Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-02-25
500MENUN|TED
IN SONG CLOSES
Y CONVENTION ON
Great Crowd at Farewell
Service Sunday Night
Sang "Blest Be The lie
That Binds"
CONFERENCES AND
TALKS ON PROGRAM

TALKS ON PROGRAM
Sunday Given Over to City.
wide Evangelical Cam
paign; College Men in
Banquet.
Five hundred men joined hands IN
circle In the auditorium OF the flrst
Methodist Episcopal church Sunday
night and sang "Blest Be the Tie That
Binds" This great chorus united IN
the old familiar hymn furnished the
closing number OF the state convention
program of the Iowa Young Mems
Christian association, which had been
In session since Friday morning. II
was the farewell service and came as
Q fitting close to day during which
every delegate gave his attention to
the religious side of the association.
The pulpits Of the evangelical churches
of the city were filed by convention
speakers in the morning. Rev. w. J.
Lockhart of Des Moines addressed an
immense audience of men In the after
noon at the Grand opera house, and In
the early evening two largely attend.
ed meeting were held in the First
Methodist Episcopal and. Willard Street
Methodist Episcopal churches. Inc
youngsters of the city were not over
looked in the activities Of the day, for
at 3 o'clock in the auditorium Of the
Y.tM. sCs A., E. F. Denison OF Omaha
made q stirring speech for;'better livs
ing. a'7vs,sas .vs Il. - Il s... s =
Appreciation OF the hospitality shown
the delegates was voiced by several
Of the speakers at the farewell service.
DR.. w. j. Loekhart OF Des ,Moines,
Harold ]. Wilson, well known at
torney Of Burlington, and l.. H. Nc
Grew, secretary of the Buxton Y. M.
c. A., gave brief talks, and the final
word was said, by George M. Alice OF
Buena Vista county, who presided at
the sessions Of the convention. the
singing CT the Moody institute and the
pes Moines college quartets. which
has been one of the distinct features
of the convention, was never more en-
toyed than last night. The Moody sing
ers gave "Sti'l Still With Thee Just
prior to the closing song of the meet
ing.
The speakers earlier in the evening
at the First church were S. +. Lester
Of Mason City and Guy Y. Aldrich,
state college secretary. j. B. Mcneil
OF Muscatine. formerly Of the local as
sociation, and C. G, Hatfield OF Chi
cago. were the speakers at the South
Side church.
Saturdays sessions of the conven-
ton found all the delegates taking a
lively interest in the subjects pre-
sented. The need Of more men for
association work was EMPHASIZED in.
several of the talks, and the dele
gates were also given keener idea
Of the Importance of boys work and
country work.
Speakers Give Views.
The conference of city. railroad,
county and town delegates in the
auditorium of the First M. E. church
Saturday afternoon was presided over
by State Secretary w. M. Parscys. T.
n. Foster was one OF the first speak
ers. The we'll known Ottumwa Y. NJ.
c. A. booster interested the delegates
from the outset when came to
America" began Mr.. Foster Il Wis
tied the Young Mems Christian asso-
citation in Brooklyn. I found 1t was on
the order of club, and entirely with
out the democratic element necessary
to the life Of an institution that 1t was
supposed to represent This was at the
time of my early life in this country.
having Just shortly before arrived
from the old country.
Later, ca me to Iowa, and here I
absolutely refused to be connected
with the Young Mems Christian, asso-.
citation in any manner. having been so
thoroughly discouraged with their
methods in New York. It was not until
I had been in church work, conducting
classes and various branches of the
work for some time that was per.
suaded to enter into the Y. M. c. A.
work. I remember we began with an
upstairs room down on Main street,
IN which we had meetings and talks
and meetings that were purely
spiritual There were no games nor
any kind Of athletics. A few years later
the present Y. M. G. A. building was
erected and the Y. M. c. A. work in
this city has grown larger each sue
ceeding year"
Mr.. Foster concluded by saying that
his connection with the Y. NJ G. A.
work had been continuous source Of
pleasure.
Sawyer, Of Davenport.
e, M. Sawyer. general secretary of
the Davenport Y. M. G. A., referred to
the features Of the plan by which the
davenport Y. M. G. A. Is Sc. success
fully operated. He spoke In particular
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