New Britain herald., 1917-01-16
BOYS DEP ARTMENT
 IS NOW TOO SMALL
'. M. C. A. Secretary Sees Need
 of Enlarged Quarters Soon

General Secretary c. H. Barnes of i, the Y. NJ. c. A. has completed three years as head of this big institution and at the monthly meeting of the directors last evening he reported that during his regime the member ship of the organization has increased at the rate of 100 per cent, while inn portant activities within the organ ization have increased greatly. MT. Barnes has been in this city about eight years, his first five having been spent as secretary of the Boys de- partment, which is at present cramped and must soon be enlarged. The complete report follows:
 The past four weeks have marked the attainment of membership of over 1.30o. q mark long sought for but never before reached by the as sociation. During the past three years the membership has increased from
 1,01O to 1850, a net gain of about thirty-three and one-third per cent. Today the association equipment is taxed to it's capacity, especially in the hoys and physical departments. Not only is the mem bership large, but the building is being used by it's members to very great extent. Large groups attend the different activities of each
 department, as the following figures indicate. Physical department at tendance 4,6e9. boys department H. 943, educational department 864, re- ligious work 65e, social work s75. In addition to the total attendance of 1 5000 in the organized activities there was large attendance in the read ing and game rooms. Physical Department.
 Seventy gymnasium classes at tracted an attendance of 1:524. Be |. sides the attendance in gymnasium classes 293 members took individual exercise, boxing interested 102 and 115 men used the wrestling room. IA boys have been organized into a leaders corps,/ and meet each week for instruction. The mems gym team has met weekly for the past two months. and on New Years furnished the afternoon program. This team is now being converted into a leaders corps, to aid the physical directors in conducting / the gymnasium work. Handball has furnished recreation for many men-the attendance reaching 356. Bowling was also popular dur ing the month, attra cting an attend ance of 393. Basketball the most popular indoor sport of the winter season, is now being played by a four-team league Saturday evenings and not only furnishes good sport for the participants, but also entertain ment for friends of the players. who come in large numbers to watch the games u.....
 .as--s Religious Work.
 Although for many years the as- sociation has not conducted a large Sunday meeting for men, the time seemed opportune to try Sunday service of a more elaborate nature than we have been holding in the so- cial rooms The first of a series of such meetings was held yesterday in the gymnasium, when David l.. Fultz head of the Baseball Players Fra +ernity, gave splendid evangelistie address to about 200 young men. The attendance at the Bible classes is just about double that of last year At the fellowship suppers, preceding the class sessions. the pastors of the l city are giving a series of talks. Rev 1 Warren F. Cook is giving an eXcep- 1 tionally strong. series of addresses ] during this month, and these will be followed by another series by Rev l Henry w. Maier. The Right Living club. conducted by the physical de- l partment, is attended by from forty
 to fifty men each week, and has been
 addressed by educational director H
 r. Stuart of the Hartford Y. M. C. A., Rev. Samuel A. FislSe and Prin-
 cipal Louis ?. Shade.
 Social Work.
 The annual open house attracted 9 large number of visitors who inspect. cd the building and enjoyed pro- 1 gram in the gymnasium, given by the l mems gym team. in the afternoon, and
 an entertainm given by the Nene-
 tian Trio in the evening.
 | The monthly dinner of the Busi- ness Mems Gymnasium class was ad- l dressed by Secretary A. H. Andrews l of the Chamber of Commerce. The 1 College club held it's annual dinner l December 18th, and had as it's guest
 and principal speaker, President 1 Shanl1lin of Wesleyan college. Twen- ty different colleges and universities
 were represented by young men who 1 are, Or have been, members of the as- | sociation.
 1 A dinner for basketball players was i given. when MT. George T. Hepborn
 editor of the Basketball Rule book i gave an interpretation of the rules tC | the eighty players present.
 Educational Department.
 The Harrington Emerson course in l personal efficiency has made tre- 1 nendous appeal to the business men
 and manufacturing men of the city 1 Two hundred and four men are en- l rolled in the two classes which meet
 in the building, and in addition to these classes two others are being
 conducted by factories for their own men. The men who are conducting i these classes inform us that ours is i the largest Y. NJ. c. A. class of this
 kind in the country. The very best