Grantville Gazette Volume 25

by editor Paula Goodlett

  Axel pulled Hermanni's thoughts back to the topic at hand. "The countess has some dower money and they desire to buy a property somewhere. The count wants a manor with a strong, steady cash flow, and he is also enamored with the new technologies.

  "An officer on the count's staff, Captain Johannes Matinpoika, grew up in the Kymmene district. He is familiar with the mill. He assured the count it can be consistently profitable if it is well managed. Also, he is of the opinion that there is timber in the area which is perfect for making Grantville-style plywood."

  Hermanni nodded, relieved. His family would not be left holding the bag. Axel already had a well-connected and approved buyer.

  Axel continued, "The countess is currently visiting her husband. I became the godfather of their son. The count is in Gustav's good graces and no longer wants his wife involved in the intrigues of the empress' court." Axel smiled. "I remember when he was quite proud of having his wife as one of ladies-in-waiting to the queen. Now, going to her newly-purchased estate, would be a perfect excuse for her to not return to court."

  If the governor-general thought it was a good idea to exile his wife to a country estate, Hermanni quite understood. Wives are best kept occupied. Taking care of an estate while rearing children would be a good occupation, plus there was some political liability that could be avoided.

  "The count, my cousin," Axel continued, "has decided his wife is interested in American plywood. The forests upriver are reportedly ideal. The new manor house Hannes built instead of upgrading the sawmill will make the purchase more tolerable to the countess. This way, your brother can recoup his investment. He might even manage a small profit. And Gustav will climb down off of his high horse."

  Midwinter 1635, Mainz

  After the countess purchased the forest, manor house, sawmill and the lands of several villages on the Kymi River, her husband, Count Niels, told her, "You should retain the services of Johannes Matinpoika's young wife, Kristiina von Houwaldt. Johannes' family estate is on the Kymi. I have campaigned with him for years and have met her socially on several occasions. She is from Germany and her family claims some minor nobility. She is a practical young woman with an impressive intellect and a solid grasp of commerce and trade. Her brothers are pursuing military careers. I doubt if she brought Johannes much if any dowry, but you can figure out why he married her at first glance.

  "I am more taken by her drive, analytical abilities, and skill with languages than I am with her beauty. Johannes wants to take her home to meet his family, so I can assign him the task of escorting you to our new estate this spring. I want you to go there to start the industrialization as soon as the weather permits the voyage."

  "Niels, if you feel she would be helpful then by all means I will put her on staff," the countess said agreeably.

  * * *

  When he brought the topic up, Johannes Matinpoika's found his young wife, Kristiina von Houwaldt, to be much less amenable.

  "Kristiina, you really should do this."

  "But, then I will be away from you."

  "If I get called to the front we will be separated in any case. Raising children in the camps is not good. Besides, a boy should be raised on the land which will be his some day."

  "But if I am managing this lumber project, when will I raise the children." She patted her belly.

  Johannes smiled with certain pleasant memories but he came back to the practical subject at hand. "I am sure your compensation will cover a nanny, and a wet nurse if you need one."

  "What is this really about, Johannes?"

  "You can see right through me, can't you?"

  She smiled. Johannes felt his heart melt. But, he pulled his mind back to the conversation in hand instead of pursuing a pleasure in the bush. "I still need to introduce you to my family. The general is going to have me escort his wife, the countess, to their new estate this spring. If you are in her service, they will take care of your travel, too. From the look of things, little Johannes will be my brother's heir as well as mine. While I am there I can formally take possession of the farms I am getting in lieu of my back wages and someone will need to oversee them. That someone should be you. If you are in the employ of the countess, you can live in the manor instead of with my brother Iivari. His house is small, and the estate is little more than a large farm with some hired help, so that would be much more comfortable.

  "But, really, for me this whole project is about Finland. As it is now, the grand duchy of Finland is too much under the control of people in Stockholm who do not even understand our language. Emperor Gustav is the grand duke of Finland in a long, and often forgotten, list of other things. He doesn't give Finland a passing thought as long as there's peace. It is a poor country, full of trees and not much else except for fish and furs. North country summers are short and the winters are cold and snowy. There isn't enough farm land to ever produce much of a surplus. There is no significant reserve for hard times. If we industrialize early, we can get ahead of the pack. Plywood will make a difference in the world. Finnish plywood will make a difference to Finland. As it stands, if the crops fail people starve because there is no other means of livelihood. If we have industry, then there is another source of income in hard times.

  "I've seen people hungry in the spring, and there was nothing we could do because our own barns were bare and there was not enough money to buy for our own and for others too.

  "I know you are competent and compassionate. You know how to deal with people. You understand how to make a profit. Remember, I watched you help your uncle in his businesses before I proposed. So tell the count 'yes.' Go raise my son in his own land. I will seek an appointment to Viipuri province when I can. It should be no more than a few years, if this war ever eases."

  February 1635, Grantville

  Kristiina von Houwaldt,her chambermaid Annika, little Johannes and his nanny, and Jussi Kallenpoika, one of Countess Anna Marketta Bielke's retainers, disembarked from the train at the Grantville station. Markus Heikinpoika and the hotel concierge waited with a horseless carriage to take the party to their hotel.

  Kristiina was complying with the count's instructions: "Go to Grantville. Research the area of the estate in the library. Choose a shop and commission them to build the machines needed to make plywood. Then explore what other ways and means we might employ to make the estate more productive."

  Kristiina stopped and looked at the elegant and truly impressive horseless carriage. She sounded out, and pronounced, the words written in the brightest of silver over the front wheel. "Ford Econoline." The words sounded tentative. She could read English but not speak it, unless you counted what the Scots spoke as English. She had learned to read Italian and Latin as a child, along with her native German. She learned to speak Scots while her husband served with Colonel Alexander Gordon's company. Then she taught herself to read English. There were so many works waiting to be translated, and many that had already been translated read so poorly that it was annoying.

  The concierge from the hotel heard her hesitancy and took it for a question. "Yes, milady. It's a Ford Econoline fifteen-passenger van. Grantville's newest and grandest luxury hotel, our very own Holiday Lodge where every stay is a vacation, bought it for a courtesy limousine now that gas is available, even if it is still outrageously expensive. We offer the limo service since we're out of town a ways, but don't worry. The trolley line to Grantville stops right outside our lobby. The limo rides a little rough with the wooden wheels. The rubber tires wouldn't hold air anymore.

  "This way please, and watch your step."

  During the trip the guide kept up a constant chatter about things of interest, starting with the train station. "The station is from up-time and quite old as they counted such things," and ending with, "That cut in the cliff was blasted out to give the near-by village direct access to Grantville without going miles around. When Grantville annexed the village they widened the cut and extended the trolley line."

  The newly-built Holiday Lodge s
tood in a wooded setting surrounded by what would be an impressive formal garden in a decade or so when it had established itself. The most visually striking thing about the three story building was the enormous quantity of diamond-shaped panes of glass. Individually they could not hold a candle to the plate glass in the old buildings downtown, but collectively they were quite impressive. "Holiday Lodge has sixty suites and guestrooms." the guide said. "Though half of the rooms are as yet neither finished or furnished. There are over two hundred windows using thousands of panes of glass." The van stopped under the canopy built over the trolley stop in front of the main entrance.

  The next morning Kristiina and Markus took the trolley into town to interview research assistants. She settled on a bright young woman, Barbara Falke.

  "I need to find out as much as I can about the area around the Kymi River," Kristiina said.

  "Let's start by looking at a map," Barbara said. "Just where is the Kymi?"

  "It's in the part of Sweden called Finland."

  "Okay. Here is Finland. It's in a different color here on the map, so up-time it was no longer part of Sweden . . . and here is the Kymi River."

  "My husband is from right about this area," Kristiina said, pointing to the mouth of the river. "But this town or city, Kotka? He has never mentioned it."

  "Let's check the encyclopedia. I'll be right back." She was barely gone before she returned. "It's no wonder you never heard of Kotka. It doesn't exist yet. Its main exports were lumber, plywood and paper. Now what else do you want to know?"

  "We have a lumber mill, and we are interested in building a plywood mill."

  "Sure, I can look plywood up for you. Carlo Rainaldi researched plywood while he was studying here in Grantville. Did you know he's listed in the encyclopedia as a cathedral builder? His wife Angelina ran away from her rich uncle in Italy to marry him. It was all quite romantic. They both work for the navy in Magdeburg these days. If you want to talk to him, you can get to Magdeburg in only a day since they've opened the rail line."

  Kristiina was a bit unsure as to why what she had just been told was important. "I will need to have the machinery built to make plywood."

  "Then you definitely need to talk to Carlo. He designs things, mostly for the navy."

  "You said the encyclopedia mentioned lumber, plywood and paper. Why ship rags to a shop in the middle of a forest and then ship paper back?" asked Kristiina. "The transport cost would eat up the profit."

  "I think up-time paper was made from wood pulp, not rags," responded Barbara.

  "Wood pulp? How?"

  "Let's see what we can find out."

  At the end of the day, Kristiina summarized: "So, ideally everything cut should be used: the large trunks for plywood and lumber, the smaller for paper pulp, the best of the rest for fire wood, and everything else for charcoal. The only thing left should be the stump and it holds the soil in place while new trees grow. And there is a use for each different type of tree.

  "Charcoal burners can be hired, if there is any market for the charcoal. But I can't see the count doing paper. There is not enough detailed information available. It would take forever and a small fortune, if we were lucky, to figure out what they did."

  "If you wish," Barbara said, "I can check everything in the library while you're in Magdeburg, but I don't know of anyone in town with any real experience with making paper out of wood pulp. All the paper makers are down-timers."

  The next day Kristiina caught the train to Magdeburg .

  Somewhere past Jena, Jussi, her security escort, asked Annika softly, so as not to be overheard, "Is she all right?"

  The lady was sitting very still staring out the window of the coach but she did not seem to be really seeing anything. He thought she looked uncomfortable, or even ill. If she were, he should know. If it were serious, he should tell the countess.

  "Don't trouble yourself over it, Jussi. She gets lost to the world like this when she reads, too. There are things on her mind, that's all."

  "Does the train ride not agree with her then? She looks a little green, or even like she's in pain?"

  "You've got a good eye for a man."

  "I notice things. I'm supposed to watch for trouble before it happens. You didn't answer the question."

  Annika smiled. "Well, Jussi, I am her ladyship's personal servant. I don't discuss my lady's personal life."

  "Annika, I am just as much her personal servant as you are. If it affects her, it affects me. You are, rightly, mindful of her privacy, but I am part of her privacy now, and will be for years to come, from the looks of things. So tell me about it."

  Annika looked defiant. Jussi just stared at her. In the end Annika giggled. "It is nothing really," she said. "She's worried about the task and she's unhappy about being separated from her husband. On top of which, the morning sickness was bad this morning."

  "Oh." Jussi said. "I didn't know she was carrying."

  "Yes. She is. And while she and the nanny have been weaning little Johannes, she's not dry yet so she is uncomfortable, on top of everything else, but mostly the project is weighing heavy on her mind."

  "And what weighs heavy on your mind, Annika?"

  "Don't even think about getting frisky with me, Jussi," Annika said. But she smiled when she said it.

  * * *

  Count Niels Brahe, governor-general of the newly-established Mainz province, had a very busy schedule while in Magdeburg. Most of his mornings and early afternoons were full of meetings with the new ministry of the interior and with various military offices. His wife managed to fill his evenings. With Kristiina's arrival, the count hastily arranged for a meeting with the navy's rising star in design and development.

  Getting the appointment proved to be easier than freeing up time from his agenda. When he announced he wanted to talk about plywood, with an eye toward opening a mill in Finland, it became a question of: "When can you come?" Marine grade plywood was something the admiral was very interested in. Unfortunately, the only time the count could free up was a late morning, when his wife would be attending a tea given by the admiral's wife for the senior military wives who were in town.

  * * *

  "Your Excellency, I'm Ensign Baltzer von Karsten with public relations. I am very happy to meet you, sir. And you must be Lady von Houwaldt. Please come in. Lieutenant Rainaldi will be here shortly. I've sent someone to fetch him." The ensign said it with a smile. Carlo's habit of getting absorbed in his work on a drawing board and losing all track of time was a standing joke in the shipyard. "Don't get rainy-day on me," meant, "Pay attention to the world around you."

  Carlo Rainaldi walked in with a dozen large rolls of paper tucked under one arm and an inch-thick stack of paper in his other hand. Without introduction or preamble of any sort he spread the first roll of two-by-three-foot drawings out on the table and started talking. Ensign von Karsten shook his head, but Rainaldi had the count's attention, so the ensign did not interrupt to apologize.

  "This assumes you have enough of a water drop to run a large overshot water wheel or enough water flow for a massive undershot wheel," Carlo said. At a nod from the count he continued. "You could have an all metal water turbine with a metal gear train made up, but that would take a lot of time unless you could get a priority slot since the shops are all back-ordered, and it would cost a lot of money. Or you can build it almost all out of wood. I was told you would be building the plant in the middle of nowhere. Would you prefer something you can repair without sending away for parts?"

  The count nodded. "Yes."

  Carlo rolled up the top three drawings on the stack. He then pointed to the one left. "This design is for a plywood plant that has metal parts only where it is impractical to use wood. It can be made almost completely on site."

  Carlo walked the count through the whole process of making plywood, going from one drawing to another, with frequent thumps on the pile of papers, and the oft repeated words, "The details are spelled out in here.

  "You
should take the time to tour the local plywood shop sometime when it's running. They've got a new peeler and press but they have trouble getting the right trees in the right sizes. And wood is expensive, so they don't have any plans on expanding. That's why you should build a plant somewhere with plenty of cheap trees."

  He ended with a discussion of the different glues needed for different purposes, and where to get them. "Greg Ferrara's people came up with an additive for the fish head glues. It stinks to high heaven but, so far at least, it is keeping it from going moldy. You will probably have to set up a subsidiary business to meet your needs. Fortunately, fish heads are plentiful. There is a small outfit in Wietze that can make a good waterproof glue. If you want large quantities give them plenty of lead time."

  The presentation lasted two hours. When Rainaldi finished the count simply shook his head. "You did all of this in the day and a half since I asked for a meeting?"

  "No, sir. The drawings have been ready for months. As I said, the admiral expressed an earlier interest, but government funding was not available. Besides, I need a plywood plant if I am ever going to get pre-formed single-piece small boat shells and aircraft bodies.

  "Let me show you the plans for a preformed boat mold and . . ."

  "Carlo," the ensign interrupted, "we need to break for lunch." He turned to his senior guest, "Is Your Excellency free this afternoon?"

  "Actually," the count responded, "much to my regret, I have another appointment."

  Kristiina spoke for the first time since arriving in the conference room. "But I am free. And we are very interested in making small boats and aircraft bodies, are we not, sir?" she asked, turning to the count.