The Oskaloosa herald., 1904-01-14

State Secretary Peck, Of Minnesota,
Tells Of Work.

The anniversary address before the
local Y. M @. Al was delivered by e.
w. Peck; OF Minneapolis, state secrs-
tary of the Minnesota organization,
and was largely attended at Central
M. Il. church Sunday evening. The
address was filled with interesting
and omplimentary points, and was
an inspiration to greater achievement
to all who heard it,
A part Of the audience room Of the
church had been reserved for mem
bers and supporters OF the X. M. G..
A. and one gallery was kept for the
use of the Epworth League.
Alter an organ recital by Miss Lii
liam Hughes, a hymn was announced
by C. M. Porter and sung by the audi
ence, led by the Y. M. @. a. Glee Club
under the direction or Prof Henry
Cox This was followed by prayer
by DIR. Rodgers and Scripture reading
by DR.. Detwiler. Prof Cox then
drew some beautiful harmonies from
his violin. After proyer by Ralph
Burnside, G. M. Porter made a short
talk concerning the recently publish
ed reports and the past work of the
organization, saying that the board
were pleased with the work done.
He then introduced the speaker Of
the evening.
Since Mr.. Peck's first visit to Os-
kaloosa which was made about the
time the Y. M. G. A. was organized in
this city in 1887, he said that all our
best church buildings had been erect
ed. He spoke very highly of the new
home for our Y M. G. A. and said
that according to the size of the
town there was no better Y. M. G. "A.
building in the United States. He
proved by many illustrations that the
Y. M. G. A. was the strong arm of the
church, John Wanamaker saying in
an anniversary address that the Y.
M. C. A. was worth more CONNER
cially to Philadelphia than her street
railways. He told of the origin of
the organization and it's rapid and
splendid growth. '"There are more
than $50 per cent more men in the Y.
M. G. A. classes than there were three
years ago." He advocated IA all
round development of the young man
and explained the inner workings Of
the night schools, saying that from
them in 1901 there were 10000 gradu-
ates. There has never been a time
in the history of this world when a
young man had the opportunity for
improvement that he has today" He
spoke strongly against the use of Gig
arettes and said that those in the en-
ploy' of the postoffice in Chicago, the
Rock Island railroad and some of the
| largest wholesale houses in Mime
| apolis have been forbidden to use
cigarettes. He told of the develop
ment of the Railroad Y. M. c. A., I'M
| til now there are 200 associations, and
last year there were over 100000
| given forthis department alone. He
| bespoke for the railroad man more
ksympathy from the general public,
and told of the great good the Y M.
G. A. had done for the railroad en-
ployes and the railroad service
throughout America.
Some time was devoted to explain
ing the college department of the Y.
M. G. A. and the Student Volunteer
Movement. He told of many splen-
did Y. M. G. A. buildings in foreign
lands. He touched on the good of
the negro and Indian departments
and told of the sacrifices OF many
workers. In closing he said that the
Y. M. C. A. was one in interest and
aim with the church and urged that
each citizen take a special personal
interest, especially the middle aged
and old people. His last words were
some beautiful lines OF Whittier's,
expressive of the harvest sown by us
and reaped by other hands.
A song by the Y. M. c. A. Glee Club
was followed by the benediction pro
nounced by Rev. J. w. Somerville.