1923: Red Cross to canvas residents in Rock County

The following appeared in the Rock County Herald on November 2, 1923:
 
PLANS FOR RED CROSS ROLL CALL PERFECTED
 
House-to-house Canvass to be Made in Luverne Sunday, Nov. 11th, From 2 to 4 p.m.
 
At a meeting called Monday evening by Dr. C. O. Wright, as county chairman for the seventh annual Red Cross roll call, plans were perfected for the carrying on of the drive in Rock county. It was decided to make a house to house canvass in Luverne and the other towns in the county, while the children of the rural schools will conduct the drive in their own districts. This will be a Junior Red Cross service, and each pupil who secures one or more memberships, will be entitled to a Junior Red Cross button.
In Luverne, a canvass of the residence districts will be made from two to four o’clock on the opening day of the roll call, which will be Armistice Day, Sunday, November 11th. Announcement of this solicitation will be made in all churches of the city on Sunday morning, in order that all may make it a point to remain at their homes during that time. A committee to take charge of this work will be appointed in a few days by Dr. Wright, and the city will be divided into small districts in order that the campaign may be more quickly and satisfactorily completed.
A house to house solicitation will likewise be made in the smaller towns, with the Red Cross executive committee of each town acting as chairman for their respective precincts. The drive in Beaver Creek will be in charge of Mrs. Phil Crawford; Mrs. Carl Woodrow, at Hills; Mrs. Carl Olson, at Kenneth; Mrs. A. J. Tangeman, Jr., at Hardwick; Mrs. Alex Walker, Magnolia; Mrs. J. A. Baker, Kanaranzi, Mrs. Chester Linnell, Ashcreek, Rev. H. F. Rieke, Steen.
Red Cross membership in Rock county has dropped extremely low in the last two years, there being only 205 paid memberships at the present time, out of a population of approximately 12,000. There should be at least 500 Red Cross members in this county, and an earnest endeavor will be made to reach this goal before the close of the roll call, on Thanksgiving Day, November 29th.
The argument which is frequently raised, to the effect that the Red Cross is strictly a war-time organization, and that the war over, there is nothing left to do, is refuted by the statement of John Leslie, state director of the roll call for Minneapolis, who says: “While the last gun was fired five years ago, there are in Minnesota hospitals today 807 disabled men fighting their way back to health—a battle that holds none of the thrill of actual combat in which these men must have the continued service of the Red Cross. Under the charter issued by congress to the Red Cross we are bound to continue and carry on a system of national and inter-national relief in time of peace and to apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same.
“In disaster relief in the United States alone for the year ending July 1, the Emergency Relief service of the Red Cross was recorded in 110 disasters, in which the property loss totaled over $20,000,000.00. Flood, fire, and tornado swooped down; the Red Cross with a strong national organization was able to step into the breach.
“If only every citizen of Minnesota could realize that this vast work of mercy was made possible by membership dues, Minnesota would record its 100,000 quota of membership unsolicited.”
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.