The Mankato free press., 1916-04-14

s young as six to ten years are fire.
,uently there at rather late houIs' iHSLe
IS little wonder that pubic place lihe
rhis is frequented by great many !ouhs
people who have no business there' "he.
one considers that these children anu
Young people have no Where 10 90 aiio
will of course seek amuserieh' nftemant @i.u
.panionship somewhere. The eNcltetneii.
~ crowds and trains naturally atlracl
Hihem but provision should be promptly
made for doing away win TINS e'h'
LARGE Number of Students.
Nanl,aTo has a large number OF stu
cents annually. anywhere from l,ooo 10
800 and very little provision Is Iilaue ,,io
Tor this large number OF young PeopflV. f
'The only institution continually open Tor
hoys and young men Is the \ M; =. y.
building the reading room of Which -
open TO all visitors, the sa,lie ~ ali
gymnasium. swimming pool, etc, TO an
members. the membership fee belnS kept
at about half the actual cost OF iiiain7
renance While ii reaches ana serves d
ilrge number of boys ana young men,
they are. of course, smah PetSeli'3;sc as
IF the boys and young men OF the cllE
and so far as girls are concerned, there
is no place for them at ani ,eTn9
,irl either student, clerk or WolklnS
.;irl finds herself in this city WIN httle
chance for acquaintanceshlp, recreatIpn
or companionship unless she ATTENDS lie
movies and public dances. 1t Is niue
wonder that many of them form acr
,IJaintauces that are not desirable. oi
IRE doing what they can for these YOUNG
,eople but many of them do not come
IN touch with the churches in any way.
We should have y. W. g a az
we'll as a Y NJ c. y. and each OF them
should be large ana well enough equip
ned so they can serve these young peo-
ule. The Y. NJ. G. y. has not equip
-nent sufficient to adequately care ior
the bows and young men OF the city.
Another building devoted to the use OF
boys entirely would be most helpful ana
enable the association 10 largely eNteh4
the scope of its activities; Young poEs
md Young men have little in common
and whether ii is possible 10 OBTAIN a. l.
w c. y. building at present or not no
one can doubt the needs oi suoh an ilis'i-
There are probably not less than 600 to
500 girl students coming to Mankato each
ear. In addition there are the clerks:
stenographers, working girls, many OF
whom would avail themselves OF the
privileges and opportunities OF a suitable
building. That great good would grow
cut of il is obvious. Young people must
have entertainment, recreation, amuSe-
nent If they can secure it under GOOD
influences and surroundings so much the
better. but they Will seek ana secure 1t II
some way. We often read in the papers
Of the problems confronting young peo-
nIe in the large cities. but in less
degree the same problem is found IN
Mankato. We occasionally hear OF con-
ditions under which young girls and
Young men live in Mankato which are
very pitiful 1t seems to me that some
Thing can be done along these lines by
The churches if some plan could be de-
yised by which church parlors could be
opened week nights for the use, amuse-
ment and entertainment OF young people
generally
ParIors of Church Opened.
Possibly you will remember that the
First Baptist church of St Paul some
time since undertook work OF TINS kind.
The parors were opened every evening.
rhe young people were invited TO make
use of them and they came together FOR
recreation, amusement and fellowship /
believe It was called a 'Spooning parlor
by some. 1t gave the young people a
chance to become acquainted with each
other; to meet friends and have Il gem
eral good time under proper conditions.
full and that much was accomplished. .
If each church in the city that has facll-
tiles of this kind would undertake some
thing like this / believe it would NIL
Il long felt want and L believe ii IS
worthy of serious consideration. In quite
a good many cities they have undertaken
TO open school buildings as neiShbor-
hood or social centers where all the peo-
ole of the neighborhood, young and old
can meet for lectures, musicals. socials.
discussions of topics of general interest
and where ii has been tried in many
..aSe it has been a pronounced success.
1t gives the people an opportunity of
getting together and talking over muni-
cipal affairs any other topics of gen.
eral interest and it is very strongly ad-
Vocated by many writer's.
In one city where this was undertaken
a man speaks of it as follows: This
IS going to make the neighborhood feel
like home-in spite of telephones, news
papers, trolley cars and all the modern
improvements. When l was young man
in Ohio, folks used to meet like this in
the old drab wea therboard school house.
We called it the literary, in some places
they called it the lyceum, and in sople it
was just school house meetings. In old
f
able the light from the kerosene lamps,
with their tin refiectors wasn't any too
good. but there was a human spirit in
those gatherings a man-to-man frank
ness and democracy that made America
mean something. There was a spirit of
neighborhood there. not only the socia-
bes, the speldowns. and singing school,
but in the meetings where folks just lis
tened TO speakers and talked. Getting
together about things we had in common,
whether it was what kind of a bridge
we should have across the creek. or the
tariff we felt first hand responsibility
for being citizens | came away to the
city. l got into the scramble. I've been
at it hard as anybody, and, I've sue
ceeded fairly well but all the time there
has been something missing | know a
Tot of fine people but | don't know any
neighbors. l obey the laws and vote at
election time but somehow | don't get
that feeling of being a citizen. The fact
is, L have lived here twenty years and
it has never seemed like home, but to-
party nor a sect, nor a particular
social set. but just as folks as citizens
as neishbors. in this building which en-
bodies the greatest of common interests
that old feeling comes back and as we
go on with this 1 tell you. even the
city is going to feel like home.'
Lacking Community Idea.
One asset lacking in Mankato as in
every other city. is the community idea
We meet i'm sets. in churches, etc. but
we have little opportunity to meet each
other generally and to become thoroughly
acquainted. The social center idea seems
to overcome this lack. Many people are
urging that the school house; should be
ready for use every evening that teach
ers, directors, should be employed who
can take charge of such meetings and
help to make them practical, useful and
helpful in many ways. Directors of rec
reations are employed for this purpose
In Mankato we have building suit
able except the new high school and il
might be difficult to prepare the school
buildings for this purpose. but it is GER
tatniy worthy of thought. At present
there is no building in the city open fol
meeting of this kind. The little city
of Wheaton has set an example to the
entire state that is significant and OF
much importance Although small
place, only about 2.000 it, in connection
with several surrounding districts. has
erected a building at Il cost of about
$4,000 which is the first of its kind in
Minnesota, or even in the United States
1t was dedicated on February % and at
tracted great deal of attention. The