Triangle

New York City

“As you can see, our workers are very busy,” Max Blanck explained to Charlie as he showed him around the work floor of his textile company, Triangle Shirtwaist. “We employee over six hundred workers, most of them young women. We prefer recent immigrants, as we want to give them the opportunity to make something of themselves.”

Charlie was interested in visiting other textile companies since he would be running one himself someday—or at least he thought he would be. He was looking to do some investing of his own, and Triangle was known around the city for being able to fill large quotas quickly. Charlie wanted to see how it was done.

As Mr. Blanck continued to talk up his establishment, Charlie couldn’t help but notice the girls all looked tired and worn out. The factory was stuffy without a lot of ventilation. The area was also very crowded. “How much are their wages?” Charlie asked, cutting off the s