e-hearted ladies banded together and decently clothed
_three hundred of these almost naked boys and girls_, they were
compelled to admit the humiliating fact that they had only reached the
outskirts, while the great mass of poverty had not been touched. A
faint idea of the extent of poverty in this one city may be gained
from the following facts from the record of one of the city police
stations.

[5] Chicago's Dark Places.

On one night last February, _one hundred and twenty-four_ destitute
homeless men begged for shelter in the cells; of this number
_sixty-eight were native born Americans_. The station was so crowded,
that in _one cell, eight by nine and a half feet, fourteen men passed
the night_, some standing a part of the night, while others lay packed
like sardines. After a time, those on the floor exchanged places with
the poor creatures who had been standing. The following incident
related is as typical as it is pathetic: An old man, cold, homeless,
destitute, not knowing where to lay his head, was seen to take a
shovel and deliberately break a window in a store opposite a police
station. He was immediately arrested. "What did you do that for?"
demanded the officer. "'Cos I was hungry and cold and knew if you got
me I could have food and shelter." He was taken care of _after_ he had
broken the law. There is something radically wrong with social
conditions which compel men who find every avenue from exposure and
starvation closed, to become lawbreakers in order to live. Some months
ago, one of the Chicago dailies instituted an inquiry to find out as
nearly as possible the number of men out of work in that city; the
returns gave a total of 40,000 adults who had nothing to do. In
connection with this fact I quote from the author of "Chicago's Dark
Places":--

At a meeting of the Trades Association a motion was made to the
effect that the Association request the mayor of the city and the
director of the World's Fair to issue a proclamation declaring
that the city was flooded with idle men, and warning the
unemployed of other cities and districts not to come here as
there was not work for them.

The following morning a reporter waited upon the mayor and asked
him what he would do if the resolution were presented to him. His
immediate reply was to the effect that he would gladly issue such
a proclamation, especially mentioning the fact that there were