Congressional Record Describes Nathan Straus’ Crusade for Pure Milk

(Jewish Daily Bulletin Mail Service)

Today’s issue of the Congressional Record contains a description of the life-long work for pure milk by Nathan Straus, the noted philanthropist. The article was introduced into the Congressional Record by the request of Samuel Dickstein, Congressman from New York, on the occasion of the passage of the Lenroot-Taber milk bill to stop the flow of un inspected milk from Canada to New York and other eastern cities.

“I want to pay a tribute to the man who fought single-handed the battle for pure milk, the man who first conceived the idea that milk might by pasteurization be freed from disease-pro- ducing bacteria, the man who established the first infant milk depot in America–Nathan Straus,” Congressman Dick-stein declared.

“The poor in New York City had never been able to obtain pure milk for their babies until Nathan Straus put into effect his constructive philanthropy of insuring a supply of pure milk. It is estimated by an official of the New York department of health that Pasteurization of milk, introduced by Mr. Straus, saved the lives of more than 400,000 children under 5 years of age in Manhattan and the Bronx between the years 1892 and 1925.”

Giving a detailed outline of Mr.Straus’s work, Mr. Dickstein continued:

“Virtually the same standards as those that have been established as a result of Mr. Straus’s efforts will be required of all milk imported from foreign countries as a result of the passage of the Lenroot-Taber bill.

“In a letter to Mr. Straus commending him upon the important work he has done in the protection of lives by his pasteurized milk crusade covering 34 years the famous Mayo brothers said:

“‘The value of pasteurized milk can not be overestimated. Tuberculosis of the bones, joints, glands in the neck, and tuberculosis of intestines and mesenteric glands of the intestines are in the majority of cases attributed to the bovine type of tuberculosis, the germs of which are thrown off in the milk of dairy cows thus affected and are destroyed by Pasteurization. Infected milk has played its part in causing epidemics throughout the world not only in infants but in older children and adults.’

“From England and from other foreign countries have come tributes to Mr. Straus’s foresight as a result of his efforts abroad. The health officer of Huddersfield, England, in March, 1926. testified to the fact that infantile paralysis is caused by impure milk, as did Dr. E. C. Schrceder, head of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Bethesda (Md.) Experiment Station of the United States Department of Agriculture.”