The New York herald., 1922-04-09

but tndt, AFTER all, was just the Degln-
ming.
There were eighty other girl typists in
the Office of that factory. Some had been
there years Miss Lempke had been there
two months when the above incident oc-
Cured. In another two months she was
called into the Office of the president of the
company. The president pointed to little
private Office adjoining that of his own.
THAT is the Office of my private secre-
tary, Miss Lempke." the president said. If
you wish you may go in there and make
yourself at home"
Il do not think | shall ever forget" says
Miss Lempke, "the magic feel of that rich,
mahogany desk! On the floor was just an
office rug but it seemed that my feet were
treading the deep soft nap of the genii's
flying carpet. | tumbled down into the
swivel chair and whirled myself around
feet stuck out SO far l cracked my ankles
against the desk as the chair swung around.
And l said to myself, out loud-Private
Secretary to the President"
One may sympathize with the typst so
suddenly promoted from among eighty
other girls, most of them employees longer
than she.
The president learned to lean heavily
upon his new private secretary. He began
to find that most of the information about
his business that he usually had to send
out to minor executives to get he could
receive direct from Miss Lempke. The
president of the Aladdin company himself
says:
Il soon found that whatever 1 left to
my secretary to do she did just as well as
I could have done 1t myself. l never in
tended to leave to her anything Of an
executive nature. But within few months
/ discovered that was having just about
onetenth Of my usual work to do and
that Miss Lempke was doing the other
nine-tenths. don't know how the process
worked itself out. 1t seemed quite natural
after while, to leave to her decisions and
plans which, at one time, would have kept
me at the office half the night"
The superintendent of the largest Of the
Aladdin plants-at Wilmington-sums up
the abilities of Miss Lempke when he says.
When she first came to this plant on
visit l soon discovered that, although she
had never seen the works, she could re
ceive carload of lumber at the back door
Of the plant and guide it through every
machine in the buildings-call every saw
by its right name, and adjust every plane
to the proper fraction of hundredth Of
an inch, and carry It through until that
original lumber went out the front door
LAT a. 49, -
certify to the company's guarantee that
nowhere in that house could be found
knot hole"
The private secretary's first promotion
came as dramatically as had the promotion
Of the typist. The president asked her
IL she ever had been far from Bay City
(Mich.), the home of the executive Offices.
She had not.
Sent to Florida to
Take Charge There
Then you would enjoy a trip to Tampa,
Florida-go down there and be general
manager of the company's Offices there"
The Florida Offices were sales headquar-
ters for the South. AS sales manager Miss
Lempke almost doubled the business in
that territory.
1t was from Florida Miss Lempke re-
Gently was called to Bay City to be notified
OF her election by the directors to be the
general manager OF the entire company,
with her own executive headquarters in
North Carolina.
"She was chosen" the president explains.
because she knows more about the busi-
ness in all its various phases than any
other person. She can step into the shoes
of any workman in the plants or into the
position OF any executive, and perform
or labors might come to her. Many of the
features of our house were designed by
her. and she can tell to the fraction OF an
inch, off hand, just how many square feet
OF lumber, what kind and quality, and at
what cost price, are included in any sized
house we build. She knows the details OF
every department. And she knows better
than any man within our KEN
Yet Miss Lempke is only z9i And II
was such a short time ago that she was
taking dictation at less than eight dollars
a. week that she still thinks in shorthand
There are no softnesses in her office; no
flowers, pillows OF ribbons. Yet, seeing
her as she rises from her desk, without
visioning at once the Office environment,
one might well think her debutante host
ess welcoming a caller to afternoon tea.
ut all seems to me-" she says, with some
thing OF wistful smile, "as IL would have
seemed a little while ago IL my boss had