THE JEWISH cHRoNICLE
The only Jewish publication in the State of Michigan
Devoted to the interests of the Jewish people
DETROIT, MICH., AUG. 31,
Vol. II. No 27
1917
$1.50 per Year
Single Copies 10 Cents
Jacob G. Brown Meets Sudden Death
Distinguished Communal Worker of Detroit Loses Life in Canoe Acci-
dent at Oscoda, Mich., While Spending Vacation With Family
Active in Jewish and Public Affairs
Was Vice-President of United Jewish Charities and Peoples
Free Loan Society—Took Leading Part in Board of
Commerce Americanization Work —Wit h
Humble Start Became One of Most
Successful Business Men—City
Mourns Loss
Jacob G. Brown, than whom no
Frien1 of Boys.
other man in Detroit was more highly
lie was one of the founders of the
respected and loved by those who
Philomathic Debating Society, an or-
came in intimate contact with him, ganization of boys that has exerted a
met with sudden death on Wednesday
powerful influence in Detroit by
afternoon, August 29th, at Oscoda,
teason of the cultural training it has
Mich., where he was spending his va- Oven to many of our present COM-
cation with his family.
)flunal leaders. Mr. Brown always
The most regrettable accident oc- maintained the status of "one of the
curred as Mr. Brown, in company joys," and has attended the annual
ianquets regularly. As an encourage-
with Walter Fuchs, of Detroit, was
ment to the boys he maintained the
fishing from a canoe in the Au Sable
acob G. Brown silver medal which
river. Details are lacking, but it ap-
pears that the canoe met with an ob- was awarded yearly for pi! oficiency in
struction in a shallow part of the debate and public speaking. He was
stream and capsized. Mr. Brown was a true friend to the boys of this so-
a good swimmer and could easily Iciety and other boys who, when in
have saved himself under normal con- !trouble of any sort, were referred to
ditions, but he probably struck the ob- him for help. His office and home
struction as he was thrown suddenly was a virtual clearing house for the
into the water and was rendered un- exchange of confidences and the ren-
dering of aid to the young men.
conscious by the blow.
David A. Brown, brother to Jacob, What better evidence of the noble-
was notified and left immediately for ness of a truly great man!
His interest in young men was also
Oscoda to take charge of the recovery
manifest
in his connection with the
and disposition of the body. No plans
have as yet been made for the funeral Young Men's Hebrew Association of
as this issue of The Chronicle goes to Detroit. His co-operation with the
organizers of this movement was of
press.
inestimable value to them.
Jacob Brown was a man of extra-
At Height of Career.
ordinary energy. He had time for all
The entire Jewish community and work of value, and never shirked a
the general public of Detroit have lost duty that involved a large amount of
a sincere friend. Jacob G. Brown was detail work so irksome to most
a noble man whose expression of people. As vice-president of the
power was his congeniality and youth- Peoples Free Loan Society his coun-
ful spirit. He had achieved material sel and aid was utilized in its recent
success and had developed a social plan of re-organization that will make
consciousness that few men of his it a model of its kind in this country.
age are favored with. To have been
As one of the most active members
suddenly interrupted by death in his of Temple Beth El, he was one of the
thirty-third year of life, to be taken spiritual leaders of Jewish life in De-
away from a beautiful family life, to troit.
have suffered a cessation of all his
Successful Business Man.
•
communal and personal activities ati
In
his
commercial life, Jacob G.
the most fruitful period of his exist
Nice, is a sadness such as this coin-1 Brown was respected among his asso-
ciates as a man of high integrity,
munity has probably never experi
whose every business transaction was
enced.
permeated with the same spirit of
There is no communal institutio
friendliness that had won him a legion
tending to the uplift of man, n
of social friends. Without the ad-
movement for the benefit of his fel
vantages of education and preliminary
lows that the name of Jacob G. Brow
business training of the average young
was not identified with in Detroit
man, Mr. Brown started out to make
He was for many years a director o
his fortune not as a clerk in a well-
the United Jewish Charities and wag furnished and carpeted office, but as a
elected first vice-president of that in
newsboy. Even in this lowly position
stitution recently. Here he expender
in the world of industry, "Jake"
the greater part of his energies. I
Brown was recognized by his fellow
was a part of his daily existence, am
"newsies" as a strict observer and up-
its present state of efficient service t
holder of the "souare deal."
the community is greatly responsibl
He chose insurance as his perma-
to the sincere efforts of Mr. Brown
nent commercial field, and rose rap-
As chairman of the educational coin
idly by force of his own ability and
mittee of the Charities, he initiate
intense earnestness. As state man-
and maintained features that hay
ager of the Fidelity Mutual Life In-
benefited hundreds in the congeste
surance Company, Mr. Brown made a
districts. He contributed not only h'
record for business produced in Michi-
valuable time but more than his sha
gan, and in recognition of his acconi
of wealth to the furtherance of cha
plishment was recently elected presi-
itable enterprises.
dent of the Managers' Association of
l
his company. Despite the personal
nature of his business, Mr. Brown was
never known to capitalize or take ad-
vantage of his numerous friendships
for business gain.
Jacob G. Brown did not confine his
communal activities in any narrow
compass. As a citizen of Detroit, and
Nvith a consciousness of his patriotic
duties, he took a leading part in the
Americanization movement conducted
by the Board of Commerce last year.
He contributed greatly in making this
campaign a success, which made De-
troit famous throughout the country
as the most efficient center of Ameri-
canization work.
Beautiful Home Life.
The home life of Jacob Brown ap-
proached the ideal. His door was al-
ways open, an'd the delight of his pri-
vate life was the gathering of friends
and acquaintances for an evening chat
about books, music, travel and topics
of the day. Despite his many inter-
ests, he found time to read the best in
literature. He was a patron of good
music and of the drama. His passion
for cultural education was reflected in
the interest he took in the proper de-
velopment of his children. It was a
common sight for a visitor to drop in
and find him relating stories to his
little boy and girl, who listened. tb
him in childish wonderment. He was
a friend of all children. His simplicity
of manner appealed to young and old
alike.
Mr. Brown is survived by his wife,
Mrs. Margherita Sloman Brown, his
children, Norma, age 6, and Jacob G.
Jr., age 3, his mother, Mrs. Charlotte
Brown, of 33 Leicester Court, his
brothers. David A., Israel, Louis,
Harry G., his sisters, Augusta, Jane,
Florence and Mrs. L. Levy.
UKRAINE APPOINTS MINISTER
FOR JEWISH AFFAIRS.
A cablegram from Kiev to the Jew-
ish daily, The Day, announced re-
cently that the Ukrainian Congress
had elected a member of the Jewish
Socialist Territorialist Party as Min-
ister for Jewish Affairs in Ukraine.
This is the first time that any govern-
ment, provisional or otherwise, has
created a ministry for the special su-
pervision of Jewish interests. The
cable from Kiev reads as follows.
"The members of the Ukrainian
Congress have elected a member of
the Jewish Socialist • Territorialist
Party, Silverfarb, as Minister for Jew-
ish Affairs in the Ukraine. The Yid-
dish. language has also been officially
recognized as one of the government
languages in the Ukraine. All official
documents of the government will be
published simultaneously in Yiddish
and Russian."
Silverfarb has been very active in
the Territorialist Party. He was
known to his followers as "Basin," a
pen name by which he became familiar
to all sympathizers and opponents of
Jewish freedom.
The Right Hon. Herbert Samuel,
Sir Charles Henry and Percy A. Har-
ris arc members of the select commit-
tee of the house of commons which
has been set up to consider the na-
tional finances. It is understood that
Mr. Samuel will be chosen chairman.
JEWS IN RUSSIAN TERRITORY
OCCUPIED BY GERMANS IN
SERIOUS PLIGHT.
.
Six Million Dollars Needed Immedi-
ately to Take Care of Refugees
from Bessarabia and Podolien,
Reports Herman Bernstein.
The frightful havoc wrought by the
Germans in the recent advance of their
armies into Russia, with the conse-
quent suffering and death among the
non-combatant population, is told in
recent cables received during the past
week by the Central Committee for the
Relief of Jews Suffering Through the
War. These cables, received through
the state department, indicate that the
Jews in the territory newly occupied
by the German armies due to the Rus-
sian retreat, have suffered the most
severely and that there are hundreds
of thousands of new Jewish refugees
as a consequence. These refugees, the
cables of which are from Herman
Bernstein, a director of the Central
Committee, now in Russia, and promi-
nent Jews in Russia set forth, are
shelterless, almost raimentless, with-
out food and in many cases ill from
deprivation and want.
As a result of the cables, the Cen-
tral. Committee, of which Leon Ka-
maiky is chairman, has addressed a
nation-wide appeal to its constituents
throughout the United States to im-
mediately send contributions, espe-
cially for the Jews of Charkov, Pola-
tava and other cities immediately be-
yond the reach of the invading forces,
and which through the collapse of the
Russian offensive in Galicia are more
particularly affected.
"New wave of Jewish refugees,
breadless and shelterless—need of re-
lief most urgent" is the way one cable
from Mr. Bernstein, who is now in
Petrograd, reads. "Refugees are corn-
ing in large numbers from Bessarabia
and Podolien, driven by German ad-
vances," is the way another cable
reads.
Six million dollars, it is said, is ab-
solutely needed to keep the bodies
and souls together of the new refu-
gees' affected by this last German on-
slaught, and with which sum there are
to be maintained old men, women and
children, widows and orphans and
wounded Jewish soldiers. It is only
to American Jewry that stricken Rus-
sia can look, as nowhere else is it
possible to obtain adequate funds to
meet the tremendous need.
Contributions to the Central Com-
mittee should be addressed to Harry
Fische], treasurer, 51 Chambers street,
and will be placed to the credit of the
$10,000,000 fund which the Jews of
America are now raising and which
is being disbursed through the Joint
Distribution Committee of which Fe-
lix M. Warburg is the chairman.
NEW MAP OF PALESTINE.
A very excellent map of Palestine, in
colors, containing a wealth of detail
that is not to be found in any other map
of the Holy Land, has been prepared by
the well-known cartographer, Israel Bel-
kind, and can be obtained from the Fed-
eration of American Zionists, 44 East
Twenty-third street, New . York City. A
nominal charge is made in order to de.:
fray expenses of preparing and printing
this map.