YOUNG WOMEN CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 12

YOUNG WO MEN CHRI ST IAN ASSOCIATION.

■ ■-■ ASrSTTAI/ MEETING*. The m&titA ineeiimtsf; >f * r-flis 3Toung Women* mristianA*bcticti6n'" : waS feld^S ' -the association's rooms on the 18th inst., when Ray... Dr Nisbet occupied the- chair, and theoner was a vjsry l&jrge attendance. An ; wo|6gy for absence was read Tfrom Mr G. ; M. T£omspn,^p]fesident o< the Young Men's i Association). ... ' ] -After .devotional exereisee, the Chairman referred to the annual report which was to be submitted.' ' The report, as they , would see, spoke for rt&elf of the extensive ■work which had been done by the association during the year. The association had proved ;«, home where st.rapg^, girls could take up their abode &nd obtain. good guidance. He was glad 1 tq- "notice . th«*,T like the V.M.C.A., ihe association had -adopted ■tibe Bcheme of holding a Sunday afternoon gathieria}g. and which made young ■women stfcknasrs s '+o Dunedin f«el quite a.-fc -borne in ' jflieit" midst. He was pleased to see that 'VmimDer of the churches had taken a fpef out of the asociatkra's book, And we*e '^Ukewise' -holding these Sunday meetings. - \Ehese Christian .Associations ' all ' over ' tihe must have the effect, through binding Christian peoples together, o$ "bringing a. beneficial influence to bear upon the , populace as a whole. — (Applause.) The; Secretary (Sister May), then read the annual 'report,' "a summary v of which follows :•— ' v ,' '' . " The 1 licrge'halr'is used cJatty "fay a goftdily number of girls dtiring luncheon hour'. 1 ' Many o them gladly avail themselves of quiet time for rest and reading, fancy work clans. Th© opening >eo<ii*r'for this ye«r w*b h©id on the 3rd -of vApriL We were -ay delighted to weloom« Miss B*o;wa (thcr .popular leader of the class) back. , The staff of teachers haft been increased, by .tie', addition of , Ifes Be Carle, -Miss ' L Jrai!ow,MfiEi'6s Hogg," *nd the Misses Brown. A flight alteration was made by giving half an hour longer them, formerly.* The increased attendance proving the girlsappreciation. * ■ ' Dressmaking Class. — This has been, held fortnightly, owing to the . difliculty of getting teacher's. However/ the Mjsess Frew, Christie, Williams, and Black have clone their best to help the girls. ' ' Gymnastic ' ' Class. — We- cannot speck too highly irf th© way in -which Miss Patercon (the pupustX .andi Mr (the instructor), have s-toocL by the class in spite 9f much discouragement. Registry Ofiioe. — This branch of our. -work takes time, Tbut we are" tpankful for the many oppofttmliiies thus afforaed of coming in touch- with girl life.' Fot' tin's reason we deeply regret the falling- away; of this part of our work, caused by the opening- of th* Government, office. Both employers! and employees ha-v& frequently thanked U8 j for tho •efforts rn*de to £ttd suitable girls. ' and, on | the other hand, to find the right place which may be a home to a girl for mouths' or years. Besides a l«xge correspona«rce, boats and trains' have beea met and girls seen off to country situAton*. The Eosiyn Woollen Mills and Phcanix Factory ha.ye be«c visited regularly, *nd meetings held by Mrs H. Wilson and the secretary. Saturday Night Clegs.— Although w« have ' h«d a good many losses in this class through removals and some of the girls having to leave because of additional time devoted to their own church work, the attendance and c!eep interest has. been a very great en- . couragement. - , Throughout the year - the attendance has averaged 24 to 30. During the year qne of our members (Miss J. Young) left, us to enter Angus College, Adelaide. We miss her, but give her wil-_ lingly to Hie service. Splendid work has been done by Miss Yates by continually corresponding with missionaries in various parts of tfce world. Mnss I/van, our valued treasurer, has many times made both home and hall brighter by b-er loving gifts of flowers, etc. As an ou-fcome of Mi&s Bushell's visit, the members of -Che Saitfrday night and Monday night clas--.es, and also a number of the Phoenix girls, havcdecided to each niake an effort lo support a boy in Miss Bush«ll's Echool in China Tlie following is the financial aija-temeiit of tbe class for the year: — Balance fr-cm last year, £2 13s 6cl, monthly collections. £4 16a 6d ; goods sold. £1 10s;— fetal, £9 0s 9d Expenditure. Mis? Joan M'Gregor. Sist«r Clare, Mte Webster. Miss Ccolc, Miss Young, £1 each ; Miss Fulcher, 15s : Chnstmas g^ts, 10s; advertisir.g, 10s. — total £6 15s; cash in hand, £2 Ss 9d The Home — Duriug the year -vre have had as many as 215 visitors passing thrpiyrh in addition to 20 permanent boarders Amcngßt the number there have bsen pome from China, India. New York, Edinburgh, Olat-go'v, England, and the Comrnoiiwealth. In carrying on this work our chief aim is to make a real home insiead of an v ••'itution, wheic J those f-eeling the r-e-ed of a quiet resting

place combined with kindly personal interest may come feeling -sura of a welcome. ! In conclusion, we offer our most sincere thanks to the following friends who so kindly - remembered us by gifte of fruit, etc., during th» year:— Mesdemes Glendinang, Fulton, G .Gibson, J. Ross, L. Cook, Maltby, Pedler, Mr D. Wright, Misses Smith, Pa-fcerson, Corrijpal, Lynn, Harlow, Omrrick. The bananoe sheet showed a oredrfc of £9 9e 2d. Mrs L. Cook moved tlhe adoption of the i annual report and balance sheet, which was adopted unanimously. [ Mas Berous (president) congratulated the 1 association upon the satisfactory report which it was able to .put before | the' members. TJlhey owed a great deal to their able secretary (Sister May) and Mrs ,AHeh" (matron). — (Applause.) During the" 'jfeafcr they had been aible to entirely renovate their building, and what was more,' -had been able to do so without appealing kd the public generally, and still tihey<3lacLia few pounds to thegood.— {Applause.} "Hie Ite-v. W- Hay then -d.eliv.ereJ an. infcerestinH addreas ujpon spiritaal wo*k and. life, at the conclusion of., which LJifa gOWr gTetulated the association' upon itß suo;' cess during the past year, and wished .it ; every further success during the present ; year. The election of & committee resulted as follows: — Miss Brown, Mrs H. E. Wilson, Mrs Sundstrum, Mrs G. R Hereus, Mrs T. B. Low, Mn Duke. Miss Shand, Miss Laing, Mrs Eunep-n, Mrs L. Cook, Mrs Webber, Mrs Vanes, 3Vfre Glendining, Mrs Wilkinson, and Mrs Wheeler. During the evening a most enjoyable musical programme was gone through, «c follows : — Musical monologue, " The leeson of the water mill/ Misses Hereus and Binnie; anthem, ''Looking this way," the choir; recitiatioij, "Poverty flat," Miss Orkney; Bong, The rain is on the river,*' Miss Moody; song, Miss Sutherland.