The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-04-17
J. |. Johnson, 3l-Year-Old Bank Prssi-
dent Is Again Chosen TO Boom
Red Cross Work
BOSSED CHRISTMAS
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Says No Yellow in People Of Southwest;
Confident of Success in Com
ing Drive


st. Louis, April III. l.. Johns
ton, 81 ears old, president of the
Liberty Bank of st. Louis, the sec
ond Oldest bank in Missouri, who
was a bank cashier and director
when he was 19. and therefore not
able to sign a legal instrument, is
at the head of the second War Fund
Campaign of the American Red
Cross in the southwestern division of
that organization.
Johnston, who is the youngest
metropolitan bank president in the
United States, led The Southwestern
Division OF the Red Cross to victory
over the other thirteen divisions in
the Christmas Membership Campaign
last year
Get us 1,162,000 new members in
the states Of Missouri, Arkansas, Ok
lahoma, Kansas and Texas" Wash
,ington headqu" tiers wired Johnston
when the quota for the Southwestern
Division had been figured out.
Certainly" Johnston wired back.
the minute he got the Washington
wire, mot, only that, but I'll get
you 100000 new members.
Washington headquarters hoped
Johnston would make good. Whe-
ther he did or not is matter of
Red Cross history. When the COM
plete returns of the campaign were
in it was found that Johnston had
put the Southwestern Division "over
the top" with a membership of 81
250000 and beaten everyother divi-
ison both as the total of members
obtained and with respect to per cap
ita population. Now Johnstons
name is one with which to conjure
in the American Red Cross head
quarters and the Southwestern Di
vision is considered the banner or
ganization of the country.
Johnston is dynamic. lie has
punch. He has initiative He gets
at the inside of things directly He
considers and settles questions OF
import right off the bat to use a
popular expression which fits his
methods. On the very day the Unit
ed States enter the war against Ger
man terrorism and inhumanity
Johnston decided to change the name
of his bank 1t was called the Ger
man Savings Institution and was
krown as such all over the United
States. 1t is characteristic of Johns
ton that the new name he sele
was the Liberty Bank of ST. Louis.
Liberty Bank. That liberty
sounds better to me than anything
else in the world" Johnston said.
Liberty, liberty in its best and truest
sense, is what all of us arc fighting
for today-all who know what 1t
means. 1t is for our own. liberty
and for our very existence that the
people of the Southwest soon are to
make gifts to the great American
Red Cross. And we are going to
give even more freely than we did
in the first war fund campaign. It
is Imperative. We must do it. And
we shall do it, 4...t
when ! was asked TO take the
mana cement Of the Christmas Cam
paign accepted for two reasons.
One was that it was an honor to
lead in this work The other was
that knew what the people of tbs
southwest would do. know sGe
people of the southwest and | know
their feelings. They are the most
human people ever met. Their
blood is red-there is no yellow in
the southwest And that is why we
shall "go over the top" in the Sec
ond War Fund Campaign, which be-
gins May 90 lust as We did in the
Christmas Membership Campaign,