physical evangelism of the Y. M. C. A. than this story of one of New York's leading physicians. Physical exhaustion from overwork, added to grief following the loss of his wife, resulted in melancholia. He began taking exercise at the West Side gymnasium, but soon ceased because of business pressure. Meantime he grew steadily worse. Brooding in the twilight one evening after an unnerving day's labor, he decided to end it all. He could no longer endure the horrors attendant upon his physical condition, nor could he bear to think of leaving his little boy to face the I want you to come here to-morrow morning and go to work again.” “I will," said the physician, taking a new hold on hope. He did. To-day he is as well and strong as any one could wish to be. Through the physical evangelism of the Y. M. C. A. this life was rescued, and to-day this physician is himself carrying the message of physical hope to hundreds of sufferers. Another man who came to the West Side Branch in a bad way physically was an editor of one of New York's big newspapers. The pressure of his work had SAILORS SLEEPING IN EMERGENCY QUARTERS PROVIDED BY THE Y. M. C. A. world, an orphan and friendless. So he decided to kill him, too. He sent a servant to a drug store for chloroform. While he sat there suffering in the twilight, waiting for the return of his messenger, the telephone rang. "I haven't seen you lately," said the voice of Dr. Welzmiller over the wire. "I have been a little anxious over your condition and I called up to learn how you were getting The physician said he was in a bad way. "You know the reason," said Dr. Welzmiller. "I promised you you would get well if you would follow my orders. driven him to drink for stimulation. Obesity and physical degeneration had followed. This man, who had read about Dr. Welzmiller's work, one night wandered into the building intoxicated. At the same time he retained sense enough to declare that he wanted to be "treated." "You can't come here drunk," said Dr. Welzmiller. "I don't want to," replied the editor. "I want to stop drinking. Can you help me?" "Yes, but you must come every day and do as I say." The man became a member of one of the "obesity classes." He came every morn A CLASS IN ONE OF THE DOZENS OF TRADES, CRAFTS, AND ARTS IN WHICH THE Y. M. C. A. GIVES INSTRUCTION TO MORE THAN SIXTY THOUSAND MEN AND BOYS ing and worked faithfully at the prescribed exercises. He had a melancholy turn of mind, consequent upon his physical condition, and Dr. Welzmiller got the other men in the class to devote themselves, each on a different day, to the help of this editor. They cheered him up mentally while the exercise built him up physically. In a short time the man was down to normal weight and his physical functions were once more perfect. Having no longer need of artificial stimulation, he lost his desire for alcohol. Exercise had made him a teetotaler. Every morning you will find in this same gymnasium a company of young men that Dr. Welzmiller calls his "temperance class." Search the world over and you will hardly find finer specimens of physical manhood than these same young athletes. They are there to play handball. Mostly they are young men with more or less means and leisure. When they first came, most of them were also more or less convivial. In the West Side Y. M. C. A. there is great rivalry on the handball court. These young men found that alcohol hurt their playing. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION IN INTERIOR DECORATION AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG MEN TO BETTER THEIR POSITION BY STUDYING AT NIGHT UNDER SKILLED TEACHERS A MEETING OF COAL MINERS IN PENNSYLVANIA, TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION Reversing the facetious motto, they decided that if drinking hurt their handball they would give up drinking. In fact, self-interest sticks out of the Y. M. C. A. work like quills on a porcupine. You can't touch the Y. M. C. A. at any point without being inoculated with the virus. That is why the membership of the Association is growing at such a tremendous rate. A saloon-keeper came into the building sheepishly one day and inquired if he would be permitted to join the real estate class. He found the work extremely interesting and helpful. He joined the finance forum. Next he got into the memory training class. One night he wandered into Dr. Fagnani's Bible class. From an uninteresting abstraction religion suddenly became to him a thing of IN FIRST AID TO THE INJURED, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE Y. M. C. A. said, it is by trying to be useful that the As Mr. Wertheim and Mr. Diack both The educational department is willing to enter any new field where it can be of help. At the time this article is written AROUND THE FIRE AT A SUMMER CAMP FOR BOYS PART OF THE Y. M. C. A.'S WORK TO GIVE BOYS A BETTER CHANCE FOR PHYSICAL AND MORAL GROWTH the city of New York is about to appoint a number of new dock masters and some additional food inspectors. Heretofore, these positions have been handed out with little reference to the appointee's fitness. Nowhere in the city was there a place where aspirants for the positions could be trained for the work. matter was put up to Mr. Wertheim. He immediately opened two new courses. Where do you think he found his instructors? He got officials from the dock department and the health department who consented to give lectures to the The new men. This leaven may go far toward leavening the whole service. Such wonderful results in helping men are not to be had haphazard. The Y. M. C. A. gets results because it is run on a business basis. Nothing is left to chance. The man who meets you at the door when you enter a Y. M. C. A. building, the instructor who leads you in your exercises in the gymnasium, the teacher who guides you in your educational work, all are experts. They have had the necessary mental and psychological training to be able to handle men. BY A TROOP OF THE BOY SCOUTS, AN ORGANIZATION WHICH RECEIVED MUCH OF ITS FIRST ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE Y. M. C. A. |