The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and 23 men[1] – who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Italian and Jewish immigrant women aged 16 to 23;[2][3][4] of the victims whose ages are known, the oldest victim was Providenza Panno at 43, and the youngest were 14-year-olds Kate Leone and "Sara" Rosaria Maltese.[5]
Because the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft[7] – many of the workers who could not escape from the burning building simply jumped from the high windows.
The company's owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, who survived the fire by fleeing to the building's roof when the fire began, were indicted on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in mid-April; the pair's trial began on December 4, 1911.
Charles Bostwick the prosecutor produced 103 witnesses, many of them young Triangle employees dressed in their Sunday best. Through his witnesses Bostwick tried to establish that the fire quickly cut off escape through the Greene Street door, causing the panicked workers to turn to the Washington Place door--a door the prosecution contended was locked. More than a dozen prosecution witnesses testified that they tried the door and were unable to open it. Katie Weiner told jurors, "I pushed it toward myself and I couldn't open it and then I pushed it outward and it wouldn't go. I was crying, 'Girls, help me!' Other witnesses testified that Blanck and Harris kept the door locked to prevent employees from pilfering shirtwaists. (On the stand, Harris admitted to an almost obsessive concern with employee theft even though he conceded that the total value of goods taken over the years was under $25).
[44]Max Steuer, counsel for the defendants, managed to destroy the credibility of one of the survivors, Kate Alterman, by asking her to repeat her testimony a number of times, which she did without altering key phrases. Steuer argued to the jury that Alterman and possibly other witnesses had memorized their statements, and might even have been told what to say by the prosecutors. The prosecution charged that the owners knew the exit doors were locked at the time in question. The investigation found that the locks were intended to be locked during working hours based on the findings from the fire,[45] but the defense stressed that the prosecution failed to prove that the owners knew that. The jury acquitted the two men of first- and second-degree manslaughter, but they were found liable of wrongful death during a subsequent civil suit in 1913 in which plaintiffs were awarded compensation in the amount of $75 per deceased victim. The insurance company paid Blanck and Harris about $60,000 more than the reported losses, or about $400 per casualty.
In his cross-examination of Alterman, Max Steuer settled on an unusual approach. He asked Alterman to repeat he account of Margaret Schwartz's death again and again. Each time, the words Alterman used were very similar, but not identical. Steuer hoped that the repetition of phrases (e.g., "curtain of fire," a desperate man running around "like a wildcat") would suggest to the jury that the witness had been coached by the defense. In redirect, Bostwick asked his witness why she used similar language each time she was asked to describe Schwartz's death. Alterman replied, "Because he asked me the very same story over and over, and I tried to tell him the same thing, because he asked me the same thing over and over." Yet, to many observers, Steuer had succeeded in damaging Alterman's credibility without ever directly attacking it.
Like many of their “operators,” as the girls who worked the rows of sewing machines were known, the owners were Jewish immigrants.
In 1913, at a new factory on 23rd Street, Blanck paid a $25 fine for locking a door during working hours, and he was warned during an inspection that factory was rife with fire hazards.
Max David Steuer was born on September 16, 1870 (or 1871), in the town of Homonna, then in Austria-Hungary (now Humenne Slovakia). Max's middle name was anglicized into David. It's believed that he came to the USA with two older sisters.
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/what-became-of-the-triangle-factory-owners/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
https://www.geni.com/people/Max-David-Steuer/6000000023942194441
http://www.famous-trials.com/trianglefire/964-home
all these years i assumed the owners were gentiles. How could Jews ever act like that? Must have been Irish or German. That's what I thought. But I should have known. Who else could have such audacity? And what happened with the jury. They were conned by the energy and forcefulness and mock integrity of the attorney, who also happened to be Jewish.
Happened to be? What else could he have been? Crazy fry Jews obsessed with money and themselves. And the foolish goyim are fooled and led around by these people.
Because the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft[7] – many of the workers who could not escape from the burning building simply jumped from the high windows.
The company's owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, who survived the fire by fleeing to the building's roof when the fire began, were indicted on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter in mid-April; the pair's trial began on December 4, 1911.
Charles Bostwick the prosecutor produced 103 witnesses, many of them young Triangle employees dressed in their Sunday best. Through his witnesses Bostwick tried to establish that the fire quickly cut off escape through the Greene Street door, causing the panicked workers to turn to the Washington Place door--a door the prosecution contended was locked. More than a dozen prosecution witnesses testified that they tried the door and were unable to open it. Katie Weiner told jurors, "I pushed it toward myself and I couldn't open it and then I pushed it outward and it wouldn't go. I was crying, 'Girls, help me!' Other witnesses testified that Blanck and Harris kept the door locked to prevent employees from pilfering shirtwaists. (On the stand, Harris admitted to an almost obsessive concern with employee theft even though he conceded that the total value of goods taken over the years was under $25).
[44]Max Steuer, counsel for the defendants, managed to destroy the credibility of one of the survivors, Kate Alterman, by asking her to repeat her testimony a number of times, which she did without altering key phrases. Steuer argued to the jury that Alterman and possibly other witnesses had memorized their statements, and might even have been told what to say by the prosecutors. The prosecution charged that the owners knew the exit doors were locked at the time in question. The investigation found that the locks were intended to be locked during working hours based on the findings from the fire,[45] but the defense stressed that the prosecution failed to prove that the owners knew that. The jury acquitted the two men of first- and second-degree manslaughter, but they were found liable of wrongful death during a subsequent civil suit in 1913 in which plaintiffs were awarded compensation in the amount of $75 per deceased victim. The insurance company paid Blanck and Harris about $60,000 more than the reported losses, or about $400 per casualty.
In his cross-examination of Alterman, Max Steuer settled on an unusual approach. He asked Alterman to repeat he account of Margaret Schwartz's death again and again. Each time, the words Alterman used were very similar, but not identical. Steuer hoped that the repetition of phrases (e.g., "curtain of fire," a desperate man running around "like a wildcat") would suggest to the jury that the witness had been coached by the defense. In redirect, Bostwick asked his witness why she used similar language each time she was asked to describe Schwartz's death. Alterman replied, "Because he asked me the very same story over and over, and I tried to tell him the same thing, because he asked me the same thing over and over." Yet, to many observers, Steuer had succeeded in damaging Alterman's credibility without ever directly attacking it.
Like many of their “operators,” as the girls who worked the rows of sewing machines were known, the owners were Jewish immigrants.
In 1913, at a new factory on 23rd Street, Blanck paid a $25 fine for locking a door during working hours, and he was warned during an inspection that factory was rife with fire hazards.
Max David Steuer was born on September 16, 1870 (or 1871), in the town of Homonna, then in Austria-Hungary (now Humenne Slovakia). Max's middle name was anglicized into David. It's believed that he came to the USA with two older sisters.
Steuer. had an exceptional memory and played golf. He was 26 years old when he married. He began private practice of law in 1893. He never referred to notes, but used the exact quotations he needed in citing testimony. His knowledge of the law was vast and success attended his efforts as counsel in many cases of nationwide interest. Max D. was the Chief Defense Lawyer and won the acquittal for the owners of the Triangle Shirt-Waist Factory fire in 1911. He represented Frances Hodgson Burnett and William Randolph Hearst in libel cases. He was a trustee of Beth Israel Hospital and later of the Federation for Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies. Life Magazine wrote an article on his unusual art collection in its 29 Oct 1941 issue,.
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/what-became-of-the-triangle-factory-owners/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
https://www.geni.com/people/Max-David-Steuer/6000000023942194441
http://www.famous-trials.com/trianglefire/964-home
all these years i assumed the owners were gentiles. How could Jews ever act like that? Must have been Irish or German. That's what I thought. But I should have known. Who else could have such audacity? And what happened with the jury. They were conned by the energy and forcefulness and mock integrity of the attorney, who also happened to be Jewish.
Happened to be? What else could he have been? Crazy fry Jews obsessed with money and themselves. And the foolish goyim are fooled and led around by these people.
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