"Most of them about two or three years. You see, this is a 'dollar house.' We don't get many of the young ones in here," was the reply.
"How are you paid in this place?" was asked.
"The girls get half of what they get from men. Then they get a tin check for two and a half cents for every bottle of beer they drink with the fellows that come in. They have to accept every drink offered them.
"They are charged five dollars a week for their board here by the keeper of the place. They have to buy all their clothes through him, too. They are charged big prices, so they don't have a chance to save."
"What does the average girl make in this place?" was asked.
"Oh, $12 to $18 a week, I guess. They have to pay their board and for their clothes out of that," replied the girl.
In the "red light" district of Chicago is an organized "trust." At its head are five big politicians. They practically control the district.
The trust owns a dry goods store, a grocery store, a delicatessen, a drug store, a restaurant and a hotel. It has its own manicure parlors, its own dentist parlor and its own doctors. Every necessity of the denizens of the vice ridden district is catered to by this company.
The girls of the district must patronize them. This is an iron-bound order that cannot be broken.
Suppose that a girl in one of the dens wishes to purchase a dress. She goes to the dry goods store. There she makes her choice.