Chicago and its cess-pools of infamy

The author provides a detailed, candid survey of urban life, tracing Chicago's rapid growth and contrasting its public splendors with hidden vice. Chapters document prostitution and the white slave traffic, gambling dens, concert saloons, pawnbrokers, police activities, courts, and institutions such as missions and churches. Investigative accounts and case studies aim to expose criminal operations, analyze why individuals fall into vice, and urge moral reform and parental and civic vigilance. The narrative pairs denunciations of corruption with descriptions of charitable efforts and practical recommendations for prevention and remedy.