The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-09

huVWS ulSIc duOuI lue ueiASdle AiCs
chanism of modern death-dealing
weapons than SHE does. and no mill
tary expert Of Europe, or of n
other great power. is better posted on
gunmaking.
That is why "Fraulien Bertha" as
her t~ownspeople still a~ffectionately
call her. is capable Of earning $S.000,-
900 a year. Before her marriage ev-
cry day saw her down at the factory.
good and early" and since that time
she has spent almost as many hours
in work as formerly.
If a visitor to the krupp plant
should happen to see a slender young
woman. dressed in the thick yellow
"%overall' of a farm girl. in n OF
the workshops he probably would not
recognize he as the owner OF the
greatest u factory in the world.
The fierce heat that belches from the
furnaces. the binding glare of the
glowing metal. and the deafening roar
OF the great guns on the testing
grounds have no terrors for "Our La
ing Of spending a hot morning in the
workshops following every stage Of
the work there.
At the time Of her marriage to Bar
on Gustave Won Bohlen and Halbach
she made her entire trousseau with
her own fingers. much to the disgust
Of the fashionable dressmakers Of all
Germany.
Tver since her fathers death. when
he b%equeathed his forty million dollar
plant to his l~7-year-old daughter.
~ and economically. of a city Of
more than a quarter million people.
nearly every inhabitant of which is
dependent for a livelihood on the
mammoth industry she controls.
By the provision of her fathers will
the city Of Essen virtually became
Bertha Krupp's private property. In
addition to the 10000 men employed
in her gun works others are toiling
for her in the numerous outside
krupp holdings, and 1t is estimated
of the city is more or less dependent
upon her for a living, taking into ac-
count the families of the workers.
For many years after Bertha's birth
it was a source of grief to her father
that he had NJ son to inherit his vast
fortune, and take charge OF the i'm
mense industry he had developed. But
by the time his eldest daughter was
Is years old he had completely chang
ed his mind.
Bertha has the brain Of a man.
ISoAO Acp oi0 AAS SOus IL 1 UdO one,
might lot be SO steady as I know she
will be-"
That she has exceeded even the
fondest hopes Of her father has been
proved by her success In conducting
the plant and its allied industries so
that her annual earnings are now
more than 5000, 600. From early
girlhood Bertha was trained with the
one idea in view that some day she
would be in control Of the great
Krupp properties.
While her father was her real in
structor in gunmaking and in the
technical side of the business, she re.
ceived a thorough general education
under tutors at home. But it was
from her grandfather. founder of the
krupp industry, that she inherited
the indomitable energy and force Of
character that have won her success.
After a morning spent in the work.
shops 1t is not unusual for the FORE
man Of a certain department to be
summoned to the private Office Of the
girl who dictates the policies Of the
vast institution. There he will dis
cover that his feminine boss has
evolved a minute plan for the inn
|provement of some existing system.
either for the better expedition Of
the work or the safety Of the work.
ers.
There is no more humane employ
er In h world than Bertha Krupp,
and she constantly is seeking to i'm
prove the conditions under which
her 10000 employees labor. That is
one of the secrets of her success and
helps explain how a girl can earn
100000 a a
Every weapon manufactured in the
krupp plant. whether it is a rifle or
l6-inch gun. is tested in the great
tunnel which mainly is built under
ground. and on days when these tests
are made the whole city reverberates
as the giant cannons are fired.
The thunderous crashes within the
tunnel are appalling and many men
v been known to " in terror
when they stood for the first time in
the terrible place and heard the aw-
full roaring Of the big guns.
All during her fathers life Bertha
was not permitted to enter the tunnel,
but after h became sole owner Of
the plant she made known her inten-
ton of attending a trial Of big guns.
Despite the %pleadings and protesta-
Hions Of the foreman the girl stood
for " hours amid the terrific noise,
nervously pressing against the wall
and unable to repress an occasional
~S SsAC III Soil0 OPSIlcU tucIT
din. But she held good to the end.
She did not visit the plant the next
> day. but on the following day the
foreman wal called to her private Of
!, flee. To him she communicated a
carefully planned set Of new regula-
l tons concerning minute changes she
> desired to have made In the mathe-
matically designated positions Of the
men engaged in the perilous work..
! n also ordered a more %scientif-
cally calculated pointing of the bar
rels Of the guns. at a safe angle. Her
r plan was put into execution at the
following trial and still is being used.
1t Is conceded to be the safest and
/; best that possibly could be devised.
3 many men. among them an oficial
For a long time after Bertha Krupp
assumed control Of the plant q great
of the Italian war department, had
an idea that this slip Of a girl was
. merely the embarrassing owner Of the
stock of the great establishment and
that some man was the real head of
: the u factory.
After being introduced to Bertha
Krupp. n stating the object Of his
:. mission. the italian Official asked to
g meet the chief engineer to submit the
plans on which he desired an esti-