New Britain herald., 1917-05-31

HuTCn0TInVI0s IL W6S OOu0 Oy AN COIus mittee of 22 members, each one of whom did excellent work and had . real share in the final success
 This is the opening round of contest for 1,200 new members, which Is aimed to put our member ship above the 1000 mark by the end of 1917. ct now stands at 1,350). The second round will come with the opening of the new gymnasium in May, and the third Is to take place in the autumn. This, the first fm- portant membership work undertaken ! by our members themselves, is, we hope, the beginning of a definite CO., operation by the rank and file of our | association. Though the idea has
 been periodically urged upon the
 staff by the foreign secretary for three or four years, the decision to undertake the canvass, it's organiza- l tion and its successful development to completion is entirely due to the energy of our membership secretary,
 MT. Takabatake.
 Auditorium ExtensiQn-The quar- ter has seen the completion of the auditorium extension and the Boys department rooms. The extended
 portion of the building is occupied
 on the ground hoor by spacious vestibule and facilities for checking
 1000 wooden clogs. always . problem in handling Japanese crowd which exchanges wooden shoes at the door for straw sandals. The second floor, measuring 30 by 60 feet, Is the boys department, which is served by its own stairway and has immediate ac- cess to the adjoining physical depart fnent. The third floor carries the ex- tended gallery of the old hall and with seats on wide steps. like a sta dium, will accommodate 500 people. The entire auditorium has been re- decorated and furnished with new seats. the roof has been raised ten feet and the lighting greatly im- proved. It will now seat 1.b00. which
 makes this nall second to none in the city in the point of capacity.
 "New Secretaries-The arrival of MT. and Mrs. w. F. R. Stier on March s was an event to which the Tol<io association has long been eagerly looking. MT. Stier will be associated with me in the 'city work. His all around experience in departmental
 work and his splendid preparation especiallv fit him to develop the or- sanitation of our departments here. MT. Stier's presence will enable me to devote an increasing share of my time to the extension of our work into new city fields and to general plan ming and consolidating of it's activi- ties.
 ssScott Ryan has also come since the beginning of the year to assist MT. Brown in the national physical work. MT. Brown was formerly phy-
 sical director at the New Britain Y. M. c. A. Tokio City association Is especially interested in his arrival.
 since for the present MT Ryan is al-
 loted to Tokio and will have special
 responsibility for development of our new physical department We expect to open the new gymnasium during May. though organization work can hardly be started before September. Industrial Conditions Survey Much of my time has been devoted to continuing the survey of industrial conditions which I began last year and in bringing attention of the social and religious workers of the city the practically untouShed indus trial field of greater Tokio.
 During the quarter, have pre- pared a report On industrial condi- tions which, with set of wall maps and charts, was used in the Social Welfare committees report given at the annual conference of Federated Missions. Two papers on the Chris ton Occupation of Tokio' appeared in the January and February numbers of the Japan Evangelist have also written a chapter on Industrial Con- ditions in Japan.' for the 1917 edition of The Christian Movement
 ''As evidence of the timeliness of
 this subject. I would report that
 within two months of the publication
 of the Christian Occupation of Tokio'
 representatives, of hve different mis- sionary societies in Tokio asked for assistance in planning for institutional
 or settlement work in the neglected industrial districts. Two centers have already been opened and three mis-
 sions are preparing appeals to their
 home boards to enable them to enter
 this field in force. Also Guy c. Con-
 verse, our colleague, has opened a
 home across the river in the midst of the slums, where he expects, while
 pursuing hiss language study. to gain
 first hand knowledge of slum con- ditions in Japan. By this move on Mr. Converse's part the published statement that 960,000 of Tokio's poor are without a missionary living in their midst is no longer true, and
 before another year is over several may follow his example,"