New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-14
HELPING THE BOYS.
Good Work Done By the Right Kind
of Clubs.

States that is undergoing remarkable Increase
is that devoted TO helping boys from the ages OF
ten TO twenty-one TO better themselves and
bringing them, through boys clubs. under good
influences BY this is not meant religious work
among the boys Young Mems Christian Asso-
Citations and countless city missionary asso-
Citations have attended 70 that for years. What
is meant is strictly non-sectarian clubs. which
aim simply to offer working boys and street
boys advantages that they could not other
wise secure K is a kind Of social work that Is
engaging the attention Of scores OF successful
business men in different cities of the country
who have come to be in position where they
afford to offer the youngsters OF this gen
Grafton what they missed when they were young
According to figures compiled by officers Oc
the New-Haven Young Mems Christian Associa-
ton, there are one million seven hundred thou
sanI boys between the ages of ten and twenty
in the large cities of the United States. In
New-YOrk there are something like thres nun
dred thousand between those ages. In New
Haven there are about ten thousand OF these
only a small percentage are working boys or ars
unemployed and on the street-possibly. to-
gether. about three thousand in New-Haven- A.
similar ratio would exist in all OF the Iargs-
cities. that in cities whose population = over
COO there would probably be a total OF boys
employed or on the streets Of about five hundred
thousand It is this class that this move
ment is designed TO reach, and that ultimately
the majority OF these boys viii have club advan-
tages OF a non-sectarian character offered To
them seems now to be most probable. Already
clubs of this character are being established In
various cities. Fail River has successful club
of this kind instituted by Matthew A Bordens
there is a similar in Pawtucket; the West
cities have several. and now New-Hayen
has entered the list with the new Edwin Ban
croft FoOte Club. erected at a cost OF $1,000
In New-YorH City the boys clubs are numerous.
the gift of E. II. Hartman at Avenue A and
feminist being among the finest in the country.
St Bartholomew. at No. 211 East Forry-sec-
ond-st., New-York. is also well known club
Of this kind The Peddie Memorial Church, in
Newark also does good work along this line
That the. Boys Club movement is spreading
rapidly is shown by the fact that scores OF
these institutions are springing up every side.
In one city a former poor boy, but now a
wealthy capitalist, has given 100000 for such
a work Most Of the gifts that have been made
are for working boys and street boys and this
seems TO be because the donors, IN most in
stances have been poor boys themselves. thu
association officials say. In Cleveland boys
club has been erected as a separate department.
of the Young Mems Christian Association work,
and this step, through the generosity Of Mr.
Foote. has also been taken in New-Haven- IN
several small cities business men have agreed
to give a yearly income to such institutions In
speaking Ct the need for this new branch of So
cial work an official Of the New-Haven Young
Mems Christian Association said to-day:
THE various Christian Associations through
out the country are now reaching the weather.
class of boys. those who able to pay Ger
tain sum for annual membership But the
working boy who has only a few hours IN the
evening away from his place Of employment, or
the street boys. newsbOys, etc. have hitherto
possibly because they are in the minority. re-
ceived little attention Here and there clubs
have been started for them in connection with
Young Mems Christian Association work but
as a general thing nOn-sectarian institutions.
where the boys can come and receive assistance
to better themselves. are scarce 1t il to some
extent from this class Of street boys, who spend
their evenings on the corners and around the
cheap theatres that large percentage OF the
city criminal classes is recruited II they can
be taken in hand in time and interested in self
improvement a long step will be taken toward
diminishing the number Of youthful offenders
before the police courts
Meeting these boys a strictly religious
basis. as in a mission, or even in the ordinary
course Of Young Mems Christian Association
work. is very difficult. They fight shy OF relig-
ious influences, many Of them because they be-
long TO sects or religions at variance with that
of the Young Mems Christian Association, and
these non-sectarian clubs that experience has
proved that the most boys reached. as they
come willingly into clubs where they are not to
be in danger of proseIytizing. Throughout the
country this has been found to be universally
true The experiment OF trying to interest this
class of boys in this way is now TO be
made and it is safe TO say that social work
ers throughout the country watching with
interest the developments along this line IN
Nevv-Haven. \ good many persons have said
that il would not be a success, that the boys
would not Join, that it was necessary to work
religious teaching in with the other interests II
the work was to be of any lasting value. All
these things we have already dispr0ved n the
short time we have had this work in hand IN
New-Eaven."
The need Of such a departure in social regen-
cratic work has been abundantIy proved. the
managers of the New-Haven club say. from
statistics gathered in many OF the large cities
A great many Of these boys, especially those who
have no occupation and IOiter on the Streets
have no homes, and rapidly and easily drift into
criminal lives In Fall River. Mass, where the
Street Boys Club has over two thousand men,
bers il has been found shat one out OF every
seven boys had no father. one out OF every
eleven no mother and one out of every twenty
had neither father nor mother Many were or
probably Ilegitimate parentage. Another fact
that is urged an argument for che mst1tu-
ton OF these new working boys clubs is that
in many cases the parents OF a boy work during
the day or night and pay little attention to
their children Further. statistics have shown
that many Of the homes OF these boys consist
of one or two rooms where the BOYS are not
wanted in the evening. Unless they are pro-
,-ided nv the Bows club with some attractive