$4,001,335

In a town of Rhenish Bavaria one Sara bore to one Lazarus Straus three sons. The first-born he named Isidore; the second he named Nathan; the youngest, Oscar Solomen. Isidore, after distinguished years as merchant, banker and Congressman, lost his life, a hero, in the Titanic disaster. Nathan is now 77 and Oscar Solomon is 75, and for more than a generation their portraits have appeared in the public prints of the U. S. as frequently as that of Santa Claus. Nathan is the passionate philanthropist. No sooner does he make a nickel (Abraham & Straus, R. H. Macy, emporia) than he gives away six cents. (Since 1915 his donations have exceeded his income.) Oscar Solomon is the zestful statesman (Rooseveltian Moose, Taft Ambassador to Turkey).

There are many famed Jews --Colonel Friedsam (Altman's, the nice store), H. H.Lehman (finance), Adoph Zukor (cinema). Some are peers of the Straus brothers, but none o'ertops them in the esteem of Manhattan or of the Republic. Monday, Friedsam; Tuesday, Lehman; Wednesday, Straus; Thursday, Zukor--each was. a million-dollar day (except Tuesday, $957,000) and jointly they produced from the pockets of New York City Jews the gallant total of $4,001,335 for Jewish philanthropies.

Concerning the titular patriarchs of the pagan-named* weekdays, there was but one ambiguity: Nathan or Oscar Solomon? It was neither, it was Simon William (S. W. Straus & Co., "no loss to any investor for 43 years") and his day was the biggest: $1,020,193. He sprang, like the famed Gimbels, from Indiana, having been born in Ligonier just after the Civil War. Soon thereafter his father established in Chicago one of the greatest bond businesses in history. Now a gilded doorway struts into uptown Fifth Avenue, proclaiming the sweep of the Straus enterprises. It is in Manhattan that Simon William functions as President. He is known to have bought pearls of great price, to have contributed staunchly to this and that, but never, like members of the other Straus family, has he been a public character. The place of honor accorded to him and the responsibility he assumed in last week's drive indicate that another and a different Straus* will soon become a household name. He is still but 59.

*Monday, Moon's day; Tuesday, Tiu's day; Wednesday, Woden's day; Thursday, Thor's day.

*Strauses are not to be confused with Strausses, among whom there are Joseph, famed Admiral; Albert, of Joseph Seligman & Co.; Charles, lawyer; Lewis Lichtenstein, of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. ; Richard, famed Bavarian composer.