Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-12-31

non-members OF the association. Over
$50 acquired the art of swimming.
The association furnished play
ground directors for the city during
the summer months. Two paid direc-
tors were supplied and the association
furnished the supervision of the nhysi-
cal director free Of charge. A foun-
dation for bigger playground actiyi-
ties has been laid and 1t will not be
long until the Fairgrounds of the city
will have reached high state OF de-
velopment.
Leaders from the physical work OF
the association are being sent to the
churches in the city to conduct physi-
cal training for men, women and chill
dren. One church has over 100 ladies
enrolled in classes and as many men
and boys. They are using four lead
ers. In the last Is months four men
out Of the Rock Island senior leaders
corps have been placed in positions as
physical directors of the Young Mems
Christian association and one as as
s1SIanL pnysicGt director.
The Sunday School Athletic league
basketball games were played in the
Y. NJ. c. A. gym during the winter and
spring Through this league clean
sports are being fostered. The base
ball series Of the same league was
conducted during the summer months
with splendid results The Sunday
School Athletic league is the out
growth Of association work In more
than hundred cities IN the United
States. In the next few years the
churches will become a most potent
factor in shaping athletics.
Through these different forms of ex-
tension work outside of the building,
the physical department of the asso-
citation has reached nearly 1000 men
and boys who are not members Of the
Y. M CA.
The second annual get-together ban
quet brought out 1875 men who were in
| terested in the starting of fall gym
activities. The second annual Hal
loween gym frolic was enjoyed by
over 450 people The Penta City Gym
fest was the means OF bringing the
senior classes of Clinton, Davenport,
Muscatine, Moline and Rock Island to-
gether for an evening Of gymnastic
and social activities, and 300 witnessed
| the exhibition.
Boys' Department
, The work of the boys department
during 1915 has been carried on in
many varied lines OF activity such as
/ games, clubs, bible classes, hikes and
outdoor athletics. The gymnasium
and swimming proved TO be the most
popular features with the boys.
The different bible classes for the
groups have held weekly meetings and
all have followed some standard
course Of bible study.
/ The newsboys' bible class, composed
Of carriers in the city, has an enroll
ment of 26 boys, with Harry Shiffer
as leader The Horseshoe club. com
posed Of working boys between the
/ ages Of u and IS, has an enrolment
of Is, with L. H. Martin as leader. Tie
/ high school bible class, under J. Der
/ Kinderen, meets every Wednesday
noon for bible study, with an enroll
ment Of 103 high school boys
/ Besides the bible classes there are
/ many educational clubs, such as the
I Stamp club, under DR.. Reed; Glee club,
under E. Herlocker; aeroplane and ko-
dak clubs, under Donald Vance. A
/ hikers' club. with large enrolment,
/ pulled off large number of hikes last
summer to different places The sum
mer camp at Andalusia interested 20
/ fellows for TWO weeks.
/ SociaIs for the different groups are
also held, so that the social side Of the
boy is not neglected Such affairs as
open house, parents day, high school
and grade school receptions, bible
class socials, Halloween stunts, New
Years reception and various other af-
fairs have drawn many boys to the
building
Activities OF the Year.
A few statistics of some of the &C
tivities Of the department will convey
some idea of the work done for the
year 1915:
Number Of times the gymnasium
privileges used by the boys. 1910
Number of times games were used
in boys rooms, 25,492, as against 49,
2O6 last year
Using the rooms but not playing, 20
107. These were boys who made use
of the club rooms for study and who
used the magazines and papers.
| Attendance at religious meetings, l.
| 612.
The total use Of activities for the
year were 119,15S.
A total of 1884 boys between the
| ages of 10 and is made use of the older
boys rooms in the basement
Boys between the ages Of 1G and Is
throng the building each day. An aver
age Of 1872 boys use the building each
day. Last month the total activities
were 9,7S5.
The department has now $50 mem
bers, making 1t the biggest in the
state. With the older boys rooms add
ed 1t is now one Of the best equipped
in the country The above figures will
give some idea of how busy place the
department is.
A father and son banquet was held
during the year, with an attendance
%