The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-07-13
John Sparrow Finds Banker Pruet a Live Chairman,
 Proud of Assistant
ETOWAH HAS REACHED THE S7OO,OOO MARK
Negroes Have Bought S15,000 Worth. Women Have Been Enlisted and S96O,00O Quota Will
 Be Raised

"While in Gadsden today said John Sparrow, state publicity director of the national War Savings campaign. ''l called on B. W. Pruet, War Savings chairman for Etowah county, to get some first hand information as to the results of the drive In that county.
 Before giving out the figures I wish to say that MT. Pruet, who is vice presi- dent of the First National bank of Gads- den, and vice president of the Alabama
 State Bankers association, is first class ". S. s. salesman. Within the 70 minutes I vas with him I saw him sch about s7G0 worth of stamps. People came
 in and called for them, and he had the
 goods right in his desk. I told him, by
 way Of a Joke, that he ought to have yard stick and measure off the stamps, as he seemed to be selling them by the
 yard.
 He laughed and said: Well, believe in keeping plenty of stamps in stock ana avoid disappointing customers when they call for them. Our postmaster also car
 res plentiful supply of Stamps, ana our people can get all they want And'
 you can see for yourself, they want
 them. We have what you might call a
 bull market on Stamps up here
 ETOWAH REACHES $700,O00 About the results of the drive? We'll.
 Etowah coLnty's quota is s960,00o, and We have already got approximately SOO,0o0 of it. and there is no doubt we will get the remainder. Our people are sold" on w. S. not only here in the city, but in
 the country. Gadsden has reached ner quota, and so have Attalla and Alabama
 City, and five of ten school districts. "'By the way, want to say right here that 1 am associated with the best as- sistant county chairman in the state.
 He is A. M Taylor. our well known broker, and is not only hard worker, but wonderfully enthusiastic man on all war work.
 COLORED PEOPLE BUSY l "tOur colored people, both in the city and in the county, are doing their part in buying, stamps. Our sales from that source approximate $15,000.
 "'Yes we have enlisted the women and 1 they are selling in the booths which we have provided for them. I expect great results from the cooperation of 1 the women
 SAVINGS ACCOUNTS T reminded Mr Pruet of a statement
 which he had made at a conference of county War Savings chairmen in Bir- mingham in the early stage of the cam ] paign. to the effect that he did not ap- 1 prehend that the sale of War Savings Stamps would decrease savings de- posits in banks, but if such should be
 the case he was perfectly willing for I his savings customers to buy stamps with their deposits. How did it work | out?' I asked him.
 l "'Wait a minute and l will tell you, 1 he replied. Returning from look at his lledgers, he said: Our savings deposits
 today are s142,000 more than they were the same day last year. That's the an swer as to the effect of War Savings Stamps sales on the deposits of this
 bank, and I assume that's the answer, relatively, for all banks
 1 "Gadsden appears to be very pros l porous" said MT. Sparrow.
 i The merchants'are said to be doing | a good business and the newspa pers are carrying all the advertising they can handle. I was told a company had been l formed to drill for natural gas. Some of the representative men of the city | have put money into the enterprise 1 We'll if Gadsden should strike natural | gas in quantity, at this time of threat | ened coal shortage. there will be prac- tically no limit to her industrial ex-
 pansion.'