The room is damp with steam, the ceiling dotted with flies.

Then imagine a child crawling around the floor, its mother too busy to attend to it, and you'll get an idea of where some of these children in the nursery would be--if they weren't here.

Mind," she earnestly continued, "I'm not saying that home life for poor children doesn't have its advantages, but we mustn't forget that it has its disadvantages, too." She led them next to the kindergarten.
A recess was on and the children were out in the play-ground--some swinging, some sliding down the chutes, others playing in a merry-go-round which was pushed around by hand.
"Every other hour they have for play," said Mary.

"In the alternate hours the teachers read to them, talk to them, teach them their letters, teach them to sing and give them the regular kindergarten course.

If they weren't here," she said, half turning to Professor Marsh, "most of them would probably be playing on the street." The next place they visited was the dining room--which occupied the upper floor of one of the great buildings which Mary's father had planned.