Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-10-11

the next year VIII put 1T near the 0Ou
mark. The report submitted by Gen
al Secretary Smedley in part was as
follows:
THE work OF this association is re-
stricted by various local circum-
stances, such as lack of equipment,
scarcity of workers among the men,
bership, and lack of money with which
to do, so thai the scope of its activi-
ties is much smaller than that of most
associations in cities of the size of
Rock Island. During the past year,
on account of these circumstances. in
stead of a complete, well-balanced
work, the best we have been able to
! do has been to push few lines, and
| to let the others wait for a more IA
vorable time. In the departments of
educational work and social work, our
record has amounted to little. In pny-
steal, religious and boys work, we
have managed to accomplish some
| things that were we'll worth while.
Socially, the association has done lit
| tie more than to keep the building
open, as a center for the men and boys,
where they might congregate, and
single look at the interior of the
building to realize how absolutely I'M
suited the place is for anything in the
line Of formal social functions, or even
for its use as a gathering place. And
yet, ii has served a useful purpose in
affording at least one place down
town where boys and men can loaf or
read, or otherwise find recreation, in
clean surroundings
'In the line of social service. oppOr
tunities are numerous. Men have
learned to look to the association,
even where the building does not con-
tain dormitories, for help in locating
rooms, and during the past year we
have helped more than so men to find
good rooming places. We have also
helped to place about % in positions
where they might earn living. The
secretaries have many times had &C.
casion to help stranded wanderers to
the extent of meals or lodging, and as
this association has no fund for such
purposes. and makes no provision for
rendering such aid, the money in these
cases has had to come from the indi-
vidual purses of the secretaries.
Social Factor In City Life.
THE association should be the great
socializing factor of the city's life. but
under present conditions its sphere of
usefulness is limited. In the line OF
educational work, the reading room has
been maintained on a fairly satisfac-
tory basis, although the use made OF
it is far less general than it should
be- Educational clubs and practical
talks for the boys were good as far as
they went. but stopped a long way
short of the goal. II was found fmpos-
sible to do anything in the line OF def
mite educational work, either in night
school classes or in clubs for men. An
attempt is being made this season to
do these two very important things,
but as yet the progress has been slow.
The physical work has been eminently
satisfactory IN most respects. Large
enrollments with high average attend
ance and great interest on the part of
the members, have made the work no
table for its usefulness and its wide
reaching influence. Many men and
boys have been helped in the past year
to better health and more rational liv
ing The percentage of the total
number of members using the gymna-
SUM is quite large, an excellent fea-
ture and the number of members us
ing the physical privileges is constant
" increasing. The improvements in
the bath rooms. made last fall. have
resulted in a larger and better use
of that privilege during the year. Bet
ter provision would of course result
in greater usefulness for this import
ant privilege.
Lack of Christian Workers.
"The religious work of the associa-
ton has been far short of its posi-
bilities. Here has been felt especial
ly the lack of Christian workers to
enter into lines of service in this
most important part of the work. At
ter a decided effort last fall to main
tain a Sunday afternoon meeting for
men, the matter was abandoned for
the reason that it seemed to be do
ing absolutely no good. There was no
corps of workers who considered 1t
their part to help evangelize the men
of the city through this agency, and the
attendance at the meetings was made
up almost entirely of church men who
came from a sense of duty to help
swell the size Of the audience. AS the
meeting was serving no visible pur.
pose, it was dropped, and as yet, moth
ing has been devised to take its place.
In bible study we have done better,
with three classes of young men who
have done some excellent work. One
of the most useful lines of religious
effort has been in shop meetings,
whereby, in the factories of the city.
the gospel has been preached to hun
dreds of men during the noon hour,
with very good results. The discour-
aging fact remains, however, that we