The letters "Y.M.C.A." are familiar to every city and town of importance
in the Union, and are well known to be the initials of one of the most
praiseworthy organizations in the world. It is needless to enter into
any general account of the Young Men's Christian Association, and I shall
devote this chapter to a description of the means employed by that body
to carry on its work in the metropolis. A writer in _Harper's Magazine_
has aptly described the headquarters of the Association as a "Club
House." "For such it is," he adds, "both in its appliances and its
purposes, though consecrated neither to politics, as are some, to social
festivities, degenerating too often into gambling and intemperance, as
are others, nor to literature and polite society, as are one or two, but
to the cause of good morals, of pure religion, and of Him who is the
divine Inspirer of the one and the divine Founder of the other."
The building thus referred to is located on the southwest corner of
Fourth avenue and Twenty-third street, and is one of the handsomest and
most attractive edifices in the city. The locality is admirably chosen.
It is in full sight of the Fifth avenue and the neighboring hotels, and
but one block east of Madison Square. On the opposite side of
Twenty-third street is the beautiful Academy of Design; diagonally
opposite is the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and immediately
across Fourth avenue is the splendid structure of St. Paul's Methodist
Episcopal Church. It is but three minutes' walk from the stages and cars
on Broadway, and two of the most important lines of street cars pass its
doors. No better location could have been chosen.
[Picture: YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION HALL.]
The building is five stories in height, and is constructed of dark New
Jersey sandstone, from the Belleville quarries. It covers about
one-third of an acre of ground, and has a frontage of one hundred and
seventy-five feet on Twenty-third street, and eighty-three feet on the
Fourth avenue. The architecture is of the French Renaissance style. The
trimmings are of light Ohio stone, but the brown stone gives to the
building its general aspect. The ground floor is occupied by handsome
stores, and the fourth and fifth floors are devoted chiefly to artists'
studios. These bring in an annual rental of about $12,000 or $13,000.
The second and third floors are used exclusively by the Association. At
the head of the grand stairway which leads from the main entrance in
Twenty-third street, is a large hall. On the left of this stairway is
the main hall or lecture-room, one of the handsomest and most convenient
public halls in the city. At the upper end is a fine platform with every
convenience for lectures or concerts. The floor is provided with iron
arm chairs, arranged after the manner of those in the parquet of Booth's
Theatre. A large gallery extends around three sides of the hall, and is
similarly provided with seats. The hall is two stories in height, is
beautifully decorated, and will seat with comfort fifteen hundred people.
On one side of the platform is a retiring room, and on the other is a
large and handsomely decorated organ. This is one of the finest
instruments in the city, and is a novelty in some respects, being
furnished with a drum, a triangle, and a pair of cymbals. Organ
concerts, lectures, and concerts by celebrated performers are given
weekly during the fall and winter. On Sunday, religious services are
held in the hall, the pastors of the different city churches officiating
at the invitation of a committee of the Association in charge of these
services.
On the opposite side of the main hall is the Reception Room of the
Association, at one side of which is a door leading into the office of
the Secretary, who is the executive officer. Adjoining the Reception
Room are the Social Parlors and the Reading Room, in the latter of which
the leading journals of the country are on file. The parlors are used
for receptions and other social reunions of the members. From the
Reception Room a flight of stairs leads directly down to the gymnasium
and bowling-alley, where are to be found all the appliances for the
development of "muscular Christianity" in its highest form.
On the third floor, which is on a level with the gallery of the Lecture
Room, are rooms for prayer meetings, Bible classes, and week day classes
for instruction in modern languages and other studies. Adjoining these
is a handsome Library Room. The collection of books is increasing
rapidly, and promises to be both valuable and useful.
[Picture: THE LIBRARY.]
Taken altogether, or in detail, the building and all its appointments are
palatial. It is already the centre of a great and useful work, and
offers many inducements to young men, especially to those who are living
in the city, away from their homes and families, and in the demoralizing
atmosphere of the hotels and boarding-houses. The Association, however,
does not content itself with merely offering these inducements to those
who will seek its doors, but sends its members forth into the haunts of
suffering and vice, and endeavors to win back those who have gone astray
from the paths of virtue, and to alleviate the misery of those who are in
distress.