Summarizing the work of both the Southern Society and the Mayor’s committee it appears that the total collections amounted to $71,601.44, of which $600 went direct to the flood district, $1,612.49 was paid for expenses and $69,390.95 was turned over to the Red Cross.
By invitation of the committee the national director of the Red Cross attended the final meeting and gave an account of the relief operations as carried on in behalf of the quarter of a million persons whose homes were affected in the 15,000 square miles of country inundated.
CINCINNATI CHAPTER WIDE AWAKE
Good news comes from the Cincinnati Chapter of the Red Cross, where Mr. Julius Fleischman is chairman and Miss Annie Laws secretary. A permanent office has been taken at 220 West Seventh street, and Miss Hilda M. Reinecke, a well known nurse, has been placed in charge. Miss Reinecke will also serve as instructor in home nursing, for which classes are now being organized. During the flood in Cincinnati in January the Chapter participated actively in relief operations in co-operation with the committee appointed by the mayor, who, by the way, is an active member of the executive committee of the Chapter. Plans are in contemplation for other important activities, and no great prophetic power is required to predict a useful career for the Chapter.
CHAPTER NEWS WANTED FOR PUBLICATION
It is hoped to devote an increasing amount of space in the Red Cross Magazine to accounts of the work and plans of Chapters. For this reason chairmen and secretaries are invited to send in reports and notes of anything of interest in which the Chapters are engaged or which they are contemplating. In this way the experience of one Chapter will be made available for the help and guidance of others. While establishing policies and strengthening other parts of the national organization the creation and upbuilding of Chapters have been necessarily retarded. It is believed the time has come for a vigorous effort to bring the Chapters into their proper place of importance in the Red Cross scheme of things. Officers of Chapters are invited to study the little handbook recently published with a view to finding suggestions for local activities of an interesting and useful character. It is to be remembered that the handbook is not intended to specify all the activities permissible to a Chapter, but is meant to define in a broad way the legitimate field for Red Cross activities, with a few suggestions of specific lines of work which are consistent with the purposes of the society. The national director will be glad to correspond with Chapters which contemplate embarking in new work. Reports or items of Chapter news intended for the Magazine should be sent to the national director.
RED CROSS LAW AND THOSE WHO VIOLATE IT
That persons who use the name or emblem of the Red Cross illegally, do so, as a rule, in ignorance of the federal law prohibiting such use, and are quick to discontinue the violation when their attention is called to the statute, is a fact frequently demonstrated. A recent instance in point was that of the William Windhorst Company, of Cincinnati. This company had issued some attractive advertising matter which contained the Red Cross emblem. As soon as it was informed that this was in violation of law, the company took prompt measures to recall and destroy the objectionable printed matter and to inform its customers that it holds the American Red Cross in the highest respect and would, under no circumstances, knowingly infringe upon its rights.
Another striking illustration of the same spirit was that in which Mr. Arthur Letts, proprietor of a large department store in Los Angeles, not only discarded all use of the Red Cross in his own advertising, but issued an order to his buyers that no goods bearing the name or emblem of the Red Cross should be purchased or sold in his store.
Members of the American Red Cross everywhere who observe locally the use of the name or emblem on signs or tags or vehicles or for other advertising purposes are urged to call the attention of the users to the federal law which prohibits such use. The secretary of the Red Cross in Washington will always be pleased to learn of such efforts and their results. If a user declines to discontinue the practice, the member of the Red Cross who has called his attention to the law is invited to send the user’s name and address to the secretary in Washington, together with a description of the character of the violation observed. A copy of the law will be sent to any one on request.