferred hls library and his home life to the ap- plause of listening multitudes. Nor
 can We say that here is m example of the scholar in politics. Mir. Straus is the scholar in statesmansh!p. It may
 be doubted with very good reason that | Mir. Straus could be elected constable of township through his own appeal to the voters. His brand of personal
 magnetism was not made for practical | politics.
 New York. which knows Oscar
 Straus. was not surprised when the president announced his selection as secretary of commerce and labor. It Is
 said that President Mckinley once con-
 sidered him for secretary of state when John Hay had some thought of retiring. Mfr Straus belongs to the type of man who always gets there. He has had no struggle to succeed.
 He just kept on at work. Fortune gave him the facilities for working, and nature endowed him with a taste for 1t. The newspaper work which he | did during his college course to help
 along his expenses also helped along
 his education as writer and a stu.
 dent of affairs. From the time he be- gan law practice he has trodden finan- cial beds of roses. His firm had SO much business from the start that Mir. Straus broke down from overwork at
 the age of thirty and had to change his l occupation, as we have seen. Then
 the crockery business made millions for him and the dry goods business
 other millions.
 Having succeeded in law. literature.
 diplomacy, philanthropy, finance and business. may we not reasonably exs pect him to do well as a cabinet ofs | flcer?
 One great work of Mfr Straus is re-
 served for final mention. just as ws
 keep pie till. the end of the dinner. be- cause 1t is the best. This is his work
 in behalf of universal peace. He has presided at peace conferences, and at | one of them he said:
 "war is inexplicable to meas ins applicable as all murderous hatreds
 and feuds."
 Danger Tn Hammesless Guns- The new hammerless guns are mora