THE Y.M.C.A.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4823, 28 November 1902, Page 7

THE Y.M.C.A.

SOMETHING ABOLT ITS WORK. The work of the nowiy-rstablislu d ’Wellington V.M.O.A, is to b'giu in earnest at onoo, rooms having been taken in tho Australasian Vv j flows’ fund building, Custom house quay. .Mr J. J. Virgo, the Australasian V.M.C.A. bc-crotary, and BritHii and colonial nqircsmruuivc, who is m>,v_ in Wellington for tho purpose tho branch, is well known in Urn work of tho V.AiX'.A. in Australia, and especially in Adelaide, where ho was gMu.-r.vl secretary for fourteen years. Mr Virgo, wiio in manner and phj-stquo is a line specimen <d tho breezy, gemnl typo vi muscular C hristian, look up that cfiicu when he was twenty-one years of age. At that time chore was a mortgage of £21.040 upon the premises. When ho went out of olllcc two years ago, having resigned to lake up tho more extensive duly of British ami colonial representative, the debt had boon reduced to .17400 h, and there was mi assured income of £OOOO from which tho mortgage is being jjaid oh’ at the rate of £IOOO a year, Mr Virgo, who is a colonial, was born hi Sou.th Australia, When ho wont to England and advocated tho appointment of an organising secretary for Australia and New Zealand, tho Council unanimously agreed with the proposal, and appointed Air Virgo iiimself. Two years ago, as has boon said, ho left tho Adelaide association in a nourishing condition, and took up tho work of Australasian .secretary and British and colonial representative for three years. During tho two years which havo elapsed of Ids term of office, he has been establishing brandies in various parts of Australia, and formulating numerous schemes for tho welfare of tho movemeat. Tho remaining year of tho term will bo spent in Sydney. As tho general secretary there lias resigned after twcidy-fivo years of office,' tho Sydney Board lias unanimously requested Mr Virgo to make that city his perma7i,ent headquarters, and to this the British and Colonial Council has agreed, Tho Y.M.C.A. movement was started by twelve young men, who formed tho first association on Juno Olh, 1844 iu London. From this beginning the movement has spread to all parts cf the world, until to-day there are over 7000 associations, with a membership of over 000,000; and eight years ago, on tho occasion. of the jubilee of Y.M.C. Associations, tho man who had been tho most active promoter of the first association, George Williams, of of Hitchcock and Williams, London, was knighted by Queen Victoria. At the. jubilee ■celebrations there wore 2100 delegates, representing twenty-three nationalities. Mr Virgo was the Australasian representative. The growth of tho movement Ims been phenomenal in America. For instance, in New York thoro are now' seventeen brandies, each of which has its own building; and tho latest building erected, that for what is known as tho marine branch, cost nearly £IOO,OOO. There is a building for Y.M.C.A. work in Chicago winch has cost £400,000. “Tho basis of operations,” said Mr Virgo, speaking yesterday to a representative of tho “Now Zealand Times,” “is fourfold.’ Wo aim at spiritual advancement, social intercourse, physical development and intellectual improvement. Thcro is practically no limit to tho agencies which may bo employed along these lines.” One of tho most powerful of such agencies, it may he observed, is music, and Mr Virgo is well known as a public singer in Adelaide, where ho has sung tho bass solos in oratorio for d considerable period. In his Sunday night services at the Theatre Royal in Adelaide he was assisted by a very capable choir of fifty voices, trained by himself. Asked as to the outlook for Y.M.C.A work in these colonics, Mr Virgo said that after two years’ work in his capacity as British and colonial secretary ho regarded tho colonies as offering exceptional facilities in this cause, and ho will advocate, at the conference to bo hold in Adelaide in May next, the appointment of a British and American representative to carry on tho work ho has begun. Tho appointment of a general secretary for three years for Wellington is likely to be decided next week. It is hoped that ten persons will guarantee £25 a year each for this purpose. Already three such guarantees have been received.