HEROISM OF NOTED AMERICAN AND HIS WIFE PRAISED IN LETTER TO OSCAR STRAUS

Praise for the heroism of Isidor Straus and Mrs. Straus was expressed yesterday by Mayor Gaynor in a letter to Oscar Straus of No. 5 West Seventy-sixth Street.

The Mayor wrote:

"Dear Mr. Straus : - This is the first moment I have had to express my great sorrow over the death of your brother Isidor and his wife in the Titanic disaster.

During the long years of my acquaintance with him not only my respect but my affection for him grew year by year. He was one of the most broadminded and perfect all round men, in the highest sense of that term, that I ever knew. Poor Mr. Abraham went a year ago, and now your brother has gone.

"The manner of our coming and of our going is all of God's will, and we must never complain. iI is allotted to us all to die. Your brother met his death by neglecting his own safety in his eagerness to work for and save the lives of others. And his noble wife refused to leave him on board the sinking ship. And thus two noble souls went down to death together.

"Please give my sympathy to your brother Nathan and to all the members of the family."