Article December 27, 1900 Issue

A Cozy Club for Street Boys

New York Tribune

THERE is a club for boys in Hartford, Conn., which is novel and interesting in many respects. It is called the Good Will Club, and is located in a roomy building, where boys from the street can spend their evenings and be sure of having a jolly time and of learning lots of useful things besides.

The building resembles a vast beehive, and approaching it one hears the hum of the human bees. The basement is well lighted with electric lights, and here are held the classes in cookery, carpentry, and wood carving. The second floor, "Keney Hall," is used for games—crokinole, puff billiards, chess, checkers, etc., are all played there. The whole is under the management of Miss Mary Hall, who is assisted by her brother, David S. Hall, who meets the boys at the door, and after the coats and hats are checked, sends them to the various classes or the game room.

The club was the result of a small beginning. As far back as 1880 the idea occurred to Miss Hall, a lawyer, in Hartford, to form some plan to interest the poor boys of the city who had nowhere but the streets in which to pass their evenings. So she secured a room, gathered a few boys together, and read to them stories, furnished games, and talked upon natural history, geology, and other subjects. The boys were delighted, and she met with them once a week, the number of boys gradually increasing.

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