Mabel: Hi Mai. Can you tell me what your life was like during your first two years?

Mai: Sure! Okay. Well, I’ll tell it like I’m living it right now. I am 12 years old. I live in a new nice tenement with  a nice landlady, who takes care of the little kids if they are not working and mamma and papa are out, and my mother, my twin sister Pauline, and my little brother,Max. I live on the 4th floor of my tenement. I had been employed 2 months ago by the Triangle Shirt Factory. I took up the job of the seamstress. My 7 year old brother became a clipper at the same factory. Also in this same factory works my sister,who is a very skilled draper. My mother is a maid who comes home just before we do. My sister takes night school, so I take my brother home after work. If mom is not there, I babysit my brother and  make dinner. Just before work ends, I see my brother be put in a box, and covered with shirtwaists. I soon realize that there are inspectors coming in to inspect. As my brother and I walk home, we talk about what it felt like to be in a box, and what it felt like to have to not tell inspectors things or get fired. When we reach home, mother is not there. While I make a dinner of ham, broth and bread, ( also known as HBB,) I hear my brother playing with his toy soldiers.

Suddenly, I hear a banging at the door. I call out “ Who is it?” When I get no response, I open the door. It’s mom! She cries “ Let me in! There are inspectors on my trail! They are chasing me because they want to know why I let your brother work!”

Mabel: Oh no! What happened next?

Mai:I wake up and I walk to the kitchen. Mom is already making breakfast. It is a sunny March morning. At work, things are dreary, like normal. As work continues, I hear a sharp gasp. I lift my foot to stop my machine,and look up. The girl across from me is holding her hand. Her face is screwed up, as if she felt  pain.  A single drop of blood  slips out of a small cut, only to plop onto the half finished shirtwaist that the girl was sewing. A sudden scream snaps me out of a daydream. All around me, women and girls run for the stairs, with the floor boss out in front. Others crowd into the elevator. The cable breaks, and men and women crash to the ground. I see nothing to worry about. I feel a sudden heat on my back, and then a sharp pain. My back is scalded and burnt. Just then, Max and Pauline run past me. As I bring up the rear of our small group, the fire scalds my arms, legs, and back. My limbs ache, but I push my siblings down the stairs. As I rush down the stairs, I wonder if my friends made it out. When I stumble outside, my siblings are waiting. With the last of my strength, I run with them for home. I plop on my bed, and the sky turns over, a black cloud comes down, and all pain recedes into a dull throb. Now, blackness.  Dizzy. “ Mai?” It’s my sister. I’m in my bed, at home. Pauline says that some how, a fire started, and most of the inside was destroyed.

Mabel: A fire? What happened then?

Mai: The next day, there was a great funeral  march for those who had died in the great fire of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. I felt sorry for those families whose children sent them some of the money they earned so that their family could come here, because many people who did that died in the fire, and their families would not know why they stopped getting money. Suddenly, I see the body of young Rose Gualenheim, about to be put to rest. She was my B.F.F. I feel like my heart has been torn in two. I’ll miss Rose for the rest of my life. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I whirl around. It’s my aunt Suki who moved here just before we did! She says ,“ You fool! Why does your little brother work?” I repy “ Mother said that he needed to work to support the family.” My aunt takes little Max by his hand, and leads him away, saying “ I am taking Max with me!” Soon they are out of sight.

Mabel: Really? Can you tell me more?

Mai: A little girl runs up to me and says, “ are you Mai?” I say “Yes.” She explains that she was to bring me a message. She hands me an envelope and the message reads as follows.

Dear Mai,

We regret to say that as your mother was cleaning our windows, she fell backwards off the ladder and the fall has killed your mother.We are so sorry that this misfortune has befallen you and your family.

You are now an orphan. Please find a good home.Sincerely,the Smiths.

Mabel: How sad! Carry on.

Mai: When I told my sister the bad news, she moaned and swayed, and soon fell over. When I called her name and got no response, I checked her pulse. She was dead! It must have been death of a broken heart. I keel over. Blackness.

Mabel: Oh my! What did you do then?

Mai:  When I come around again, I see a brown haired, brown eyed girl standing over me. She looks about my age, but she seems a little tall for her age. She says “ I’m Rose. Rose Halgumholler.” “Hello,” I say. She says that she can take me in and I reply that I would like that very much. She says that I will have to sleep in a hole, but that is fine with me. When we get to Rose’s tenement, she shows me where I can sleep. She says “ We’ll put a mattress in that box, then put on a blanket and pillow. That is the only way that we will have  room for you.” I say “ That will be okay with me.”

Mabel: Thanks for telling us about the younger you.

Mai’s Tale

by Rose

Hello! My name is Mai.I am 12 years old. I live in a new nice tenement with  a nice landlady, who takes care of the little kids if they are not working and mamma and papa are out. and my mother, my twin sister Pauline, and my little brother,Max. I live on the 4th floor of my tenement. I had been employed 2 months ago by the Triangle Shirt Factory. I took up the job of the seamstress. My 7 year old brother became a clipper at the same factory. Also in this same factory works my sister,who is a very skilled draper. My mother is a maid who comes home just before we do. My sister takes night school, so I take my brother home after work. If mom is not there, I babysit my brother and  make dinner. Just before work ends, I see my brother be put in a box, and covered with shirtwaists. I soon realize that there are inspectors coming in to inspect. As my brother and I walk home, we talk about what it felt like to be in a box, and what it felt like to have to not tell inspectors things or get fired. When we reach home, mother is not there. While I make a dinner of ham, broth and bread, ( also known as HBB,) I hear my brother playing with his toy soldiers.

Suddenly, I hear a banging at the door. I call out “ Who is it?” When I get no response, I open the door. It’s mom! She cries “ Let me in! There are inspectors on my trail! They are chasing me because they want to know why I let your brother work!”

I wake up and I walk to the kitchen. Mom is already making breakfast. It is a sunny March morning. At work, things are dreary, like normal. As work continues, I hear a sharp gasp. I lift my foot to stop my machine,and look up. The girl across from me is holding her hand. Her face is screwed up, as if she felt  pain.  A single drop of blood  slips out of a small cut, only to plop onto the half finished shirtwaist that the girl was sewing.

A sudden scream snaps me out of a daydream. All around me, women and girls run for the stairs, with the floor boss out in front. Others crowd into the elevator. The cable breaks, and men and women crash to the ground. I see nothing to worry about. I feel a sudden heat on my back, and then a sharp pain. My back is scalded and burnt. Just then, Max and Pauline run past me. As I bring up the rear of our small group, the fire scalds my arms, legs, and back. My limbs ache, but I push my siblings down the stairs. As I rush down the stairs, I wonder if my friends made it out. When I stumble outside, my siblings are waiting. With the last of my strength, I run with them for home. I plop on my bed, and the sky turns over, a black cloud comes down, and all pain recedes into a dull throb. Now, blackness.  Dizzy. “ Mai?” It’s my sister. I’m in my bed, at home. Pauline says that some how, a fire started, and most of the inside was destroyed.

The next day, there was a great funeral  march for those who had died in the great fire of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. I felt sorry for those families whose children sent them some of the money they earned so that their family could come here, because many people who did that died in the fire, and their families would not know why they stopped getting money. Suddenly, I see the body of young Rose Gualenhein, about to be put to rest. She was my B.F.F. I feel like my heart has been torn in two. I’ll miss Rose for the rest of my life. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I whirl around. It’s my aunt Suki who moved here just before we did! She says ,“ You fool! Why does your little brother work?” I repy “ Mother said that he needed to work to support the family.” My aunt takes little Max by his hand, and leads him away, saying “ I am taking Max with me!” Soon they are out of sight. A little girl runs up to me and says, “ are you Mai?” I say “Yes.” She explains that she was to bring me a message. She hands me an envelope and the message reads as follows.

Dear Mai,

We regret to say that as your mother was cleaning our windows, she fell backwards off the ladder and the fall has killed your mother.We are so sorry that this misfortune has befallen you and your family.

You are now an orphan. Please find a good home.Sincerely,the Smiths.

When I told my sister the bad news, she moaned and swayed, and soon fell over. When I called her name and got no response, I checked her pulse. She was dead! It must have been death of a broken heart. I keel over. Blackness. When I come around again, I see a brown haired, brown eyed girl standing over me. She looks about my age, but she seems a little tall for her age. She says “ I’m Rose. Rose Halgumholler.” “Hello,” I say. She says that she can take me in and I reply that I would like that very much. She says that I will have to sleep in a hole, but that is fine with me. When we get to Rose’s tenement, she shows me where I can sleep. She says “ We’ll put a mattress in that box, then put on a blanket and pillow. That is the only way that we will have  room for you.” I say “ That will be okay with me.”

I now sew clothes. 3 fourths of what I make goes to a store. What’s leftover goes to Rose so that she can sell them. I am pretty good at sewing because I worked as a seamstress at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Rose is a peddler. There is a certain lovely secrecy about living with Rose. This is it. There is a trapdoor under Rose’s bed. Under there, is an airshaft. Rose cleaned it out, and we have my bed in there. Every morning, Rose carries an extra breakfast down to me in my hole. When Rose and her family go off to work, I am allowed to come out. I sew in the living room. The only other people there are the 3 little sisters who don’t work. There is 8 year old Jenny, and there are the 6 year old twins Cleo and Ana. It is my duty to feed them and to take care of them, since they know who I am. On saturday, I sneak along under a cloth that is taped to a crate. While Rose buys cloth for sewing, I sell my goods that I made, to a nearby store. Then, I sneak back under the cloth with Rose, and since she always gives her earnings to her parents on saturday, she gives them what I made, too.

On Sunday, I sneak to church with them, and I always sit where I can see Rose and her large family. Life is good here. I forgot to mention something. Rose owns a pig. This pig is very adorable, and very well loved. Rose has named him Gordio. Also, Rose has a cute, furry, fuzzy, adorable, well loved, puppy named Snoopy. Snoopy is black, white, and totally adorable. Life is very nice here, even though I live a life of nothing but secrecy. But sometimes, I miss my family, because me and my brother are the only people in our family who are still living. But my aunt took my brother away! Now it is just me. I have many troubles, but I also have a lot of fun. On saturdays, Rose and I go of to buy cloth, but we also use the time to have fun. Just yesterday, I met a group of girls who live on the streets.  With those girls, I have so much fun that I almost forget what has happened to me! I help the girls build a little tent/house thing where they can live. Also, we found a little kitten in the alley. We take care of the little cat, and we named it Lacey paws because it has little white paws that look like lace gloves. Lacey paws is adorable!

That is all I can remember. There is nothing more to tell you about what happened. I will try to get in touch if I remember something else. Oh, I forgot to mention that I struck at rich. I started saving up, and I got lucky and I was able to get a really nice house here in Brooklyn. That is the reward of those who try hard to get what they really want.  Now the doorbell is ringing. Oh, hello Rose! What are you doing here?

 “ I wanted to come and visit.”

Great!

“ I brought Lacey paws!”

Oh good! Now we really will have fun! Ella, come and meet Rose! She even brought Lacey paws! If you want to play with Lacey paws, then you should hurry up before Rose leaves! Let’s have some fun with a kitty!

My tenement’s outside

The inside of my tenement.

model of me

This is a picture of a rich woman who used to live in the Lower East Side. She is returning to see for herself if Jacob Riis’s pictures were really of the Lower East Side. What she is seeing is laws that are not enforced, tenements, and diseases going around. This painting was inspired by the Jacob Riis tea party of 1890.