Young Men at Loose Ends

Friday, November 17, 1871

Members of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Trinity Church, which was destroyed by the fire, express their concern that one of the unfortunate results of the conflagration is that there are now many promising men of intelligence and respectability at loose ends in the city, with neither a home nor a job.  Many more are now working at a reduced salary and are forced to live in grim rented rooms.  This makes the temptations of the city’s saloons, billiard halls, and cheap theaters all the more powerful, with personal ruin being the likely outcome.  With this in mind, the group plans to open a free Young Men’s Club and Reading Room, comfortably furnished and well stocked with respectable reading matter, chess boards, and stationery, which will provide an appealing place of pleasant social intercourse and mental improvement.  The Association solicits the public for contributions to support this worthy effort.