He talks about a child who dies of measles. Had it lived in better conditions, it might have survived. However, in dark and damp slums, it was stripped of the chance to survive. Actually, this statement can be understood as an epitome of the entire condition of the New York City slums where immigrants used to live at the turn of the 20th century. They escaped their homelands in search for a better life and chance to prosper. However, what they got was not a new chance. It was a prospect to live without dignity, in absolute poverty.
