Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-30
THE Y. M. G. A. ABROAD



OF the Y. NJ c. A. here. and now repre-
sentative of the Y. NJ. c. A. In Europe told
many interesting things about the work In
some OF the largest of the European cities.
speaking particularly Of the haroshps en-
dured In Russia ana of the success which
the work there has attained. at the after
noon meeting yesterday OF the Y. NJ. c. A.
In the lobby Of their building al 1870 q
street northwest
One of the principal features of the work
In Paris. and in fact. in all the European
cities. different from that here, Is the SUM-
day liberty. On that day the members Of
the association get outdoors and play
games. such as tennis, football, chess etc,
oftentimes. great crowds gathering 10 take
part In the contests And this ~ encour-
aged by the association workers. even by
those from America. the speaker SAID. Sec
rotary Gaylord, In charge OF the work In
ST. Petersburg. who was brought Up in New
England strictness, told Mr.. Ridtout that
he encouraged these Sunday games. The
reason for IL is that many low theaters.
cafes and similar places are open on Sun
day and will attract the young men II they
do not have some better place to go. So
the Y. NJ c. A. Is meeting the situation. as
stated.
Use Of Wine and Beer.
II a member of the local association
should walk into the Paris association any
day, said Mr.. Rideout he would probably
be shocked greatly. For. with the meals
that are served in the building. the mem
bers get beer and wines and they can have
their coffee In the smoking room, which Is
a feature of the building. But this not
unusual, when IL is considered that the
young men are brought up to have wine
and beer In their homes as we have milk
In this country. Therefore, a matter OF
fact, he said. there is less drunkenness In
Paris than in similar American cities.
In his contact with student life in Paris.
he said, he gained the impression that IL
was far from pleasant. The students live
around in cafes where women are fire.
quently seen smoking and drinking, and
their surroundings wherever they go are
similarly depressing.
New impressions of churches and their
work were also gained by Mr.. Rideout in
his travels through Europe From the ,
time he got acquainted with his seatmates
on the boat. he said to the time he re-
turned he heard criticisms OF the churches.
Some thought that preachers had only
their salaries in view; others said the
young people were not given enough TO do
to get into the actual spirit of the church.
In the latter connection he found that In
the most successful church In Paris the
young men were asked after each service
to do something for the cause. like going
in body to a nearby hospital to distribute
flowers to the sick. In the Rome Y. M. G. 4
A. too, he said, the most successful of the
crowded classes in the educational DEPART
ment was the conversational Bible class
where the largest room in the building was
weekly filled with young men, each OF
whom took part In the discussions which
were brought up in each session. This was
a hint for the American churches, he
thought
From Paris to st. Petersburg.
From Paris Mr.. Rldeout went to attend
the worlds committee meeting at Geneva. /
and from there he proceeded TO Italy.
After a visit to Germany he went on to
st. Petersburg Crossing from Germany
to Russia, he said was like crossing into !
another world. AT st. Petersburg, he said. /
there were rocco soldiers and a policeman
in every house. The policeman took no
tice, he said, of everything that went on IN I
the house during each day and reported 4
1t to headquarters every twenty-four hours. /
When Mr.. Rideout went to stay with Sec j
rotary Gaylord there he said, his passport 1
was taken by the policeman and he was i
under observation all the time he was
there.
The impressive thing about the Russians
with whom he came in contact at the ASSOC
citation, he said, was their eagerness to
learn something new. The various classes
OF the association contained !. 800 students.
and only the limited quarters kept the
number from being twice many. The
association is cramped for room, but, Mr..
Rideout stated, arrangements are being
made to much enlarge the quarters
soon conditions In the city quiet down.
The Russians desire, too. that Americans
should come there to take charge Of the
work. They want Americans In the Y.
NJ. c. A. and other lines OF work.
The Y. NJ. c. A.. he said. on ex-
cellent terms with the government, and in
only a few isolated instances had there
been any trouble. But Mr.. Gaylord, the sec
rotary there, is very careful ITO suppress
any political agitations which might be
started by members of the association. In
one case while Mr.. Rideout was there, about
one hundred members had to be put out
because they started political discussion
The action taken by the association
authorities, and their promptness in sup
pressing the members made the police even
more favorable to the association. The sit
uation. at present. is dangerous Mr.. Ride
out says but the diplomacy of Secretary
Gaylord has kept the association in good
favor.
Evidences of the nervous strain under
which they have been working there, how
ever were shown in Mr.. Gaylord's house,
where great bars for the doors were kept
ready for use.