Bisbee daily review., 1909-06-11
lBy Herbert N. casson.A
DEk OF.

<By Herbert N. CaSSon-l
 generation ago the Young Mem Christian association was cfsnmoni -esarded as society whose chic purposes were preaching and prayer Tooav almost everyone knows it bet ter-knows 1t as a powerful organiza ton that works for the good of so ciety fin hundred different ways. all of them highly practical. So multi form is the association of today. in so many heids are it's vast energies at work. that it is not easy to define or describe it in sentence. An in, telligcnt foreigner might well in qnira. What species of organization is thise ;s it real estate corpora. tion. T gymnasium. university. a church. 8 hotel, or a recrsation ciub?'
 and give good reasons. For instance. in North America alone it owns s3i.. ee0.o00 worth of land and buildings Its yearly income Is more than s4.,. 0o0.0e0. It has more than 800 club houses enough to house the whole population of city like Pittsburg Every week. on an average. it puts up a new building.
  view. and you will find that it has more than 33.000 students in it's schools, about as many as the eigh, biggest universities in America can show. It's diplomas are accepted by a hundred colleges. Plainly it should take rank as university. and a most practical one. for it trains it's stu dents in useful trades and finds them employment when they graduate Last year it gave away to soldiers and sailors 75 tons of books and mag azines
 Give this many-sided institution an other twist and it becomes the great est school of physical culture in the world operating 570 gymnasiums with l34,0o0 pupils. It Is the foremost pro moter of clean sport. When 1t takes hold of a young man it hardens his backbone and tightens up his muscles physically as well as morally. Fol scientific bodybuilding it's instruc tors are generally admitted to be the best. They are the finest body oi specialists in physical training fin the world says no less an authority than Dr. Anderson of Yale.
 Seventy thousand men and boys be long to its Bible classes. and the an nuai attendance at religious meetings is over five millions. If the men win not come to it. it goes to the men. Il holds short dinner hour meetings foI workmen in the quarries of>Nermont in the lumber camps and cotton mills of the south and in the mines and steel plants of Pennsylvania.
 Examine this Pooh Bah of institu tions still further, and you will dis cover that the railroad departments alone furnish over million lodgings like number of baths. and nearly three million meals in the ordinary run of a years work It owns farms islands. house boats. tents and gyp sy wagons Some nine thousand men and boys summered last year in its country camps. In fact. the associa tion is Q young mans world, with al most everything in it that young man needs, from the day that he earns his first dollar until he marries and makes home of his own.
 The American spirit of democracy has full swing in the associations Every branch Is independent and sell governing There is no imperialism There is no cut-and-dried set of rules The only universal order is keep out of the ruts."
 The man who believes that the Young Mems Christian association is merely religions institution where he would have to go through a sixty minute prayer meeting to get a ten minute bath. has not been inside one of its club houses for at least Ster years. Today it is more than up tt date. It is years ahead of the calen dar. In educational matters it ha, become an experiment station. mak ing new roads for the schools ant colleges.
 For instance. here is typica bright idea put into practice in New York. In club of boys is hung thi map of an imaginary town calle, Coliegeviile. Every boy is suppose, to be a resident He has a house ar a place of business. full set O town officials is elected, bonds ar issued to provide for improvements and public franchises are sold 10 tn highest bidder. In one club thi