The Rangers Are Coming (41 page)

Arcadia put the list up on the screen for everyone to review.

1842: Anesthesia used for the first time.

“I think we can add the family of anesthetics currently in use to our list of products that can be purchased in trade with other countries,” said Arcadia.

“You realize that the anesthesia they are talking about is common ether,” said one of the doctors.  Our anesthetics are delivered by IV drip.  The global medical community is still not even up to using needles.  We would have to be able to demonstrate the entire process of introducing fluids to a body.  Do we want to go that far?”

“That’s a very good question,” said Arcadia.  “We would still maintain the integrity of the products, of course, the outside medical community is not going to be able to synthesize the drugs, manufacture the needles, plastic tubes, or IV bags.  However, we have come to our first crossroad of involvement by the United States in global affairs.  Others will begin to come along in growing numbers in the near future, and we will deal with them on a case-by-case basis.  As I see it, this one is easy.  It’s entirely humanitarian in nature, like the food we sent to the British a half century ago.  However, the techniques and the training to use these products are going to have to be taught in person.  We sure aren’t going to bring doctors here, so that means a team has to go to Europe and teach the procedure in their big medical schools.”

“I realize a lot of care must be taken by the docs not to reveal more advanced medicine than we want them to know,” said the Director of Public Health, “Frankly, Arcadia, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to put in a pitch for going public with the vaccines for the common diseases.  These diseases are still killing a lot of people in the outside world.  We can prepare a cocktail of vaccines that are delivered by needles that will cover measles, whooping cough, pertussis, mumps, polio, and Tuberculosis.”

“I’m emotionally on your side, Doc,” said Arcadia, “but the population of Europe is now over 200 million.  We don’t have the facilities for producing that much vaccine.  If we made it a priority, we might be able to build the labs to turn out that much and more, but it looks like a 25 year job to me.”

“I guess you’re right,” said the Doctor, “I guess we’ll have to put vaccinating the world on our ‘to do’ list.  However, anesthetics are a much more manageable problem.  We do have the production capabilities to keep up with that demand.”

“How big a team do you need,” asked the President, speaking up for the first time?

“Not too big.  If we demonstrate the procedure in England, France, Spain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, it will spread to the rest of the world.  That means five teams of half a dozen docs; make it about 30 or 40 people.”

              “Why don’t we just send one team to a medical school in England and let them spread the procedure,” asked the President?

              “Politics,” said Arcadia, “None of these countries get along with each other very well in the first place.  If we just gave the drugs and the procedure to the British, they might not share it.  In any case, the other major powers would believe we were giving the British special treatment.  We have to send our teams to all the big powers and deliver the new procedure at about the same time.”

              “Of course,” said Gallagher, “the United States is strictly neutral and acting in the best interests of everyone.”

              “Right,” said Arcadia, “I think we should put together all the pieces of this project, start producing a steady supply to sell to the Europeans, and assemble our teams.  Let the President know when you are completely ready and then he can pass the word of our intentions to the Ambassadors.”

              “Are all our historical reviews going to be so complicated,” asked the President?

              “Not really,” said Arcadia, “look at the next item on the list.”

1843: The first wagon train sets out from Missouri.

“I guess we won’t have to deal with that,” said Gallagher.

“Or the next one.”

1844: First publicly funded telegraph line in the world—between Baltimore and Washington—sends demonstration message on May 24, ushering in the age of the telegraph.  This message read, "What hath God wrought?"

“This was a big deal in early America, but now we do so much more.  The event will never happen.”

1844: Millerite movement awaits the Second Advent of Jesus Christ on October 22.  Christ's non-appearance becomes known as the Great Disappointment
.

              “We’ll broadcast this on the church channel.  It will give our pastors lots of fodder for sermons that say that the ‘Second Coming of Christ’ is none of our business.”

1844: The Great Auk is rendered extinct.

“I don’t suppose we can do anything about this,” said the President.

“We could send a ship to see if there are any Auks left,” said one of the staff, “and if there is we could maybe bring home a few to add to our national zoo.”

“I’d vote for that,” said the President.

“Then that is the way we shall have it,” said Arcadia

1844: Dominican War of Independence from Haiti.

“This one is going to come as quite a shock to the state of Hispaniola,” laughed the President.

“The next three are really not something we need to think about,” said Arcadia.

She scrolled down on the screen and stopped at the next entry.  “This one needs our attention,” said Arcadia.

1845–1849: The Irish Potato Famine leads to the Irish diaspora.

              “Something like five million Irish migrated to the United States as a result of this famine.  A million in the first year of 1846,” said Arcadia.  “The Irish are one of the important groups of immigrants for our country.  They will make good Americans, and make significant contributions to our society.  The problem is dealing with the numbers.  In real history, a lot of the Irish were shoved into substandard housing in New York and Boston and suffered from poverty, low wages, and disease.  I think we need to take them in and then quickly disburse them in groups to several states.  Most of them are farmers and the one thing we have plenty of is open land.  Maybe we can grubstake them with seeds and equipment on credit.  But we can’t have them clogging up our cities.”

              The next item was, 1846–1848: The Mexican-American War leads to Mexico's cession of much of the modern-day Southwestern United States.

              Events such as this just disappear into the river of time,” said Arcadia,  “next item.

1846–1847: Mormon migration to Utah.

              “It’s OK for the Mormons to migrate to Utah,” said Arcadia.  “In real history they went by wagon train.  Personally, I consider this religion a heresy, but at least it’s based on the resurrection of Christ, which makes them a lot more attractive than the Muslims.  I recommend that the President contact Brigham Young and make a deal to send the whole bunch of them on trains.  They can unload their wagons and finish the trip to ‘the promised land’ as best they can.”

              “I’ll make the arrangements,” said the President.

              Arcadia scrolled the list.

              1847: The Bronte sisters publish
Jane Eyre
,
Wuthering Heights,
and
Agnes Grey
.

“Nice.”

1847–1901: The Caste War of Yucatán.

“Not relevant to our history.”

1848–1849: Second Anglo-Sikh War

“Ditto”

1848:
The Communist Manifesto
published.

“An important book with multiple ramifications, but not for this century.”

1848: Revolutions of 1848 in Europe.

“Don’t even know what this is.”

1848: Seneca Falls Convention is the first women's rights convention in the United States and leads to the battle for suffrage and women's legal rights.

“Obviously, another historical relic”

1848–1858: California Gold Rush.  1849: The first boatloads of gold prospectors arrive in California, giving them the nickname 49ers.

Arcadia smiled, “The gold is going to be discovered.  It’s the best homogenizer of people I can imagine.  Let ‘em have their fun.”

She scrolled on.

1849: The safety pin and the gas mask are invented.

1849: Earliest recorded air raid, as Austria employs 200 balloons to deliver ordnance against Venice.

1850: The Little Ice Age ends around this time.

1850–1864: Taiping Rebellion is the bloodiest conflict of the century, leading to the deaths of 20 million people.

1851: The Great Exhibition in London was the world's first international Expo or World's Fair.

“I don’t suppose we want to take part in this, asked one of the staff?

“Tempting, isn’t it,” said Arcadia?  “However, the secrets of America are far too important to be fizzled away at a public exhibition.” 

1851: Louis Napoleon assumes power in France in a coup.

1851–1852: The Platine War ends and the Empire of Brazil has hegemony over South America.

1851–1860s: Victorian gold rush in Australia

1852: Frederick Douglass delivers his speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" in Rochester, New York.

1853: United States Commodore Matthew C. Perry threatens the Japanese capital with gunships, demanding that they agree to open trade.

1853–1856: Crimean War between France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia

1854: Battle of Balaclava and the Charge of the Light Brigade.

1854: The Convention of Kanagawa formally ends Japan's policy of isolation.

1854–1855: Siege of Sevastopol; city falls to British forces.

1855: Bessemer process enables steel to be mass-produced.

1856: World's first oil refinery in Romania

1856: Neanderthal man first identified.  Age still unknown.

1857–1858: Indian Rebellion of 1857.  The British Empire assumes control of India from the East India Company.

1858: Invention of the phonograph, the first true device for recording sound.

1859: Charles Darwin publishes
On the Origin of Species
.

1859–1869: Suez Canal is constructed.

“None of this is relevant to our current activities or technical progress,” said Arcadia.  “It’s true that the Industrial Revolution in Europe has a full head of steam.  We would have to expect them to make progress in some basic areas, but we are so far ahead of them, we really can’t risk revealing our true capabilities until we’re ready.  We have a full head of steam too, but our schools, research facilities, and labs are starting to turn out some technology that rivals or actually exceeds the technology of my time.”

“Speaking of which,” said President Gallagher, “do we have an inventory of where we stand today?”