New Britain herald., 1919-06-13
BOYS CLUB MEETING HELD IN WINDY CITY
M. R. Cook, Local Superintendent
 Prepares Report of Activities

1 in this city, recently attended the 1 National Convention of Boys clubs in l Chicago and on his return prepared l the following report on it's activitiess i Report of the thirteenth annual | boys work conference, held in Chi cago. Ill., May 21, % and 23. Conference opened at 9:35 a. m., Wednesday morning. Devotional ] services by Dr. Rudolph l. Coffee, 1 Rabbi Temple of Israel, Chicago 1 10 a. m.Greeting to the club fed 1 eration mcm bcrs by William F. Hall,
 president Boys Club Federation. 1 Washington. D. C., and John J. Me- 1 Cormack. president Older Boys asso- l citation, Troy, N. Y.
 10:20 a. m.-Relationship of the 1 Boys club to the community, which 1 was illustrated by different various l maps, by sydney A. Teller, Irene ! Kaufmann settlement Pittsburgh Pa. l Discussion was opened by David w. l Armstrong, Boys cub, Worcester, l Mass.
 11:15 a. m.-'Thc Older Boy l What the Boys club should do for the l him and what he should do for the 1 club. Older Boys then gave five min ute addresses: Nathan Goodman, Germantown Boys club, Philadelphia. Pa; stephen O'Bricn. United Work CTS Boys club, New Haven. Conn.,; Lex Nicholson. Flora Guliok Boys club, Terre Haute, Ind: John Carter, Boys club Nashville, Tenn; Lee Cooper. Boys club. Little Rock, Ark; William Wertz, Boys' club, Indian apolis, Ind.
 A general discussion followed. 12 Noon-Appointmen of various mmittpoS. D. m.-~Introduction of club dele gates and reports were given show ing the various details of the clubs. 2:30 D. m .-"Newsboy Problem and Self-Govornment" by Perry o. Powell, Nowsboys republic, Milwaukee, Wis,
 who explained also the Order of. the Knights of the Canvas Bag of the street trade law. Discussion was opened by w. A. zischang. Street and Newsboys' club, Dallas, Tex: 3 D. m.-Boy employment problem and follow up. Mrs. Anna '. Read,
 assistant chief junior section U $. en- ployment service Wash, D. C. Dis cussion followed by delegates. $40 p. m.-Boys' Clubs in Indus- trial Plants, by w. B. King, Larl<in Boys club, Buffalo, \, Y. Discussion opened by Harold x. Barber Junior club, Lackawanna Steel Co. 4:3O p. m.--"Physical Work Up to Date" with demonstra tions at the Central Y. M. (. A., g Iasalle street by John c. Golfer. physical depart ment college Y. M. C. A.. Chicago. and William P. Campbell, Boys club Manchester. N. H.
 7:3O p. nl.--Presidepts annual ad- dress by President William E. Hall.
 s D. m.--Address by S. John Dun can Clark, editor Chicago Post, which follows in part:
 The boy and the girl constitute the nations greatest assets, but the boy is the bigger problem. It is from the ranks of the boy population that by far the largest percentage of juve- nile courts recruits are drawn. The boy is an asset only in so far as he is fitted for useful citizenship If society fails in this he becomes worse than a lost asset-he becomes a costly liability.
 Some authority has calculated that the boys between the ages of 1 ? and 1 8 represents q value as a, con s-lmer S4 900 to the community. That is a value that increases with age up to a certain point if the boys possi- bilities are developed rightly. Ten per cent of the average city's popula-
 
 l these ages. Chicago, therefore, has l at least a potential asset of a billion l dollars in her ado1escent hoyhood. From a purely business standpoint l it is worth conserving.
 "Yet the faaCt is that about two 1 thirds of the boyhood in the average l Am erican city is In danger of becom- 1 ing liability because of neglect. Boys workers meeting in Chicago l now arc always ready to devote their l time and efforts to this neglected two l thirds whom they call the 'underprivi- l leged' They arc the boys who leave l school at an carly age because neces- 1 sity requires them to become wage 1 earners; who live in congested dis l tricts and unsanitarY homes. where l the moral discipline is often lax; who
 play in street and alley and frequent
 such hangouts at night as afford con- ! cealmcnt from the police and oppor- | tunity for the mischief of undireCted l youth
 l There are agencies engaged in a 1 splendid work for boys that fail to | reach this class, either because of fees 1 that bar the poor boy or restrictions 1 that diSQualify the so-called-but mis- 1 named--'bad boy There are agen- 1 cios that reach the boys above the age
 of ?, whereas from 10 to 30 per cent. l of juvenile delinquency cases comes ! from boys below this age. 1 ''The Boys club has been devised as
 a means of filling the gap. It goes 1 after the undcrprivilegod boy: the
 boy of the street and alley; the boy as ! one woman calls it, that nobody !, wants It is a day and night organ- 1 zation: it keeps open summer and l winter; it has minimum of rules; no l age limit and it's fees range from , l to Q cents per month.
 l Tt gets the boy. In one district in
 a certain city the juvenile court rec
 l ords showed 4 boys listed as delin- l nuontS in a Nea r,s lime RnA,s, cluh