The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-19

an&E&4Efpe members. &El1a tfSeldent. F. c. Shepard called the HaesAn1gt'te order at 8 o'clock, and in- tFedltee Rev. J. W. Rhinehart. who cond4cte6 the devotional exercises. Secretary Dix's Report.
 This day marks the close of the sec- ond year of the Young Mems Christian Association's occupancy of this building. Under the proposition of our generous friend, MT. Peabody, it also marks the beginning of the last year during which the Association may call this place it's home.
 At this time. when we are eagerly looking forward to consummatton of all our hopes for the future welfare cf our Association, it is proper that We turn for few moments and face our record for the past year. What has been ac- complished? To what. extent have we re- aiized the purpose .af AzE organization2 :
 These questions be satisfact0r- fly answered in The influence of one life uponA Hoes not in many cases becoAl of record. save in that books eR shall not be There are, however. facts and figures which indicate to some extent the growth and development of the work which is be- ing done and which furnish a basis for an approximate conception of the results accomplished.
 During the year 1905, 7ss different men and boys have been members of the As- sociation, almost all of whom have avail ed themselves of some of the member ship privileges. Adding to this number T5o. which is a very low estimate of the number of visiting young men, who have in various ways come under the infiu- ence of the Association work, and in many ..cases received definite help. we bavs@s tetM of over 1,5oo young men and boysS% h0 Have been reached in some meaauEAA hx.s our efforts during the year.
 1seord of Membership.
 ''on Jai1uary l. 1904, we had a mem- bership of 541, 26i new members having joined during the year. The membership may be classified as follows: s,aa,
 Renewals, PIT; new members. 26tf x9s tai, 541.
 Active. 345: associate, 1ss; total,
 Full privilege, AIS; limited privilegH ts ministerial, IS; boys, n; transfer. 5;sst9 dent. ,. eaE
 ''Sixty-eight per cent. of the expenses of the Association has been paid by the members themselves in dues, locker rents, tuition and towel receipts. The remain der of g per cent. has been provided for by subscriptions and from miscellaneous sources. In other words, the expense to the Association of each membership has been $3.S in excess of the receipts per member, while in 1902 the average expense above receipts was s3.20, a difference of only .OS.
 The annual report of the Finance Committee on January l. shows the to- tai expense for the year to have been $5,- 492.64 The total amount paid in and pledged was $6.159.E. leaving a margin of $666.79 representing membership fees duesan unpaid.
 An intimate knowledge of these unpaid membership accounts leads us to remark that. as a rule, they are not against the young men who work on the smaller, saI- aries. These usually meet their oblixa- tons promptly. The financial embarrass- ment the Association sometimes expe- riences. can usually be laid at the door of those members who divert an ample salary from the discharge of their obli- gations..
 e'"The raising of the membership fee Oh February 1, 1903, from $s to s10. but al lowing all old members to renew at $S cash has had a wholesome effect. It has demonstrated the possibility of full cash payment, which should be, in our 1udg- meEt. the terms of election to member ship of qualified applicants.
 "Our aim to make the Association building 8 social center for our member ship is being realized to a greater extent than heretofore. Probably not less than an average of IFS visits are made to the building daily. Nine banquets and re- captions have been held with an attend ance of 4SS.
 AZ Ladies Auxiliary.
 'An invaluable ally in providing for the social functions of the Association is the Ladies' Auxiliary. Tho watchword of It's members Is loyalty, and personal sacfl- flee marks their willing and efficient ser vice. What we owe to their thought and influence and prayer we can not know, but we can assure them of our heartfelt gratitude. ssi
 '"Thc forty-one Sunday religious uSkeiS ings for men have had an attendanEe & 1,64O averaging 70, The Week of PfKl service conducted by the city pastorS better attended than ever before, %a awakened active interest among those members who were present. Inc Bible Class had a membership of 10 and an average attendance of ', and is pursuing a very interesting and helpful course of character studies.
 "Fifty-two different students were eu- rolled in the night school Eleven branches were taught. as follows: Elec- tricity, telegraphy. mechanical drawing. free hand drawing, penmanship. arith- metic, spelling, vocal music, bookkeep- ing, stenography and typewriting. The character of the work accomplished has been in most cases in advance of the work of previous years, while the cost has been less.
 ''The reading room and library have had a liberal share of patronage. The current matter in the reading room Is being constantly improved. and the num- ber of periodicals increased. It is the ef- fort of the management to supply rot harmless literature, but that which has d real value and supplies the needs of all classes of young men.
 The Physical Work.
 That department of Association effort which reaches the largest per cent of the ehtlr6 mem bership is the physical work. %Saf coiiducted, and the total attendance Mas 1I .91, divided as follows: Business meRjs sclass 1.S10. young men, 3.257; boys, 5,Sa2; and outside of class SSS. The aver age age of the men using the physical privileges was 20 years; that of the boys was F years. Fifty-five percent of the entire membership used the gymnasium. The total number of baths taken during the year. estimated from the towel records. was A,274. This Is an increase of 75lo over the year 1909.
 '"The organization of the Red Dragon Society among the gymnasium men for the promotion of the interests of the physical department Is a matter of sig nificant interest. There should be in every deparament of our work social