The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-11-29

The work of the industrial depart ment of the Bridgeport Y. M. C. A., which is under the direction of George M. Kirk. is the subject of the leading lies Weekly, edited by E &Dr.s. Charles Aubrey Eaton, who spoke at the Ca sino last night. The foreman's meet ings to which Doctor Eaton alludes, posed of representatives from the Au- tomatic Machine Company, the Acme Shear Company, he American Chain Company, the two plants of the Brass Compny, the Bilton Machine Tool Company, and the International Silver Company. Doctor Eaton's editorial reads:
 ''The other dayI was invited by the Industrial Young Mems Christian As sooiation of Bridgeport, Conn, to ad- dress a meeting of factory foremen. in that city.
 "I was curious to see just how the Y. M. c. A. handled itself amid the pitfalls and difficulties to discover why it had chosen these foremen, of various industrial plants. as a field for its endeavor.
 There were 400 to 500 men pres ent in the leading hotel in the city. It would be hard to find an equal number of men from any class to sur | pass that particular group in physical | appearance or in ability to under stand and sympathize with the prob | lems of modern industry.
 In the good old days. when labor was a commodity and the employer | a Car, the foreman was hired to | do the dirty work for the big boss. cled, two-f1sted scrapper, modelled a little after the plan of the official 1 tchucker-o in city saloons. | AS I looked over the remarka ble company in Bridgeport, I could not
 but realize hociw far American indus try has travelled toward the light in | this one particular. These men. evil dently, had been chosen because of | moral and intellectual fitness. Most
 of them were young, some of. them very young. But without a, single eX- ception, they gave evidence of both
 character and intelligence.
 After the meeting I asked the head
 of the industrial department of the
 Bridgeport Y. M. c. A. to tell me the
 meaning and purpose of his work | how he thought the Y. M. c. A. coulC
 find a. field in industry and just why
 he chose to concentrate his effort:
 upon the foremen of the city.
 Briefly, the plan of the campaign
 as outlined to me. is as follows: Int
 Industrial Y. M. c. A. bases its ac
 tivities upon platform containin:
 three main blanks. First. Christian
 character is the solution for all in , dlvidua1 and social problems. Sec ond. Service is the quality that give
 to all it's meaning and worth. Third An acknowledgment of the fact O
 universal brotherhood is the onl, | basis upon which men can perma 7 nently combine into societies and liv
 together. Working out from this broad an, } simple platform, the associa ton ha s adopted this program:
 ? q. Shop meetings are held at con } venient times. The object of thes ! mee tinSs is to get across to. the me l at the shops, and the mana gen,en as well, those ideas which are deeEle
 and cooperation in industry. "2. Recreation, as 8 normal mean r of se1f-expression. is a strong part c = the program of the Y. M. c. A. in in dustry.
 - "3. Athletics for all.
 e A. Education, by means of lee $ lures, addresses on technical subject e the distribution of literature and tn e personal encoura cement of likely in !, dividua1S to study.
 '5. A very sausfa ctory scheme ( = Americanization work forms anothe r essential figure in the program. g "6. Work for boys. This. in som = respects, is the most important of al e This platform and program ar g carried into effect by a very sinnpl
 plan developed along democratic line
 the management. the srnen, Sand espt
 cia1ly the ferenpe ens brIngs all brancht e of the. ind Tistfs lftto fraaqsnt consu V tation ''. Il <, s+.s. .s !.-x,...7 sSf s Sub-coramittees handie various a, It tivities. The idea is. to get everybod n to thinking in terms of the whole i. e dustry, rather than in terms of a pa Il of it.
 "As a result, the management b.