Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-02
Y. NJ. A. PLANS
FOR THE FUTURE
Awakened Institution Now Is
Scene of Many New
Activities

The city of Harrisburg was for
tunate in securing man of vision
and efficiency. Robert +. Reeves. to
take charge of the local y. NJ. c. A,
at this particular time. What the
war means to this organization no
one can estimate. u has been the
supreme advertisement for one of
the mightiest forces for good ever
devised and from letters arriving
daily it is now reasonable to forecast
that the Y. NJ. c. A. will gather in,
not thousands, but millions, after
the war. Soldiers who never enter
ed a Y. NJ. c. \. room, who thought
ia sissy proposition or n gloomy
religious project have discovered its
opportunities and value, Mr.. Reeves
believes that a great proportion or
soldiers who return will want to be
linked permanently with the home
branch and, in fact is so sure of
II that plans are to be shortly dis
cussed for building an annex on
Locust street. This would be an up
to-date establishment with dormi-
tories, huge gymnasium and swim
ming pool and convention hall, a
genuine community center, n real
public utility.
OF all innovations in war the es-
tablishment of shacks, y. NJ. c. A.
X. of c. and Jewish Welfare. is the
one which will have permanent and
profound results on building up
nation. War humanizes and the
soldiers have found that the habit
of gathering in fine, clean, whole
some shacks where there is plenty
of fun, but no stupid horse play is
contagious. The Harrisburg Secre-
tary looks forward to the time when
men and boys will not be draped
around the street corners ogling the
parade, but gather in the Y. NJ. G.
4. for some elevating and educative
recreation. Looking forward to this
he is now panning n program of
activity, to increase the membership
and prepare valuable features which
will make the Harrisburg home even
more attractive than ii is now.
These plans will not be outlined at
the present moment but <hey will be
shaped up so that when the war is
over they may be comprehensively
taken up.
Had Not Awakened
Like many other cities Harris
burg has not awakened to the pos
sibilities of the Y. NJ. c. A. for ad-
vancing human Improvement and
stimulating ambition, although the
roniZe the gymnasium, baths and
reading room could testify that the
"old Y. NJ" is the jolliest place in
town. The management of these es-
adjustments is elastic and gener-
Gus. While true to the meaning of
its title no religious cult or denom-
ination is favored. Jew. Roman
Catholic and Protestant are alike
welcome. But there is always the
To- &c
to try to improve in virtue a little
each day, as Socrates put it many
hundreds of years ago.
The future of our Y. NJ. c. \. is a
most interesting thing to mediate
on. Larger cities have gone far
ahead of us, to be sure. The Bos
ton branch maintains u high class
law school; other cities have schools
of finance and commerce; at the
West Side in New York 1000 stu
dents pursue various courses, get
ting almost a university education.
AS Mr.. Reeves told in his recent re-
port a large amount of money has
been spent in equipping the present
building, installing billiard and pool
tables. a Nictrola talking machine,
an electric playing piano, n moving
picture machine, additional maga-
zines and periodicals and new fur
nltOFe. BQt tne investment QulChlN
paid, as witnessed by the great
crowds of soldier boys who flocked
there during the summer. The Y.
NJ. C. A. is no narrow-gauge affair.
In this town it opened its doors to
thousands of enlisted men who had
all privileges without cost.
The history of the last nine months
is guarantee of what Harrisburg
may expect in the near future of the
Y. NJ. c. A. The new secretary has
only been here nine months and in
that short time, with able assist
ance, he increased the membership
from 419 to 1880. II is an encour-
aging feature of the work that the
building is now rapidly becoming
too small. The 33 dormitory rooms
are filled every night and dozen or
50 usually turned away. A new
building is therefore almost essen
tial, but before that arrives forces
will be concentrated on the organ
| ization of a branch for colored men
! which is greatly needed.
The vision of greater Y. NJ. Q.
! A. is a dream at present, but a
! dream which will come true, If for
! no other reason than that il main
! tains itself, with all its myriad calls,
| on a sound financial basis. The
Harrisburg branch, for example,
closed its books for the last year
with all bills paid and a substantial