The Denver Jewish news., 1920-02-25
Firms Worthy of Your Patronage.
When the Rich Man
Felt Poor
A Modern Story
BY Il. c. EHRLICH

anu lOL u niue picuu Vi thS i"N''
lie landed at Ellis Island over twenty
years ago with IL few dollars i'll his
pocket. an idea or two III his curly
head and an obliging landsmann at the
dock to find him boarding house
and Il job in pants factory. That
was about twenty years ago. Ten
years later, as the story bucks say. our
'greener'' was the owner of flour
ishing drygoods store in II prosperous
Eastern city.
His first big step, after securing
respectable rating in Dunn and Brad
street, was to take wife unto him
self and establish her as mistress OF
the painfully new mansion he had
Just built in the most fashionable sub
urb of Dorton. l say painfully new
because it looked altogether too spick
and span and shiny up there on the
hill. surrounded as it was by aristo-
cratic old mansions, many of them an
tedating the, Civil War. The Kahn
mansion was all that Il millionaires
house should be; noble monument to
the architect that fashioned ii. 1t soon
appeared in that excellent journal,
The Woman's Home paper with
smaller cuts showing the ballroom, the
great front hall done ala Tudor, and
Mrs. Kahn's bed chamber. The day
that illustrated article appeared.
Kahn's heart swelled with pride. He
was famous man, for wasn't his
house described as an interesting cN-
ample of good taste in American arch
itecture Good taste.
American''-and once lie was
just a ''grcener' with less than fifty
dollars in his pants. That new house
would be worth something yet, even if
the stuck-up ''goyim'' (there were very
few Jews in this exclusive suburb)
couldn't find time TO call.
Fortunately. Mrs Kahn was just the
sort of wife social climber should
select to help him in his upward strug-
gle. Her people had been comfort
able, as the saying goes, rather than
wealthy. Old man Dember, her faith
Ell, had been on the Temple board for
years; one of her brothers was a
rabbi in neighboring city; her old
est sister. altho Jewess, had actually
held that most coveted of small town
honors. the presidency OF the Won
ans Club So Myrtle Kahn who had
been .'someboIy. stlru her relatives
even as a girl. felt quite capable of
forging ahead with her husbands
wealth as an open sesame to the So
cial doors still boltcd before her.
And for why should l run for prcsi-
dent of the board?" Kahn demanded
of his wife several years after his
marriage. Your father says l am en-
titled to it with the dues / pay every
month. Maybe l am; maybe I amt.
But why should l take the trouble:'
His wife raisud despairing hands at
his denseness. Because it's worth
it, she explained patiently. Myrtle
was always patient with her husband,
even when he baked ut donning his
despised dress suit or called to the
butler to bring on the toOthpicks after
II very select dinner party. Perhaps,
she was wise in her generation and
knew that Mordecai couldn't be bullied.
Don't you see" she told him. that
it's the first step to being somebody
with the Jews in this town: And when
they know you're alive and are good
for something beside subscribing to
the orphan asylum or whatever they're
always collecting for, they'll push you
and you'll be somebody with the gen
tiles. too" Note that she didn't say
"Goyim." American born and ii grad
uate of the local high school, she used
nothing more racy than slang and
Dlushed whenever her husband. finding
English too limited. drew upon his
more expressive Yiddish. But us Nor
decai was n good providrr. she tried
10 bear with his failines and refrain
ed from trying to educate him too
quickly. Which would have been fatal.
Kahn became president of the Tenn
pie board and he was good one. He
began TO take au active interest in the
'B'nai Birth" the Associated Jewish
Charities. His native shrew-dness. his
power of reading and handling men be
gan TO tell for the first time outside
% his business office Sent to vari-
Gus conventions as one of thc most in
fluential ana richest Jews in town, he
learned to talk from the floor. not al
ways grammatically; hut with Il
punch" and was in due time even
able to deliver a speech or two quite
Creditahly. Ckahn. by the way. had
Il jewel of IL private secretary who
10y the rarest alchemy changed the
pcncilcd ideas" ON the pack of an
envelope, which he handed hrr It's the