Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-05-20
RETURNS FROM CONVENTION.
Secretary Goodman Home from Large
Y. M. c. A. Meeting at Cleveland

Secretary r. G. Goodman of the. Au-
gusta Y. M. c. A. returned on train
No. II at LII A. NJ. Friday from
weeks trip to Cleveland. Ohio, where
he had attended the seth triennial In
ternational Y. NJ. c. A. convention and
to a Journal reporter Friday noon he
gave a very interesting account of the
convention, which was the largest
ever held by the Y. M. c. A. There
were 21s0 delegates present from all
parts of the world. every country be-
ing represented and besides the dele
gates there were present members OF
some of the delegates families and
visitors. The total attendance at the
convention was about 250O
| The party from Maine in attendance
numbered 20, including practically all
| Of the general secretaries and Few
members Of the boards of directors OF
the Y. NC. A. The largest single dele
cation from this State was from Fort
| Mckinley which consisted Of four en-
| listed men, two directors and the Sec
retary. State Secretary Jefferson Smith
and F. L. Thornberry. secretary. both
! OF Waterville, were members Of the
Maine delegation. The New England
delegation filed four cars from Bos-
ton on to the convention.
At the convention especial emphasis
was put on the foreign work. in par
ticular the work among the soldiers
and sailors in the prison camps.
trenches and hospitals. Thirty eight
men were called for Immediately to go
to the warning countries. There is
budget of 100000 for war work each
year for the next three years and
100000 for foreign work each year
for the next three years
/ Among the speakers at the meet
ings were John d. Rockefeller, Jr. OF
New York. Assistant Secretary of the
| Navy F. D. Roosevelt, Rev. Robert E..
Spear of New York and Mr. Rowell OF
Canada. who spoke upon the Canadian
work. The meetings were presided
over by the president, T. Wayland
Aver of Camden, n. j., and there were
five vice presidents in attendance. Ny.
Goodman was particularly interested
to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr, repre-
senting capital. and G.. w. Stone, pres
ident of a union connected with the
railroads, representative Of labor.
speaking from one platform. shaking
hands and agreeing upon the work
that is being done by the Y. NJ. c. A.
for employed men.
Invitations were received for the
next convention from Atlanta, Ga,
birmingham, Ala. Nashville, Tenn,
and New Haven, Conn. The place will
be decided upon by the International
committee. The Employed Officers
convention will be held in May, 1917,
at Springfield. Mass.
At the forenoon sessions a large
amount of legislation was done. a
number of committees were appointed
and reports of other committees were
read and accepted. one of the pleasing
features Of the convention was the
singing Of choir of 80 men and boys
from the st. Nicholas Russian Greek
cathedral of New York City. This choir
was in Cleveland only an hour and a
half and the total cost including
transportation for The members of
this choir was $1,000. The archbishop
gave his consent for the choir to make
the trip.
The meetings were very interesting
and the reports from the different Ge-
partments We're Yer! optimistic. Mr..
Goodman stopped off on his return
trip at Troy and Albany. n. Y. and
he stated Friday that the entire trip
had been very pleasant one.