Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-08-30
THE '. M. |. A. AND
 ITS WIDE SCOPE

Men s Christian association is merely a religious institution where he has to go through sixty minute prayer meet ing to get ten-minute bath, has a very erroneous opinion of what an up- to-date Y. NJ. c. A. is. In fact, mod ern Y. M. c. A. aims to offer to men everything that is interesting and help ful. It ministers to every phase of life. In some respects it is like n department store, which keeps every thing. but you don t have to buy every thing in the store every time you enter. You buy what you want, and that alone. So with the Y. M. c. A. It keeps about everything that men want in the way of education, sociability, etc, but each man takes merely what he wants. Nothing is forced upon you.
 Civics
 For instance, here is a typical bright idea, put into practice in New York. In club of boys hung the map of an imaginary town, cahed Collegeville Every boy is supposed to be a resi- dent. He has house and place of business A full set of town officials is elected, bonds are issued to provide for improvements, and public franchises are sold to the highest bidder In one club this game of citizenship has been running for two years, with all manner of exciting complications.
 Down to the Minute
 Boston. New York and dozen other cities have schools for chauffeurs, in which, no, doubt, the students are taught the rare and difficult art of going slow. Troy has class of ten nationalities learning American history. New York has hundred -thousand- dollar building for Frenchmen only DeKalb has a school for Americanizing Films. Den yer has set on foot "health farm. " In a handsome park of sixty acres it has town of tents, so that the weak lunged men who have climbed to Den yer in search of pure mountain air may sleep out of doors and recover their strength.
 No Pads or Foolishness
 You will find no fads or frills. There is no class of Byzantine architecture or -Hegelian philosophy. The associa- tion deals with flesh and blood young men who are battling in world of rough realities. It is as practical as load of bricks "'What I like about your york; said President Roosevelt, "is that you combine religion with com mon sense"
 Almost Ubiquitous
 No matter where young man goes, the association is on his trail. He will find it among the paper makers of Maine, the coal miners of Pennsylvania, the quarrymen of Vermont, the cotton mill workers of the Carolinas and the gold miners of Alaska. The latest idea is the movable association, which fol lows the lumber camps. The average secretary is a sleuth. He tracks his pgey to its hiding place. Every week little meetings are held in a fagman s shanty, an engineers caboose, coal mine, battleship or the "bull pen" of street ear barn.
 Cosmopolitan, Too
 Sometimes the association follows the flag; sometimes it goes abroad. Not long ago, in a blaze of missionary en- thusiasm, it took forty of its young men and sent them as advance agents into ten foreign countries. It is in Cuba, with President Palma as a charter mem Der; and in Hawaii and the Philippines. About three hundred Americans and natives enter the Manila building every day; and agents travel through the camps, scattering books and magazines among the homesiek boys. Payday tomorrow; come over with talking machine" is message often sent by army ehaplains to the Manila associa- tion. And so many young man is amused and reasoned with, until his selfrespect is stiffened and the danger line is crossed.
 When the Russo Japanese war began the Young Mems Christian association asked permission to accompany the Jap anese army. "No," said the minister of war, five need no missionaries. v After some days he changed his mind and allowed six secretaries and six na- tive helpers to go to the firing line. From the first these men with the four mystic letters on their caps became pop ular with the army. Concerts were giv. en every night with talking machines and music boxes. Hundreds of letters were written for illiterate soldiers. The great Kodoma visited the association tents and expressed his approval, and soon various generals were wiring: "Send some of your men," check for five thousand dollars was received from the Mikado, and today the asso- citation is an established Japanese insti- tuition, tested under fire and proved to be true blue.
 A "Young Man Trust" | The association stands for sanity, temperance and good will in all things. "Spirit, mind and body' is it's motto. While fnanciers are consolidating banks and amalgamating corporations, it plods ahead with its gigantic scheme of build. ing up a worldwide "young man trust. i" It has powerful friends, and it's reputation for usefulness is yearly increasing.
 Has Good Judgment
 eff I had my life to live over again." said John Wanamaker, "I'd give twice as much to the Young Men < Christian association. It is an invest. ment that never disappoints.