Y.M.C.A.

Evening Star, Issue 12882, 3 August 1906, Page 6

Y.M.C.A.

THE BOYS' HOME,

This afternoon, at..the V.M.C.A. ißobms, the opening of the Boys' Home in Moray place was formally celebrated. There was a large attendance of ladies—the Ladle!! 5 1 Committee have been very largely instrumental in furhiehirig the president (Mr 6. M. Thomson) was in the chair, arid the. visitors included His Honor Mr Justice Codp6fj Messrs Jarfies Alleti, J. F. Arnold, A. R. Barclay, T. K. . Sidey-, M.H.R.S, arid the Revs." W. CurzOri-Siggers, J. Kiljiatrick, W. A.. Sinclair, C. H. Laws, and others. An apology was schfc By His Worship the Mayor. Mi" Gk M. Thomson said that the, work in cotihectiou with the. Boys' Home which the Association had entered upon was one of enormous importance to the City. At present they were only touching the "fringe of the subject, but it was hoped that in due time the, work would increase, and that a large effort would be made iri the interests of young men. He would touch on the hMory of the movement briefly. A few months ago the secretary (Mr M'Farlane) had begun operations by taking over two cottages tin his own itiitia tive, and with the .object of .taking a fewlads whom he could personally look after, help, arid influence. It was soon found necessary to take a third cottage, but the difficulty of lookinir after a number of isolated cottages was great, and about six weeks or two months ago .the management of the horile* had beeii taken over by the Board of the Association. They had subsequently found a more suitable building across the street, arid their Ladies' Auxiliary had collected £IOO towards the expenses of furnishing. The- horiie was now full, and it was under the management of Mr Hannah, an old member of the Assodatjon, well known m athletics, and ih svmpathy with the bbys. The speaker then" proceeded toread the rules which had been drawn up for" the management of the homes. Inter alia, it was expected that each inmate should be a member of a church and a total abstainer and was also required to conform to a qnasi-inilitaTy discipline in, matters of conduct and etiquette. It was therefore important that they had a good man in charge of the home s and also, as they extended their borders, that they should have persons in charge who would both, be ih sympathy with the boys and also capable of enforcing discipline. As to the objects of the home he would point out that the boys at present in it were not boys off the street. That was a branch of Work which they might be able to cope with some day. In the rheai* time their,aim was to teach the needs of boys from the country. A case in point was that of boys who won pkoes in the Civil Service and had to live in.town on a small salary. The work had; perhaps beeh begun by the iecretary at too low a figure. Mr M'Farlane had asked the boys to pay from 1 5s to 7s 6d a week. It had been recognised, however, that the Home must be run on business lines, and the following tariff had been arranged:—Boys .from 15 to 17 years of age, 10s per week; . boys from 17 to 20 years of age, 12s 6d per week; and boys over 20 by special arrangement. That boys Only earning £SO Or £4O a year could obtain good board and lodgings for 108 a week was att imbbrtant matter, and it was hoped that by economy; attention to the roles, and the co-opera-tion of the bdys it could be made to pay and succeed. In conclusion, he desired td make special reference to the workers of the Laaifes' Auxiliary, who had undertaken the furnishing. These were Mrs MirarriSj president; Mrs P. Dick, vice-preside'nt $ Mrs Duke, treasurer; Miss Dunlop, secretary; Mrs Alexander, Airs. Beadle; Mrs Sundstrom, Mrs P. Barr, Mrs Don, Mrs Paterson, Mrs Black, Mrs Pierson, Mrs GttrzOri-Siggers, Miss L. Reid. Mrs MiramSj on behalf of the Ladies' Committee; thanked the audience for responding to the invitation sent out by that Committee to attend this afternoon at the opening. Sho explained that the work of her Committee had had its or'gin in the strangers' tea on Sunday evenings. Larger fields had been opened during their year's connection' with the Association, and the cottages behind the rooms were taken to provide lodging for boys. An appeal for assistance had been liberally responded to by outsiders, arsd finally the present homo was secured. Money to furnish, it was needed, and £99 was raised by personal canvass, the Committee .having made up their minds to secure £IOO. This _ had sufficed for furnishing the home plainly. The hoys Were comfortable—Had a good dining room and satisfactory bedrooms. The Secretary (Mr M'Farlane) spoke of the home from the of view as td whether the undertaking was likely to pay or.hot—first making it understood that the Y..M.C.A. had scope fbi; such work iri this City* although Mr Axelsen undertook* poKr© cohrt work, Mr. Dimcan Wright worked among children, the Salvation Army had their Rofuge Horiie; and Mr Falconer held a mission to sailors. Ho described the internal working of the Home, with its various committees supervising the various sides of home life. The aim was to get not the vagrant class of boy but the ambitious lad, and make a man of him. Already twenty-five boys had been associated with the Home—some having only stayed there a week or so. It was intended to make this the foundation of more extensive work.

Mr. Patterson said it was .not intended to-make the home a charitable institution. The boys were paying for what they got. Nor was it intended that it was to be a cheap boarding-house. It wis not wished that airy further heliS shctuid be sought front titside to k'eeb'fch.6 Home going; He thanked the Ladies' C&mSiittce for what they had done. Mr Justice &Jbper said that this was the first city in the colonv in w&ich such an institWidti had befen started* either hi the Y.M.C.A. or any other organisation. There was* of course, provisi<-n .made in" .various places for heglectefl children—one might say criminal children. As all knew, there was a steady stream of youth of both sexes coming ' from country to town. He was pleased to learn that there existed heft it somewhat Similar institution for girls.' Lads usually started with low .".ttajte'S, insuFficiertfc td keek them* and offceii had fe. fHjgnds iri town. Many of thesSe' got into lodging l would , be sorry te Bay any thing against lodging-houses—-but the boys' could not get all the amenities of a home life there. He did not say they .would «et all Gat at tha YM.CLA*

Home, bat they would be Id cbmpsrativ* comfort and safety. He liked the idea of there not beifig anything in the nature of a charitable institution about the Home, and made further reference to its value both to the boys and to the State.

A vote of thafiks td the ladies who had collected the money for furnishirlS the Home Was proposed "by Mr J. Align, M.H.E., arid secMded tiv the Rev. W. Curzon-Siggefs, afte'r' which afternoon tea was dispensed) and a Visit 6£. inspection paid to the' Home. •