Full Download Technological Transformation in The Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800-2018: Comparative Perspectives Timo Särkkä PDF

Download the full version of the textbook now at textbookfull.
com
Technological Transformation in the Global

Pulp and Paper Industry 1800–2018:
Comparative Perspectives Timo Särkkä
https://textbookfull.com/product/technological-
transformation-in-the-global-pulp-and-paper-
industry-1800-2018-comparative-perspectives-timo-
sarkka/
Explore and download more textbook at https://textbookfull.com

Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.
Pulp and Paper Industry. Nanotechnology in Forest Industry

1st Edition Pratima Bajpai
https://textbookfull.com/product/pulp-and-paper-industry-
nanotechnology-in-forest-industry-1st-edition-pratima-bajpai/
textbookfull.com
Technological Progress and the Transformation of China s

Economic Development Mode Wen Xiao
https://textbookfull.com/product/technological-progress-and-the-
transformation-of-china-s-economic-development-mode-wen-xiao/
textbookfull.com
The Road Map of China s Steel Industry Reduction

Innovation and Transformation Xinchuang Li
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-road-map-of-china-s-steel-
industry-reduction-innovation-and-transformation-xinchuang-li/
textbookfull.com
The Search Party 3rd Edition Hannah Richell
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-search-party-3rd-edition-hannah-
richell/
textbookfull.com
Youth Homelessness in Late Modernity Reflexive Identities
and Moral Worth 1st Edition David Farrugia (Auth.)
https://textbookfull.com/product/youth-homelessness-in-late-modernity-
reflexive-identities-and-moral-worth-1st-edition-david-farrugia-auth/
textbookfull.com
House of Vampires 13 0 The Others Jessica Clark 1st

Edition Samantha Snow
https://textbookfull.com/product/house-of-vampires-13-0-the-others-
jessica-clark-1st-edition-samantha-snow/
textbookfull.com
Providence (Damnation MC #2) 1st Edition Grace Mcginty
https://textbookfull.com/product/providence-damnation-mc-2-1st-
edition-grace-mcginty/
textbookfull.com
The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to

Reward 1st Edition Stanley S. Litow
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-challenge-for-business-and-
society-from-risk-to-reward-1st-edition-stanley-s-litow/
textbookfull.com
NZ Frenzy North Island New Zealand Scott R Cook
https://textbookfull.com/product/nz-frenzy-north-island-new-zealand-
scott-r-cook/
textbookfull.com
Commercial Aviation in the Jet Era and the Systems that
Make it Possible Thomas Filburn
https://textbookfull.com/product/commercial-aviation-in-the-jet-era-
and-the-systems-that-make-it-possible-thomas-filburn/
textbookfull.com
World Forests XXIII
Timo Särkkä
Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch
Mark Kuhlberg Editors
Technological
Transformation in
the Global Pulp
and Paper Industry
1800–2018
Comparative Perspectives
World Forests
Volume 23
Series editors
Matti Palo, Cartago, Costa Rica
Jussi Uusivuori, Vantaa, Finland
Advisory Board
Janaki Alavalapati, University of Florida, USA
Joseph Buongiorno, University of Wisconsin, USA
Jose Campos, CATIE, Costa Rica
Sashi Kant, University of Toronto, Canada
Maxim Lobovikov, FAO/Forestry Department, Rome, Italy
Misa Masuda, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Roger Sedjo, Resources for the Future, Washington, USA
Brent Sohngen, University of Ohio, USA
Yaoqi Zhang, Ohio State University, Ohio, USA
World Forests Description
As forests stay high on the global political agenda, and forest-related industries
diversify, cutting edge research into the issues facing forests has become more and
more transdisciplinary. With this is mind, Springer’s World Forests series has been
established to provide a key forum for research-based syntheses of globally relevant
issues on the interrelations between forests, society and the environment.
The series is intended for a wide range of readers including national and
international entities concerned with forest, environmental and related policy issues;
advanced students and researchers; business professionals, non-governmental
organizations and the environmental and economic media.
Volumes published in the series will include both multidisciplinary studies with a
broad range of coverage, as well as more focused in-depth analyses of a particular
issue in the forest and related sectors. Themes range from globalization processes
and international policies to comparative analyses of regions and countries.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6679

Timo Särkkä Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch
•
Mark Kuhlberg
Editors
Technological
Transformation in the Global
Pulp and Paper Industry
1800–2018
Comparative Perspectives
123
Editors
Timo Särkkä Mark Kuhlberg
Department of History and Ethnology Department of History
University of Jyväskylä Laurentian University
Jyväskylä, Finland Sudbury, ON, Canada
Department of Economic History,
Institutions, Policy and World Economy,
The Research Centre in Economics and
Economic History ‘Antoni de Capmany’
University of Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
ISSN 0785-8388 ISSN 1566-0427 (electronic)

World Forests
ISBN 978-3-319-94961-1 ISBN 978-3-319-94962-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94962-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018950794
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
This book is the product of a joint effort by 15 authors representing ten different
universities around the world, including institutions in Finland, Spain, Canada,
Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand. The book originated in a
seminar organised at the Department of History and Ethnology, University of
Jyväskylä, Finland, on 21–22 October 2013. The focus of the seminar was to create
new collaborative networks among scholars interested in the history of the pulp and
paper industry. It was followed by a seminar held at the Department of Economic
History, Institutions, Policy and World Economy, University of Barcelona, Spain,
on 25–26 November 2015. The purpose of that gathering was to discuss and
develop theories, methods and approaches in dialogue with the authors of the book.
Dr. Jussi Uusivuori, Research Professor, at the Natural Resources Institute Finland,
acted as the invited commentator of the seminar. First chapter drafts were presented
at the 1st World Congress on Business History/20th Congress of the European
Business History Association in Bergen, Norway, on 25–27 August 2016.
The seminars and congresses were followed by an intensive research period, and
during this time, two of the editors visited their colleagues’ institutions to work on
this project. Dr. Mark Kuhlberg was a visiting professor for two and a half months
(3 April–15 June 2017) at the Department of History and Ethnology, University of
Jyväskylä, and Dr. Timo Särkkä was a visiting researcher for a month (6
November–8 December 2017) at the Department of Economic History, Institutions,
Policy and World Economy, University of Barcelona. For an international research
project, researcher mobility is a necessary and vital element to its success. It is
important that the members of the research group are able to work together
intensively and in close collaboration with each other. The purposes of the visits
were to strengthen research cooperation with the members of the research team,
prepare the book manuscript, conduct research work, advance career development,
add a more international and critical element to the national research systems and
provide new insights for the research. This, we hope, will be manifest in the quality
of the book.
v
vi Preface
The seminars, conferences and researcher visits were supported by the Academy
of Finland (grant numbers 267720; 298453), Department of History and Ethnology,
University of Jyväskylä, and The Research Centre in Economics and Economic
History ‘Antoni de Capmany’, Department of Economic History, Institutions,
Policy and World Economy, University of Barcelona. The editors would like to
thank the funding bodies, the hosting institutions, the authors, the publisher and the
series editor for the faith displayed in their work.
Jyväskylä, Finland Timo Särkkä

Barcelona, Spain Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch
Sudbury, Canada Mark Kuhlberg
Contents
1 Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper

Industry: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Timo Särkkä, Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch and Mark Kuhlberg
Part I Research and Development

2 Manufacturing Cellulosic Fibres for Making Paper:
A Historical Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Raimo Alén
3 Research and Development in the Finnish Wood Processing
and Paper Industry, c. 1850–1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Panu Nykänen
4 The Greening of the Pulp and Paper Industry: Sweden
in Comparative Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Kristina Söderholm
Part II Regulations and Institutions

5 Varieties of State Aid and Technological Development:
Government Support to the Pulp and Paper Industry,
the 1970s to the 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Jari Ojala, Niklas Jensen-Eriksen and Juha-Antti Lamberg
6 From Backward to Modern: The Adoption of Technology
by the Pulp Industry in Portugal, 1891–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Amélia Branco and Pedro Neves
7 Natural Potential, Artificial Restraint: The Dryden Paper
Company and the Fetters on Adopting Technological Innovation
in a Canadian Pulp and Paper Sector, 1900–1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Mark Kuhlberg
vii
viii Contents
8 The Endless Sheet: Technology Transfer and the Papermaking

Industry in Spain, 1800–1936 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Part III Local Innovations and Global Markets

9 Technology Transfer and Local Innovation: Pulp and Paper
Manufacturing in New Zealand, c.1860 to c.1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Michael Roche
10 Making Paper in Australia: Developing the Technology
to Create a National Industry, 1818–1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Gordon Dadswell
11 The Quest for Raw Materials in the British Paper Trade:
The Development of the Bamboo Pulp and Paper Industry
in British India up to 1939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Timo Särkkä
12 Creating Global Markets: Seaborne Trade in Pulp and Paper
Products Over the Last 400 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Jari Ojala and Stig Tenold
13 Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper
Industry: Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Mark Kuhlberg, Timo Särkkä and Jussi Uusivuori
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Contributors
Raimo Alén Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemistry,

University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
Ann-Kristin Bergquist Department of Geography and Economic History, Umeå
University, Umeå, Sweden
Amélia Branco GHES/CSG, ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics and
Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Gordon Dadswell School of History and Philosophy of Science, University of
Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch Department of Economic History, Institutions, Policy and
World Economy, The Research Centre in Economics and Economic History
‘Antoni de Capmany’, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Niklas Jensen-Eriksen Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies,
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Mark Kuhlberg History Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON,
Canada
Juha-Antti Lamberg Department of History and Ethnology, University of
Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
Pedro Neves GHES/CSG, ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics and Management,
Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Panu Nykänen Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä,
Jyväskylä, Finland
Jari Ojala Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä,
ix
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
x Contributors
Michael Roche School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University,

Palmerston North, New Zealand
Timo Särkkä Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä,
Kristina Söderholm Department of Business Administration, Technology and
Social Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
Stig Tenold Department of Economics, NHH - Norwegian School of Economics,
Bergen, Norway
Jussi Uusivuori Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Chapter 1
Technological Transformation
in the Global Pulp and Paper Industry:
Introduction
Timo Särkkä, Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch and Mark Kuhlberg
1.1 Research Setting
This contributed volume endeavours to analyse the past 200 years of technological
transformation in the global pulp and paper industry from a comparative perspective.
The study is motivated by the realisation that using comparative methods is a highly
revealing way of exposing the complexities the modern pulp and paper technologies
have undergone in the past and of analysing today’s business environment with
changing market dynamics and consumer behaviour. Methodologically, the study
combines transnational, national and regional level analyses with micro level case
studies by focusing on the development of a single industry—pulp and paper. The
research concentrates on the various historical trajectories of the manufacture of
pulp and paper and the technologies related to them. It covers the entire history of
technology transfer in the global pulp and paper industry from raw materials to mill
management, and from transportation to environmental issues. As a result, the book
is arguably the most comprehensive historical analysis of papermaking technology
available.
The investigation is directly linked to The Evolution of Global Paper Industry
1800–2050: A Comparative Analysis (Lamberg et al. 2012), which revealed several
T. Särkkä (B)
Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Gutiérrez-Poch
Department of Economic History, Institutions, Policy and World Economy, The Research Centre
in Economics and Economic History ‘Antoni de Capmany’, University of Barcelona, Barcelona,
Spain
M. Kuhlberg
History Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 1

T. Särkkä et al. (eds.), Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper
Industry 1800–2018, World Forests 23, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94962-8_1
2 T. Särkkä et al.
impetuses for an in-depth study of technological transformation in the global pulp

and paper industry. The present volume is primarily intended as a basic introduc-
tion to the history of papermaking technology and it is aimed at the same category
of readers as The Evolution of the Global Paper Industry; it is also geared toward
students and teachers as course material at the secondary and tertiary levels and as a
handbook for professionals working either in industry or research centres. The con-
tent could be best utilised for raising important questions among the more advanced
graduate audiences by thoroughly familiarising them with the characteristics of the
technological transformation of the global pulp and paper industry. It caters to grad-
uate audiences in four intersected but conventionally separate fields of study, each
having its distinct but interlinked interest and relationship within the pulp and paper
industry: forestry, business, technical sciences, and history.
The primary idea behind the present book was to write a comprehensive volume
that covers all the important areas related to the history of papermaking technology.
Furthermore, it was believed that the need for a volume of this type is very real
and continuing, and that updated research on changes that have been taking place
in some of the key areas during recent years are useful for purposes of teaching
and research. However, it is also obvious that this book pays less attention to certain
topics and regions, which have already been covered in The Evolution of Global Paper
Industry (Lamberg et al. 2012). For this reason, in these cases a complementary use
of both volumes is recommended. The world’s pulp and paper industry is becoming
increasingly global and with a speed unforeseen in the past. Thus covering what is
termed here the global pulp and paper industry runs the risk of becoming outdated
as the geographical orientation of the industry is constantly shifting. For instance,
from the present point of view the emerging pulp and paper industry regions in Latin
America could arguably be considered worthy of investigation. The present study is
not intended to deny their importance. Instead, it outlines the development processes
of the technological transformation of the industry from a historical perspective, and
concentrates on phenomena and regions that are considered to be revealing for the
topic as a whole.
1.2 The History of Papermaking Technology
The research starts with a comprehensive historical analysis of the evolution of

cellulose chemistry. Paper can be defined as being an aqueous deposit of any plant
fibres and other materials in the form of a web or sheet. It is manufactured from a
filament product, which has been obtained by mechanically or chemically separating
plant fibres from each other. In papermaking the liberated fibres are brought together
again on the paper machine, where they interact with each other in the presence
of chemicals charged to the liquid stock. As paper consists of plant fibres, paper
partakes not only of the chemical nature of the fibre, but its physical nature as well.
For instance, cotton rags formed an excellent papermaking material for the reason that
a single cotton fibre is immensely strong: it is capable of supporting enormous weight
in comparison with its thickness. Therefore, the characteristics of finished products
1 Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp … 3
can always be traced to the form, size, and chemical behaviour of the ultimate fibre
itself. For this reason, any investigation into the history of papermaking technology
inevitably encompasses the history of cellulose chemistry as well (Chap. 2; see also
Alén 2007, pp. 18, 20; Beadle 1908).
By the judicious choice of raw material, and also by modifying both the mechan-
ical and chemical treatments to which it is subjected, divergence in the qualities of
paper can be achieved. The processes that are used to convert fibrous feedstocks into
a mass of liberated fibres by dissolving the components (mainly lignin) that binds the
cellulosic fibres together are collectively called “pulping”. The purpose of pulping
is to separate the fibres from the plant and render them suitable for papermaking.
These conversions can be accomplished either mechanically (i.e., by means of
mechanical beating) (Sundholm 1999, p. 17) or chemically (i.e., by means of chem-
icals) (Gullichsen 2000, p. 14) or by combining these two types of treatment. In
fibres with low yields of cellulose that consume a large volume of chemicals, the
cost of chemical treatment per ton of finished pulp is often so high as to prohibit the
material from industrial use, regardless of whether the resulting pulp is of excellent
quality. These factors need to be carefully considered in estimating the value of any
raw material for the purpose of manufacture as several case studies (Chaps. 9–11) in
this volume vividly demonstrate.
Until very recently, paper offered the most convenient, cheapest and democratic
medium for communication in the form of newsprint, and printing and writing papers.
In the 2000s, the rise of electronic media and information technology has slowly but
what appears to be rather irreversibly eroded the role paper once played as the main
medium for communication. During roughly the same period, a significant increase
in the demand for packaging (e.g. liner, fluting, boxboard), hygienic, health care and
other specialised end uses of paper have taken place. The expanded diversity of output
can be determined from total global production. In 2016, wrapping and packaging
paper grades accounted for more than half (57%) of total global production (409
million tonnes). Newsprint, printing and writing paper grades constituted approxi-
mately a third (31%) of the total, followed by household and sanitary paper grades
(8%) (FAO 2016). Significantly, however, for most of the research period investi-
gated in this study, by far the dominant use of paper was for newsprint, printing or
writing. Naturally, then, the fundamentals that have defined technology transfer until
very recently have mainly been connected to communication in one way or another.
One of the fundamentals that has defined technology transfer in the global pulp and
paper industry is connected to the technical development of the paper machine itself
(Chaps. 2 and 8). The Fourdrinier machine represented a straightforward mechanisa-
tion of what was formerly done by hand. In principle, it performs the same sequence
of actions as in handmade papermaking, but does so at a much faster rate. Since its
introduction more than 200 years ago, the maximum speed (m/min) and width (m)
of the machines have increased dramatically, thus contributing—arguably more than
any other factor—to the increase in production capacity. During the period from
1900 to 2005, for instance, the maximum speed of the machine rose ten folded (from
200 to 2000 m/min), and the maximum width of the machine grew from circa three
metres to eleven. During roughly the same period, global production of paper grew
from less than 10 million tonnes (in 1900) to 409 million tonnes (in 2016) (Diesen
2007, p. 11; FAO 2016). Without improvements in technology—whether related to
papermaking engineering, cellulose chemistry, energy efficiency or transport—such
a dramatic increase in production capacity would not have been possible.
Besides paper production capacity, global production of fibre furnish (i.e. wood-
based pulp, non-wood-based pulp and recycled fibres) is an important measure of
technology transfer. Paper is manufactured from plants containing cellulosic fibres,
and they can be planted or grow naturally under favourable conditions of climate
and soil. Today, the typical plants used for paper manufacture are coniferous trees,
such as pine (Pinus spp.), spruce (Picea spp.), fir (Abies spp.) and hemlock (Tsuga
spp.), and deciduous trees, especially eucalypts. In 2016, global production of fibre
furnish amounted to 415 million tonnes. From this total refuse materials (e.g. recycled
paper) represented 54% (217 million tonnes) of global fibre furnish, with the rest
(46%) coming from virgin forest resources and various fibrous, non-wood feedstocks
together with industrial forest plantations for the production of pulpwood (FAO
2016).
Prior to the mid-nineteenth century paper was manufactured almost exclusively
from non-wood feedstocks. Grasses and straws were among the oldest raw materials
used by the papermakers in East Asia. Paper was first introduced in China as a
writing material to replace the use of the wooden tablets (i.e. flat pieces of wood
on which records have been written in sumi, the traditional medium for writing
in East Asia using an ink composed principally of soot and binders). Wood-block
printing technology emerged during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The expansion
of the imperial dynasty to Korea brought the Chinese in contact with Japan, where
some papermakers still use the paper mulberry as raw material to make washi, the
Japanese paper (Chap. 2).
The domestication of important papermaking plants such as cotton and flax and
their use for fabrics were important milestones in the history of papermaking. Grad-
ually both the Arabs and the Greco-Roman world became familiar with the secrets
of the cotton fibre and printing technology. The use of the Arabic and Latin alphabet
gave the technological advantage to the Arabs and the Europeans over the Chi-
nese, the Koreans and the Japanese, who used Classical Chinese characters (i.e. the
relatively simple character sets facilitated the introduction of printing technologies
that used types casted from metal as opposed to blocks of wood engravings). The
immensely strong cotton and flaxen fibres in the form of rags from fabrics and tech-
nological innovations connected with printing ensured since the late fifteenth century
the establishment of paper mills and printing presses first in the Old World, and then
following European colonisation in the New World (Chap. 2).
The use of rags as the primary papermaking material started to show symptoms
of saturation in the early-Victorian Britain—the first “journalising” society in the
world (i.e. the mass media can be interpreted as the ideological environment of the
early-Victorian society). The extension of education and literature, and the increased
literacy and heightened social consciousness directly increased demand for paper.
Furthermore, the mechanisation of the industry indirectly gave people and institu-
tions more reason to need paper. The rise of the popular press and technological
improvements in lithographic printing allowed for the mass production of penny and
halfpenny newspapers, journals, magazines, reviews and cheap editions of books;
they thus came within the reach of the very poorest members of society. The more
economical methods of manufacturing an exponentially greater output to meet larger
demand led to the quest for new raw materials. Two separate developments took
place: the introduction of new processing treatments to some of the old papermaking
materials (e.g. esparto and bamboo) (Chap. 11) and the introduction of a range of
new technologies connected with the utilisation of coniferous wood-fibres, the use
of which prevailed.
The utilisation of wood-fibres for making paper created the foundation for an
industrial sector—the pulp and paper industry—in countries endowed with abun-
dant coniferous forests, which served as its raw material, and hydro-electric power
for energy; two prime examples are Finland (Chap. 3) and Canada (Chap. 7). From a
historical perspective, wood-based fibres entered paper manufacture relatively late,
circa 150 years ago, but the impact of their utilisation has been an important eco-
nomic determinant for the geographical orientation of the industry. Previously, the
availability of rags influenced the location of paper mills since rags from fabrics were
not typically available in abundance. Hence, the early paper mills tended to spring
up at a fairly short distance from large urban centres, which were both the biggest
markets for paper and the centres of rag supplies, or cotton and flax mills, which
were other major sources of these refuse materials. From the mid-nineteenth century
onwards, mills began to spring up in regions remote from economic centres—on the
shores of lakes and rivers, where it was possible to obtain the raw material needed
from the forests. Where to locate production remained the crucial question until the
latter part of the twentieth century. Thereafter the technological developments in
seaborne transportation, and the subsequent dramatic reduction in the cost of ship-
ping goods, started to erode the importance of distance vis-à-vis fibre sources and
markets. The expansion of overseas trade highlighted the importance of proximity
to good harbours so that the raw materials and finished goods did not have to be
transhipped far from ocean-going vessels (Chap. 12).
The practically unlimited access to wood-based fibre resources some of the major
producers had enjoyed since the mid-nineteenth century became an even greater
advantage during and immediately after the First World War, which caused a violent
disruption in the global paper trade. During the conflict, a shortage of shipping caused
trade between the pulp producing countries and the rest of the world to collapse. The
British Empire and Commonwealth countries, with the single exception of Canada,
(Chap. 7) relied heavily on softwood imports. In the UK, paper makers imported
practically their entire softwood supply (Chap. 11). Apart from Canada, only in New
Zealand were there extensive stands of coniferous woods and this was the case only
because the country had embarked on a vigorous afforestation programme of species
that had been transplanted from California (Chap. 9). In Australia, coniferous species
were limited to certain areas of the vast continent, rendering the exploitation of soft-
wood resources economically unviable. In their absence, Australian papermakers
adopted technologies that were aimed at pulping hardwoods, especially the indige-
nous eucalypt species (Chap. 11). In Europe, Portugal (Chap. 6) was among the first
countries in which eucalypts were established in plantations for the production of

pulpwood.
With little doubt, environmental regulation has occupied one of the main impe-
tuses for technology transfer over the past fifty years. It was during the 1970s that
effluent loadings and sulphur emissions from the pulp and paper industry were for
the first time subjected to considerable scrutiny. Thereafter, emissions have fallen
significantly in many technologically advanced pulp and paper producing countries.
The reasons for the decrease can be found in changes in production technology and in
the finished products themselves. For example, in many countries the calcium-based
sulphite mills, which cause high emissions, have been closed down. In the case of
pulp and paper products, major global upheavals such as the oil shocks of the 1970s
have had a major impact on environmental protection. The crisis led to the intro-
duction of numerous measures that resulted in improvements in energy efficiency
and reductions in mill water consumption and emissions into the environment. Reg-
ulatory bodies also played a role in precipitating this progress by stepping up their
work towards greening the pulp and paper industry. They introduced new and tight-
ened existing legislation, particularly in relation to effluents. The main economic
instruments available for the authorities were compensation procedures for defray-
ing the cost of environmental protection and measures related to taxation. Lifting the
turnover tax on environmental protection investments can be mentioned as an exam-
ple. Furthermore, nongovernmental organisations have put pressure on producers for
lower emissions and a more sustainable use of forest resources (Chap. 4; see also
Hynninen 1998). From the mid-1980s onwards, the rise of green consumerism in
some major paper consuming countries such as Germany and the UK functioned as
an additional incentive for the transfer of environmentally driven technology. More
recently, environmentally sustainable products using wood and forestry residues as
well as other forms of biomass have gained considerable attention (Chaps. 2 and 4).
As a final point, it can be said that an appreciation of the surrounding institutional
environment is of paramount importance in analysing the evolution of the global
pulp and paper industry. As the case studies highlight the institutional environment
differs considerably from one country to another (Chap. 5). Modern papermaking
technologies would not have been realised without dedicated individuals, educa-
tional institutes, research laboratories, mills and workshops, (Chaps. 3, 7–11) and
even political bodies that have created incentives—and in some illustrative cases
even fetters—on adopting technological innovations (Chap. 7). Sometimes institu-
tional instability per se has hindered the technology transfer (Chap. 8). Thus, while
papermaking technology encompass the research work done in the field of cellulose
chemistry, it also involves a function of changes in the market demand, availability
and supply of capital, energy resources, raw materials knowledge and technology,
the surrounding institutional framework and organisational solutions. Together these
variables create what can be termed the main drivers of technology transfer in the
global pulp and paper industry.
1.3 The Case Studies
In compiling the volume, it was deemed best to employ a simple organisational

framework that grouped the 11 case studies (Chaps. 2–12) in three parts (Parts I–III)
that were followed by a conclusion (Chap. 13). It is hoped that this straightforward
approach will help the reader trace connections between the different case studies
and better understand the research setting as a whole. Part I, “Research and Develop-
ment”, focuses on the evolution of cellulose chemistry, research and development of
papermaking engineering and environmentally driven technology transfer. In Chap.
2, “Manufacturing Cellulosic Fibres for Making Paper: A Historical Perspective,”
Raimo Alén traces the long evolution of the development of pulp and paper tech-
nology from the inception of paper manufacture in China about 2000 years ago up
to its recent developments. The analysis focuses on the last two centuries, during
which period the manufacture of cellulosic fibres has been closely integrated with
the growth of our fundamental knowledge of chemistry in general and the enhance-
ment of our knowledge of the possibilities of chemical processing of cellulosic fibre
in particular. The more recent developments deal mainly with the quest for new
cellulose-based products and their possible applications as well as environmental
concerns. The chapter represents arguably the most comprehensive and detailed, and
yet relatively condensed, account of the history of how cellulosic fibres have been
manufactured into a plethora of paper products over the last two millennia.
The tradition of research and development in the paper industry has historically
been divided into two separate branches of research and development. One consists
of chemistry, namely studying the possibilities of chemical processing of fibre. The
other part of the history of research and development is mechanical engineering, and
its roots can be traced back to the construction and use of paper machines. In Chap. 3,
“Research and Development in the Finnish Wood Processing and Paper Industry, c.
1850–1990,” Panu Nykänen investigates the tradition of research and development in
the context of the Finnish wood processing and papermaking industries. In addressing
its subject, the chapter is mainly concerned with the operation of Finnish paper
mills from the 1850s onwards when the utilisation of coniferous wood as the new
raw material for making paper revolutionised the entire industry. The chapter also
addresses the related subjects of technical research, formal higher education and
work-related, practical learning in Finland.
Environmental concerns are the focus in Chap. 4 “The Greening of the Pulp and
Paper Industry: Sweden in Comparative Perspective,” by Ann-Kristin Bergquist and
Kristina Söderholm. It analyses the environmentally driven technology transfer in
the pulp and paper industry by focusing on Sweden, which has pioneered parts of
this transition. The chapter illustrates that the overall transition towards cleaner and
more energy efficient production technologies in Sweden was the result of long-
term incremental development, which gained momentum with the environmental
awakening in the 1960s and was followed by the rise of green consumerism in the
1980s. More recently, the burning issue of climate change has been a major impetus
to environmentally driven technology transfer, for instance in the development of

cellulose-based products such as biofuels.
Part II “Regulations and Institutions” assesses the role of regulatory institutions
in technology driven transfer in the global pulp and paper industry, within regional,
national and transnational organisational frameworks. In Chap. 5 “Varieties of State
Aid and Technological Development: Government Support to the Pulp and Paper
Industry, the 1970s to the 1990s,” Jari Ojala, Niklas Jensen-Eriksen and Juha-Antti
Lamberg analyse government support for the pulp and paper industry in the Organi-
sation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The chapter
reports that the favourable regulatory environment tended to exist in such major pulp
and paper producing countries as Finland and Sweden, in which pulp and paper com-
panies had very strong bargaining power over the government. On the contrary, in
those OECD countries in which the pulp and paper industry’s share of total manufac-
turing was marginal, bargaining power and consequently direct government support
tended to remain rather limited.
Interestingly, in Chap. 6 “From Backward to Modern: The Adoption of Tech-
nology by the Pulp Industry in Portugal, 1891–2015,” Amélia Branco and Pedro
Neves find that in Portugal, where the pulp and paper industry remained technolog-
ically backward prior to the 1950s, government support was the main boost to the
pulp industry. The main explanation can be found in the development of eucalyptus
for plantation purposes and pulping hardwoods, which emerged as a major field of
manufacturing in Portugal after the Second World War. The analysis highlights the
roles played by the availability of knowledge, capital, and raw materials on the one
hand and demand characteristics on the other in technologically driven transfer in
the Portuguese pulp industry. Taking a longitudinal perspective on the Portuguese
pulp industry, the chapter sheds light on the international economic integration of
a peripheral country that suffered from a poor endowment of capital and natural
resources.
In Chap. 7 “Natural Potential, Artificial Restraint: The Dryden Paper Company
and the Fetters on Adopting Technological Innovation in a Canadian Pulp and Paper
Sector, 1900–1950,” Mark Kuhlberg analyses the issue of government support on
national, provincial and organisational levels in Canada, one of the world’s foremost
pulpwood suppliers. The analysis focuses on the case of a pulp and paper mill in Dry-
den, northern Ontario, and highlights that the presence of abundant natural resources
does not alone guarantee a technologically driven transfer in pulp and paper industry.
The case of the Dryden Paper Company, which left finding economies of scale in the
industry to others, is a reminder that the first mover in an industry does not always
dominate it in the long run. Another significant conclusion of the chapter is that
institutional support mechanisms and demand characteristics remain as important as
abundant natural backings in analysing the main drivers in technology transfer.
The industrialisation process in the nineteenth century was based on the transfer
of technology from pioneering countries to countries that had not yet participated
in the process. Southern Europe in general and Spain in particular were very late in
experiencing this modernisation wave. In Chap. 8 “The Endless Sheet: Technology
Transfer and the Papermaking Industry in Spain, 1800–1936,” Miquel Gutiérrez-
Poch explores the technology transfer in Spain, whereby foreign technology was the
main driver in achieving the transfer in the papermaking sector. The chapter maintains
that the institutional framework and its stability—into which the new technology is
adapted—can accelerate or restrain the impact of the new technology. Therefore,
the setting into which the new technology is received is a crucial consideration
that affects the technology transfer. It is also influenced by numerous other factors,
including the geographical concentration of the activity (i.e. industrial district) and
simply the existence of an industrial base. In regard to papermaking in Spain, it was
fundamental to have an active mechanical engineering sector that was able to adapt
the new technology to local conditions.
Part III “Local Innovations and Global Markets” pays attention to the role of global
upheavals and demand characteristics in analysing the birth of the pulp and paper
industry in three peripheral regions of the global economy, namely New Zealand,
Australia and India. In Chap. 9 “Technology Transfer and Local Innovation: Pulp
and Paper Manufacturing in New Zealand, c.1860 to c.1960,” Michael Roche traces
the birth of a wood-based pulp and paper industry in New Zealand from its modest
beginnings until the 1960s, by which time there were pulp and paper mills in opera-
tion serving local and export markets. In New Zealand the birth of a viable pulp and
paper industry was fostered through a vigorous afforestation programme of Pinus
radiate—a Californian coniferous species previously untried for papermaking, tech-
nical assistance from North American and Scandinavian countries, and a group of
dedicated researchers working for both the Forest Service and private companies in
New Zealand.
In place of conifers, pulping indigenous hardwoods, specifically the eucalypts,
formed the basis for the emergence of a national pulp and paper industry in Australia.
In Chap. 10 “Making Paper in Australia: Developing the Technology to Create a
National Industry, 1818–1928,” Gordon Dadswell traces the evolution of the pulp
and paper industry in Australia, in which the comparative inaccessibility and the
tyranny of distance had rendered the exploitation of the country’s wood resources
economically unviable until 1914. The need for establishing an Australian pulp and
paper industry became imperative following the end of the First World War. The
armistice resulted in a serious shortage of imported wood pulp, with the outcome that
manufacturers in Australia were forced to switch to indigenous raw materials instead.
The initial investigations for pulping indigenous hardwoods were undertaken in Perth,
Western Australia after the war. The final stage of paper making in Australia shifted
from the laboratory to commercial production in 1924, when the first Australian mill
using indigenous hardwoods went into production in Tasmania.
Another remarkable story of pulping indigenous raw materials in place of conifers
is told in Chap. 11 “The Quest for Raw Materials in the British Paper Trade: The
Development of the Bamboo Pulp and Paper Industry in British India up to 1939,”
by Timo Särkkä. Bamboo—the fastest growing plant on earth—was introduced as
the raw material for papermaking in India at the beginning of twentieth century. The
impetus for this development was the global nature of the First World War, which led
to the collapse of shipping between Britain and some of its colonies. The increased
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
dependence on wood pulp, the likelihood of a pulp famine, and the consequent
increase in the price for imported wood pulp were the means for drawing attention
to the possibility of making commercial volumes of pulp by utilising Indian grasses
in general and bamboo in particular. The technology was developed under British
auspices, but was later adopted by Indian paper producers in response to the rising
cost of imported wood pulp.
The final case study, Chap. 12 “Creating Global Markets: Seaborne Trade in Pulp
and Paper Products over the Last 400 Years,” by Jari Ojala and Stig Tenold, brings
the very issue—where to locate production—to the fore of analysis by adopting a
longitudinal perspective on the global seaborne trade in pulp and paper products. In
contrast to the situation prevailing today, globally operating multinational companies
were rarities in the world’s pulp and paper industry prior to about the 1950s. Nation-
ally and regionally conditioned technological and organisational solutions survived
into the post-1945 era, although they soon went into a rapid decline. The development
of technological solutions for dramatically improving the efficiency of ocean-going
transportation were crucial for the high-volume, bulk products—both in terms of the
raw material and end product—that define the pulp and paper industry. The chapter
concludes that the declining cost of sea transport has been a necessary condition for
the growth of the global pulp and paper industry into new regions of the world, rang-
ing from South-East Asia to Latin America, which have traditionally been remote
from the world’s established economic heartlands.
Chapter 13 “Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper Indus-
try: Concluding Remarks,” by Mark Kuhlberg, Timo Särkkä, and Jussi Uusivuori
summarises the theoretical framework presented in the introductory chapter and the
key empirical findings of the case studies.
References
Alén R (2007) Introduction to papermaking. In: Alén R (ed) Papermaking chemistry, 2nd edn.
Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association, Helsinki, pp 16–26
Beadle C (1908) Chapters on papermaking. In: Comprising a series of lectures delivered on behalf
of the battersea polytechnic institute in 1902, vol I. Crosby Lockwood and Son, London
Diesen M (ed) (2007) Economics of the pulp and paper industry. papermaking science and tech-
nology. Book 1. Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association/Paperi ja Puu Oy, Helsinki
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2016) Global forest products facts
and figures 2016. http://www.fao.org/3/I7034EN/i7034en.pdf. Accessed 21 Mar 2018
Gullichsen J (2000) Introduction. In: Gullichsen J, Fogelholm C-J (eds) Chemical pulping. Paper-
making science and technology. Book 6A. Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association/TAPPI, Helsinki,
pp 14–16
Hynninen P (ed) (1998) Environmental control. Papermaking science and technology. Book 19.
Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association/TAPPI, Helsinki
Lamberg J-A, Ojala J, Peltoniemi M, Särkkä T (eds) (2012) The evolution of global paper industry
1800–2050. A comparative analysis. Springer, Dordrecht
Sundholm J (1999) What is mechanical pulping? In: Sundholm J (ed) Mechanical pulping. Paper-
making science and technology. Book 5. Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association/TAPPI, Helsinki,
pp 17–21
Part I
Research and Development
Chapter 2
Manufacturing Cellulosic Fibres
for Making Paper: A Historical
Perspective
Raimo Alén
2.1 The Origins of Turning Cellulosic Materials into Paper
The use of cellulose-containing fibrous feedstocks for papermaking was known in

early Far Eastern and Near Eastern cultures, from whence this knowledge gradually
spread to Europe (Atchison and McGovern 1983; Whistler et al. 1984; Lindberg 2000;
Alén 2007, 2018). It is known that many such materials have long fulfilled human
needs for clothing and housing. Additionally, organised societies have recorded their
thoughts and ideas on myriad materials, some whose existence is ephemeral (e.g.,
sand and leaves) and others that are far more permanent (e.g., stone, clay tablets, bone
objects, leather, fabrics and walls of caves as well as surfaces of tree bark, wood and
metals or their alloys). Hence, the physical form of cellulosic fibre (collectively
called “paper”) developed in China about 2000 years ago has been said to perhaps be
humanity’s most important invention. Paper has been made in many ways through the
ages, and all the ancient methods are still being applied. The most common writing
materials have been, besides cellulosic fibre, papyrus and parchment.
Papyrus (the ancient Egyptian word “pa-per-ah” means “pharaoh’s own”) was
made from veneers of the stem of a reed-type plant (a marsh grass, Cyperus papyrus)
flourishing in the Nile River valley and delta in ancient times, and it was widely used
to make rugs, boats and sandals. Thin veneers, as wide as possible, were first soaked
and then pounded into flat “basic sheets” that were then joined with either the plant’s
own “glue” or wheat starch. The final product was an even, 20 m long strip with a
maximum width of about 30 cm and it was strong and flexible enough to be easily
rolled into a “book”. The writing surface was treated with pumice to prevent the
ink from spreading and to cause it to adsorb properly on the surface. Papyrus rolls
have been found since the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (3100–2900 BC); the most
R. Alén (B)
Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemistry,
University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 13
T. Särkkä et al. (eds.), Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper
Industry 1800–2018, World Forests 23, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94962-8_2
14 R. Alén
recent ones date from ca. 1000 AD. Papyrus survives well in dry climates, like the
desert, but it absorbs moisture in humid climates and becomes moldy. Papyrus rolls
that have not been exposed to oxygen or mold or those partially charred in fires have
survived to the present time and tens of thousands of them can be seen in leading
museums.
Initially, papyrus was mainly produced in Egypt and from there it spread—in spite
of its “secret” method of preparation—as the preferred writing material of antiquity
around the Mediterranean and nearby regions to the rest of Europe and Asia Minor.
While papyrus as such cannot be fully included within the concept of paper, the
word “paper”, for example, and its numerous varieties in European languages, derive
from its original name. During the period of Roman Caesars, the consumption of
papyrus rolls was so large that their use had to be regulated. The production of
papyrus decreased in the 800s and nearly ended in the 900s. The main reason for this
was probably the introduction of a substitute, parchment, and gradually also actual
“modern” paper. Moreover, the papyrus plant disappeared from large areas of Egypt
at the same time.
Thus, paper was traditionally made from a filament product obtained by taking
plant fibres that have been chemically or mechanically separated from each other.
In the oldest method of making paper in China, a fixed amount of a solution of
suspended fibres was poured into a mold that was partially submerged in water. The
mold consisted of a wooden frame with a coarsely woven cloth stretched across it. The
water drained through the cloth, leaving a thin and uniform fibre web on top, and it
could be separated and dried. Into this basic fibre material could be mixed a wide range
of additives (today mineral fillers and pigments, functional chemicals and process
chemicals are added) for various purposes. Although the papermaking process has
come a long way from its earliest days, and there have been many inventions that
have affected the quality of paper products, papermaking is still in essence a “rather
simple process”. By the same token, the modern manufacture of paper embraces a
wide range of technologies and fields of science, specifically surface and colloidal,
organic and inorganic chemistry and even microbiology.
The actual art of papermaking apparently did not arise accidentally. According to
the documents of the Chinese ruler of the time, Emperor Ho-Ti of the Han Dynasty
(206 BC–220 AD), Ts’ai Lun, a court officer and scholar who entered the service
in 75, introduced in 105 to the public the art of making use of a variety of raw
materials to create fibre products for different purposes. However, it is also said that
paper materials dated from 73 to 49 BC have been found in China. Under Ho-Ti’s
systematic leadership, modern papermaking started and paper material evolved into
a high-quality product; several mentions exist about its use during the following
centuries. The Chinese used phloem fibres from the bark of the paper mulberry tree
(silk tree, Broussonetia papyrifera) and white mulberry tree (Morus alba) and fibres
from ramie (Boehmeria nivea), and many other fibre materials, such as old rags and
fish nets, which were all usually treated with potash and refined (i.e., macerated)
until each filament was completely separate.
In China papermaking evolved into a significant home industry. Old Chinese paper
found an unbelievable array of uses and was clearly of better quality than Egyptian
2 Manufacturing Cellulosic Fibres … 15
papyrus. As a novelty, toilet paper was produced for the first time for the Emperor’s
court in 589, paper money used by the banks for receipts to the merchants (“flying
money” that flew with the wind) in 807, playing cards in 969, casings for fireworks,
banknotes for general use in ca. 1000 and paper lanterns in ca. 1100. In addition, the
Chinese, since the 800s, began printing houses using wooden slabs that produced
major printing works, such as the “Holy Books of the Buddha” that appeared in 972.
The Chinese started using the fibres of rattan palm (Calamus rotang) as raw material
in papermaking in the 900s, and it became the final improvement of the method.
Only after this advance did paper finally replace the traditional use of bamboo strips
in making “bound books”.
The Chinese tried for a long time to keep their art of papermaking secret to protect
their monopoly. However, it spread gradually, first to Korea in the 300s or 400s and
then to Japan in ca. 610. The Japanese used the phloem layers of the mulberry tree
and local mitsumata (Edgeworthia papyrifera) and gambi (Wickstroemia canhescens)
bushes as raw materials. They also learned to make new products, such as silk paper,
which became famous due to its excellent strength. On the other hand, the Arabs,
who had created a powerful army during the Turkestan war, captured in the Battle
of Talas (today it is in Kyrgyzstan) in 751 Chinese prisoners of war who knew the
art of papermaking and printing. With the prisoners’ labor, the city of Samarkand in
Uzbekistan in Central Asia (southeast of Lake Aral) became an important centre of
these new arts. Although it is likely that paper was already being produced there, the
Arabs were quick to realise the advantages of paper materials made from rags, flax
and hemp over traditional papyrus and parchment.
Thereafter, these papermaking skills spread expeditiously into other centres of
the Arab empire (Baghdad 793, Damascus and Cairo 900, Fèz 1100, Xàtiva 1139
and Córdoba 1150), thus migrating from Asia first into North Africa (Egypt and
Morocco) and then to Spain. Caliph Harun ar-Rašid (786–809), also known for his
sagas, largely caused this development, as he understood the value of this knowledge
obtained as war booty and decreed that papermaking was to be a state monopoly.
This substantially enhanced the already powerful Arabic culture in its respect for
the written word (ca. 750–1260). The Arabs further developed the techniques of
rag grinding and paper sizing. They made coloured papers for various purposes, for
example, blue for sorrow, yellow for riches and red for happiness and nobility.
The art of papermaking thus arrived in Europe, on one hand, from Morocco with
Moor merchants and, on the other hand, with the Venetian explorer Marco Polo
(1254–1324), who probably spent 17 years in the service of the Mongol emperor
Kublai Khan (1215–1294) in Peking. Polo, a member of an esteemed line of mer-
chants and aristocrats, started his journey in 1271 along the Silk Road through the
enormous Mongol empire with a retinue including his father and uncle, who had
travelled in the East earlier. It is reported that Polo returned to Venice in 1295, but
he was taken prisoner in 1298 when Venice and Genoa were at war. He probably
prepared with the help of a fellow prisoner (Rustichello da Pisa) an accurate and
extensive travelogue known as the book, Il Millione.
Although Arabian paper, among others, was in common use in many countries for
a while, there was a clear trend to start independent production. The first “paper mills”
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
and main canals. It will cost around one hundred million dollars, and
it will bring both protection and prosperity to thousands and
thousands of people. That,” he declared, leaning forward, “is what it
means to dam the Colorado.”
“It don’t mean that to us,” Old Jess stated, turning his quid to the
other cheek. “We aim to show ’em something about buildin’ dams.”
He grinned and showed yellow snags of teeth.
“Yeah. Wait till they see how we aim to do it,” snickered Young
Jess. “We’ll be rakin’ in the gold whilst they’re still standin’ around
with their mouths open.”
Peter had fallen into a taciturn, grim mood, staring somber-eyed at
the river. Beside him, Nevada leaned chin upon her cupped palm
and stared also. Several thousand men, working for eight years!
That was as long as the years back to her first sight of the convent
where Peter took her to be educated. Thousands of men working all
that time—thousands! Was it, then, so deceptively vast, that river?
Would the cliffs they had undermined fall in and be swept disdainfully
away? Did it really belong to the government, that river, so that no
man living all his life on its bank might say what should be done with
it? Had Uncle Peter, and Young Jess and her grandfather been
children, playing all these years beside a stream they must not touch
or tamper with?
“It sounds as big as the stars,” she observed vaguely. “As if we
had been waving a handkerchief at Mars, down here by the river,
and then some one comes along and pushes us back and says,
‘Here, here, you must stand back. You are obstructing the view. The
President wants to wave his handkerchief. You annoy him.’ Do you
think,” she flashed at Rawley, “it is going to make any difference to
the river—who dams it first?”
“You don’t get the point,” Rawley protested. “I am not responsible
because the undertaking is so stupendous that it is beyond any
private enterprise. You can’t shoot a lot of rock into the river and call
that a dam. And if you could, you must not. Don’t you see? The
welfare of too many thousands of people are involved. It’s a job for
the government. You can’t take it for granted that, just because you
have lived beside it all your lives, and because it doesn’t seem to
belong to anybody, any more than the clouds belong, that you can
claim it, or even claim the right to do as you please with it. There’s a
right that goes away beyond the individual—”
“The gold down there is ours,” Old Jess cried fiercely. “We own
placer claims on both sides of the river, and the lines run across.
We’ve got a right to placer the gold in the river bed. It’s ours. We got
a right to git it any way we kin! The gov’ment can’t stop us, neither.”
“Oh, yes, it can!” Rawley rashly contradicted. “When you come
down to fine points, the government owns this river. It owns the river
bed and whatever gold is there. By ‘right of eminent domain’, if you
ever heard of that.”
“Right of eminent hell!” Young Jess got up and stood over Rawley
threateningly. “Tell me a bunch uh swell-heads back in Wash’n’ton,
that never seen this river, can set and tell us what we can do an’
what we can’t do? We own claims both sides the river, and we got a
right to what’s in the river. You can’t come here and tell us, this late
day, ’t we got to quit, and lose our time an’ money, because the
gov’ment or somebody wants to build a dam. Hell, we ain’t stoppin’
nobody! They better nobody try an’ stop us, neither!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“TAKE THIS FIGHTING SQUAW AWAY!”
Never before had Rawley seen Young Jess in a rage. A surly,
ignorant fellow he knew him to be, and not too intelligent. A
dangerous fellow, Rawley believed him; quite capable of killing any
man who thwarted him or roused his fury. But Rawley did not move
or attempt to placate him. He had learned that some natures must
blow up a great storm before they can yield. He hoped that this was
the case with Young Jess.
The old vulture craned his neck forward, his eyes piercingly
malevolent.
“Think I’ve waited fifty year fer that gold, t’ be robbed of it now?
They ain’t no gov’ment on earth can step in an’ take what’s mine! I’ll
blow ’em to hell first! I’ll—”
As once before, when he thought his gold was threatened, Old
Jess ran the full gamut of anathema. Nevada fled from the sound of
his cracked voice shrieking maniacal threats and maledictions. He
shook his fist under Rawley’s nose and stamped his feet and raved.
Young Jess was over-ridden, silenced by the old man’s insane
outburst.
As once before, Peter said absolutely nothing until Old Jess had
reached the zenith of his rage. Then he rose deliberately and without
excitement, took the old man by the collar and headed him toward
the door.
“Go and cool off,” he advised dispassionately. “You old vulture,
you can’t scream any louder than the Eagle. You, too, Jess,” he
added, turning harshly upon his half-brother. “You’re a pretty good
man when it comes to swinging a single-jack, but you’re a damn
poor hand at thinking! This thing is away beyond your depth. You
can’t holler the government down. Get out!”
Young Jess blustered and threatened still, flailing his fists and
mouthing oaths.
“That’s about all from you,” grated Rawley, stung to action by
some vile threat against the government.
“Is, hey?” Young Jess advanced upon him.
Then Rawley went for him, the blue eyes of the Kings gone black
with fury. The fight, if it could be called that, was short and
undramatic. No tables were overturned, no glass was shattered.
Young Jess aimed a sledge blow at Rawley, got one on the jaw that
spun him so that he faced the other way, and Rawley forthwith
kicked him off the porch. Young Jess rooted gravel, looked over his
shoulder and saw Rawley coming at him again, and started off on all
fours. When he regained his feet he went away, blathering
blasphemy. He was going for his gun,—so he said.
Peter stood looking after Young Jess, his brows pulled together. A
slim figure slipped past him and went straight to Rawley, who was
pulling at his tie, which had gone crooked. She was pale, breathless
with the fear that looked out of her big eyes.
“Oh, you must go—now,” she breathed, clasping her two hands
around his arm. “You think he’s just like any other bully, all bluster.
He’ll kill you, just as sure as you stand here. Grandfather, too. Uncle
Jess will shoot you in the back—oh, anyway! He’s the worst of the
Indian blood; once you rouse him, there’s nothing he’ll stop at! Get
him away, Uncle Peter! It isn’t brave, to stay and be killed. It’s the
worst kind of cowardice; the kind that is afraid to show itself. Uncle
Peter!”
“We’re going, Nevada. I know Young Jess. A rattlesnake’s a
prince alongside him when he’s mad. Son, you should have left him
to me. I can handle him pretty well, no matter how mad he gets.
Come along; he’ll not be above potting you from ambush, Injun
style.”
He left the porch at the farther end, pulling Rawley after him; and
much as Rawley hated the thought of retreat, he was forced to
believe that Nevada and Peter, neither of them timid souls, must
know what they were talking about.
Nevada disappeared, with no word of farewell to Rawley. Young
Jess could be plainly heard bawling at Gladys because his “shells”
had been misplaced.
Peter chuckled.
“One of the kids shot himself through the hat, a month or so ago,”
he explained his amusement. “Since then the guns are kept
unloaded. Jess is hunting cartridges; God bless Gladys for a poor
housekeeper!”
He still held a firm grip on Rawley’s arm, leading him down the
path to the river. But suddenly, keeping an ear cocked toward the
sounds behind him, he swung away from the trail toward the bluffs.
“He’s found them, from the way things have quieted down, back
there. He’ll be hot on your trail, now—unless Nevada can stop him,
which I doubt. He’s Injun enough to hold women in contempt when it
comes to a show-down. Here.”
He pulled Rawley down between two great, upstanding bowlders
standing black against the stars. Rawley felt a movement of Peter’s
arm, and knew that Peter had pulled a gun from somewhere and
was aiming it across a ridge of rock. Rawley himself could hear
nothing but the crying of the wakened baby in the shack, the yelp of
a kicked dog.
For a long time, it seemed to Rawley, they waited. He could not
hear a sound. But Peter still held his gun leveled across the rock
before them, and Rawley could feel how Peter’s muscles were
tensed for a struggle.
Two greenish lights showed faintly as a star-beam struck the
eyeballs of a dog. A shuffling sound approaching through the weedy
gravel, a sniffling at Peter’s hand. Rawley felt a crimple down his
spine, though he did not think that he was afraid.
A pebble plunked into something close beside him, and the dog
shied off with a faint, staccato yelp. Young Jess, then, was close. A
muttered curse reached the ears of the two between the bowlders.
Immediately afterward, Nevada’s whisper came distinctly.
“I think he’s hidden here, somewhere in the rocks. His car is down
in the canyon, but he wouldn’t go that way—he’d expect you to
follow. Watch the dog. He hasn’t any gun—I know. Can you creep
back toward the hill—”
“Sh-sh. You call him. Quiet, as if you was scared. Make out you’re
sweet on him—”
“I can’t. He knows—I hate him. We quarreled to-day. I hate his
snobbish ways—I told him so.”
“Call his name if you run onto him. Then duck. I’ll—”
“Sh-sh—he may be near!”
The two were standing close together, just beyond the bowlder
that reared its bulk beyond Peter. Rawley bit his lip, straining his ears
to hear more.
“You call him. He won’t s’spect—” Young Jess urged in a whisper.
“He’d be a fool if he didn’t. I tell you he knows—”
“He’s stuck on yuh. That makes a fool—”
“Sh-sh. He’s not—”
Inch by inch, Rawley was drawing himself backward, until now he
was free of the bowlder and Peter. From the sounds, he knew that
the two were standing close to the rock. He thought that they were
facing the river, though he could not be sure. It did not greatly matter.
He inched that way until he could faintly distinguish two upright blots
in the darkness of the bowlder’s shadow.
Upon the taller of the two he launched himself, reaching
instinctively for the gun he knew was there. His hand closed on the
cool steel of the barrel, and he gave a mighty wrench as he went
down. Young Jess, caught unawares from behind, had no chance to
save himself. Rawley landed full on his back, his chest forcing the
face of Young Jess into the gravel. His left hand gripped the back of
Jess’s neck.
“Peter, please take this fighting squaw to the house and lock her
up somewhere. Then come back here. I want to have a talk with you
before I go,” he said hardly. “I can handle this vermin, but I leave the
squaw to you.”
“As you like,” Peter’s voice was noncommittal. “Come, Nevada.”
Rawley had expected some outburst from her, some bitter reply to
his taunt. But she went away with Peter and spoke no word to any
one. So Rawley pulled off his necktie and tied Young Jess’s hands
behind him, and made himself a smoke while he waited Peter’s
return.
“I’ll git you, and I’ll git you right!” gritted Young Jess, when Rawley
had his cigarette going. “You better kill me now, or you’ll see the day
you’ll be begging me to kill yuh. I’ll ketch yuh and take yuh back in
the mine, an’ I’ll—” He amused himself for some minutes, making up
the programme of his revenge. He would finish, he decided, by
building a bed of powder kegs and placing Rawley full length upon it,
with a ten-foot fuse spitted just before Young Jess bade him good-by.
“You ought to have lived fifty years ago,” Rawley commented
indifferently, and blew smoke in his face. “Why don’t yuh squeal for
that old buzzard of a dad? Maybe he could help yuh out, right now.”
Young Jess, having just made up his mind to shout for Old Jess to
come, shut his mouth so hard his teeth clicked like a dog cracking a
bone.
“Any fool can plan the things he’d like to do,” Rawley taunted.
“What counts is the fact that you’re on your back, right now, and that
I put you there—and you with a gun in your hands! I could kick you in
the slats and make you howl like a kicked pup. I could drive your
teeth in, so you’d feed yourself in the back of your head the rest of
your life! Don’t talk to me—about what you’d like to do! I’m liable to
experiment on yuh, just to see how it works.”
Then Peter returned, and further social amenities were postponed
to some future meeting.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“YOU TELL HOOVER I SAID SO!”
Las Vegas awoke one morning to find itself in the public eye.
Destiny had so decreed when it permitted Las Vegas to become the
town nearest to the proposed dam site at Boulder Canyon,—the
largest governmental project undertaken for many a day. The
Panama Canal, said the orators (and no doubt they spoke the truth),
had not cost so much as it would cost to dam the Colorado River, to
conserve its tremendous power, to control its flood waters and put
the river to work tamely watering long rows of cotton, potatoes, great
fields of grain. Long enough had it gone leaping down through the
wildest, most gorgeous scenery in the country. Now it must be
harnessed to new industries and become the servant of plowboys,
the friend of prospectors. It must pull trains across the desert which it
was to transform into tilled farms. It must keep several States vibrant
with the hum of machinery. It must make of the town of Las Vegas a
city worthy the name. One can’t blame Las Vegas for being
particularly interested in that phase of the project.
The town lay fairly under the eye of the Eagle,—and of the sun,
whose light the magic alchemy of the desert transmuted into soft
tints on the mountains, into a faint lavender glow on the desert. The
air was still, with a little nip to it that would later soften to a lazy
warmth. A stranger to the desert, standing on the depot platform,
would have thought that he might walk quite easily to Charleston
Mountains, standing bold and stark against the western sky line.
Down the flag-draped main street, coming from the side door of
the little post-office, a huge, good-natured negro leaned against a
pushcart piled high with dingy, striped canvas mail sacks. When he
passed, certain belated citizens swung out to the edge of the
pavement and took longer steps, knowing that the train was on time,
and that the crowd would already be edging out upon the platform.
Automobiles with flags standing perkily from headlight braces went
careening past, to swing up into the parking space, trying their
nonchalant best to look as if they were not going to hold governors
and high officials of the Federal Government and carry them safely
down to Boulder Canyon, the most popular dam site on the
Colorado.
A group of small boys dressed in white came marching down the
street, stubbing toes over the uneven places because they must
keep their eyes on the music while they played the uncertain strains
of a march. They were very sleek as to hair, very shiny as to cheeks
and very solemn, those boys. Their mothers and their fathers and
their teachers were going to detect any false note or flatted sharp
and tell them about it afterwards. Besides, there aren’t many boys
who ever get a chance to stand on the platform and play when the
Governor’s train comes in—and be the only band on the job. They
felt the deep responsibility attendant upon the honor and thought
feverishly of certain spots in the music where they weren’t quite sure
they could make it; not with the whole town standing around
listening.
They fumbled their instruments, stood hipshot and consciously
unconcerned while they waited for the train. Their leader glanced
around the group, encountered certain anxious pairs of eyes fixed
upon his face, and made an impulsive change in the programme.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” was appropriate and customary for
such occasions, but there were treacherous high notes which a
certain scared boy might play flat, and other places where the slide
trombone was in danger of skidding. He gave them a piece they
could play with their eyes shut and was rewarded by hearing long
sighs of relief here and there among the musicians.
So it happened that when the train had slid into the station and the
Governors and high officials had descended from the private car,
Rawley caught the familiar air, “I’m forever blow-ing bubbles” floating
out over the heads of the assembled citizens of Las Vegas. If the
tune wabbled here and there, what matter? Governors and high
officials can hear better music anywhere,—but they never will hear a
more sincere effort to please, made by more loyal hearts than
skipped beats under the white jackets of the “kid band” of Las Vegas.
I’m dreaming dreams, I’m scheming schemes,
I’m building castles high—
Rawley caught himself humming the words to himself and
thought, in a heartsick way, of Nevada, only twenty-five miles from
him, so far as miles went,—a million miles away in her thoughts.
“I’ve talked Boulder Canyon Dam until I wonder sometimes if it
isn’t Bubble Canyon, maybe,” a certain governor confided to him
under his breath. “Do you reckon this is a civic confession the kids
are making, or what?”
“The civic air castle—nearest the kids can come to it,” Rawley
grinned. “Wait till you hear this town stand up on its hind legs and tell
you how they feel about it. They talk Boulder Canyon in their sleep, I
reckon. It’s no bubble to this bunch! If the rest of the country had half
the enthusiasm this town has got, they’d be hauling concrete to the
river to-day!”
“Instead of the Commission, huh? Well, I wish they were.”
A man pushed out of the fringe of common citizens who came
merely to look upon assembled greatness and faced Rawley, smiling
with his eyes.
“Uncle Peter!” Rawley gripped his hand and did not know that his
eyes searched the crowd, wistfully, seeking a face—
“No, she didn’t come,” Peter informed him. “I want to get a chance
to talk with the men in your outfit who count the most. Not on paper,
but with the government. Can you fix it for me, boy?”
“Has anything happened?” Rawley drew him anxiously aside.
“No—I just want to get at the right men. I want you there, of
course.” Peter glanced here and there at the men who were smiling,
shaking hands, speaking pleasant phrases.
“All right. Of course every minute is mortgaged, I suppose, to the
town. But I’ll get you—”
“An hour will do me,” Peter stated modestly, and Rawley
suppressed a grin.
Looking him over surreptitiously, Rawley decided that he could be
very proud indeed of Uncle Peter. Even amongst governors and
such, Peter could hold his own with that quiet dignity which nothing
seemed able to ruffle, that poise which came of being very sure of
his own mind and of what he wanted. A great man looked from one
to the other curiously, and Rawley immediately introduced Peter to
him. Then he caught the eye of another, and presently that man was
shaking hands very humanly with Peter Cramer, who looked so
much like George Rawlins King, of the Reclamation Service. Before
he quite realized what was taking place, Peter was absorbed into the
party of great men, and a flustered waitress in the depot dining room
was hastily making room at a table and laying another knife and fork
purloined from the lunch room outside.
The reception committee probably revised at the last minute their
arrangements for seating the party in the decorated automobiles.
Some one must have been crowded; but Peter rode in comfort in a
big car in company with some of the nation’s important men, though
this was not what he had gotten an early haircut for. He had seen the
river in all its moods and under all conditions; it seemed strange to
him now, no doubt, to be sight-seeing it with men who had heretofore
been no more than names to be read in headlines in week-old
newspapers. But no one suspected it,—unless perhaps some
member of the reception committee wondered how he had broken in.
However, as a guest of the Colorado River Commission, seven
governors and railroad presidents, no mere local committee dared
flicker an eyelid.
“It has to be done this way—whatever it is you want to do,”
Rawley muttered once in Peter’s ear at the river, when he caught
Peter looking boredly at the bold cliffs of Boulder Canyon. “You
couldn’t get a look-in, just coming up and trying for an interview. As
soon as we get back, and before the banquet up town, I’ve arranged
for you to talk to the Commission. I told the chief,” he added drily,
“that it was more important than anything else he’d hear. I gambled
on that, because I know you. And a little nerve goes a long way,
sometimes. We’re going to cut this short as possible and get back to
the car early. Then—you’ll have to boil down your hour, Peter. There
won’t be more than half that much time for whatever it is you want to
say.”
“It may pay this Colorado River Commission,” said Peter
laconically, “to miss their supper to-night, and even cut out some of
the speeches they’ve got ready to hand out to Vegas citizens. As I
understand it, the Commission was created for the purpose of
investigating claims, collecting all data and adjusting rights pertaining
to the Colorado River. They’d better take a piece of bread and butter
in their hands and eat it while they listen to what I’ve got to say.” He
paused and added significantly, “You tell Hoover I said so.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE VULTURE MAKES TERMS WITH THE EAGLE
Rawley had them rounded up in the private car—governors and
high officials and newspaper representatives—lighting cigars,
cigarettes and pipes and eyeing, their curiosity politely veiled, the
big, broad-shouldered man with the brown skin and piercing blue
eyes, who stood at one end of the car waiting for them to settle
themselves into easy, listening attitudes. This was informal,—but if
they were to believe that keen young man, George Rawlins King, it
was going to be pretty important; and, what appealed to most of
them like a window opened in a stifling room, fresh and untalked. It is
impossible to eat, sleep and live with one subject for months without
feeling a tingle of relief when some entirely new angle crops up,—
something that hasn’t been argued, weighed and considered a
hundred times. The Colorado River Commission was on the job,—
heart, soul and mind. But that did not preclude secret sighs of
anticipation when the Commission faced something wholly new to
every member.
Not a man among them knew Peter Cramer. Not one had ever
heard the name. He looked a man of the desert, every inch of his
six-feet-and-something-over. He might turn out to be a bore; he did
not look like a boor. He did not wear his hair in the prevailing fad; it
grew thick to the nape of his neck and was trimmed there neatly by
some barber who remembered how they used to cut hair. His dark
suit was incontestably made to his measure,—but it had been made
before the War. You don’t get such material nowadays. At least, men
of the desert do not get it. His hands, as he shuffled a few slips of
paper, showed how hardly they had been used. They were the
hands of a laborer, scrubbed meticulously clean, the nails trimmed
painstakingly,—with a pocket-knife, one could guess. So there he
stood, towering above them all, with pre-War clothes, the hands of a
laborer, the eyes of a thinker.
The car became very still. Every man there looked at Peter. And
one man’s eyes held love, sympathy and a shade of anxiety. To this
moment, Rawley King could only guess at what his Uncle Peter was
going to say. There was a little prayer in Rawley’s heart, in his eyes.
A modern, young-man prayer, “God, don’t let him pull a boner!” It
would be well if all the prayers in all the churches were as sincere.
“Gentlemen of the Colorado River Commission” (Peter began in
his deep, even voice that carried far) “you do not know me, and I do
not know you. I thank you for consenting to listen to me. When I am
done, you may thank me for consenting with myself to talk to you. In
the words of a certain wise man—whose wisdom I wish I might
borrow as I borrow his words—‘I am not a clever speaker in any way
at all; unless, indeed, by a clever speaker they mean a man who
speaks the truth. You will not hear an elaborate speech dressed up
with words and phrases. I will say to you what I have to say, without
preparation and in the words which come first, for I believe that my
cause is just. So let none of you expect anything else.’ If I could
better that statement, make it more forceful, I should hesitate.
Gentlemen, they stand for absolute honesty of purpose. Let them
stand for me now, as they stood for Socrates—but I hope with
happier effect.
“Fifty-four years ago, I was born within sight and sound of the
Colorado River and within sight of the cliffs of Black Canyon. The
river has been a part of my life. The wilderness hedged me in, mile
upon mile. When I was ten, so long ago as that, I was taught the use
of a rifle that I might help defend lives and property from hostile
Indians and renegade white men. My mother is the granddaughter of
a chief, and the daughter of a Spanish nobleman who voyaged up
from Mexico before white men had seen this country. I am therefore
one-fourth Indian,—a son of the desert. My father was a white man
of good blood.
“When I was a boy and helped in my father’s mine at Black
Canyon, I was urged to greater labor by the great plan my father had
conceived in his long labor at the placer claims. He would save his
gold until he had enough and more than enough. Then, when he had
gold enough, he would dam the flow of the Colorado River and get
the gold that lies in the river bed, washed down through the ages.
“That plan became the splendid dream of my life, Gentlemen of
the Commission. The stupendousness of the idea took root in my
very soul. I would stand and watch the river hurrying past, and I
would think how best it might be done, and I would picture the river
held back, halted in its headlong course to the sea.
“When I was fifteen I was studying, in a small, groping way, the
engineering feat of damming the river at Black Canyon. I knew that I
had a tremendous problem before me. I knew that the problem was
doubled by the need of secrecy, which had been impressed upon me
from the time I was a child. No one had thought of getting the gold
from the river bed. The river was too swift, its currents too
treacherous. I used to watch the steamboats warp up against the
sweep of that current, to make the landing at El Dorado. That gave
me an idea of the giant strength we should have to combat, to
conquer. No one ever suspected the purpose that grew within the
minds of the ‘squaw man’ Cramer and his breed boys, mining at
Black Canyon. Deliberately we fostered the belief in our
commonplace lives, our lack of ambition, our ignorance. That belief,
gentlemen, was a necessary factor in our ultimate success.
“Studying alone—for my younger brother avoids thinking when
possible, and my father gave himself up wholly to the thought of
getting the gold—I felt the need of help from our great engineers. I
could not take the time for college, for studying in the schools that
turn out engineers. I am a man of the desert, as you see me. What I
know I have learned by reading when others slept. I could not give
my working hours to study, for they were sold to the need of getting
gold to build the dam in order to get more gold! I alone realized the
magnitude of the undertaking; to me they looked for the wit to
accomplish their desire. And I remembered, gentlemen, the
engineering problem solved by half-savage peoples; their power is
gone, but their engineering feats remain to testify for them. I
remembered the pyramids, some of the wonderful old cathedrals of
Europe, the marvelous ruined cities of the Incas, the Aztecs,—I
counted myself a savage who must think for himself, and I went at
the problem of making the splendid dream a reality.
“Gentlemen, when I was yet a boy I was experimenting with
explosives. I was studying the resistance of granite, the lifting power
of black powder; I was preparing to build the dam. Before I had
books on the subject, I had measured so many cubic feet of granite
and had heaved it a certain distance with so many pounds of black
powder. Over and over again I did it, in spare time when I was not
working in the underground placer claims by the river.
“I will be brief, gentlemen, but I want to be understood by each
one of you before I stop talking. I told my father, when I was in my
teens, that we must have a million dollars before we could hope to
carry out his idea. I told him that we must have enough, or lose what
we had. I showed him where failure to dam the river would mean a
total loss of time, money, labor. I convinced him that I knew what I
was talking about. I hope that I can convince you.
“Gentlemen, in order to dam the Colorado River and mine the gold
in its bed, for a distance of, say, a mile or two, you must make sure
first of all of the means, second of the secrecy of your plan, and third
of the practicability of the project. We had placer ground of
unsuspected riches; an underground watercourse with gravel bed,
carrying placer gold. This gave us the means. We simulated poverty
and ignorance and a paucity of ambition, which gave us immunity
from suspicion that we had a secret to keep. And I made it my
business, gentlemen, to study the practical engineering problem.
“I had long ago chosen the spot for the dam; a point in the canyon
where the granite cliffs rise highest. I drew charts—” Peter glanced
toward Rawley, and his eyes twinkled “—of a system of underground
workings which, when filled with black powder augmented by light
charges of dynamite, would break the granite walls and heave them
into the river. I worked upon the principle that it would be better to
use too much than not enough, and for fifteen years—yes, for longer
than that—I have been buying and storing black powder. To-day,
gentlemen, I have in place explosives which, with hush money that I
was compelled to pay for the secret, have cost approximately one
hundred thousand dollars. In place! Wired, tamped with heavy
cement, ready to go. Ready to shoot!”
He looked from face to face, smiling while he waited for the
information to sink in. He saw certain newspaper men poise pencils
before they set down the sum, then scribble furiously.
“You didn’t know that, did you? No one has told the Colorado
River Commission, until now, when I am telling you, that twenty-five
miles from here, in the cliffs beside the river, there is at this moment
peacefully reposing a giant ready to rise up and fling rocks into the
river, and lie back again when all is done, to watch the Colorado halt
in its headlong rush to the sea! I will be more explicit, gentlemen.
“In the cliffs, ready to shoot—bear that always in mind—I have five
hundred thousand pounds of blasting powder, and fifty thousand
pounds of forty per cent. dynamite, so disposed that, fired
simultaneously on both sides of the river, the volume of rock will
meet midway and drop into the channel. Some distance up the river,
I have an auxiliary dam built, ready to blow at a moment’s notice if
the main dam seems in danger of not holding against the terrific
pressure of the Colorado’s flow.
“Incidentally—I had nearly forgotten to tell you—I have perhaps
the oldest, most complete private record of the flow, rise and fall of
the Colorado River in existence. The record goes back thirty-nine
years, gentlemen. I still use a gauge which I invented when I was
about fifteen, and I find that it is practical, though crude.
“I have planned the auxiliary dam, as I call it, to check and help
hold the pressure against the main dam, if necessary. In flood time
the force is terrific; I have provided against that. The auxiliary dam, if
thrown in, will give me time to strengthen the main dam. I have not
expected that one big blast will end the matter. Once that is in, and
further secrecy impossible, I shall be prepared to rush one hundred
men, whose names and addresses I have on file, to work with
compressors (two on each side of the river, each one portable and
capable of running three drills each—with jack hammers and expert
men behind them). These will rush another system of undermining,
so that a second installment of Black Canyon can be heaved in upon
the first.
“You will bear in mind, gentlemen, that we are first in the field by a
good many laborious years. I grant you that the idea was born in
greed. The eye of the vultures have dwelt upon the gold in the river,
these fifty years. But even the vulture must give way to the Eagle. I
have seen the wing of the Eagle spread, and its shadow has touched
our dam in Black Canyon. Gentlemen, the vulture has come to make
terms with the Eagle.”
That, for reasons best known to the Commission, was applauded.
A great man asked a question.
“How much, approximately, have you spent in this undertaking?”
Peter glanced down at a slip of paper in his hand.
“It is something I have waited to tell you. I divided our capital into
budgets, as follows:
“A dredger, now waiting at Needles to be towed up the river, four
hundred thousand dollars. (That, of course, is our personal property
and need not be considered in our negotiations, if any are carried
on.) Fund for payment of damages to property caused by blasting,
one hundred thousand dollars. (That, I thought, should pay for all the
windows and crockery we may break, and that remains in bank until
such time as we need it.) Property bought along the river above the
dam site, which may be inundated, fifty thousand. Incidental
expenses covering a period of years, fifty thousand. Explosives,
wiring, battery and cement—with hush money paid out—one
hundred thousand dollars.
“The explosives, gentlemen, I should expect the government to
buy, if you take over our dam; which I hope that you will do. I have
no desire now to infringe upon the rights of the government, even if I
could. The project has been my life’s work. The achievement in itself
has been the big dream of my life. If it will be of any service to you, if
your engineers find my idea a practical one, I shall feel that my life
so far has been well-spent. I had an idea that our dredger might still
be used in the river bed to extract the gold. We have claims on both
sides of the river. I have hoped that we might still be able to operate
our dredger, paying a royalty to the government on whatever gold we
may take out. If that is impossible, then we shall be obliged to unload
our dredger for whatever we can get for it.
“Finally, gentlemen, I must urge you to extend your stay in Las
Vegas, so that you may see our dam, and understand more fully
what I have been trying to make plain to you: That we have a dam,
ready to shoot within an hour’s notice—yes, in fifteen minutes from
the time you say the word. I believe that it will hold. You may find
that, by reënforcing it, by building spillways and preparing for your
canals, our dam will be of real, practical benefit to you—put you that
much farther along the trail. Give you something concrete to work to,
something besides politics, talk, theories, factions. It’s there. It’s
ready to speak its little piece to-morrow, if you like—though I am not
so ignorant as to speak seriously of that. I merely wish to point my
information, make it definite. You, or you, or you, could go down to
our place, and if I told you just where I have hidden the battery, you
could hook it up to our wires and dam the Colorado—like that.” He
snapped the fingers he had pointed and stood waiting. And while he
waited, no man in that car did more than breathe, and look at Peter,
and think rapidly, with some consternation, of the significance of his
information.
“Gentlemen, I have finished. I should like to show you the Cramer
Dam, to-morrow. It may upset your schedule, just as I am making
you late for the banquet, which is probably waiting and cooling at this
moment. But, gentlemen, it will pay you to upset your schedule. It will
pay you to take the time and walk the two or three miles between the
nearest road and the dam. Until you do see the Cramer Dam, which I
now publicly announce as being completed, you are not fully
qualified to make your report, if report you must make, to the
Secretary of the Interior, or whoever receives and passes upon your
findings in the matter. Gentlemen, I thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
FATE HAS DECREED
“I should like to say just here, if I may, that many of the
astonishing facts as Mr. Cramer has placed them before you I can
vouch for from my own personal knowledge.” Rawley was on his
feet, turned toward Peter’s audience. “Just before the war, I was
permitted to look over the work on the Cramer Dam”—privately,
Rawley liked the way Uncle Peter had dignified the dam by giving it a
name which would hereafter identify it to the public—“which at that
time was uncompleted. I did not approve of their project, but I will
say that I was personally in sympathy with it.
“In considering the facts which Mr. Cramer has presented to you, I
am taking the liberty of asking you to bear in mind that I am willing to
vouch for their authenticity. And in explanation of my silence on the
subject, I will say that I went to the Cramers and urged them to
abandon their project, since it would interfere with the reclamation
plans of the government. I did not know, until he stated their position
in the matter just now, what stand they meant to take.”
He sat down, and his chief nodded approvingly. It was perfectly
apparent to Peter that his cause would be none the worse for
Rawley’s championship. He glowed to see how friendly they all were
with Rawley. Also, it surprised his unsophisticated soul to observe
the ease and familiarity with which these men comported
themselves. Headliners in the newspapers, every one of them save
the reporters themselves, he had half expected them to retain their
platform manners in private. They were just men, after all, he
decided, and turned to answer the questions of a great man as
easily as he would have answered Rawley.
The committee of entertainment waited a bit for their guests of
honor, that night. From the manner in which the talk slid into other
and more accustomed channels the moment others entered the car,
Peter gathered that Las Vegas would continue for a time in

Full Download Technological Transformation in The Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800-2018: Comparative Perspectives Timo Särkkä PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Full Download Technological Transformation in The Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800-2018: Comparative Perspectives Timo Särkkä PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Full Download Technological Transformation in The Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800-2018: Comparative Perspectives Timo Särkkä PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Download the full version of the textbook now at textbookfull.

Technological Transformation in the Global

Explore and download more textbook at https://textbookfull.com

Pulp and Paper Industry. Nanotechnology in Forest Industry

Technological Progress and the Transformation of China s

The Road Map of China s Steel Industry Reduction

The Search Party 3rd Edition Hannah Richell

House of Vampires 13 0 The Others Jessica Clark 1st

Providence (Damnation MC #2) 1st Edition Grace Mcginty

The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to

NZ Frenzy North Island New Zealand Scott R Cook

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6679

ISSN 0785-8388 ISSN 1566-0427 (electronic)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018950794

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

Jyväskylä, Finland Timo Särkkä

1 Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper

Part I Research and Development

Part II Regulations and Institutions

8 The Endless Sheet: Technology Transfer and the Papermaking

Part III Local Innovations and Global Markets

Raimo Alén Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemistry,

Michael Roche School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University,

Timo Särkkä, Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch and Mark Kuhlberg

1.1 Research Setting

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 1

impetuses for an in-depth study of technological transformation in the global pulp

1.2 The History of Papermaking Technology

The research starts with a comprehensive historical analysis of the evolution of

countries in which eucalypts were established in plantations for the production of

1.3 The Case Studies

In compiling the volume, it was deemed best to employ a simple organisational

to environmentally driven technology transfer, for instance in the development of

2.1 The Origins of Turning Cellulosic Materials into Paper

The use of cellulose-containing fibrous feedstocks for papermaking was known in

You might also like