South Chicago is dominated by its steel mills,--enormous drab structures, whose every crevice leaks quivering heat and whose towering chimneys belch forth unceasingly a pall of ashes and black smoke.

The steel workers and their families live as a rule in two and three family houses, built of wood, generally unpainted, and always dismally utilitarian as to architectural details.
In South Chicago, four years ago, there was not such a thing as a park, or a playground, or a recreation center.

One lone social settlement was just seeking a home for itself.

There were public schools, quite imposing buildings.

But these were closed and locked and shuttered for the day as soon as the classes were dismissed.
In a certain neighborhood of South Chicago there lived a number of young girls, healthy, high-spirited, and full of that joy of life which always must be fed--if not with wholesome food, then husks.