Twenty years ago, feeling the great need of helping the little fellow who could not help himself because he was unable to pay his way through no fault of his own, and realizing that most of the boys that needed help were located in and around the Cotton Mill section, I would take a bunch of towels under my arm and soap in my pocket, make my way to the community house near the river. Then I would build a fire, and while the water was getting hot, I would sit at an old piano that was in the club room and sing songs that the boys liked. After the meeting, we would teach them a Bible lesson and then they would go upstairs and wash. So (symbolically) they were clean on the inside and out.

This work grew so rapidly it became impossible to carry on the work in the community club house because it was too small. Therefore, they were brought to the "Y" building on Haywood Street. We had grown to such an extent that we had them meet in the gym, and it was required that each boy quote a verse of scripture before he would be permitted to go in swimming. How they would fight to get a Bible to read and memorize this verse!

This work has continued and grown until now we lead in underprivileged boys’ work. At first we had an average attendance at these meetings of 66 boys. However, when we had extra things for them, we had more. Each boy is given a pledge to sign: I hereby pledge myself to obey the rules of the Clean Life Club, and as long as I am a member I agree to cooperate with the officer. Because of the wonderful results of this work, Clean Life Clubs are springing up all over the state. We have an average attendance of 145 underprivileged boys at each meeting, and last year there was a total of 13,247 boys attending meetings at the Y.M.C.A., not one of whom paid one penny for his membership, and they really got more than the boys that paid for their memberships. In March we had 1,287 boys at club meeting. The Clean Life Club met every Tuesday and Saturday nights at 7:45 P.M. at the Y.M.C.A. Topics were carefully worked out so as to meet the needs of the boys, and there was a special topic for each Tuesday night when we seemed to have the largest number of boys attending. We continue to ask for cooperation in this work, earnestly seeking prayers and suggestions. Some of the topics for meetings included A Boy and His Home, A Boy and His Church, A Boy and His Community, and A Boy and His Enemies. Many have found the Lord in this work. We are now having a Bible-reading contest and one boy has read 367 chapters this month. Almost every boy is reading his Bible. Keep a boy reading his Bible, and he will never break his mother’s heart.

Yet, someone will ask, "Do any of them make good?" The answer is, "Yes, they are on the Asheville police force; some of them are speed cops, some of them are preaching." One came to me the other day and said, "Well, Perk, I started the real Christian life by quoting my first verse of scripture around the council ring at the "Y" camp. This boy will finish his call this year as a minister of the Gospel. Yes, some of them are working in many of the large stores in the city that would otherwise have been on the chain gang were it not for the Clean Life Club. Mothers stop me on the streets and say, "All that my boy has amounted to in life is due to the good Christian training he received at the Clean Life Club. One boy’s brother had passed away at a local hospital and was brought to me by his mother, a widow, who asked me to help her with this, her only child. He had entered the club when he was young, grew up in the club, became president, and is now working in a large establishment. He is his mother’s pride and joy. Where would he have been if it had not been for the Clean Life Club? Yes, the "Y" opens its doors to little underprivileged boys to work out in the gym and swim in the

A few days ago, a group of boys in the club met, but we had no speaker. In the lobby of the "Y" stood a fine-looking Cherokee Indian chief, and with him were other Indian boys from Cherokee, NC. I asked him if he would say a few words to the Clean Life Club boys. He took me by the hand and said, "Perk, I certainly will, I used to be one of your boys and now I am a coach in Cherokee, telling the boys at home the stories that you used to tell us at the "Y".

I also try to visit the Reformatory each month. Last month I was at another meeting nearby, and while playing the little organ given to me by the local Rotary Club, something seemed to say, "Go to the Boys’ Home where a meeting is being held and help them with the music." I did, and being very well acquainted, the boys knew the songs that they liked so well to sing. After the song service, I asked the boys to come forward and take Christ in their lives, and live for Him. In the group was a red-haired boy who was from one of the poorest homes in the city. He came with tears in his eyes, and eight others followed. The next day in a fall at the school he was killed. How consoled his mother was when I told her that just last Sunday, April 10, her boy gave his heart to the Lord. I took the organ and sang lots of songs that the little fellow liked so well at the funeral .

Mr. E.E. Wheeler, ten years ago, said, "Let’s get the boys together every Sunday morning at five-thirty for breakfast and teach them the Sunday School lesson. We did, and that work has grown. Each year during the cold months, we say, "Any boy who will get out of his warm bed and make his way to the "Y" deserves a breakfast. Some of these boys walk from four to five miles in the rain and snow to attend this breakfast. We have had as many as 120 boys at these meetings at six o’clock in the morning. Last Saturday night at a good meeting at the "Y" the leader said, "Well, boys, in the morning we will have beans and hot dogs along with milk, coffee, and cakes. I made everything and asked the sheriff if he would let them stay if they were willing to sleep on the floor so that they would not miss the breakfast at the "Y" at six o’clock Sunday morning. I took them home and told them if they did not get up, we would try to send them word so that they could, but they were at the "Y" at 5:45 A.M. Sunday when I arrived. This is just one of the many such incidents I could tell.

The boys’ breakfast was always closed at Easter with a big Easter Egg Hunt and a special Easter program instead. We only had the boys’ breakfast in the winter, so as we have said, from time to time if a boy would get up out of his warm bed and walk to the "Y" from Woodfin and West Asheville and West End, he deserved a good hot breakfast.

So many boys were coming for the breakfast from West Asheville, and it was brought to the attention of the West Asheville Civic Club that a group of men were recruited to investigate and see just how many of the boys were really walking three and four miles to attend the breakfast. On November 30th Mr. Bert Starnes of West Asheville organized the boys breakfast in West Asheville, and each Sunday morning he would have the boys from that section in. With the assistance of his leaders, Bert would teach the Sunday School lesson, and after this he gave the boys breakfast. I visited Bert in his work, and it was great to see the boys and see what a great interest they took in the breakfast and the quoting of the scripture. How they could quote verse after verse! This work also grew until we had a boys breakfast going at the Woodfin School, where for many mornings the ladies of that sections would come in to cook the breakfast and the lesson would be taught by those in charge.

The West Asheville group had fifty boys on the first morning. Mike Hamrick taught the lesson and the West Asheville Men’s Club gave the breakfast. Mr. B.B. Anderson, principal of Hall Fletcher High School, E.B. Roberts, W.E. Ryon, J. E. Harris, P.J. Fortune, B.A. Barrose, and G.G. Morgan were there. Mr. Bert Starnes was in charge of the breakfast. They had 56 hot dogs, 14 big cans of pork and beans, 5 gallons of milk, and 3 gallons of coffee. The silver and the dishes were donated by Mrs. O.E. Starnes. The result is that for the last two years the breakfast and meeting have been held in the back of a store building in West Asheville. The West Asheville Civic Club, together with Bert Starnes, who is responsible for obtaining the food each Saturday, is doing a fine piece of work, and have a fine group of boys meeting each Saturday.

The Asheville police often watch for the boys walking in the cold weather, and gladly pick them up and often make two or three trips to the "Y" so that my little fellows will not be cold while walking. The police say that this is a great work and does much to help keep boys out of jails.

This work is carried on week by week asking the Lord to help us. I have seen the time when we went up to late Saturday afternoon and I bowed my head and said, "Lord, if you want this breakfast to continue and you are pleased with what we are doing, send someone to help us." And I walked up the street looking for someone to help, when a man came up and handed me four dollars and said, "I felt like I would like to do something to help." On the main street, I went from one person to the other and finally got enough to get breakfast for the boys.

Two weeks ago I sat in the kitchen asking the Lord to help us, and while I was still on my knees, there was a rap on the door and a man walked up and handed me nine dollars and a quarter for the boys' breakfast. Faith - yes, the Lord leads us from day to day in this work.

We provide for these boys a wonderful camp, Camp Powatan, taking Asheville Boys’ Home, Buncombe County Training School, the Mountain Home Orphanage, and the Elida Orphanage. With the help of the civic clubs and merchants from all parts of the county, we are able to hold the camp for three weeks. The boys from the ages of 8 to 10 go the first week; then the 11-12 year old boys go the second week; and the last week is for boys aged 13-15. With ten good leaders, we really have a fine time with the boys. I have seen the boys, when it came time for them to go home from camp, run and hide in the woods and beg me to let them stay another week saying that they would do anything - even wash dishes if they would be permitted to stay. The camp is opened with prayer, and the boys with their packs on their back kneel and thank the Lord for friends and the help of the people; and they ask the Lord to send away from the camp boys that are better boys, and boys that will make real Christian men some day. After supper, each boy gathers around the council ring, and each boy must quote a verse of scripture. Then one of the leaders delivers a message from the Bible in a story form so that it will be simple for the boys to understand. A prize is given to the boy that memorizes the most verses from the Bible during the week. These prizes are given when he leaves camp. Pigeons, ducks, and sometimes coats and sweaters are given, anything we can get that will stimulate more memorizing.

The "real" day at camp is the Sunday morning service. We call this meeting "The Decision Service", and we have in attendance from 85 to 100 boys. Every boy makes a decision at this meeting. I have had them on their knees crying and walking down from the top of the mountaintop their cabins and saying, "Perk, I came out here without Christ in my heart, but I go back to Asheville with Christ in my life and I want to live for Him." Last year we had 265 boys attend camp and 265 boys made the decision to live the new life in Christ Jesus.

Each Christmas, through the help of many Civic Clubs in the city, about 300 needy boys gather at the Y.M.C.A., and we give them sweaters, overalls, and socks. Out of the group, we pick 150 of the most needy boys, and they are given other clothes. After that, we take them all to the gym at the "Y" for a supper of hot dogs and beans. The Lions Club feeds some great times with these boys. We have seen 75 to 100 boys come to try out for their teams and get uniforms. The civic clubs all bought the uniforms and paid for the balls and bats, and we would draw a schedule for the boys which we tried to carry through the summer until school started, giving them something to keep their minds occupied until school opened. This was a great success. I recommend this highly, along with the boys’ breakfast work. We would help umpire and keep them playing; we give the little fellows breakfast at Christmas time, and also we give them clothes to keep them warm. There are usually 120 boys at this meeting.

We also have what is called the "Civic Club Baseball League." The boys from the CLC are given a good work-out by me. Every club in the city of Asheville is taking part in this work. We select the boys by placing all the catchers in one group, the first basemen in another, and so on until we have chosen all the boys that go out for baseball. And sometimes we have as many as eight teams with 25 to 28 boys on each team. These teams are sponsored by members of the civic clubs and each team is given one of the club’s names. We have had some great times with these boys.

We also have the Knot Hole gang. Ten years ago Dan Hill mentioned that other cities had the Knot Hole Gang, and it helped to create a great interest in baseball and also taught boys to be good sports. So we started taking the boys from all walks of life who had been hanging around and stealing their way into the ball park. They now sign a pledge card which, if they live up to the pledge, helps them go straight and makes fine young men. If he broke the pledge, his ticket would be taken away from him until he could do better. He would stay away until he proved he was worthy. The pledge reads: (1) I will not at any time skip school to attend a game. (2) I will attend no game against the wishes of my parents or employer, (3) I will uphold the principles of clean speech, clean sports, and clean habits, and I will stand with the gang against cigarettes and profane language on the field or off. (4) I will not engage in unruly conduct either at the games or at any other time. I understand that breaking this agreement may cost me my membership in the Tourist Knot Hole Gang.

The civic clubs of the city help in the supervision and direction of this work as representatives eat at the "Y" with the boys. The Cosmic Club has taken the job of helping keep order in the ball park and distributing the tickets to all the schools. Last year 200 guys were present on the opening day of the game. They marched into the ball park behind the Asheville High School Band, and as they walked they formed a complete circle around the field and into the grandstand. The last boy was marching onto the field just as the first boy was taking his seat. This made a wonderful sight! Through the efforts of the civic clubs the boys were taken from the little hill overlooking the park and given a splendid place from which to watch the games. We gave away 3000 tickets this year.

As I have said, we have a place for the boys to sit in the park, and on the first game of each series we would be at the park and have each boy to present his ticket before he could get into the game. We did not have to take many tickets away from the boys because they knew if they violated the rules, away went their pass until they could do better. Then it was given back to them. We have had from 150 to 200 boys at the first meeting, and this was just the beginning. Then the books were checked On the books we had to put the name of the boy, his address, and his ticket number. At the end we would have from 1500 to 2000 boys signed up. I remember we marched in with the high school band. 2000 boys came to the first Knot Hole Gang game at the McCormick Field.

We had the corner in the bleachers for the boys, and with two or three leaders that would help, we would sit with the boys and keep order so that they wouldn’t run all over the baseball park They were all right and did fine. Many times I have been sitting close to some of the boys while the game was going on. How they knew the players! They would say, "That guy won’t hit that ball. You wait until the next fellow comes up, he will hit that apple." And sure enough, the fellow following would get on almost every time. They keep up with the players.

Many times I have had the teachers tell me that the boys seem to be better in school after signing that pledge. We would tell them they had to obey. I remember a little fellow who brought his buddy with him. He had his ticket taken away from him a few days before this, and he went in on his buddy’s ticket. When he thought no one was looking, he slipped his ticket through the fence to his buddy so he could come in. So we had to take both tickets for a while.

Another summer event was the street showers, which proved a great success. It was hot. They had no pools or any way for the children to enjoy the hot streets, so the firemen of Asheville Fire Department made a connection on a pipe with water sprinklers on the top and a hose connection on the bottom to be connected by a fire hose. Two or three lengths of hose were given, and Spurgeon Sluder would bring the hose and help set up the showers, and they’d have a time. For they had no place to swim but the river, and it was not fit for anyone to swim in. Then, on Friday, in the colored section we would go with the help of Spurgeon Sluder, and we would set up the hose and the pipe tying it to the pole and connecting this to the fire hydrant under the sprinklers. They would cry when we had to leave them. The streets were hot, but the cold water made it all right.

The marble shooting was a great event for the boys as they would come to the "Y" in the spring of the year ready to drop in their marbles to shoot, and we would class the boys off in the age limits and have from three to five rings shooting. The boys in the eight to ten in one circle, eleven to twelve in another circle, thirteen to fifteen in another; and sometimes, with a big crowd, we would have to break that down. How they could shoot marbles! The last time we would shoot winners in one large ring, and I have seen the smaller boys beat the larger boys many times.

Also we have the "Shop" meeting at the "Y" where I take my organ and with the help of the ministers, we go to the many plants in the city; and in the winter we take a big pot of coffee furnished by the merchants. With a long string of tin cups on a wire we go through the plant shaking these cups and calling attention to the hot coffee. Each man is given a cup of hot coffee to drink with his cold lunch. Then a song service is held while they eat. The minister is introduced to the men, and he brings a real gospel message. Many men have been won to Christ in these meetings, and men that have not been to church for many years are now back with their families and are going to church and really living the new life. These meetings have been going on for the last twenty years.

I go to all the schools in the city with a small, portable organ, speaking and leading the singing and having a prayer with the boys and girls. We go back time and time again. The outstanding meeting of last year was held last Christmas at Lee Edwards High School, where 1500 students are enrolled. The principal had a song sheet printed with some well-known carols. We took 800 students the first day, and really had a fine song service. Then, on the second day, 800 more students had a splendid song service. I wish you could have heard these students sing.

Each Sunday morning at 10:00 A.M. at the Fire Department we hold a meeting with the firemen and as many policemen as we can. We go to the top of a tall building and with a spotlight shining on us and with a song book in my hand, I try to sing a number of gospel songs, inviting the men of the Fire Department Central Station to hear a real gospel message; and I have seen the people stick their heads out of windows and say, "Come down from there. I can’t sleep while you’re up there!" Some have even pointed a pistol out the window and would threaten to shoot! Also, there were women who would wave their Bibles and say, "Keep that up, Son, sing on! It’s good!"

One day, after the meeting was finished, a man walked up with a bundle under his arm and a red handkerchief around his neck. He stopped me and said, "Was you the fellow that was singing up on top of that building?" I told him I was, and he said, "You was singing a song that I have heard my mother sing a number of times. Will you sing that song for me?" I said, "Well, I have started to the Bible class, but I will sing the song. What is it?" "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again." And while I was singing, he took the red handkerchief from around his neck and began to wipe the tears from his eyes.

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