Page Six
Mark. Twain Letters
T,HE JEWISH NEWS
Here
His Messages Tell Praise
For Hebrew Infant Asylum •
High Death-Rate Among the Children on Blackwell's Island
Before Turn of Century, Caused Him to Ask That
Christians Be Taken to Jewish Institution
Kay Elected
By Congress
MARK TWAIN
way of crimes and infamies is
then incredible. It actually en-
ables one to accept and believe
the impossible: for instance, your
statement that the death-rate of
the slaughter-house on Black-
well's Island called the Infant's
"House" is 900 in the thousand!
In God's name why do they not
bury those poor little creatures
as soon as they are received in
that hospital hell and so save
them some part of their suffer-
ings? During the past three days
we have been standing aghast at
the death rate in the British con-
centration camps in South Africa
—250 in the thousand (children,
mainly)—and now you come with
this death-rate, which makes that
one look wholesome, healthy and
robust! What, do they feed our
little concentrados on, in that
Blackwell's Island Cemetery?
Prussic acid and exposure? Can
anything else account for such
a death-rate?—a death-rate which
exceeds the death-rate of any
war that was ever fought, of any
famine or any pestilence that has
ever visited the earth,- and can
even laugh to scorn the death-
- rate of the supremest of all -his-
torical. death-rates, that of the
monumental disaster of the Black
Hole of Calcutta!
"And now you tell me—in con-
trast with this devilish showing
—that the death-rate in your He,-
brew Infant Asylum is only 40 in
the thousand! Oh, be good, be
kind, be .generous—take our little
Christians in there, and save
them from the bitter misery and
temporal damnation of - govern-
mental Christian charity! • Oh,
save their lives, and send them
missionarying to China to spread
our darling "civilization," which
we think so much of. - When we
are drunk."
The Correction
The second letter, with the cor-
rection, reads:
"My Dear Sir:
"If you use my yesterday's let-
Eve Shapen To Give
Piano Recital Saturday
Eve Shapen, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Harry Shapen. of Phila-
delphia Ave., a cousin of the late
Mischa Levitzki, will be' present-
ed in a piano recital this Sat-
urday evening, at the McGregoi.
Library Auditorium, Highland
Park.
Miss Shapen, whose recital is
being sponsored by Ethel Gold-
man Mendelson of the Music
Forum, will be assisted by Miss
Eugenia Stasze\vski, violinist Of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
ter, please erase the last two
words (when drunk). Also ,please
erase the inverted commas which
enclose the word Civilization,
(havingt unquoted, thus: Civil-
ization.)
"With these coarsenesses ex-
punged the letter will be decent
enough."
Feinberg Heads Committee
The Mark Twain Exhibit, spon-
sored by the Friends of the De-
troit Public Library, was ar-
ranged by a committee under the
chairmanship of Charles Fein-
berg.
The Exhibit includes copies of
Mark Twain works translated
into Hebrew, including a copy of
the translation of "The Prince
and the Pauper" by the late A. D.
Markson of the faculty of the
United Hebrew Schools, and He-
brew edition of "Tom Sawyer."
Continuing until May 31, the
exhibit had the encouragement
of Mrs. Ossip (Clara Clemens)
Gabrilowitsch, who sent minia-
tures of her parents to the ex-
hibit from California.
"Concerning the Jews"
The exhibit includes the essays
of Mark Twain among which is
his "Concerning the Jews," writ-
ten for Harper's in 1898, in which
the eminent American humorist
wrote:
"If the statistics are right, the
Jews constitute 1 per cent of the
human race. It suggests a nebul-.
lous dim puff of star dust lost in
the blaze of the milky way. Prop-
erly the Jew ought hardly to be
heard of; but he is heard of, has
always been heard of. His con-
tributions , to the world's list of
great names in literature, science,
art, music; finance, medicine, ab-
struse learning, are also away out
of proportion to the smallness of
his bulk. The Egyptians, the
Babylonians and the Persians
rose, filled the planet with sound
and splendor, then fffded to
dream stuff and passed away;
the Greek and the Roman fol-
lowed, made a vast noise, and
they are gone; other people have
sprung up and held the torch
high for a time, but it burned
out, and they sit in twilight now,
or have vanished. The Jew saw
them all, beat them all, and is
now, what he always was, ex-
hibiting no decadence, no in-
firmities of age, no weakening of
his parts, no slowing of his en-
ergies, no dulling of his alert and
aggressive mind. All things are
mortal but the Jew; all other
forces pass, but he remains."
Dr. Leo M. Franklin, a mem-
ber of the Detroit Library Corn-
Mission, was recently elected a
member of the International
Mark Twain Society.
.
Perfects "Safety Pin" Device
Samitiel Goldberg's Invention
Prevents Loosening of Bolts
Detroit Chapter of AJC
In the Aircraft Engine buildinitoldberg's device can be used
Hears Annual Report By
of the Ford Motor Co. Rouge thousands of times.
Re-elected President
plant, more than 2,000 feet of
Given Promotion
The Detroit Ch ter of the
The Mark Twain Exhibit at the Detroit Public Library American
Jewish origress, at its
features an autographed letter by Mark Twain, written Dec. annual meeting held May 4, re-
17, 1901, to Jules Hart, commenting on a benefiLperformance
in behalf of the Hebrew Infant Asylum. There is a follow-
up' letter, under the same date, with a correction to the first.
Both letters were written from Riverdale on the Hudson.
In the first letter, Mark Twain<
made a scathing indictment of
the high death rate in another
infant home, and the second let-
ter asks that certain changes be
made if the first is used for pub-
lication.
The First Letter
The first letter to Mr.' Hart'
reads:
"Dear Sir: When politics enter
into municipal government, noth-
ing resulting therefrom in the
Friday, May 12, 1944
wire and hundreds ; of cotter pins
are saved daily by use of a wire
"safety pin" device which pre-
vents loosening of engine mount
bolts from vibration when the
2000-horsepower Pratt & Whit-
ney aircraft engines are "on test."
The "safety pin" device, for-
merly used to tag engines and
for other purposes, was worked
out by Samuel Goldberg of 1555
Lawrence Ave., a division fore-
man who has been an employe
of the Ford Motor Co. for 27
years.
As temporary cotter pins, Mr.
Chajes' Composition
To Be Performed in
N.•. Church. Thurs.
LEON KAY
elected Leon Kay president.
Other officers elected were:
Morris Lieberman, Rabbi Leon
Fram, Abe Kasle and Mrs. Mor-
ris - Mendelson, vice-presidents;
Nathan Linden, treasurer; Sam-
uel Lichtenstein, financial secre-
tary; David Sheraga and Miss
Eve Neidelman, recording secre-
taries; Mrs. S. Lichtenstein and
Miss Bertha Heller, correspond-
ing secretaries.
Members of Board
Members, of the board of di-
rectors chosen at this meeting in-
clude the following: Morris Mohr,
Saul R. Levin, Morris Schaver,
Jack Schreier, E. Franzblau, H.
M. Kaminer, Morris Stein, Philip
Slomovitz, Dr. Clarissa Fineman,
Mrs. David' Sheraga, Rabbi J. S.
Sperka, Morris Mendelson and
Rabbi Isaac Stollman. The presi-
dent of the Women's Division of
the American Jewish Congress
will alsci serve on the board.
In his annual report, Mir. Kay
outlined Jewish Congress activ-
ities in Detroit during the past
year and told of the efforts in deg'
lease of the Jewish position made
by the American and World Jew-
ish Congresses.
Outline Achievements
Mrs. Mendelson, who reported
as chairman of the nominating
committee, also gave a report in
behalf of the organizational and
legislative committees, outlined
the achievements during the
year in the 'field of pubdic rela-
tions and told of the distribution
of large quantities of literature
to offset discrimination. •
A report on Yiddish organiza-
tional activities was given by Mr.
Karniner.
Mr. Linden presented the fi-
nancial report and Mrs. Lichten-
stein reported for the telephone
squad.
The American Guild of Organ-
ists announces that (the 142nd
Psalm, a cantata for soli, mixed
voices and organ, by Julius
Chajes, will be performed at the
annual concert in St. Barthole-
mew Church of New York City
next Thursday evening. Dr. M-.
K. Williams, music director of
St. Bartholemew, will conduct.
Hugh Porter will play the organ,
and the combined choirs of five
Episcopalean churches, 4-lumber-
ing 160 voices, will perform Mr.
Chgjes' composition.
The first presentation of this
work, given at the Temple of Re-
ligion during the New York
World's Fair in 1939, was con-
ducted by Hugh Ross of the New
York Schola Contarum. Since
then it has been heard in more
than 50 synagogues, churches,
and concert halls.
Mr. Chajes is director of Music
at Temple Beth El and the Jew-
ish Community Center here.
PERCY FAITH TO CONDUCT
KOSTELANETZ PROGRAM
Delivery Gparanfeed
Sunday's "The Pause that Re-
freshes on the Air" (CBS, 4:30
EWT) changes to summer dress.
Percy Faith, brilliant young
maestro from Canada, takes over
the podiUm from Andre Kos-
telanetz who, until fall, will de-
vote his musical talents exclu-
sively to war activities. Eleanor
Steber, Metropolitan Opera so=
prano, becomes the regular solo-
ist and the general format of the
program will be of lighter nature
for the warmer months.
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"If Its Made of Canvas,
National Makes It'
• Canvas Bags • -Drop Cloths
Shower
Curtains • Tarpaulins
•
• Tents
• Waterproof Covers
• Roofing and Deck Cloth
NATIONAL TENT & AWNING CO.
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Buy War Bonds
New
Furniture
Honor Your
Mother
Modern or
Period Styling
Custom Built .
Mr. Goldberg is the only Jew-
ish division foreman in the entire
Aircraft Engine building. Al-
though his invention could have
brought him 'monetary returns,'
he preferred to contribute 4it to
the war effort without any fee
whatever. He has received the
commendations of high officials
and has been given promotion.
He is 48 years old. He 'is a six..
time blood donor to the Red
Cross and is a member of Jewish
War Veterans Post No. 135 and
American Legion Ford Motor
Post 173.
Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg have
four children, 'a daughter and
three sons.
-
Another Invention
Several years ago, Mr. Gold-
berg contributed gratis an inven ,
tion to the Advanced Aeronautics
School at E. 6-Mile road, and
thousands of his motor revolving
stands have been installed in gov-
ernment schools.
A year ago, Mrs. Goldberg won
the highest honor awarded over
the Blue Network, on the Sardi
Breakfast Hour, for performance
of outstanding humanitarian
deeds, and was presented with an
Arm-Roy Orchid.
A tree planted in Palestine will
be a life-long tribute to Mother!
•
10.
All Spring
Beautiful certificates are issued
Construction •
Smart New Fabrics
to the Mothers honored.
Reupholster and Restyle
Have Trees Planted Now
Your Old Living Room Furniture.
By calling the Jewish National'
Fund Council on Friday, May 12,
Saturday night, May 13, and
Sunday, May 14.
Complete Line of Mattlesses, Brocatelles, Damasks,
Mohairs, Tapestries and Friezes
Free Estimates, Day or Evening In Your Home
10 Day Delivery Service' Guaranteed.
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OH.
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A