"LADY OF THE CANNONS."

Mataura Ensign, 8 March 1913, Page 4

"LADY OF THE CANNONS."

INCOME OF £1,600,000. The richest woman ia Germany it not in the whole world, u bertha Krupp von Boh lon (who is mentioned in. to-days cables in regard to the new £?l^™ tUm \ t ? XK • Sho is worth £lljoop,ooo, and li«t ,r,eome is 41,. 000,000 a year. "Our Lady of iIL as ex* '• k " mvn ' is a wonderful woman She m queen, socially and economically, of a c.ty „f more than a quarter million people, Ut . ari y (>verv i|t . habitant of which is dependent for a< livelihood on tho mammoth induttrr ahe controls. *' Though her recently-acquired hutband poses as tho nominal headtrf the great Krupp gun works at Essen Germany, to Bertha Krupp belongs ail the credit tor tho enormous increase in capital and earnings of the plant during tho last few years. None of her army of 40,000 employees knows more about tho delicate mechanism of modern death-dealing weapons than she does, and no military expert of Europe or of any other great power, i* better posted on gutimaking. Earns £1,600,000 a Year. That is why "Fraulein Bertha," n« her townspeople still affectionately call her, is capable of earning £1,600,000 a year. Before her marriage every day saw her down at the factory, "good in<| early," and since that time she has spent almost as many hours in work un formerly. By provision of the will of her father, \ who died three years ago worth a for- j tune of eight millions sterling, the city of Essen virtually became Bertha Krupp's private property. In addition to the 40,000 men employed in her gun works others are toiling'for her in the numerous outside Krupp holdings, and it is estimated that practically the entire population of the city is more or less dependent upon her for a living, taking into account the families of the workers.

For many years after Bertha's birtli it was a source o/ to her father that ho ha<l do son to inherit his vast fortune und t>ke charge of the immense industry li" liad developed. But by the time his c'dost daughter was IS years he }).,•! completely changed hi* mind.

"Henha has tho brain of a man," «aid he, "and my son, if I had one, might not be ?o .steady as I know *,he will be." While her father was her real instructor in gunniaking and in the technical side of the business, sho received a thorough general tduoition 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 thai have won her success.

Made Her Own Trousseau. If a visitor to the Krunp plant should happen to see a slender young; | woman, dressed in the thick yellow "overall" of a farm girl, in one of the | workshops -ho probably would nbt recognise her as the owner of the greatest gun factory in tho world. [ The fierce heat that belches from the furnaces, the. blinding glare of the glowing metal, and the deafening roar of tho great guns on tho testing grounds hare no terrors for "Our Lady of the Cannon," who thinks nothing of spending a hot morning in the workshops following every stage of the work there. At tho timo of her mar,:: : » Baron Gustavo von Bohlen und Halba. .1 ah« made her entire trousseau with her own fingers, much to the disgust of the fashionable dressmakers of all Germany. There is no more humane employer in the world than Bertha Krnpp, arid she constantly is seeking to improve the condition** under which her 40,000 employees labor. Match for the Expert.

For a long time after Bertha Krupp assumed control of the plant a great many men, am on a them an official of the Italian War Department, had an idea that this slip of a girl was merely tho uninteresting owner of the stock of the great establishment and that some man was the real head of the gun factory. After being introduced to Bertha Krupp and stating the object of his mission the Italian official asked to meet the ohiof engineer to submit the plan* on which he desired an estimate. Hid opinion was still unchanged when the girl said: "You may. address yourself to me, col., Alter discus -int* a few trivial matters tlio colonel r.'nctvcd his request for a conference, with the factory chief. Ignoring his remark, the girl questioned him closely regarding his country's requirements. Ho answered by giving toclinical details which ho thought would so confute her that she would call in a responsible man. But Bertha proved herself a match for him. She met ever.r point with a helpful suggestion, and concluded by drawing on a blotter a diagram ol* a iu r, mechanical device That had been ui" ' c ;*cd to secure th*> particular end he had in view.