What I Did and Saw at Krupp's Works.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 167, 20 April 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

What I Did and Saw at Krupp's Works.

Secrets of the Factory of Death: Journalist's Thrilling Adventure.

Ther3 is no place in any of the belligerent countries so interesting and to mysterious as Essen, where the great Krupp works, employing 70,000 men, turn out Germany's war material. A "Daily Express'' representative has actually visited these works. More, he secured a place thers as a workman. He is a citizen of a neutral State, and his complete knowledge of the German language enabled him to pass through tne cbvious (.angers that he encountered at every turn. In the interests of the country it was obviously impossible to give publicity to his report at the time. We now present to our readers (says the "Daily Express," of February 5), with the assent cf the censorship, his report of an astonishingly successful visit in the heart of the enemy's country. It is interesting to note that our representative is the same gentleman who recently performed a highly successful journey to Constantinople and the NearEast on behalf of the "Daily Mail,'' when he was present at the famous Xish banquet given to the Kaiser by King Ferdinand of Bulgaria.

I have been at Essen and visited the Krupp factories there on behalf of the "Daily Express." It will readily be understood that for such a venture careful preparations had to be made if I wanted to have the slightest chance of success. As I had acquired some knowledge of steel drilling, I decided to personate a workman and attempt to find work in the great Essen factories. With the help of some friends in a neutral country I secured a certificate as a steel driller. Then, in proper disguise and provided with a passport duly vised by a German Consulate, I travelled towards the German frontier.

since the outbreak of war. Night and day an enormous horde of men is working to enable the German arir,fw co keep in the field. Every one of the men is working twelve hours a day. The pay for the vast majority is not more than between sixpence and sevenpence per hour. Considering the hard work and the increase in prices, this is no great sum, but the men are content.

I heard them say that if they hail to woik fifteen hours a day they would do it with pleasure t'<::■ the Fatherland. A («ei;nau knows no strike in war-time.

Prudence demanded that I should not proceed direct to Essen. Accordingly, I stayed some time jn the interior of Germany, where I had some interesting experience*. GOOD LUCK. Vi'hen I arrived at Essen it was about six o'clock one afternoon. J had journeyed from Neuwied. 1 had been in the city of the Krupps before, but 1 knew of no place where I could go in my guise of » workman looking for a job. Good luck brought me into touch with a doorkeeper who, in response to my inquiry, told me that close by was a boarding-house for workmen. It was in tiie Kettwigerstrasse, the main street in Essen. He toid me that more than twenty workers employed at Krupp's were living there. This was, of course, the very thing I wanted. I had a talk with the landlady, and in a few minutes I was taken in ;;nd introduced as a new boarder to about twenty fellows, who were having their dinner. 1 soon felt at home among them, and started conversation.

That morning, with its attendant dangers, is unforgettable. I knew perfectly what my fate would be if I was discovered, but a mastered my natural fears and went boldly on. There was nothing else to do, for I could not back out of my enterprise if I had so desired. I soon found l myself in an enormous hall. The terrific noise of the gigantic engines was enough to make one deaf. The noise got on my nerves. 1 could not understand a word when one of the men started to talk to me. Before long I became used to the din, and was sent to the next hall, the drilling shed. The few workshops I saw while there were of enormous size. They are covered with wide-spreading roofs of glass. and have, of course, good ventilation. BIG GUN MAKING. I saw blocks of steel of colossal dimensions, and understood that nere the first process in the construction ot big guns took place—namely, drilling into the steel mass. Of course, I was very careful about questioning anybody. I knew that i was in the lion's den, and that one slip would be fatal to me. I was tola that I must be considered an apprentice for some weeks to get used to the special work. My pay was to be two sinilings a day. At eleven o'clock, half of us were allowed half an hour to get some coffee and "Knogsbrot" (war bread) in the canteen.

Nearly all of them had been t j tne front, and were sent back to the Krupp works after they had recovered from slight wounds. 1 would have no trouble to find a job, they told me, provided f was a clever craftsman. There were not enough rooms in the house for me to have one to myself. I could not even secure a bed for my exclusive use. 1 had to share one with a fellow boarder. Although this was not very agreeable, it was from my point of view distinctly interesting, as it gave me the hope of getting much more inform:tion than I could obtain in the ordinary course.

The '• Kriegsbrot" is dark brown in colour, and heavy, but seemed to me to have excellent qualities. This half-hour 1 utilised to have a lock round, but was soon stopped by one of the porters, who asked me my number. When I showed him the little brass disc with my number, which was given to me in the morning, I was told that no one was allowed to pass beyond the canteen which belonged to every workshop. 1 had to return, but had the opportunity of seeing an enormous quantity cf shells, some of them of gigantic size. The bulk of the shells of medium calibre were painted red. When I went to bed thaf night I told the fellow who shared my bed what had happened. STORED SHELLS. He informed me that more than 4UOO shells for the 42cm. howitzers had b?en stored the previous week in the ammunition she'd' 1 had seen. The majority, however, had since been sent to Poland. Little by little, I got him to talk about the new quick-firing revolverguns. He told me that ho would get shot if anyone knew that he had spoken about them, as he was working in the shop where they were being manufactured, Still, as I was employed in the works, lie did not see why he could not tell me sonic particulars of the new gun which was to enable his comrades to break through the ring of trenches on the Ysor, take Calais, and so strike at th« "cremeine Englander" (''low Englishmen").

Next morning, a Saturday, 1 went to the " Verwaldstatungsgebau.' \" Krupp's management office, an immense building where everyone has to apply for employment. it is a magnificent building. It is bigger than Somerset House. One can understand something of the importance of this vast war factory when one knows that Krupp employs over 70,000 workmen and J3OOO officials, who are under the direction of twelve directors, all of whom have to go through this immense building. With their wives, children, and other dependents, over 120,000 persons get their living out of Krupp's.

Everywhere one sees uniforms, the Krupp doorkeepers wearing a livery of dark blue, with silver-coloured buttons. There is everywhere, as in most German manufacturing concerns, an air ot strength, wealth, and splendid organisation. This is seen all over industrial Germanv

Krupp's, like most otlior Germans, built for a big output and to last. I noticed l>iy; placards everywhere, stating that workmen of all descriptions were wanted for Krupp's. This encouraged me. ENGAGED. I was -ouii brought before one of the chiefs of the great works. He examined my passport and certificates, and told me to come back on .Monday morning at seven o'clock. 1 had to pass a big cannon hall when I went out. The doors were wide "pen. 1 saw there for the hist time the monster sie_,e howitzers, known in Germany as " Fleisehige Bertha" (Eat Bertha"), named so after Bertha Krupp, the only daughter of the late Eriedrich Krupp, and wife of Herr Krupp von Bohlen. When 1 told my experiences of that morning to my new comrades at din-ner-time, 1 heard that, in all, the Krupp works have been, and are still, constructing forty of these howitzers. I saw the two latest that morning. They were under orders to be despatched to the eastern war front. T remarked that they would he of no us. 1 in the western theatre of tin; war tor trench fighting. ! vvufi then UM that lii-uup hail a i.otv MMJKise ii'. store f r t hat kin;' of t;«ht!!!•;. i:; the share of :•. new Ue.nch revi 'vcr ;;.!:■'. which could lire at the enormous velocity of <>">o rounds per minute. Tbi-, of course, made me \ ibrate with excitement, and 1 made up my mind then and there to see the new Krupp miracle on Monday. Monday came. At seven o'clock exactly I was at the entrance of the works. Thousands of men of all ages passed me, going to and coming from their work. LITTLE DRTXK. The majority of them looked young. strong fellows. The difficulty in getting alcohol has an excellent effect on the hearmg and physique of the men (In Sundays and Mondays no drink whatever is available. On other days intoxicants can be obtained at the public houses- for consumption there, only—from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. During those hours the men are ;'.t work, and the selling of drjnk ill bottles and jugs to take borne is forbidden, and it is perfectly understood that these stringent regulations enable the men to stand the strain of long hours of extremely hard work. The military appearance ol the men, ; nd their a'ert, upright hearing, struck me many times. Although arguments are used in Britain against conscription, the gofirj plivs'enl effect • I th' military training all these men reeo'vo is beyond doubt. The machines have never stopper!

The calibre of the gun was 3.."em. —nearlyy H& inches, it could be fired at the rate of «30 rounds a minute, av.d !::'.'! ;; special cooling device. It would far outrano? the machineguns of the English. If renin' he cartied by two men,.and had ti<> whcohsi hut wr..s worked oi' a tript ;1. Xcaily fifty of the guns were cmDieted, r.nu a farther iJflfi would i;oon follow.

Next day, m the afternoon, 1 was lucky enough to see the new weapons. About fifteen oi them were loaded on a van. 1 recognised them immediately iroin the description of the previous night. What struck me about the guns was thou length, considering their small calibre. 1 estimated them to be a yard and a half long.

1 6id not dare to watch, too long. ! walked away, and saw the arrival of a large number of field-guns, nearly all of

the same calibre. Mo. king remarks came from all sides, caused, as I ascertained, by the fact that those guns had' been captured from the Russians, and had b t en sent to Krupp's for re; air am. also to enlarge the calibre.

With regard to myself, 1 knew that I had to hurry and see as much as I could. Even the light work I had to do was too much for my unskilled hands. I had the greatest trouble to prevent them noticing too clearly my lack of mechanical skill, am. often felt uncertain as to my fate. I had already been warned a few times by the foreman that 1 did stupid things, and T was not in the least surprised when T was called into the little office in ft corner of the shed am' 1 discharged. OTHER WORK. If T cared, they said, I couid o t work in the mines belonging to Kiupp in the Ruhr Valley. T told the foreman that such work would he too hard for me. He then advised me to try for work at the Sietuens-Schuckert Werke, a fattory of electric installations, where thev would be alio to employ me for light jobs. f wri<= pair" seven shil'ings, and left Krupp's feeling sorry that T was no better mechanic. but quite pleased with the valuable information I had al»endv obtained.

I decided to try for work in the Siemens factory, as 1 wanted to stay longer with my fellow boarders, who would doubtless be able to tell me some more interesting things. To the honour of my new friends, I must say that they all seemed to be upset when 1 informed them of my discharge. Some of them did not doubt that I would succeed in finding some other occupation. PRISONERS. That evening I went cut with two of them for a few hours. I told ;hem that I had read in various foreign papers that the Germans kill their Englisn prisoners, and that I refused to believe such barbarity on the part of n. cultured race. I received the answer that the accusation was perfectly true.

Tho Crown Prince. Rupprerht of Bavaria (Great Britain ought to remember this name) had given tlie older that no British prisoners were to lie taken. Ho did not want to s«v Kngiishmen, lie said, aiul i:' his soldiers dared to take liritish prisoners they would ho condemned by conrtinartial.

My friends told me that although they hated l the English they did not like to commit murder in cold blood, but that they had to obey. I had intended to extend my journey, but owing to a misunderstanding on the part of a friend l in a neutral country who was to provide me with an excuse to cross the frontier 1 was obliged to leave immediately, and so my experiences as a workman in Germanv came to an end.