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To the Editors of the Crimson:

The philanthropic work which is being carried on in Cambridge and Boston by the Harvard Christian Association is probably, in its general nature, understood by Harvard men. Appeals for new men to co-operate in this work have been made several times during the year, but just at this period, when the stress of the mid-year examinations is over and the athletic season has hardly begun, these appeals may well be emphasized. Men in the University are likely to be less busy now than at any other time of the College year, and should be correspondingly better able to respond to the claims upon their time and service which the philanthropic organizations of the University present.

May I then briefly outline the need for men which is felt in the various branches of this philanthropic work? At the Harvard Free Reading Room in East Cambridge there is a distinct and immediate need for Harvard men to assist in organizing and conducting clubs of the children of the district. The influence and prestige of the Reading Room have grown rapidly in the few months since its foundation, and the organization is powerful and popular enough to exert a strong influence in the community about it. The circulation of books is the least part of the scheme of the Reading Room; only by the indirect influence of men exerted through personal touch with children in the clubs can the organization help to uplift the tone and character of the neighborhood.

The whole system of philanthropic work of the Christian Association is open to and is being carried on by, not merely members of the association, but by men who simply desire to see the influence of Harvard University carried beyond its walls to the lives of those who can never know its direct teaching. H. C. A.