Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1930-03-14

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Central Ohio's Only
Jewish Neuispaper
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A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FOR THE JEWISH HOME
Devoted to American
and
J4ji>ish Ideah
Vol. XIII —No. II-
COT.UMBUS, OHIO, iMARCll   14.
'93<i
Per Year $3.00; Per Copy loc
Scanning the Horizon
By
DAVID SCHWARTZ
American Jewry Loses Greatest Friend In White House In the Death Of William ' Howard Taft
When Sai-nofT Sanjj
It is not generally kiiawn but it is a fact nuverthcless, that David Sanioff, radio corporation head, owes his rise to the fact that he once'was a singer in a synagogue clioir. In an indirect way, of course.
The facts are these. It was back in lf)0O. Sarnoff at that time was earning the princely sum of $i).00 a week working for tlie Commercial Company, a tele¬ graph organization. On the side, ht was being paid ^lOO for singing in-the syna¬ gogue choir on the Jewish hqli<lay5. Try¬ ing to do both things, he slipped up on one occasion with his work for the Com¬ mercial Company. SarnofT explained that it would ncver_ happen again—as tlie Jewish high holy days were past. , Eut his explanation failed to satisfy. He was told to see the cashier for his pay and forget to come the next day. He Hires His "Firer'^ Sarnoflt then got a job with the Mar¬ coni Company. And it was there, as wire¬ less operator, when thc Titanic sunk, that his great opportunity which was to make a national figure of him came. In¬ cidentally, the man who had dismissed him from his first job, one day,, came to him and asked for a job; Sarnoff gave it ¦'to him, . Why?
"Because,'-' he told the man, "if you hadn't dismissed me, I' probably neveri would have gotten my opportunity with the Radio Corporation."
That's one way of treating a man who has fired you. Jed Harris, the famed theatrical producer, has a similar way. On the openings of all of his new shows, he makes it a practice to send free tick¬ ets to the man who once dismissed him. "He is my, greatest benefactor," says Harris. "U he hadn't let me go, I never would have set up on my own hook.". Capitalizing Adversity And that reminds me, too, of a young Jewish newspaperman ijvith whom I was talking recently. He is a very sober faced young man—almost too solemn. He was telling me of a little unhappy in¬ cident, which occurred to him in some restaurant. And I should say also here, that-he.does a great deal of writing for trade papers.
Well, he was telling me of ,this trouble in the restaurant. "Of course," ;he added, very seriously, "I always capitalize on these experiences. I expect I'll make .tlO.OO out of this trouble. You see, I'll just take this experience and use it as a basis for a narticle—'Hints to Restaurant Owners,' and send it to some Cafeteria Journal."
Now, that's what 1 call a wise boy. H youVe thrown out on the sidewalk, just write an article on how it feels to strike the sidewalk and sell it as a Sun¬ day feature. Then change it a bit, em¬ phasizing how it affects the ego and sell it to a Psychological Review. The Jew¬ ish aspects—Famous Jews Who Have Hit the Sidewalk—could doubtless be sold to a Jewish newspaper. It's great, if you have a little ingenuity.
The Case of Pulitzer Sarnoff gave the man who dismissed him a job—Jed Harris sends the man who turned him out free tickets—Joseph Pulitzer, who founded the New York World, did something else,
Joseph Pulitzer, you remember, as a young immigrant, was once thrown out of a building on Park Row.
Pulitzer bided his time and when wealth came to him, he bought the build ing and tore it down. Today, the Pulit¬ zer building stands on the same site. Different With Ochs I sometimes am sorry for these people of eminence, who have never been thrown out of buildings and never have been given the blue, slip. What are they go ing to do, when they commence writing their auto-biographies?
There is Adolph Ochs, publisher of the New York Times, for instance. As far as I know he has no one to get back at. I do not mean that he has always had smooth sailing. That is not so. He has had plenty of difficulties.
He was, for example, very much afraid of entering the New York field. At the time, he was publisher of a little paper in Chattanooga. When the New York Times, then in a run down state, was on the market, Ochs was notified. -'"I am afraid I am not big enough to enter the New York field," he told Kohl- saaf, then publisher of a Chicago daily. "If you don't tell anybody, people won't know it," was the very sagacious reply of the Chicagoan.
He came to New York and taught the Gothamites a few lessons.
Warfield'a Favorite Story David Warfield tells the one about the colored man who was up before court
"Now, you , know," said the judge, "what it means to swear to tell the truth."
"Yes, Judge, I shore does," said Ras- tus. "What does it mean, Rastus?" "Ah expect. Judge, it means that we'll lose the case."
He Knew What It Wasn't Jacob Kirschenbaum of the Jewish Morning Journal tells the story of Chayim Itzik, a simple minded Jew hack in Russia, who was warned, prior to go¬ ing to get his passport, to give some name that was not Jewish.
"Remember, Chayim Itzik, to say that you are Ivan Ivanoff."
When he came to the^ passport office, Chayim was of course asked his name. He stumbled, mumbled, but wasn't able to recall his fictitious mme.
"Anyway." he bellowed, with a sharp gesture of his hand, "it's not Chayim It- sik, I assure you."
In a Line or Two Herbert   Bayard   Swope,   former' ex¬ ecutive  editor of  the World, has been lately    conferring   a 'great   deal    with (Continued on pfige 4)
Russo-American Treaty Was Abrogated During His Administra¬ tion; Deceased Patriot And Statesman Was A Noted Foe,Of Anti-Semitism; Jews Everywhere Are Mourninir His Demise
PUOMINISNT    LOCAL    BUSI¬ NESS    MAN    HEADS    NA¬ TIONAL ORGANIZATION
In thc death of Williani Howard Taft, thc Jews of tlie United States have lost one of tlic finest friends they ever ha<l in American public life. Taft understood the Jews and was sympathetic to their ideals and as[>irati()nB; Ijut unlike most statesmen his understanding and sympathy did not ebb after he kit the White Housed Friendly as he was to Jewish needs as president, he became even more so when he shed the responsibilities of the presi¬ dency,
Born and raised in Cincinnati, thq cen¬ ter of Jewish activity of various sorts, including of course the Hebrew Union College and thc reform movement nour¬ ished there by Isaac M. Wise, Taft, as a young man came into close contact with many of the most outstanding leaders of American Jewry. . The Unitarian church he attended stood next to the synagogue in which the dynamic Isaac M. Wise pfeache<l. Taft was fond of telling how the elder Taft was an active Uni¬ tarian with often visits to the synagogiie of Rabbi Isaac M. Wise and Rabbi Lil- lienthat. This early symptom of Jewish- Christian good'-will made a deep impres¬ sion on-Taft and to these youthful Jewish associations we may trace his later good¬ will to the Jewish citizens of the United States. '
The first Jew to play a role in the career of the future president was Gus Karger, the political reporter of the Cin¬ cinnati Times, owned by Taft's brother. .Karger, a keen judge of men, saw in the young judge something of the man that was later to be the first to serve his country both as president and as chief justice of the Supreme Court. An inti¬ mate friendship sprung up between Kar¬ ger and Taft that endured to the day of Karger's death. •
Iri the years that he was climbing the ladder of political success from a district attorney to the state supreme court and to the solicitor-generalship of the United States, Taft from time to time met the prominent Jewish leaders of Ohio such as Julius Fleischman, Adolph Cohen and the elder Seasongood, but not until he was nominated for the presidency is there any record of real Jewish participation in the events of his career.
A number of Jews played no little part in getting him the nomination for which he had been boosted by Roosevelt. William Loeb, secretary to President Roosevelt, worked with might and main to round up delegates favorable to Taft and the ease with which he was nomi¬ nated bespeaks of Locb's efforts. The omnipresent Gus Karger, too did his bit in handling the pre-convention publicity that "built-up" Taft, so to speak. Victor Rosewater, acting chairman of the Na¬ tional Republican Committee, travelled all over the country in an extensive cam¬ paign of political speech-making to get the country in thc mood for a Taft nomi¬ nation.
The one act of his administration that was to endear Taft to the Jews oi America was his support of thc wide-^ spread campaign to repudiate the treaty with Russia as a result of the actions of the Czar's government in refusing to ad¬ mit American citizens who wcrie Jews into Russia. Although Taft's action in the matter was at times questioned by such eminent Jews as Jacob Schiff and Louis Marshall no one doi^f^ted his sincerity.
The Russian treaty had already be¬ come an issue when Taft was nominated in 1908. In hi^ speech of acceptance, he referred to thc Russian passport ques¬ tion and termed it "repugnant to the prin-^ ciples of our government" arid promised to give special attention to the matter if elected. In two later addresses he re¬ peated his desire to be of help. That his promises were not mere po¬
litical words vvas well evidenced when in MHI he invited Jacob SchitT, Louis Mar¬ shall, Mayer Sulzberger, Adolph Kraus, Philip Stein, Jacob Furth, J. Waller Freiberg, P.ernard Bettman and Simon Wolf to a luncheon at the White House to discuss thc matter of the abrogation of the Russian treaty. So far as is known this was the first time that a president of tlic United States had invited a delegation of Jews to dine at thc White House.
After the luncheon. President Taft as¬ tonished the delegation by reading hie conclusions on the matter of the treaty before he had heard a word from any member of the delegation. He discussed the entire situation, giving the pros and cons for abrogation, repeating his pro¬ fessions df interest in the matter, he de¬ clared that thc situation was improving and that he felt that there was no need for such drastic action. .When Taft fin¬ ished reading he asked that his remarks should not be made public but Mr. Schiff, obviously annoyed, said "1 want it pub-_ lished. I want the vwholc world to know the president's attitude." Mr. Marshall then launched into an answer, to some of the president's views, A few days later, Mr. Schiff in a letter took the president to task for breaking his campaign pledge. While Taft felt that he was acting for the best interests of both Jews and the general citizenry in declining to abrogate thc Russian treaty, the leaders of Ameri¬ can Jewry initiated a national campaign to bring the pressure of public opinion to bear on both Taft and Congress. The results of this campaign quickly became evident when both the Senate and the House adopted resolutions directing the president to notify Russia that the treaty would, be abrogated January 1, 1913. Just after this Taft announced that he would give the Jews a Chanukah present by giving Russia official notice, which he did. v   ^^.
Largely through the influence of Jew¬ ish leaders with President Taft, he ve¬ toed the proposed Dillingham-Gardncr immigration bill which contained the ob¬ jectionable illiteracy test to which the Jews were opposed,; The veto of this bill in 1913 was one of his last official acts as president but he earned for it the gratitude of the entire Jewish popula¬ tion.
Throughout his four years in the White House Taft gave evidences of his friend¬ ship for the Jews. When a young Jew¬ ish soldier was being discriminated against in the promotion lists Taft in¬ vestigated the matter and saw to it that the young man received his due. In May, 1911, President Taft addressed the Wash¬ ington Hebrew Congregation!'on the oc¬ casion of the advocating the erection of a monument to Haym Salomon. Taft spoke highly of the services of Salomon to the Revolution and his remarks had much to do with the growth in interest in the career of the Jewish patriot who had been neglected by historians. In ad¬ dition to this address, Taft also spoke at the 1910 B'nai B'rith convention in Wash¬ ington and in the same year set a prece¬ dent by coming to New York to attend the ball of the Daughters of Jacob.
Among his important diplomatic ap¬ pointments were Oscar Straus as United States minister to Turkey and Lewi: Einstein as United States riiinister to Costa Rica. Both appointments were well received and popular. In 1913 Taft was the first man to be awarded the B'nai B'rith gold medal given to the man or woman, regardless of creed, who has contributed most during the year to the welfare of the Jewish creed.
When all his Jewish appointments are forgotten and all his Jewish friends have become lost in the obscurity of history (Continued on page 8) .
Last Of Series Oi C. J- W.
pfook Reviews Will Be Given
By Rabbi Tarshish
Rabbi Jacob Tarsliish will,give the last f)f a series of luncheon-reviews, on Mon¬ day, March 17th, at 12::K) o'clock at the Winding Hollow Cily Club. The bonk .selected is "The Man Who Pretended," by W. ii. Maxwell. Mrs. Edwin B. Ja¬ cobs (Bee Gumble) of Cincinnati will come to CnlumlMis Monday to sing at tliis luncheon. Mrs. Arthur Isaac is chairman of this, committee and has cliart^c of reservations, Thc following rr.cmher.s of thc Educational committee will assist Mrs, Isaac as hostesses :~- Mesdanic,^ Simon Jacobs, I. A. Rosen¬ thal, Roiiert Blashek, Allen Gunder¬ sheinier. _ Jerome Kohn, Edwin' Kraus, Frank Glick, Lonis Roth, Harry Kohn, Hdwni J. Schanfarber.
This course has been highly successful and greatly enjoyed by thc many who at¬ tended.    The Council hopes to sponsor a
Iniilar course next season.
Jews In the News
By BERNARD POSTAL
Many readers of the Chronicle in Co¬ lumbns and central Ohio will welcome tlie news of the election of Samuel N Sunniicr, head of the Joseph Schonthal Co.i as, president of the Institute of Scrap Iron & Steel, Inc., which took place thc past week at the national con¬ vention of tht' organization held in Chi¬ cago.
The local company of which Mr. Sum¬ mer is the head not only operates a plant Columbus, but also in Lackawanna, N. Y., and maintains branch offices in De¬ troit and BuiTalo. He became secretary and treasurer of the company in 1010 and early this year became president and treasurer, succeeding his father-in-law, the late. Joseph Schonthal, founder bf the business.   .
Ill addition tdi being president and treasurer of the local firm, Mr. Summer lis pre.'iident of the Springfield Suburban ikisilroad Co. of Springfield; vice presi¬ dent of the West Virginia Rail Co,, of Huntington, Wi Va.; director of the Huntington National Bank, and a di¬ rector of the Huntington Securities cor¬ poration.:
The Chronicle congratulates Mr. Sum¬ mer on, the signal honor conferred upon hfm and predicts that his administration will he crowned with extraordinary suc¬ cess.
NOTES  FROM THE JEWISH INFANTS HOME OF OHIO
The following memorials were received at the home the past week: Mrs. Blahche Fox, Mr. and Mrs, Frank Nusbaum, Miss Clara Goodman, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Suninici-, Miss Elizabeth Session, Miss Helen Lemert, and Dr. and Mrs. A. L, iSleinfeld of Toledo, Ohio, in memory of Carol Betty Freundlidi of Mansfield; Mrs. Blanche Fox, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel N. Summer, in memory of Mrs. Ella Sohatz; Mr. and ilrs. Sam Gunder¬ sheimer in memory of Joseph L Gold¬ smith ; Mrs. Sam Goodman in memory of dear ones.
The members "of' the Excelsior Club entertained the children with a beautiful Washington Birthday party.
The Hamilton Twig of the Jewish In¬ fants' Home of Ohio sent fifty-two tow¬ els and forty-one napkins. The Akron Twig sent twelve beautiful panty dresses. The Portsmouth Twig sent forty-two towels and fifty napkins,    ,
A barrel of apples was received from T. S. White..
¦   ij;any thanks from the directors of the Board.
While those Jews who arc afliliated with Temple Ikth El, Detroit, took the initiative in doing honor to Rahbi Leo M. Franklin on his OOth birthday they were not atone in paying homage lo the distinguished spiritual leader. Not onlj Detroit Jewry but leaders of every creed joined in greeting him on the occasion of ilia becoming a sexagenarian. To De¬ troit Rabl)i Franklin is something more than a rabbi. Eight years ago il was his successful cam[>aigii tliat prevented thc Michigan electorate from approving an amendment to the state constitution that would have closed the i>arochiaI schools. For tliis service the Catholic University of Detroit gave him an hon¬ orary degree. In the 31 years of his ministership he has develoi>ed a congre¬ gation that in I8!)i) had 130 members^ to one of the largest in the country. Civic affairs .in Detroit have an able supporter in him. The public library, housing im¬ provements, theatres to say nothing of his philanthropic endeavors, owe much to him.'   ¦
, Democratic politicians in New York are eagerly watching , the wire-pulling that is going on in behalf of four prom¬ inent Jews whose friends are booming them for a vacancy in thc state supreme court. Joiiah J. Goldstein, Sol Stroock, Benjamin Schreiber and Bennett Siegel- stein are all in the running with Gold¬ stein and Schreiber having the hiside track. The entire quartet are lawyers whose careers have spread out into mani¬ fold spheres. Goldstein has been active in Jewish education and East Euroix'aii relief. Stroock is a civic worker and educator. Sicgclstein has won consider¬ able renown for his political "reform work and his services to prison legisla¬ tion. Schreiber is the champion _ cam¬ paign manager. Three judges, a district attorney and Mayor Walker were man¬ aged into office by him. Only with John -W. Davis, whose New York headquarters he bossed, did he fail.
A GENTLE REMINDER
Dear Subscribers:—
We know that you enjoy reading the Chronicle. We also know that you realize its importance to this community and its eifectivenesa in serving the needs of 'Jewry.
May we suggest that you now show your appreciation of the Chronicle's good work by the prompt payment of j: your subscriptions whether for the current year or the year that has just passed?
We send out slatements but once a year.  To send them 1= out more often would entail great expense.
We trust that you will favor us with this slight token of your gratitude and assure you of our continued good will.
Respectfully yours, Publiaherfl) The Ohio Jewish Chronicle. I .^
Triple Birthday To Be Ob¬ served Monday By Local Hadassah
Mrs. Abraham Nowak of Cleve¬ land WiH Be The Principal Speaker At Celebration
The eighteenth anniversary of Na¬ tional Hadassah, the fourteenth anniver¬ sary of the founding of the local Senior chapter and the fourth anniversary of the Colunibus unit of- Junior Hadassah will be celebrated at the annual joint birthday party Monday, March 17, at 8 p. m., at the East Broad Street temple.
Mrs. .Abraham Nowak, wife of Rabbi Nowak of Cleveland, will he the speaker of the evening. The subject will be "Which Way Hadassah?"
The program also includes a playlet to he presented by Mrs. M. Bogatin, Mrs. L. Levin, Mrs, Tobias Pnlster, Mrs; S. Kivlin, Mrs, J. Sillman and Miss Sophie Liss; the cutting of the Senior and Junior birthday cakes, and an informal recep- tloit in honor ot Mrs. Nowak and new niember.s of Senmr and Junior Hadassah.
Mrs. Nowak, who will arrive in Co¬ lumbus on Monday morning, wilt be the KUest o£ Mrs. W. A. Hersch, East Broad street, during thc day. A dinner will be given in her honor by members of Senior ?iid Junior Hadassah at (ii-IO p. m., the Neil House. Mrs.- H. Horowitz and Miss Sarah Carroll are In charge of res¬ ervations, which close Saturday.
The committee in charge of arrange¬ ments includes Mrs. Hersch, Mrs, S. Riv¬ lin and Mrs. A. Danziger, chairman for the prograni; Miss Rose Danziger, presi¬ dent of Junior Hadassah, and Miss Dor¬ othy Finkelstein.
Big S u p p e r Planned For
Cantor Grodner And His
Associates
On Tuesday evening, March 20th, a supper will he given by the Tifereth Is¬ rael Sisterhood of the East Broad Street Temple in honor of Cantor Solomon Grodner and the others wlio participated in the concert held recently at Memorial Hall. A cordial invitation is extended to all Columbus Jewry. There will be a charge of 75c per plate.
Reserve this date. Come and enjoy yourself: A beautiful program will be: presented.
Institutional Sewing
The Council of Jewish Women Insti¬ tutional Sewing will be held Friday, March .21st, at IP. M., at the Bryden Road Temple. It is earnestly hoped that many Council members will come to sew.
Many Thanks
The Executive Committee for the Junior Hadassah Bazaar and A. Z. A. Minstrel Show wishea to take this means of thanking tlie public for its generous patronage, and also the great number of non-members who volunteered their serv¬ ices.
PLAY BY LOCAL AUTHOR
Tlie Purimi play to be presented by the children of the Religious School of th( Agudath Achim Synagogue Sunday en^ tilled, "A Sick Purim," was written .bj Mrs. Elma Ehrlich Levinger, well-knowr local author and playwright.
The venerable Ben Altheimcr seldom gets into the headlines but on the occa¬ sion of his 80th birthday even his modesty could not keep him out. The founder of the Flag Day movement, the initiator of Bundle Day, the philanthropist, the busi¬ ness man and the religious leader, to all these tribute was paid March Gth. To few men has it been given to be of such great and varied service to his fellow men. For 32 years a resident of Sl. Louis the Mound City he came to New York in 1917 and five years later was elected president of Tcimple Beth F.I. lu thc Mound City he earned a national repu¬ tation as a civic leader. It was Altheimer who organized the campaign to help the families of the victims of the Southern yellow fever epidemic. For 30 years he has been treasurer of the National Jew¬ ish Hospital at Denver and is now the only surviving member of the group that bounded thc hospital. Philanthropies without regard to race or creed have had his support. In 1927 he received the Cross of Honor from-' the American Flag Association for his efforts to im¬ plant appreciation of the national emblem in the hearts of the American people.
Once a newspaperman always a news¬ paperman is an adage that can't be licked. To uo one does this apply so well as to Moses Koenigsberg who after he left the Hearst organisation declared himself through with the newspaper busi¬ ness. Now the publisher of the Denver Post announces that Koenigsberg has ac¬ cepted the position of genera] manager and "M. K" is again in harness. He left Hearst in 1928 shortly after he had bteen honored with chevalier of the Le¬ gion of Honor by the French govcrn- ment. He was then general manager of the International News Sen'ice.^ " Koe¬ nigsberg was a newspaper publisher in Texas at the age of IS. In 190^ he be¬ came editor of the Chicago American .nnd in 1908 of the Boston .\merican By this time he was already an invahi- able part of the Hearst organization. It was Koenigsberg who developed thc Kiiig Features Service and the Interna¬ tional News Service for the irrepressible Hearst. The newspaper profession with¬ out him was duller and with him back airain things can be expected to liven no Denver, of late a dead newspaper town, will soon see some fireworks if Koerji^s- b(^r(T lives un to his well earned fame. (Copyright 1930 by J. T. A.)
IVKEEYOH CARD PARTY AT '     iTffi- DESHLER-WALLICK TUESDAY
Temple Purim Play
On Sunday afternoon, March Ifith, at 2 o'clock, the children of thc Bryden Rd. Temple Sunday School will present a Purim play, "Star of Judith," by Elma Khrlich Levinger, under the direction of Miss Mina Nupf. This will be followed by a masquerade ball. Refreshments in celebration of Purim will be served.
All plans have been completed tor the Card Party Tuesday evenine, March 18th, which ia being Bponaored by the Ivree¬ yoh Society. The party will be held at the Deshler-Wallick Ho¬ tel. Twenty-five house prizes will be given away. A bake sale will be conducted under the chairmanship of Mrs. Alex Ro¬ sen. If you have not made your reservations as yet, you can still do so by calling Mrs. Harry Roth. Fairfax G630; Mrs. Ben Tolpiin. Walnut 9232, chairmen for this affair, or Mrs. RoBen, Walnut 9555.
Come To See Beautiful Pnrim Play At Agudath Achim Sunday Evening
Production Was Coached By The
Misses Rose A. Winter And
Irene Krakoff
The entire community is most cordial¬ ly invited to attend the big Purim pro¬ gram to be presented Sundav evening, March Ifith, at the Agudath Achim Con¬ gregation. One of the features of ihe program will be a play in one act en¬ titled "A Sick Purim." coached bv Miss Rose A. Winter and Miss Irene Krakoff. There will also be another one-act play entitled "A Purim Dream." written by Miss Sara Canowitz and coached hy the Misses Kathcrine Gurwin and Sara Ca¬ nowitz with Miss Olivia. E. Hyle at the piano. The evening promises to he a most pleasant one and a large attenflancc is expected.