The Grantville Gazette Volumn II Read online

  We have long been allied with this prince, despite its shy, yea reclusive, nature. We have long known the Red Lotion of Calamine as discovered in ancient times by the Egyptians, applied to soothe irritations of the skin. We have seen the application of the oil of vitriol to Calamine yields white vitriol and know how this agent toils against the powers of destruction and rot. So it may now be told that Zink is the vital essence and fused earth in Calamine ore. Thus it is we take another step of Ascension, growing our knowledge and ourselves. Although Zink yearns to stay humble and hidden, its strength is not diluted with revelation.

  The distillation of Zink is done thusly. First the Calamine ore must be roasted to remove volatile antagonists. Second, the resulting calx is charged with Charcoal in a crucible pierced by a pipe. The crucible must be sealed tightly by lid and placed in a furnace. The Zink vapor is collected after it travels through the pipe and condensed into liquid Zink and which may thusly be cooled to solid.

  To preserve its secretive nature and remain hidden, Zink fights its enemies in the air. The outermost layer sacrifices itself to form a dull armor, not the brilliant silver as when first the Zink be cast. This armor is of humble and reclusive nature, desiring not to attract attention unto itself, but it now lies in our arsenal. We may gather this armor and allow the remaining Zink to form a new shell. Collecting the twisting scrapings, called by the Americans "Zink Oxide," we shall follow Alchemical convention and name them "Flowers of Zink."

  A lotion is to be made of Flowers of Zink thusly. Prepare with parts Comfrey, Lavender, Sage and Thyme using Olive oil to make a wonderful treatment for any inflammation of the skin, including rashes, irritation from cloth, bed sores, wrinkles and burns from exposure of sensitive skin to the sun and elements, prolonged excitement of baby's skin including cradle cap or milk crust, and relief of rashes associated with many feminine discomforts.

  Just as papermakers have applied white vitriol to prevent spoilage of their sizing, the princely Zink prevents other spoilage as well. It is a powerful assistant to the iatrochemist in allowing the life force in humans to fight its enemies. Hear now another fearsome weapon the American doctors use and that we might as well, butter of Zink. We may apply spirit of salt, or "Hydrochloric Acid" as the Americans say, to Zink to produce a white waxy and oily substance and also known as Zink chloride. The American alchemical symbol for this is "ZnCl2." Small applications of butter of Zink are used by Americans to remove warts and fight many other diseases of the skin that sink deeper than a mere redness. Be warned that it is caustic and will eagerly eat away at more than just warts.

  Just as it fights life's enemies, Zink can do the same for the king of metals, iron. Application of Zink to iron will "Galvanize" it, allowing it to fight its enemy, rust. When iron is dipped in molten Zink, the Zink coats iron and the outermost layer of metal again sacrifices itself to make an armor to protect the rest which may be applied to most any iron product we wish to. One such application is dipping iron wire. We may use it in applications where more strength for weight is needed than can be provided by copper wire or hemp rope.

  Zink is also used in construction of "elektrode buttercups" which can store the potential of elektricitate. A jar of glass shall contain a star of copper fingers mounted on the bottom. A buttercup of Zink is hung near the top. The jar may then be half filled with blue vitriol to which some water and vitriolic acid is added until the fluid reaches the buttercup. This device is called an "Earth Power Cell," obviously a harness for the fluid power found in the fight between the dark powers of the earth and the life force of thunder and lightning.

  So has that which was hidden been revealed. Here ends the Secret Book of Zink.

  Images

  Note from Editor:

  There are various images, mostly portraits from the time, which illustrate different aspects of the 1632 universe. In the first issue of the Grantville Gazette, I included those with the volume itself. Since that created downloading problems for some people, however, I've separated all the images and they will be maintained and expanded on their own schedule.

  If you're interested, you can look at the images and my accompanying commentary at no extra cost. They are set up in the Baen Free Library. You can find them as follows:

  1) Go to www.baen.com

  2) Select "Free Library" from the blue menu at the top.

  3) Once in the Library, select "The Authors" from the yellow menu on the left.

  4) Once in "The Authors," select "Eric Flint."

  5) Then select "Images from the Grantville Gazette.

  Submissions to the magazine

  If anyone is interested in submitting stories or articles for future issues of the Grantville Gazette, you are welcome to do so. But you must follow a certain procedure:

  1) All stories and articles must first be posted in a conference in Baen's Bar set aside for the purpose, called "1632 Slush." Do not send them to me directly, because I won't read them.

  It's good idea to submit a sketch of your story to the conference first, since people there will likely spot any major problems that you overlooked. That can wind up saving you a lot of wasted work.

  2) Your story/article will then be subjected to discussion and commentary by participants in the 1632 discussion. In essence, it will get chewed on by what amounts to a very large, virtual writers' group.

  You do not need to wait until you've finished the story to start posting it in "1632 Slush." In fact, it's a good idea not to wait, because you will often find that problems can be spotted early in the game, before you've put all the work into completing the piece.

  3) While this is happening, the managing editor of the Grantville Gazette—Cheryl Daetwyler, otherwise known as the Henchwoman—will be keeping an eye on the discussion. She will alert me whenever a story or article seems to be gaining general approval from the participants in the discussion.

  4) At that point—and only at that point—do I take a look at a story or article.

  I insist that people follow this procedure, for two reasons:

  First, as I said, I'm very busy and I just don't have time to read everything submitted until I have some reason to think it's gotten past a certain preliminary screening.

  Secondly, and even more importantly, the setting and "established canon" in this series is quite extensive by now. If anyone tries to write a story without first taking the time to become familiar with the setting, they will almost invariably write something which—even if it's otherwise well written—I simply can't accept.

  In short, the procedure outlined above will save you a lot of wasted time and effort also.

  One point in particular: I have gotten extremely hardnosed about the way in which people use American characters in their stories (so-called "up-timers"). That's because I began discovering that my small and realistically portrayed coal mining town of 3500 people was being willy-nilly transformed into a "town" with a population of something like 20,000 people—half of whom were Navy SEALs who just happened to be in town at the Ring of Fire, half of whom were rocket scientists (ibid), half of whom were brain surgeons (ibid), half of whom had a personal library the size of the Library of Congress, half of whom...

  Not to mention the F-16s which "just happened" to be flying through the area, the Army convoys (ibid), the trains full of vital industrial supplies (ibid), the FBI agents in hot pursuit of master criminals (ibid), the...

  NOT A CHANCE. If you want to use an up-time character, you must use one of the "authorized" characters. Those are the characters created by Virginia DeMarce using genealogical software and embodied in what is called "the grid."

  You can obtain a copy of the grid from Virginia by emailing her at: [email protected]. Please do not send her a query out of idle curiosity. Only do so if you are planning to write a story. Virginia is busy, too.

  You will be paid for any story or factual article which is published. The rates that I can afford for the magazine at the moment fall into the category of "semi-pro." I hope to b
e able to raise those rates in the future to make them fall clearly within professional rates, but... That will obviously depend on whether the magazine starts selling enough copies to generate the needed income. In the meantime, the rates and terms which I can offer are posted below in the standard letter of agreement accepted by all the contributors to this issue.

  Standard letter of agreement

  Below are the terms for the purchase of a story or factual article (hereafter "the work") to be included in an issue of the online magazine Grantville Gazette, edited by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.

  Payment will be sent upon acceptance of the work at the following rates:

  1) a rate of 2.5 cents per word for any story or article up to 15,000 words;

  2) a rate of 2 cents a word for any story or article after 15,000 words but before 30,000 words;

  3) a rate of 1.5 cents a word for any story or article after 30,000 words.

  The rates are cumulative, not retroactive to the beginning of the story or article. (E.g., a story 40,000 words long would earn the higher rates for the first 30,000 words.) Word counts will be rounded to the nearest hundred and calculated by Word for Windows XP.

  You agree to sell exclusive first world rights for the story, including exclusive first electronic rights for five years following publication, and subsequent nonexclusive world rights. Should Baen Books select your story for a paper edition, you will not receive a second advance but will be paid whatever the differential might be between what you originally received and the advance for different length stories established for the paper edition. You will also be entitled to a proportionate share of any royalties earned by the authors of a paper edition. If the work is reissued in a paper edition, then the standard reversion rights as stipulated in the Baen contract would supercede the reversion rights contained here.

  Eric Flint retains the rights to the 1632 universe setting, as well as the characters in it, so you will need to obtain his permission if you wish to publish the story or use the setting and characters through anyone other than Baen Books even after the rights have reverted to you. You, the author, will retain copyright and all other rights except as listed above. Baen will copyright the story on first publication.

  You warrant and represent that you have the right to grant the rights above; that these rights are free and clear; that your story will not violate any copyright or any other right of a third party, nor be contrary to law. You agree to indemnify Baen for any loss, damage, or expense arising out of any claim inconsistent with any of the above warranties and representations.

  THE END

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