Chapter 12

“Yes, sir,” exclaimed Reg, while Dawson mumbled quietly, “Yes.” When Reg got back to the lunch table, he only had time to quickly gobble up the food Frances had kept aside for him. This avoided him answering questions until they were heading off to their afternoon lectures or study rooms.

“Reg? What did the university want with you?” demanded Prudence.

“Just answers to several questions; nothing that need concern you, girls.” This left raised eyebrows, as the girls looked at each other in surprise. Reg normally was happy to tell them about such events. Time was pressing, so they separated without pushing him further. In his next class, the lecturer was pressing all the students arrayed in layers in front of him

“So. Invention and logistics. Can anyone offer a link between the two concepts? They are both straightforward,” the lecturer posed to his class. There was a deafening silence. Not a hand went up, not even Reg’s. The lecturer smiled.

“Nice to see you all baffled for once. Here’s a clue: Getting things together.” He could almost see the lightbulb spark into life above Reg and a couple of other students. He smiled and waited for the question to come. Reg got in first.

“Sir? I was wondering if logistics is about managing a supply of things, and invention is managing a supply of ideas?”

“You are on the right lines, Mr Robertson. I like your phraseology. There is a common assumption that invention is always a ‘Eureka’ moment, when one man gets an idea that turns into an invention. Let me tell you that for 99 per cent of the time, this is not the case. Most of the time, there is a gathering of other ideas and technologies that means that a new idea becomes feasible and practical. Popular imagination assumes that James Watt invented the steam engine. He didn’t. That concept was invented by Heron of Alexandria in the first century A.D., in the form of the aeolipile, a metal ball on hollow pivots, with two opposing angled vents to release steam and make the ball spin. A fire was made underneath a closed cauldron which fed the steam to the ball. The ball rotated as the steam vented from the two tubes, but it was little more than a toy, a demonstration device. Next, our old friend Da Vinci left us a sketch of a steam-powered cannon, which may or may not have been effective in propelling a missile, but in my opinion would not have been practical in use. The steam pressure would not have been high enough to give enough impetus to a ball of stone or metal so as to be effective for warfare. In 1606 a Spaniard, Jeronimo de Ayanz y Beaumont was granted a patent for a steam-powered pump. Apparently it worked well enough to be used for draining flooded mines, but it was still very basic in its design. Samuel Morland came up with an idea for a slightly better steam pump, and it was taken further by Thomas Savery in 1698.” He paused and added, “There is much more, such as Frenchman Denis Papin’s steps towards a pressure cooker, but I trust you will explore such sidelines yourself. I want to see you exploring the world around you. You may come up with a better design for a contraption, even if it is not a Eureka-style invention. There are two types of people: those who accept the status quo, and those who aim to improve the status quo. The latter are the doers and thinkers who advance our knowledge, or on occasion, subvert it. You students are supposed to be of the second persuasion, hopefully of the advancement inclination. Show this to me in your work. To get back to the topic, the biggest improvement of the period arrived with Newcomen’s atmospheric engine of 1712, which powered pumps to lift water from mines. It did its job well, but remained very inefficient and burned prodigious quantities of coal. As it was water-cooled, the heat lost at every cooling was a waste, and the seals were not very good. John Smeaton made many improvements, particularly in better seals, and tripled the efficiency of the engine. This was where James Watt at last comes in. Born of a working-class family in Greenock on the river Clyde, he studied and eventually became an instrument maker at Glasgow University. There, he discovered that the university owned a model of a Newcomen engine. It was currently in London for repair at the time, and that was not going well. Watt persuaded the university to have it returned for him to work on, and he applied himself to it. After repairing the engine, he estimated that 80 per cent of the heat was lost through cooling the cylinder at each stroke. His solution was to condense the steam in a separate cylinder. This solution, of a separate condenser, made a vast difference to the engine’s efficiency, and by 1765 he had produced a working model of his new design. So all was well? Invented? Was it heck! You have to get your invention into production, to get anywhere. He tried to raise venture capital, and worked on more improvements. He had a working model of his new engine ready by 1774, but for his cylinders to work well, they needed to have a completely circular bore. The technology for this kind of accuracy did not exist then, but by sheer good luck for Watt, John Wilkinson shortly afterwards invented a new boring machine that could achieve this accuracy, and the problem was solved. Now, instead of this new engine being marketed generally, owners of Newcomen engines realised they could apply many of Watt’s designs to their own engines at a lower cost than replacing the original engine, so Watt and his new partner, Matthew Boulton, licensed such improvements, using these parts, to these parsimonious owners. Watt & Boulton’s own steam engines were large and stationery, and therefore expensive. Watt tried to use his monopoly to keep it that way, by improving the design to make it more cost-effective, such as developing the double-acting cylinder. This helped maintain his technological lead in this area of steam engine building. He believed high-pressure steam was too dangerous, and a number of boiler explosions supported that fear. Of course in later years boiler explosions still happened, but at a lower frequency. It took Richard Trevithick to develop the high-pressure steam engine in 1800, and as you all should be aware, Trevithick introduced the first successful steam railway locomotive to the world. Now, from all that, you can see that Watt did not invent the steam engine. He invented a number of major improvements, from the separate condenser onwards, that made steam engines economically viable. There was no single inventor. Instead we had a whole stream of people and ideas involved in the introduction of the steam engine, and it is much the same with other inventions. They all happened in a time and place that made them possible. This is important not just for the history and philosophy of science, but for history as a whole. Refrigeration changed how people lived, but it also took a series of events and inventions to get us to the idea of readily available frozen foods in the home. I would like you all to look into how the modern frozen foods concept came about, and do me a short essay of a thousand words explaining it.” When Reg and his wives gathered to drive home, he reflected on what he had been told in his interview, and wondered how much he could reveal. He had decided by the time they entered the house. Once they all had their coats off and were settling down in soft chairs, he asked for their attention.

“Girls, how good is this building for standing up to explosions of any sort?” Frances turned her head to stare at him.

“Reg, what are you getting at? Explosions? Why? We don’t have a gas supply in this building. Do you know something we don’t?”

“It was what I got to thinking, after I learned that Jim Fitzgerald, our regular bully, has a strong interest in explosives. It worried me a little.”

“As such an idea should!” Frances was irate. “But why would he go to the trouble and expense of making some sort of bomb? What would he get out of it, and why should it concern us?” Freda interposed, “That is a good point. Why indeed would he want to put himself in a position where he would be the prime suspect in any explosion at this house? He wouldn’t, and I doubt he has the cash to hire some hit-man. He must have some other reason for his interest in explosives.” Prudence mused, “I get the idea. He may be involved in the making and selling of explosives. I’ll ring my dad and see what he thinks. I am surprised that the security services haven’t shown any interest in him.” She looked over at Reg as she spoke, and saw him blush. “Reg, my love? That interview at the university? I suspect it was a lot more than answering a couple of questions. Your concern over explosives happened after that university interview, so that must have been the stimulus for your concerns. Can you tell us something about that?” Reg looked sheepish, and said, “Sorry, Prudence. I can’t tell you anything. I promised.” Her face took on a triumphal scowl. “You have been got at by the security services! That’s why you are reticent, my poor husband. It all makes sense now.” Reg said, hesitantly, “Prudence, I don’t think we should get your father involved. It would not be safe.” Prudence glared at Reg for a moment, then thought better of it. “What are you thinking, Reg, that makes you say that?”

“If Jim Fitzgerald is getting involved with explosives, one way or another, his associates are most probably either criminals or extremists, both of whom would not look kindly on any meddling from outside their ranks. MI6, etc., have their own means of collecting information, so are probably best left to it.”

“That is all very well, Reg, but this man and his relatives have been a thorn in our flesh for a considerable time. We have some justification for any ‘meddling’ as you call it. My dad can be asked to be circumspect in what he might do. His people are like a secret army of their own. Take Mr Fixit, for example. We don’t even know his name, but he gets things done, sharpish. That is the standard that my Dad’s organisation works to.” Reg hesitated.

“Well, if you are sure it won’t backfire on us, Prudence, have a quiet word with him. We are not asking him to actively search for Fitzgerald or the Aitchison lot, just unobtrusively ask around about them, however his team might do that. They may be able to access databases somewhere.”

“I have great confidence in my Dad, Reg. He would do nothing that might harm us in any way, I assure you.”

“What do the rest of you girls think?” asked Reg. “Please note that I have not told you anything about my interview at the university. This is all your own conclusions from what I did NOT say.” Erika gave a hearty laugh. “I agree that we have come to a conclusion based on what you did NOT say, Reg dear, but negative information can be just as valid as positive information. I’ll go along with Prudence’s assessment.” The other girls quickly added their assent, and Prudence was authorised to make the approach to her father. Reg realised that to go against this consensus would be counter-productive, so raised no further objection. Frances smiled his way, and commented, “Reg, I get the idea that you had to promise not to tell us what you discussed. Well, you kept your promise, and we are doing what we as a group decided we wanted to happen. You are the innocent bystander, so you have not broken your promise. Okay?”

“Okay, Frances. I am happy to keep it this way.”

“Great! Anything else we can help you with, today?”

“No. Once in a day is quite sufficient, I think.” He suddenly grimaced, “Damn!”

“What’s wrong now?” said Frances in concern.

“I was supposed to have phoned the Finds man about my finds, at lunchtime, and I forgot!”

“Can you phone him now, or is it too late?” Reg glanced at his wristwatch, and shrugged. “Maybe not. I’ll try him, if I can use your phone, Frances?” Sighing, she handed it to him wordlessly. He looked at the palm of his hand, where he had written the number yesterday, and Frances nearly hit him. “Reg! The number is already in the phone memory, under Finds. Just press the notebook key, and you are in the phone’s book list.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Reg. “Sorry, I am still not familiar with these phones.” He pressed the first key, then flicked through the list to Finds, and selected it to ring. He listed to the phone ringing, then it was picked up.

“I am sorry, but the office closed until tomorrow.”

“Damn! Damn! Damn! And all because I forgot to phone you at lunchtime.” The recorded message ceased, the Finds man came on the phone.

“Mr Robertson? I am still here, just getting ready to go home.”

“Oh, thank goodness for that, sir. I was supposed to phone about the valuer’s verdict on my coins, but I got called away at lunchtime, then it went out of my head until now. My profuse apologies.”

“That’s all right, Mr Robertson. Our valuer was delighted with your first coin batch. They must have remained fairly dry while underground, as they are in excellent condition. His valuation has gone up to eighty thousand pounds total.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Reg. “That is wonderful!”

“There’s more, Mr Robertson. I got your other two concretions to clean up; they are apparently bronze pots filled with more coins. It looks like they were all part of the one hoard. The coins are still in need of cleaning, but the pots have cleaned up well. I have a tentative value of more than £400 each, plus the coins, once they have been fully separated and cleaned up. He will come back and value these coins once they are ready, but at first glance they are similar to the other collection.”

“Gosh. How many coins do you estimate, sir?”

“Between the two pots, probably fifty per cent more than the first find, Mr Robertson.”

“I expect the fees of yourself and the valuer will eat into the worth, though.”

“Of course there will be a fee from him for each visit, yet it is but a tiny fraction of the value. You will probably be offered the net valuation after costs are deducted. Then you will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the payout. You get an allowance of about 11,000 pounds, then you pay tax at, I think, up to forty per cent, for the sort of valuation you are likely to get.” Reg jumped in to ask, “I am only getting half, so would it still be forty per cent?”

“Even at half, you may be into that tax rate. The lower level is twenty per cent, so you may be paying so much at twenty, then the rest at forty per cent. I think that is how they work it. I am not supposed to advise on tax, except to say that you have to declare it to the tax man, who will advise you on what is due.” Reg sighed. “I fully understand that, and I am grateful for your advice as far as you can give it. As students without any earned income, we should be able to use the allowance in full, and get the full amount of the lower rate of capital gains tax, so just a small amount at the larger rate?”

“There is no ‘we’, Mr Robertson. The tax is on you personally, not shared by your family.”

“We couldn’t perhaps arrange for ownership of the coins to be vested in our entire family, and have an allowance for each member of our family?”

“I can see you have read something on capital gains tax, Mr Robertson, but my understanding is that this is a personal and singular tax, to prevent tax avoidance. You might have better luck with a tax lawyer to help you, though I have my doubts about that option.”

“This whole thing is new to me, sir, so I don’t have access to a tax lawyer.”

“Well, find yourself a lawyer of some kind, and he will be able to put you in touch with the expert. You are supposed to be a clever person, being at university, Mr Robertson. Use your head!”

“Ah, yes. I see what you mean. I’ll let you get off home now. Thanks for staying to talk to me.” Reg had not noticed the sarcasm in the other’s words. When he had finished his call, Reg was quick to think of Freda’s father, the lawyer.

“Freda, my love, do you think we can ask your dad if he knows a tax lawyer, for advice. It looks like we are going to be slammed with a capital gains tax fairly soon. The coins I found are worth at least fifty thousand, possibly more, and even with a split with the farmer, we will be paying capital gains tax, it seems.” Freda nodded sagely, and responded, “Did you give any of us your allowance for the last year? Dad will want to know, as I am pretty certain you didn’t have a capital gain last year!” Reg exclaimed, “Last year? What has last year got to do with it?”