Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Annual Report of the Lake Carriers' Association, 1909 P. N. Bland Ptg. Co., Detroit, MI., 1910 [p.106] PROPOSED SAILOR'S INSTITUTE Some reference has been made in the public press in recent months to a proposition to build a Sailors' Insti- tute at Cleveland for the use and benefit of the men sail- ing upon the vessels of the Great Lakes. During the past decade much progress has been made in the development of vessels and port facilities on the lakes, and with this advancement has also come marked improvement in the conditions on shipboard which make for the comfort and welfare of the sailor, but as yet few advantages have been offered to him for the im- provement of his condition ashore. Such principal ports as Cleveland are crowded during the winter months with young men who have worked in subordinate capacities on the ships; and also in the spring, when navigation is about to open, sailors gather in large numbers. Like all members of the human family, they gravitate together and mingle with their own people, and dissociated by the radical difference in character of em- ployment and habit of life, they are not found in the pub- lic libraries, reading and social rooms and such institu- tions, or in the boarding houses and similar places fre- quented by people with shore opportunities. It is intended that the proposed Institute shall be pro- vided with reading rooms, writing rooms, means of recrea- tion - such as bowling, billiards, and pool tables - bathing and sanitary accommodations, and an assembly room in which meetings can be held and classes of instruction arranged during the winter months. A number of sleep- ing rooms will be provided, similar to those in the Mills Hotel, New York, to be placed at the disposal of the men at reasonable cost. ===========================================================================