The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

shine but rich with lime. You will find carpenters, boss masons. steel foremen,
 men who make a speciality of concrete
 any one connected with the building bus
 mess. They are the captains, the majors, the colonels, the brigadiers of Alice Dur kln's army of industry.
 l 1t was II years ago that Miss Durlxin,
 slip of girl went to work in the of i flee of Charles H. Peekworth. She had
 no training in business and knew nothing | Of the building trade. He was a builder, | SC he engaged her. Plans, contracts. specifications were not dry, dull. matter of fact things to her. She could see be- | ycnd the written words or the drawn | lines She had imagination. She could | picture what grew out of the papers be- | fore her Each and every detail hadf an l interest to her. Her work absorbed her | It was not long before MT. Peckworth l found he had a remarkably capable as- l slstant in that slender slip of a girl She had no technical education, but she had what was almost as good-a keen desire to learn. Everything about her employ- ers work interested her. She was inquis- itive and acquisitve. She talked with the plumbers. the carpenters and the masons who came to the office She inquired about materials, about labor. about con-
 
 stored up in her memory. She took great pride in her employers undertakings. She felt as much joy in a fine piece of con- struction as he did. She was thorough l in everything she did, and she was quick, 1 too
 When she had been in the office only a l year she plucked up courage one day to request MT Peckworth to permit her to l figure on some alterations in school. The
 job was not big, but her estimate showed she had overlooked nothing. Her employ
 CT complimtented her so highly that it 1 gave spur to her ambition She deter
 mined to be builder herself
 1 A young person is inclined to be hasty but Miss Durliin had a lot of good sense l to balance her ambition. She took I'D a | course of reading, such as would appal the average girl of r. One of the vol
 umes that received her most earnest at
 tention was that fascinating work, The ! Building Regulations of the City of New l York Some persons read and forget. Miss DurlSin does not. She reads under 1 stGndinely, reads with a depth of interest 1 that only the true student manifests. 1 It was not enough for her to know the 1 regulations. She had to know the reason l for each and every one, the basis for it
 and the full meaning and purpose of 1t. Coineident with her study of the building regulations she figured on such plans as
 came to her employers office for consld- eration. She showed such a wide, com prehensive knowledge of the business that
 she won the confidence of MT Peckworth and he gave every encouragement to her.
 She was accurate. was fine mathemati-
 elan and kept close watch on the price
 of all building materials.
 One day she had the great pleasure of seeing her employer get a contract on the
 figsres she had prepared. It was a good sized structure. too. She was sure Of
 herself from that time forward After
 that the contractor got various other jobs on her figures. Then she became known as Mr. PeclSworths right hand
 man" Her employer prospered and her