The Press., 1890-12-25
". c. T. U. DEPARTMENT. mryr povu, rrTp

the heathen in our cities. in Boys Club. It is now nearly thirteen years since was invited to become the superintendent of the Boys Club in New Haven, Conn.
 I had charge of the club three years, during which time we had as many as twenty-five hundred different boys as mem- bers, varying from seven to twenty years of age. The second year the club became so popular among the boys, that we moved to large and commodious quarters in the old state house., which had been aban- doned to the city, owing to the capitol having been removed to Hartford. The boys were admitted to the room by means of tickets, which contained their names, ages and residences. Other facts, such asj their birth places, their occupatioh-that is, whether they were school-boys or shop boys-their parents occupations, nation alities, etc., were recorded in book. The | club opened promptly at seven o'clock, and closed at half-pnst nine. Admitted to the room, they found it warm, well lighted and attractive, with the walls covered with suitable and suggestive notices About the room were long tables with benches. | The floor was covered with sawdust, as a means of deadening the sound and reliev- ing the boy of the annoyance of making their shoes clean when they entered the room. The sawdast was raked over each night by the janitor, and changed once every month. A section of the room in front was separated by little railing, be-
 hind which we kept the games. A little
 passage-way st one end of the railing ad- mitted the boys to the three hundred or more books, which were carefully chosen
 with reference to their particular needs,
 many of them being illustrated books.
 member of the volunteer committee stood
 at the door, and looked at the tickets as
 the boys entered If a thirteen year-old boy presented ticket, the age recorded on which
 was seven or eight years, be knew that deception was being practiced, and the ticket was confscated without ceremony. | The result was that small boy would make his appearance before the superin- tendent within day or two with pitiful I lamentation about having lost his ticket,
 or something of that sort. Another gen. ] tleman, who was either Q member of the volunteer committee Or the janitor of the
 room, had position in the space railed off for the games. If boy wished game or book he was allowed to take 1t, giving m exchange his ticket, and being allowed 1 to come behind the desk and make his own
 selection of books. They could change games or books as often as they wished,
 
 perfect-that is, if a checker-b board was returned with some of the checkers miss l ing, or dlssected map with some of the pieces lost, the ticket was not surrendere d until the lost pieces of the game were found, and as the boy could not leave the
 room without showing his ticket to the
 man at the door, he was close prisoner. We had one game, a dissected map of if ! ty -oDe pieces, which was handled by hun- dreds during the seven months of the win | ter, and not single piece was lost. The one in charge of the games being very uear the books, so that by turn of his head he could see what each boy was do- | ing. prevented much temptation to pur- loin the books. I find by my notes that | the largest number of books we lost dur l ing any one season was four. The busi-
 ness of the superintendent was to go about among the boys, who were allowed to talk in low tone of voice, and walk about the room and do any other proper thing. Each boy must have book or game, or leave the room. Idle hands soon got into mis- l chief I also spent two hours each day
 among them on the streets, learning their
 surroundings, finding out whether they
 attended Sunday school, etc, At one time
 | should say knew as many as two thous-
 and five hundred boys between the ages of
 seven and eighteen years in the city of New Haven If I saw a little fellow smok-
 ing cigarette, I did not usually have, to speak to him before the cigarette disap- l peared. Very likely I knew all about him,
 had been at his home, and he knew that
 might mention it to his parents the next | time called. If he did not see me,
 took occasion to either speak to him there
 or at some other time in the club-room
 If a group of boys were quarreling or fig ht- ing on the street and they saw me coming,
 that ended it. In these and other obvious ways was able to exercise an immense
 influence for good over my little friends The games in the club were chosen, so far
 as possible, with view to combine amuse
 ment and instruction.
 l A small gymnasium has since been add
 ed to the club, consisting of parallel bars
 and spring board, a horizontal bar and
 flying rings. The usual means of dsci l plining the boys was to send them out of
 the room, allowing them, however, to re-
 turn the next evening. If they were sent
 out three times, the ticket was kept from
 them, and they were not allowed to enter
 the room for 8 week or two. When a
 ticket was kept from boy in this way
 three times, he was expelled. We had piano in the room, and on cer-
 tain evenings ladies or gentlemen would
 come and play number of selections, sit
 ting down at the instrument and playing,
 without interfering with the boys usual
 evening amusement. Occasionally, also, I
 think about once month, we used to have
 an entertainment and lecture, when the
 boys were not allowed games, but were
 obliged to give close attention to what was
 being said and done for thirty or forty
 minutes One lecture consisted of a num-
 Der of chemical experiments, showing the composition of water, etc. The night
 when I closed my connection with the club, nearly two hundred and fifty boys sat for nearly an hour, much of the time 1 in the dark, listening for a part of the time to lecture which Professor Garter,
 now president of Williams College, deliv- cred. l remember with pleasure that there
 was scarcely sound or whisper during
 the entire evening, in striking contrast to
 my first nights experience with them Dinners were also occasionally provided on some holiday, for which tickets were dis tributed among the poorer boys of the club Now, dear fellow workers, I wish to say
 as emphatically and impressiyely as possi-
 ble, that this Boys Club, if managed by | the right man or woman, and in the right
 way, is great and grand institution. The
 work to be done through if is not strictly