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Progress in IS

Volker Wohlgemuth
Frank Fuchs-Kittowski
Jochen Wittmann Editors

Advances and
New Trends in
Environmental
Informatics
Stability, Continuity, Innovation
Progress in IS
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10440
Volker Wohlgemuth ⋅ Frank Fuchs-Kittowski
Jochen Wittmann
Editors

Advances and New Trends

in Environmental Informatics
Stability, Continuity, Innovation

123
Editors
Volker Wohlgemuth Jochen Wittmann
Environmental Informatics Environmental Informatics
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft
Berlin (HTW Berlin), University of Berlin (HTW Berlin), University of
Applied Sciences Applied Sciences
Berlin Berlin
Germany Germany

Frank Fuchs-Kittowski
Environmental Informatics
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft
Berlin (HTW Berlin), University of
Applied Sciences
Berlin
Germany

ISSN 2196-8705 ISSN 2196-8713 (electronic)

Progress in IS
ISBN 978-3-319-44710-0 ISBN 978-3-319-44711-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44711-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947762

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

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.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

This book covers the main research results of the 30th edition of the long-standing
and established international and interdisciplinary conference series on leading
environmental information and communication technologies (EnviroInfo 2016).
The conference was held on 14–16 September 2016 at the Hochschule für Technik
und Wirtschaft Berlin (HTW Berlin), University of Applied Sciences. The Envir-
oInfo conference series under the patronage of the Technical Committee on
Environmental Informatics of the German Informatics Society looks back on a
history of 30 conferences. Thus, one important thread in Berlin was a retrospective
on the experiences made and the lessons learned in the field of environmental
informatics during the last years. Basic topics that were covered under the central
focus Environmental Informatics—Current trends and future perspectives based on
30 years of history were applications of geographical information systems, envi-
ronmental modelling and simulation, risk management, material and energy flow
management, climate change, tools and database applications and other aspects
with regard to the main topic ICT and the environment.
Due to the interdisciplinary character of environmental informatics, one
important goal of this conference was to bring experts from industry, research and
education together to exchange ideas and proposals for solution of urgent problems
and needs in the field on environmental protection and its IT support.
The editors would like to thank all contributors to the conference and these
conference proceedings. Special thanks also go to the members of the programme
and organizing committee. Especially, we want to thank all “helping hands” and
students of the HTW Berlin. Last, but not least, a warm thank you to our sponsors
and to the HTW Berlin for being the host of this year’s conference.

Berlin, Germany Volker Wohlgemuth

June 2016 Frank Fuchs-Kittowski
Jochen Wittmann

v
EnviroInfo 2016 Organizers

Chairs

Prof. Dr. Volker Wohlgemuth, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin,
Germany
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Fuchs-Kittowski, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft
Berlin, Germany
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jochen Wittmann, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin,
Germany

Programme Committee

Arndt, Hans-Knud
Bartoszczuk, Pawel
Brüggemann, Rainer
Düpmeier, Clemens
Fischer-Stabel, Peter
Fuchs-Kittowski, Frank
Funk, Burkhardt
Geiger, Werner
Göbel, Johannes
Greve, Klaus
Hilty, Lorenz M.
Hitzelberger, Patrik
Hönig, Timo
Jensen, Stefan
Karatzas, Kostas
Kern, Eva
Kleinhans, David

vii
viii EnviroInfo 2016 Organizers

Knetsch, Gerlinde
Knol, Onno
Kremers, Horst
Lang, Corinna
Lorenz, Jörg
Mattern, Kati
MacDonell, Margaret
Marx Gómez, Jorge
Möller, Andreas
Müller, Berit
Müller, Ulf Philipp
Naumann, Stefan
Niemeyer, Peter
Niska, Harri
Ortleb, Heidrun
Page, Bernd
Pattinson, Colin
Pillmann, Werner
Rapp, Barbara
Riekert, Wolf-Fritz
Schade, Sven
Schreiber, Martin
Schweitzer, Christian
Simon, Karl-Heinz
Sonnenschein, Michael
Susini, Alberto
Thimm, Heiko
Vogel, Ute
Voigt, Kristina
Wagner vom Berg, Benjamin
Widok, Andi
Winter, Andreas
Wittmann, Jochen
Wohlgemuth, Volker
Contents

Part I Design, Sustainability and ICT

Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine
the Environmental Impact of the Apple iPhone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Hans-Knud Arndt and Chris Ewe
Sustainable Software Design for Very Small Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . 15
Stefanie Lehmann and Hans-Knud Arndt
Software Development Guidelines for Performance and Energy:
Initial Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Christian Bunse and Andre Rohdé
Green ICT Research and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Roberto Verdecchia, Fabio Ricchiuti, Albert Hankel, Patricia Lago
and Giuseppe Procaccianti
Some Aspects of Using Universal Design as a Redesign
Strategy for Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Moyen M. Mustaquim and Tobias Nyström

Part II Disaster Management for Resilience and Public Safety

Development of Web Application for Disaster-Information
Collection and Its Demonstration Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Toshihiro Osaragi, Ikki Niwa and Noriaki Hirokawa
Social Media Resilience During Infrastructure Breakdowns
Using Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Christian Reuter, Thomas Ludwig, Marc-André Kaufhold
and Julian Hupertz

ix
x Contents

Collection and Integration of Multi-spatial and Multi-type

Data for Vulnerability Analysis in Emergency Response Plans . . . . . . . . 89
Harsha Gwalani, Armin R. Mikler, Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler
and Martin O’Neill
EPISECC Common Information Space: Defining Data
Ownership in Disaster Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Gerhard Zuba, Lina Jasmontaite, Uberto Delprato, Georg Neubauer
and Alexander Preinerstorfer

Part III Energy Systems

Integrating Social Acceptance of Electricity Grid Expansion
into Energy System Modeling: A Methodological Approach
for Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Karoline A. Mester, Marion Christ, Melanie Degel
and Wolf-Dieter Bunke
Dynamic Portfolio Optimization for Distributed Energy
Resources in Virtual Power Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Stephan Balduin, Dierk Brauer, Lars Elend, Stefanie Holly, Jan Korte,
Carsten Krüger, Almuth Meier, Frauke Oest, Immo Sanders-Sjuts,
Torben Sauer, Marco Schnieders, Robert Zilke, Christian Hinrichs
and Michael Sonnenschein
Distributed Power Management of Renewable Energy
Resources for Grid Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Bengt Lüers, Marita Blank and Sebastian Lehnhoff
Proposing an Hourly Dynamic Wind Signal
as an Environmental Incentive for Demand Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Anders Nilsson and Nils Brandt

Part IV Energy System Modelling—Barriers, Challenges

and Good Practice in Open Source Approaches
Wind Energy Scenarios for the Simulation of the German
Power System Until 2050: The Effect of Social
and Ecological Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Marion Christ, Martin Soethe, Melanie Degel
and Clemens Wingenbach
AC Power Flow Simulations within an Open Data Model
of a High Voltage Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Ulf Philipp Müller, Ilka Cussmann, Clemens Wingenbach
and Jochen Wendiggensen
Contents xi

Part V Sustainable Mobility

Empirical Study of Using Renewable Energies in Innovative
Car-Sharing Business Model “in Tandem” at the University
of Hildesheim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Mohsan Jameel, Olexander Filevych and Helmut Lessing
Trends in Mobility: A Competitive Based Approach
for Virtual Mobility Providers to Participate
in Transportation Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Alexander Sandau, Jorge Marx Gómez
and Benjamin Wagner vom Berg

Part VI Life Cycle Assessment

Regionalized LCI Modeling: A Framework for the Integration
of Spatial Data in Life Cycle Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Juergen Reinhard, Rainer Zah and Lorenz M. Hilty
Open Calculator for Environmental and Social Footprints
of Rail Infrastructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Francisco Barrientos, Gregorio Sainz, Alberto Moral, Manuel Parra,
José M. Benítez, Jorge Rodríguez, Carlos Martínez, Francisco Campo
and Rubén Carnerero

Part VII Health Systems

A Computational Intelligence Approach to Diabetes Mellitus
and Air Quality Levels in Thessaloniki, Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Kostas Karatzas, Vassiliki Dourliou, Nikolaos Kakaletsis,
Nikolaos Katsifarakis, Christos Savopoulos
and Apostolos I. Hatzitolios
Aggregation and Measurement of Social Sustainability
and Social Capital with a Focus on Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Andi H. Widok and Volker Wohlgemuth
Optimal Noise Filtering of Sensory Array Gaseous
Air Pollution Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Barak Fishbain, Shai Moshenberg and Uri Lerner

Part VIII Frameworks, Platforms, Portals

Generic Web Framework for Environmental Data Visualization . . . . . . 289
Eric Braun, Clemens Düpmeier, Daniel Kimmig,
Wolfgang Schillinger and Kurt Weissenbach
xii Contents

Creating a Data Portal for Small Rivers in Rostock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Sebastian Hübner, Ferdinand Vettermann, Christian Seip
and Ralf Bill
Convergent Infrastructures for Municipalities as Connecting
Platform for Climate Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Jens Heider and Jörg Lässig

Part IX Others
ICT Support of Environmental Compliance—Approaches
and Future Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Heiko Thimm
Communicating Environmental Issues of Software: Outline
of an Acceptance Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Eva Kern
Partial Optimization of Water Distribution System
Accounting for Multiobjective System Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Marcin Stachura
Towards Environmental Analytics: DPSIR as a System
of Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Corrado Iannucci, Michele Munafò and Valter Sambucini
 Part I
Design, Sustainability and ICT
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data
to Determine the Environmental Impact
of the Apple iPhone

Hans-Knud Arndt and Chris Ewe

Abstract The increasing awareness of environmental protection, e.g. in the course

of climate change, also affects products of the information and communication
technology industry along their lifecycle. Companies have to consider how their
processes and products can be designed correspondingly the expectations of their
stakeholders as well as the public. Therefore they have to measure and analyze
environmentally concerning data to improve their service provision. Using the
Apple iPhone as an example this paper will execute such an analysis to evaluate its
environmental impact. The data investigation is performed by reconditioning,
analyzing and interpreting the data as well as giving potential causes and correla-
tions with other datasets. Basing on the performed analysis a generalized model for
the assessment of the environmental impact of ICT products can be enabled.

Keywords Environmental protection ⋅

Sustainability ⋅
Product lifecycle ⋅
Design ⋅
Data analysis ⋅
Data visualization ⋅
Reporting

1 Sustainability, Environment and Design in the ICT

Industry

The Nature Conservancy states on their website that it’s crucial for humanity to
raise the awareness for environmental protection as one of the central parts of
sustainability (The Nature Conservancy 2016). Major impacts of an inadequate
further procedure would be the greenhouse gas caused consequences of the climate
change. They state: “With rapid climate change, one-fourth of Earth’s species could
be headed for extinction by 2050” (The Nature Conservancy 2016). Direct impacts,

H.-K. Arndt (✉) ⋅ C. Ewe

Otto-Von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
e-mail: hans-knud.arndt@iti.cs.uni-magdeburg.de
C. Ewe
e-mail: chris.ewe@st.ovgu.de

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 3

V. Wohlgemuth et al. (eds.), Advances and New Trends in Environmental
Informatics, Progress in IS, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44711-7_1
4 H.-K. Arndt and C. Ewe

which threaten animal’s as well as human’s life’s are: higher temperature, rising
seas, stronger storms, increased risk of drought, fire and floods or the increase of
head related diseases (The Nature Conservancy 2016).
Especially companies have a strong impact on effects like air pollution or the
consumption of resources. Therefore, they have to design their products and pro-
cesses to leave a preferably small footprint. This also applies to products of the
information and communication technology (ICT) throughout their entire lifecycle.
From procurement to production, usage and disposal, ICT products and their pro-
cesses should be designed to have a minimal environmental impact in order to meet
climate goals (Arndt 2013).
Smartphones, as a continuously growing part of the ICT, also have to meet these
requirements (Statista 2015). Along their lifecycles they have to consider, which
materials in which amounts should be used, which services should be offered or
how the hardware can be disposed at the end of use. Manufacturers have to think
about how the user interacts with the product to e.g. save material while using less
hardware. Accurately analyzing this sustainability data will help companies to
decide better how to influence their footprints. One company who already gathers
data along the lifecycle of their smartphone is Apple. Collecting, preparing, ana-
lyzing and interpreting this data as well as examining possible causes is subject of
the following chapters.

2 Apple, iPhone and Report Data

2.1 Apple Environmental Politics and the iPhone

According to Apple, a preferably low environmental product impact is one of the

key factors in their lifecycle design (Apple Inc. 2015a). They state: “We don’t want
to debate climate change. We want to stop it” (Apple Inc. 2015a). To comprehend
this, the company provides data in form of reports, which demonstrate the product
impact on the environment (Apple Inc. 2015b). Apple was chosen as an example,
because they provide lifecycle data for their products, which can be used for such
an analysis. The iPhone as the product example was chosen because of its relevance
for the company’s success, its broad range of models with many data to analysis as
well as its popularity as a smartphone (Börsen-Zeitung 2015). For the analysis all
iPhone models with an environmental report have been chosen, which are: 3G
(2008), 3GS (2009), 4 (2010), 4s (2011), 5 (2012), 5c (2013), 5s (2013), 6 (2014),
6+ (2014), 6S (2015), 6S+ (2015), SE (2016) (Apple Inc. 2015b; Spiegel 2013).
The structure of the iPhone reports and the definition of Apple’s understanding of
the dataset are subject of the following section.
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine … 5

2.2 Environmental Reports—Product Lifecycle Data

The core of the reports is formed by criteria that enable the quantification of the
environmental awareness. For our analysis we focus on the greenhouse gas emis-
sions (GGE), which are one key factor to ensure environmental protection. “A
greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of
absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere.
By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the
greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.” (Livescience.com
2015) All other given values are considered as influential factors, which could lead
to possible explanations for the GGE development.
Apple’s reports show the total amount of GGE as well as the share of each phase
of the lifecycle in kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) (Apple Inc. 2015b). The
company’s understanding of the product lifecycle slightly differs between different
models. In the following we show exemplary the definitions for the model 3G
(Apple Inc. 2015b):
• Production: Extraction, production and transportation of raw materials and the
manufacturing, transport and assembly of all parts and product packaging.
• Transport: Air and sea transportation of the finished product and its packaging
from the manufacturer of the product to the distribution center. The transport of
the product from the distribution center to the end customer is not included.
• Customer use: For the power consumption of the user, a three-year period is
assumed. Use scenarios were modeled based on data that reflects intensive daily
use of the product. Geographic differences in the power grid need to be con-
sidered on a continental scale.
• Recycling: Transport from the collection to the recycling centers as well as the
energy that is used for mechanical sorting and for shredding of the components.

3 Environmental Impact Analysis of the Apple iPhone

3.1 Course of Analysis

1. Collection and Cleaning of the Data: The data have to be prepared to enable
an access of analysis tools. Therefore we collect all data in Microsoft Excel.
2. Analyzing the Data: We use Microsoft Power BI to upload the Microsoft Excel
sheets and analyze them by visualizing the datasets in different comprehensive
ways (Microsoft Inc. 2016).
3. Interpretation of Findings and possible Explanations: We show the facts that
have been provided by the visualizations and also give answers to explain the
results. Possible explanations are given by comparing the emission data with
other given data like the product weight.
6 H.-K. Arndt and C. Ewe

3.2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The reports illustrate the total GGE as well as the single lifecycle stage GGE. While
the total is given in kg CO2e, the shares of the single phases are displayed as
percentage from the total. To analyze the given data we implemented a Microsoft
Excel sheet, which contains the total GGE as well as the converted values for each
stage. The resulting is shown in Table 1.
In the next step the spreadsheet had been uploaded to the analysis tool. Therewith,
it was possible to create a variety of visualizations, which show the development in
the course of time. A visualization in form of a line chart can be seen in Fig. 1.
The ordinate shows the single models ordered by their release data from left to
right. The abscissa shows the GGE in kg CO2e. In the following the graphs will be
interpreted:
(1) Total Emissions
Starting with 55 kg CO2e of model 3G the emissions vary only by ±10 kg CO2e
until model 4S. Model 5 shows the first stronger increase by 20 %. From model 5s
to 5c a decrease is shown, while the 5c has even less emissions than the first iPhone.
With the release of iPhone 6 and 6+, these values strongly increased to 95 kg CO2e
and 110 kg CO2e. It can be seen that iPhone 6+ causes twice as much emissions
compared to 3G. The models 6S and 6S+ decrease these values in each case by
15 kg CO2e. The latest model SE is with 75 kg CO2e slightly above the median
which lies at 71.25 kg CO2e.
(2) Lifecycle Phase Emissions
It indicates e.g., that model 3G caused 24.75 kg CO2e during the production
process, which corresponds to 45 % of the total. The values illustrate that, except

Table 1 Total GGE and single lifecycle phase GGE of iPhone models
Mod. Total Production Transport Customer use Recycling
3G 55 24.75 26.95 2.75 0.55
3GS 55 24.75 26.95 2.75 0.55
4 45 25.65 15.30 3.60 0.45
4S 55 33.00 17.05 3.85 1.10
5 75 57.00 13.50 3.00 1.50
5c 50 36.50 10.50 2.00 1.00
5s 65 52.00 9.10 3.25 0.65
6 95 80.75 10.45 2.85 0.95
6+ 110 89.10 15.40 4.40 1.10
6S 80 67.20 8.00 4.00 0.80
6S+ 95 79.80 10.45 3.80 0.95
SE 75 61.50 10.50 2.25 0.75
Source According to Apple Inc. (2015b)
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine … 7

Fig. 1 Emissions in kg CO2e—total and single lifecycle phases. Source According to Apple Inc.
(2015b)

the first two models, the largest emission causer is the production phase followed by
customer use, which is the largest for 3G and 3GS. However, the course demon-
strates that the customer use emissions had been reduced in total over time with
only slightly peaks in between. On the contrary, the production GGE show an
increase over time. Transport and recycling show a continuously low impact and
can therefore be considered as the areas with the lowest improvement potential.
(3) Total Emissions compared to Production and Customer Use
Figure 1 illustrates that the total GGE and the production GGE graph are run-
ning almost simultaneously. As an example the model 5s can be used. While total
and production emissions increase from the predecessor model, the customer use
emissions decrease. For that reason we identified the production phase as the most
critical lifecycle stage to perform improvements, which will be conducive to a
progressive environmental politic at Apple. At the first models the customer use had
been in this role. Since we have no access to evaluate why the production of model
6 emits 80.75 kg CO2e, more than 30 times as much as the production of model 4,
future studies should access even better data for a deeper investigation.

3.3 Possible Causes of the Shown Developments

The illustrated development depends on different factors. For example, the internal
processes could have changed or some new findings in production processes could
effect to the emissions. Also the replacement of materials could contribute to a
change. Since models 5 (except 5c), aluminum was used (Apple Inc. 2015b).
8 H.-K. Arndt and C. Ewe

This material is highly recyclable, but could possibly cause more emissions during
another phase (Pehnt 2010). Another example is the change of size and weight of
the models, which is in turn also connected to the used materials. In the following,
some of the presumptions shall be exemplary verified.
(1) Influence of Product Weight on Total Emissions
(a) Weight Development
Table 2 shows the weight of each model in gram. The weight is the sum of all
materials, which are shown as product parts in the reports.
The individual changes from one model to the next are depicted in Table 3.
Here, the gram numbers were taken, since they can be better compared to the
emissions.
The table is read from left to right. For example, the weight from 3G to 3GS has
increased by 2 g. If the weight has decreased the number is written in red. The
upper right from the diagonal shows the timely development seen from early to
later. Below the diagonal the opposite view is shown with inversion results.
(b) Greenhouse Gas Emission Development
In Table 4 the GGE changes are shown in the same way we worked out the
weight changes in Table 3.
Table 3 e.g. shows that the GGE from 3G to 4 have changed by −10 kg CO2e.
(c) Comparison of the Developments
The comparison reveals the relation between weight and emission changes over
several generations or even from predecessor to successor model. Exemplary all
four cases are shown for changes over several generations (colored in the tables):

Table 2 Weight of iPhone models

Mod. 3G 3GS 4 4S 5 5c 5s 6 6+ 6S 6S+ SE
Weight (g) 133 135 135 140 112 132 112 129 172 143 192 113
Source Apple Inc. (2015b)

Table 3 iPhone weight changes in gramSource According to Apple Inc. (2015b)

Mod. 3G 3GS 4 4S 5 5c 5s 6 6+ 6S 6S+ SE

3G - +2 +2 +7 -21 -1 -21 -4 +39 +10 +59 -20
3GS -2 - 0 +5 -23 -3 -23 -6 +37 +7 +57 -22
4 -2 0 - +5 -23 -3 -23 -6 +37 +8 +57 +26
4S -7 -5 -5 - -28 -8 -28 -11 +32 +3 +52 -27
5 +21 +23 +23 +28 - +20 0 +17 +60 +31 +80 +1
5c +1 +3 +3 +8 -20 - -20 -3 +40 +11 +60 -19
5s +21 +23 +23 +28 0 +20 - +17 +60 +31 +80 +1
6 +4 +6 +6 +11 -17 +3 -17 - +43 +14 +63 -16
6+ -39 -37 -37 -32 -60 -40 -60 -43 - -29 +20 -59
6S -10 -7 -8 -3 -31 -11 -31 -14 +29 - +49 -30
6S+ -59 -57 -57 -52 -80 -60 -80 -63 -20 -49 - -79
SE +20 +22 -26 +27 -1 +19 -1 +16 +59 +30 +79 -
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine … 9

Table 4 iPhone GGE changes in kg CO2eSource According to Apple Inc. (2015b)

Mod. 3G 3GS 4 4S 5 5c 5s 6 6+ 6S 6S+ SE

3G - 0 -10 0 +20 -5 +10 +40 +55 +35 +40 +25
3GS 0 - -10 0 +20 -5 +10 +40 +55 +25 +40 +25
4 +10 +10 - +10 +30 +5 +20 +50 +65 +35 +50 +30
4S 0 0 -10 - +10 -5 +10 +40 +55 +25 +40 +20
5 -20 -20 -30 -10 - -15 -10 +20 +35 +5 +20 0
5c +5 +5 -5 +5 +15 - +15 +45 +60 +30 +45 +25
5s -10 -10 -20 -10 +10 -15 - +30 +45 +15 +30 +10
6 -40 -40 -50 -40 -20 -45 -30 - +15 -15 0 -20
6+ -55 -55 -65 -55 -35 -60 -45 -15 - -30 -15 -35
6S -35 -25 -35 -25 -5 -30 -15 +15 +30 - +15 -5
6S+ -40 -40 -50 -40 -20 -45 -30 0 +15 -15 - -20
SE -25 -25 -30 -20 0 -25 -10 +20 +35 +5 +20 -

1. Weight increased and GGE decreased—e.g. 3G to 4 (marked blue)

2. Weight decreased and GGE decreased—e.g. 3G to 5c (market green)
3. Weight decreased and GGE increased—e.g. 4 to 5s (marked yellow)
4. Weight increased and GGE increased—e.g. 5s to 6+ (marked red)
The comparison of the values show that there is no explicit correlation between
weight and GGE. This result clarifies that the consideration of individual factors can
be insufficient for such a complex problem. On the one hand, a higher weight would
also explain a higher material consumption and hence e.g. a higher demand for
fossil fuels. On the other hand, the change of materials also requires considering
their emissions and potentially adopted production processes, which could have a
lower environmental impact than before. A heavier smartphone with improved
processes can thus cause fewer emissions.
(2) Influence of Used Materials on the Emissions
Since the used materials affect the resulting emissions by the product itself as
well as the emissions in the manufacturing process, it’s important to research how
different materials could have an impact on total and single lifecycle emissions.
With the set of data we can try to answer questions, like:
1. Does the use of aluminum positively influence the GGE in the recycling stage?
2. Is there a material, which has a significantly high impact on the total GGE?
3. Does the use of polycarbonate significantly impair the environmental balance?
4. Does the 3G with 14 % plastic has higher GGE than the 4S which 2 % plastic?
Following we exemplary research the first two questions:
According to Apple, aluminum is used because it is almost indefinitely recy-
clable and has therefore a strong impact on this phase (Apple Inc. 2016; Hall et al.
2015). However, looking at the recycling phase the graph reveals that there is no
clear relationship between the use of aluminium and a significantly decrease of
recycling emissions. For some models the emissions are higher than looking at most
models who hasn’t used the material, like 3G or 3GS. Figure 2 shows these findings
and marks the aluminium models with red cycles.
10 H.-K. Arndt and C. Ewe

Fig. 2 Recycling GGE with aluminium containing models marked. Source According to Apple
Inc. (2015b)

Again, the complexity of the problem is shown since a basically solid

assumption that aluminium would be always conductive to emissions at least in the
stage of recycling had to be refuted. One explanation approach could be, that the
emission causing factors in the lifecycle phase of recycling are based on other
indicators like machine emissions or similar.
The second question searches for materials, which have a significantly high
impact on the total GGE. We would consider this as true for a material, which
whenever weight increases the total emissions also increase. To answer this we
have a look at the GGE developments as well as the development of the single
components. What we are looking for are two graphs, one from the emission figure
one from the material figure, which always go in the same direction. This finding
would indicate a significant impression of the component on the emission graph and
therefore reveal a possible connection of them both.
The comparison corresponds to a two dimensional table with changing values
from one model to another. Doing so we found that the graphs of aluminium and
emissions seem quite similar. Figure 6 illustrates both graphs as single and
overlap-ping. The developments in the overlapping graph are given without an
outline scale since the lines have different standards. The total emission graph starts
at 40 kg CO2e and the aluminum graph starts at 0 g since there are models without
this material (Fig. 3).
Since aluminum was not part of the first four models we start to research the
graphically development by having a look on the change from 4S to 5. Table 5
shows the changes of the consecutive models, so e.g. from 5s to 6 the change is +5
since model 5 has 21 g and model 6 has 26 g of aluminum.
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine … 11

Fig. 3 Comparison of total emissions and the material aluminum. Source According to Apple Inc.
(2015b)

Table 5 Aluminium and GGE changes of consecutive models

Changes of Changes of emis-

Mod.
aluminium in g sions in kg CO2e
4S 0 +10
5 +21 +20
5c -21 -25
5s +21 +15
6 +5 +30
6+ +7 +15
6S -8 -30
6S+ +10 +15
SE -14 -20

Source According to Apple Inc. (2015b)

It can be seen that whenever the used aluminium increases or decreases the
emission graph is going in the same direction. According to our findings it seems
that aluminium causes a lot of emissions in total. Aluminium is a very good
example to again show the complexity of this topic. For models 5 and 5s the same
amount of aluminium is used, but the emissions do not increase by the same value.
This shows that more factors must be taken into account than just one by one,
because from this perspective it seems that using aluminium to produce a smart-
phone is not as useful as desired.
12 H.-K. Arndt and C. Ewe

4 Conclusion and Implications for Future Research

Taking environmental protection actions like the reduction of greenhouse gas

emissions, is an important challenge for the ICT industry. Companies have to figure
out solutions to emit as little emissions as possible along the lifecycle of their
products. Therefore, it’s important to measure and analyze environmental data to
make decisions on a reasonable base. On the example of the Apple iPhone this
paper analyzed the sustainability related data given by Apple. For our analysis we
concentrated on the GGE. Other data had been used as an explanation for the
development of them.
As could be revealed, the production phase is the decisive factor with the highest
potential for improvement. The curves of total and production emissions run nearly
parallel. We also found that the product weight has no mandatory influence on the
GGE. Afterwards we took the material share dataset to research two exemplary
questions. First, we found that the models, which used aluminum caused in some
cases more emissions in the lifecycle phase of recycling than most of the models,
which haven’t used this material. This finding was unexpected since aluminum
promises to be highly recyclable and maybe still is because other, at this time,
unknown factors caused this growth. The second question was, if at least one of the
used materials has a significant impact on the total GGE. We found that the alu-
minum graph seemed very similar to the emission graph and analyzed the changes
between the consecutive models. By contrasting this changes to the emission
changes we proved that the graphs run always in the same direction. This proved
that aluminum seems to have a profound impact on the total emissions. Another
finding was that the impact of using an equal amount of aluminum did not result in
an equal emission change. This showed that there has to be taken more into account
than a single material to explain the total emission changes.
Due to the complexity of the topic as well as the relations between the data,
further research should be conducted to answer even deeper questions. Also,
already answered question could be modified so that e.g. the question of material
influence could be extent to combinations of two or more materials. Further papers
could also include more environmental data for explanations of the emission
development like the products energy consumption. Another critical point of our
analysis is the given dataset, which comes directly from Apple. Since Apple is the
producer of the iPhone, independent measurements would be desirable but not
feasible. Furthermore the product lifecycle defections have to be standardized since
different models have slightly different views on some stages. Ultimately the per-
formed analysis could lead to an environmental data dashboard which would enable
the real time monitoring of environmental data. This dashboard could also be used
for benchmarking purposes e.g. between the iPhone and another smartphone, which
could be another implication for further research approaches.
However, the paper has shown that sustainability in the context of environmental
protection is a crucial topic nowadays. Customers become more and more aware of
these aspects. Their recognition of achievements in this field will also create
Analysis of Product Lifecycle Data to Determine … 13

competitive advantages, so that technology companies have to be even more aware

of this challenge. To make progress companies have to measure, analyze and report
those data. The performed analysis can be one way to investigate the datasets and
give deeper insights. The development over time reveals facets one can’t see by the
first view so e.g. materials, which seem to be conductive must be questioned to get
products and processes with a preferably low environmental impact.

References

Apple Inc. (2015a). Environmental responsibility. http://www.apple.com/environment/. Accessed

20 March 2016.
Apple Inc. (2015b). Product Reports, http://www.apple.com/environment/reports/. Accessed 04
April 2016.
Apple Inc. (2016). Environmental responsibility. http://www.apple.com/environment/finite-
resources/. Accessed 24 April 2016.
Arndt, H.-K. (2013) Umweltinformatik und Design - Eine relevante Fragestellung? In: M. Horbach
(Ed.) INFORMATIK 2013: Informatik angepasst an Mensch, Organisation und Umwelt. 43.
Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Informatik, Koblenz, September 2013. Gesellschaft für
Informatik (Vol. P-220, pp. 931–939), Bonner Köllen Verlag.
Börsen-Zeitung. (2015). Apple verdient 18 Mrd. Dollar - Höchster Quartalsgewinn aller Zeiten.
https://www.boersen-zeitung.de/index.php?li=1&artid=2015019001. Accessed 2 April 2016.
Hall, S., Grossman, S., Johnson, S. C. (2015). Recycling von Aluminium - Kein anderes Material
ist ähnlich vielseitig und bietet vergleichbare ökologische Vorteile wie Aluminium. http://
www.novelis.com/de/seiten/raw-materials-recycling.aspx. Accessed 24 April 2016.
Livescience.com. (2015). Greenhouse gas emissions: Causes & sources. www.livescience.com/
37821-greenhouse-gases.html. Accessed 13 April 2016.
Microsoft Inc. (2016). Microsoft Power BI. https://powerbi.microsoft.com. Accessed 13 April
2016.
Pehnt, M. (2010). Energieeffizienz – Definitionen, Indikatoren, Wirkungen. In: M. Pehnt (Ed.)
Energieeffizienz (pp. 1–34). Berlin/Heidelberg/New York: Springer.
Spiegel. (2013). Apple-Handy: Alle iPhone-Modelle im Überblick. http://www.spiegel.de/
fotostrecke/apple-smartphones-alle-iphone-modelle-im-ueberblick-fotostrecke-101297-8.html.
Accessed 04 April 2016.
Statista. (2015). Innovations- und Design-Centrum (IDC), Absatz von Smartphones weltweit vom
1. Quartal 2009 bis zum 4. Quartal 2014 (in Millionen Stück). http://de.statista.com/statistik/
daten/studie/Z246300/umfrage/weltweiter-absatz-von-smartphone-nach-quartalen/. Accessed
28 March 2016.
The Nature Conservancy. (2016). Climate change: Threats and impacts. http://www.nature.org/
ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/. Accessed 11 April
2016.
Sustainable Software Design for Very
Small Organizations

Stefanie Lehmann and Hans-Knud Arndt

Abstract Very small organizations rarely use software to organize their business
processes, because there are comparatively few known solutions for their particular
problems. On the one hand, these software solutions are often associated with high
costs and on the other hand, particularly very small organizations do not have
enough resources to find suitable solutions. These organizations miss a lot of
opportunities: Through the use of the Information and Communication Technique
(ICT) business processes can be processed not only resource-efficient due to
reduced paper consumption. The ICT also helps to make business processes more
efficient. To find such a sustainable software solution for very small organizations,
requirements are identified. To determine a structure for such software to document
business processes, it is important to apply design aspects for the implementation of
the software. A definition of such design aspects can be achieved by the properties
of a sheet of paper, which help to organize business processes in very small
organizations. By analogy of the dominant metaphor of paper we specify require-
ments of sustainable software design for very small organizations.

Keywords Sustainability ⋅ Software design ⋅ Very small organization ⋅

Business process

1 Motivation

Very small organizations such as start-ups, associations or even societies are

characterized by few employees and limited financial and time resources. Typically,
the information transfer in these organizations is focused on handwritten notes on a
sheet of paper. However, it is obvious that very small organizations should be able

S. Lehmann ⋅ H.-K. Arndt (✉)

Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
e-mail: hans-knud.arndt@iti.cs.uni-magdeburg.de
S. Lehmann
e-mail: stefanie.lehmann@ovgu.de

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 15

V. Wohlgemuth et al. (eds.), Advances and New Trends in Environmental
Informatics, Progress in IS, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44711-7_2
16 S. Lehmann and H.-K. Arndt

to easily transfer information from handwritten notes into an Information and

Communication Technique (ICT)-based system. To do so, on the one hand reduces
risks and losses of knowledge of business processes, such as caused by
non-readable handwritings. On the other hand, based on ICT the exchange of
knowledge can be done more efficiently. The limited resources of small organi-
zations must be considered for such changes. In this paper, we discuss how sus-
tainability of software design can support very small organizations during their
day-to-day operations. This helps to improve the business processes especially in
organizations, e.g., against the background of frequent change of personnel. One of
our goals is that staff members can quickly see the important facts of the business
processes. Today, most very small organizations fulfill their documentation of
business processes in their own way, which may change over time. The conse-
quences are uncertainties due to the documentation of business processes, which
might hinder the sustainable operation when business processes need to be
rethought or errors occur due to incorrect documentation. Therefore, staff members
of very small organizations should be encouraged to handle information in a more
uniform style by the use of a structured form and only one system.
Thinking of such an ICT-based solution, one idea might be to create something
completely new (e.g., programmed by students during an internship). Instead,
characteristics of a sustainable software design should be determined to identify
existing sustainable software solutions (e.g., open source) especially for very small
organizations.

2 Paper as the Most Important Information Carrier

Even in today’s information age, especially very small organizations benefit from
paper as the most important information carrier. Only occasionally ICT has pre-
vailed over paper to transfer information in small organizations.
An established example to provide information with the help of technology
instead of paper is shown by the step from a letter to an email (Hoffschulte 2011).
There are similarities and differences between letter and email as a medium for
providing information.
Similarities or parallels between letter and email are that, e.g., both present a
structure by which the information for transmission is being performed. A signifi-
cant difference between them lies in the technological implementation of the email:
using technology information can be faster or even immediately distributed. In
addition, digitalized information like emails can easily be reproduced. Furthermore,
information can be transmitted more environmentally friendly by reducing paper
consumption through emails.
Like in letters and emails, information is exchanged in business processes.
Consequently, the general rule is that for business processes an ICT support is
suitable for more efficiency and effectiveness in contrast to the use of paper, even in
very small organizations. The use of ICT enables an improvement of business
Sustainable Software Design for Very Small Organizations 17

processes. But in particular an ICT solution for very small organizations must be as
paper-like as possible. On the other hand, many current pen-based methods of ICT
(e.g., like the Apple Pencil for iPad Pro Apple Inc. 2016) serve the dominant
metaphor of paper very well. Especially very small organizations have a need for
long-lasting, sustainable software and in consequence also hardware solutions.
Therefore, pen-based methods might be too modern and show little progress in the
context to improve business processes of very small organizations. So this argu-
ment might guide them to a more conservative strategy.
Against this background the question about the best paper-orientated software
design for very small organizations arises. In order to find an approach, design
aspects can help here. In the past, it has been shown that the Ten Principles for
Good Design stated by Dieter Rams (Vitsoe Ltd. 2016) can be used to evaluate the
design of software (Arndt 2013).

3 Requirements of Sustainable Software Design

for Very Small Organizations

To represent knowledge-intensive business processes by a technology, the Ten

Principles for Good Design by Dieter Rams could be helpful. In this step, the
advantageous properties of paper-based information should be transferred into
digitalized ICT-based information. Sustainable design requirements on ICT are
described for the technological representation of typical paper-based information of
very small organizations by using the various aspects of the Ten Principles of Good
Design.
These principles provide a framework of requirements for good design of
products, but are also suitable for the design software (Arndt 2014). In the fol-
lowing, the description of the principles is used to show analogies to the properties
of paper-based information for ICT-based information in the context of very small
organizations. Each principle is considered in detail. Consequently, there will be a
derivation of requirements for ICT to represent information and, therefore, also
business processes which can be described by such information.

3.1 Good Design Is Innovative

This principle implies that a technological development could optimize the utility
value of a product. This innovative design is always produced in association with
innovative technology. From the transmission of these statements to the support of
business processes follows that with a modern ICT-based method instead of a
18 S. Lehmann and H.-K. Arndt

Fig. 1 Visualization of
requirements based on the
principle “good design is
innovative”. Source
According to Vector Open
Stock (2015a, b)

paper-based method the business processes can be improved: The working times
and places of work can be made more flexible, because the staff members are not
tied to a single sheet of paper on which the information is stored. Moreover, thanks
to modern technology, a flexible design of business processes is possible: Like on a
sheet of paper there should no precise work instructions needed how knowledge has
to be left. In addition, information cannot only be saved in the form of texts, but
also, e.g., with the help of graphics.
Figure 1 outlines the requirements on an ICT to be innovative to support the
business processes: Like a sheet of paper the information could be used at different
workstations, at different times and the business processes could be designed
according to the users’ needs, if the information is made available by ICT.

3.2 Good Design Makes a Product Useful

In addition to the primary functions, also psychological and aesthetic features of a

product must be observed. Such a product is also ICT. Compared to paper-based
information, all information can be detained for a business process to document it
and to protect it against information overload. The data must always be up to date,
which helps in distributing information. Furthermore, the data must be manageable:
A sheet of paper has no restrictions in this sense, because its contents can be
monitored at a glance. When a page is full, another sheet for additional information
could be added. Transferring to ICT, restrictions have to be avoided for mapping
information: either by a character limit or by the dimensions of the screen.
Figure 2 depicts the requirements of ICT to be useful for supporting the business
processes: Like with a sheet of paper there is no limitation, data can be sorted and
searched, and information can not only be taken from each user, but the user can
also add or delete data when the data are updated.
Sustainable Software Design for Very Small Organizations 19

Fig. 2 Visualization of requirements based on the principle “good design makes a product useful”

3.3 Good Design Is Aesthetic

Devices that are used every day characterize the environment and affect the well-
being. Consequently, in managing business processes with ICT, the operation should
be as effective as or even better than by using a piece of paper. Just as the use of
paper has prevailed in the daily office, also the use of a technological solution for
information should be accepted and change the business processes positively. Thus,
the business processes can be improved and thereby working time could be abridged.
Figure 3 visualizes the requirements of ICT to realize the aesthetic aspect for
supporting the business processes: The procedures and processes can be improved,
so that working hours can be reduced, and the user feels comfortable at his
workplace, e.g., because there is less paper chaos.

3.4 Good Design Makes a Product Understandable

Following this principle, the structure of ICT has to be illustrated in a reasonable

manner and without explanations. To organize information, it is established that the
use of the data structure of lists is generally understandable. By analogy with a sheet
or stack of paper the structure of the data is recognizable: A stack of paper can be
sorted without many explanations. Expanding on the complete, global ICT, also its
other functions should be as self-explanatory as possible. Limited on the natural
language the use of the mother tongue within the system provides to understand this.

Fig. 3 Visualization of
requirements based on the
principle “good design is
aesthetic”. Source According
to Freepik (2011), Vector
Open Stock (2015b)
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 And then after Young had come Karel, the son of rich parents and
well-placed socially in Braleigh. He was young, well-informed, a snob
of sorts, although a gentle one. The only world he knew was that in
which his parents had been reared. Their ways had been and always
would be his, conservatism run mad. At thirty the only place to go in
summer was Macomber Beach, and in winter the only place to be
was in Braleigh. There he could meet his equals twenty times a day.
They went to the same homes, the same hotels, the same parties
the year round. It was all the life he wanted, and it was all the life she
would have been expected to want. But by then she was being
hopelessly held by this greater vision and something within had said:
“No, no, no!”
“You were making over my ermine cape. Is it finished?”
And Loring! He, for a change, was a physician there in Braleigh
and lived with his sister in Lankester Way, near her home, only hers
was in a cheaper street. He was young and good-looking but
seemed to think only of his practice, how it was to make him and
achieve her perhaps, although it had all seemed so commonplace
and practical to her. He was so keen as to his standing with the best
people, always so careful of his ways and appearance, as though his
life depended upon it. He might have married more to his social and
financial advantage but he had wanted her. And she had never been
able to endure him—never seriously tolerate his pursuit.
“Yes, if you would alter these sleeves I might like it.”
Whenever he saw her he would come hustling up. “My, but it’s nice
to see you again, Ulrica. You are always the same, always charming,
always beautiful—now don’t frown. Have you changed your mind
yet, Ulrica? You don’t want to forget that I’m going to be one of the
successful men here some day. Please do smile a little for me. I’ll be
just as successful as Joyce or any of them.”
“And is it just success you think I want?” she had asked.
“Oh, I know it isn’t just that, but I’ve had a hard time and so have
you. I know it wouldn’t do any good to offer you only success, but
what I mean is that it makes everything so much easier. With you I
could do anything—” and so he would ramble on.
“To McCafferey’s, the Post Street entrance.”
But the shrewd hard eyes and dapper figure and unvaried
attention to his interests had all bored and after a time alienated her,
since her ideal seemed to dwarf and discolor every one and
everything. Was there not something somewhere much bigger than
all this, these various and unending men, she had asked herself,
some man not necessarily so successful financially but different?
She had felt that she would find him somewhere, must indeed if her
life was to mean anything to her. Always her great asset, her beauty,
had been looked upon as the one thing she must keep for this other.
And so it had gone, man after man and flirtation after flirtation. It had
seemed as though it would never end. Even after she had
transferred her life to the great city, to work, to go upon the stage if
need be, there were more of these endless approaches and
recessions; but, like the others, they had come and gone, leaving
only a faint impression. Not until that day at Althea’s party in the
rooming-house in which they both lived had she found the one who
touched her.
And then—
“And now to the Willoughby.”
It was late afternoon and just as she was returning from her task of
seeking work in connection with the stage that they met. There he
was in Althea’s room, tall, spare, angular, slightly sallow and
cloisterish, his heavy eyebrows low above his sunken eyes as
though he sought to shut himself in to himself, and with those large
dark eyes fixed ruminatively and yet somewhat uncertainly upon all,
even her when she came. And from Althea she gathered that he was
a painter of strange dark landscapes and decorations which many of
those who knew seemed to think were wonderful but which as yet
had achieved no recognition at all. Worse, he was from the Rockies,
a sheep-rancher’s son, but had not been able to endure ranching.
His future was still very far before him, and, as one could sense, he
was so innocent of any desire to be put forward; he seemed half the
time to be a—dream. By some strange freak of luck he was still there
when she entered, sitting in a corner not entirely at ease, because,
as he told her later, he was strange to such affairs and did not know
when to go.
The brightness of the buildings in the spring sun!
And she had looked at his hands, at his commonplace clothes,
and then, a little troubled by his gaze, had withdrawn hers. Again
and again her eyes sought his or his hers, as though they were
furtively surveying each other; as though each was unable to keep
his eyes off the other. And by degrees there was set up in her a
tremendous something that was like music and fear combined, as
though all at once she had awakened and comprehended. She was
no longer the complete master of herself, as she had always
imagined, but was now seized upon and possessed by this stranger!
In brief, here he was, her dream, and now she could do nothing save
gaze nervously and appealingly—for what? Those dark, sombre
eyes, the coarse black hair and sallow skin! Yes, it was he indeed,
her love, her star, the one by whose mystic light she had been
steering her course these many years. She sensed it. Knew it. He
was here before her now as though saying: “Come.” And she could
only smile foolishly without speaking. Her hands trembled and her
throat tightened until she almost choked. “I never saw any one more
beautiful than you,” he had said afterwards when they talked, and
she had thrilled so that it was an effort not to cry out. And then he
had sighed like a child and said: “Talk to me, about anything—but
don’t go, will you?”
The air—the air—this day!
And so, realizing that he valued her for this one gift at least, her
beauty, she had sought now to make him understand that she was
his without, however, throwing herself beggingly before him. With her
eyes, her smile, her every gesture, she had said: “I am yours! I am
yours! Can’t you see?” At last, in his shy way, he had seemed to
comprehend, but even then, as he afterwards confessed, he could
not believe that anything so wonderful could follow so speedily upon
contact, that one could love, adore, at sight. She had asked where
he lived and if she might come and see his work, and with repressed
intensity he had said: “I wish you would! I wish you could come to-
day!” It had made her sad and yet laugh, too, for joy.
That single tree blooming in this long, hard block!
There and then, with only the necessary little interludes which
propriety seemed to demand, and with longing and seeking on the
part of each, had begun that wondrous thing, their love. Only it
seemed to have had no fixed beginning,—to have been always—just
been. For the day she had called him up his voice had so thrilled her
that she could scarcely speak. She had still felt she had known him
for so long. How could that have been?
“I was afraid you might not call,” he had said tremulously, and she
had replied: “And I was wondering if you really wanted me to.”
And when she sought him out in his studio she had found it to be
such a poor mean room over a stable, in a mean street among a
maze of mean streets, and yet had thought it heaven. It was so like
him, so bare and yet wonderful—a lovely spiritual mood set over
against tawdry materials and surroundings.
“Drive me through the East Side, Fred.”
Better, she had found him painting or perhaps merely pretending
to. He had on that old long gray linen duster which later became so
familiar a thing to her. And to one side of him and his easel on a
table were some of the colors of his palette, greens and purples and
browns and blues. He had said so softly as he opened the door to
her: “My painting is all bluffing to-day. I haven’t been able to think of
anything but you, how you might not come, how you would look—”
And then, without further introduction or explanation, under the north
light of his roof window filtering down dustily upon them, he had put
his arms about her and she her lips to his, and they had clung
together, thinking only of each other, their joy and their love. And he
had sighed, a tired sigh, or one of great relief after a strain, such a
strain as she herself had been under.
That one little cloud in the sky!
 And then after a time, he had shown her the picture he was
painting, a green lush sea-marsh with a ribbon of dark enamel-like
water laving the mucky strand, and overhead heavy, sombre, smoky
clouds, those of a sultry summer day over a marsh. And in the
distance, along the horizon, a fringe of trees showing as a filigree.
But what a mood! Now it hung in the Wakefield Gallery—and—
(Harry had helped to place it there for her!) But then he had said,
putting his brushes aside: “But what is the use of trying to paint now
that you are here?” And she had sighed for joy, so wonderful was it
all.
The crowds in these East Side streets!
Yet what had impressed her most was that he made no apology
for the bareness and cheapness of his surroundings. Outside were
swarming push carts and crowds, the babble of the great foreign
section, but it was all as though he did not hear. Over a rack at the
back of the large bare room he had hung a strip of faded burnt
orange silk and another of clear light green, which vivified what
otherwise would have been dusty and gray. Behind this, as she later
discovered, were his culinary and sleeping worlds.
And then, of course, had come other days.
But how like that first day was this one, so fresh and
bright!
There was no question here of what was right or wrong,
conventional or otherwise. This was love, and this her beloved. Had
she not sought him in the highways and the byways? At the close of
one afternoon, as she was insisting that she must continue her
search for work, now more than ever since neither he nor she had
anything, he had said sadly: “Don’t go. We need so little, Ulrica.
Don’t. I can’t stand it now.” And she had come back. “No,” she had
replied, “I won’t—I can’t—not any more, if you want me.”
And she had stayed.
And that wondrous, beautiful love-life! The only love-life she had
ever known.
 But just the same she had seen that she must redouble her efforts
to make her way, and had. Six hundred dollars she had brought to
the city was nearly all gone, and as for Vivian, his allotment was
what he could earn, a beggar’s dole. During the days that followed,
each bringing them closer, he had confessed more and more of the
difficulties that confronted him, how hard it was to sell his wares. And
she—it was needful for her to reopen the pages of her past. She had
not been happy or prosperous, she told him; fortune might have
been hers for the taking but she could not endure those who came
with it. Now that she had the misery of her soul’s ache removed she
must find something to do. The stage was her great opportunity. And
plainly his life was one which had always been and must be based
on the grudged dole that life offers to those who love its beauty and
lift their eyes. So few, as yet, knew of his work or had been arrested
by it. Yet if he persisted, as she felt,—if that wondrous something in
his work which had attracted the sensitive and selective did not fail—
The hot, bare redness of the walls of these streets, so
flowerless, so bleak, and yet so alive and human!
But all too well she understood that his life, unless changed by her,
would ever be the meagre thing it had been. Beauty was his, but no
more,—a beauty of mind and of dreams and of the streets and the
night and the sea and the movements of life itself, but of that which
was material he had nothing. That was for those whom she had
been unable to endure. Only by a deft synthesis of those wondrous
faculties which concern beauty was he able to perceive, respond to,
translate the things which he saw and felt, and these were not of
matter. Rather, they were epitomes, his pictures, of lands and skies
and seas and strange valleys of dreams, worlds in miniature. But
what transmutations and transferences! She was never weary of the
pictures he made. Nor was she ever weary of the picture he made
before his easel, tenuous and pale and concerned, his graceful
hands at work with the colors he synthetized. The patience, the
stability, the indifference to all but that which was his to do!
“Into Bartow Street, Fred.”
 And in him, too, was no impatience with life for anything it might
have failed to provide. Instead, he seemed ever to be thinking of its
beauties and harmonies, the wonder of its dawns and sunsets, the
colors and harmonies of its streets, buildings, crowds, silences.
Often of a morning when it was yet dark he would arise and open a
door that gave out onto a balcony and from there gaze upon the sky
and city. And at any time it was always an instinct with him to pause
before anything that appealed to either of them as beautiful or
interesting. And in his eye was never the estimating glint of one who
seeks to capture for profit that which is elemental and hence
evanescent, but only the gaze of the lover of beauty, the worshiper of
that which is profitable to the soul only.
The very street! The very studio!
Although she was ignorant of the spirit or the technique of art she
had been able to comprehend it and him, all that he represented as
a portion of beauty itself, the vast and supernal beauty toward which
the creative forces of life in their harsh and yet tender ways seem
impelled at times.
Had she not understood very well that it was as beauty that she
appealed to him, at first anyhow, an artistry of face and form plus a
certain mood of appreciation or adoration or understanding which
was of value to him? How often had he spoken of her lavender-
lidded eyes, the whiteness and roundness of her arms, the dark gold
of her hair, the sombre unrevealing blue of the iris of her eyes! Here
strange it was that these seemed to enthrall and hold him at times,
leaving him, if not weak, at least childlike in her hands. He had never
seemed to weary of her and during all their days together she could
feel his unreasoning joy in her.
His one-time yellow curtains exchanged for green ones!
That she had proved and remained irresistible to him was
evidenced by his welcoming and gratified eyes, the manner in which
he paused to survey her whenever she came near, seeming to re-
estimate her every least attribute with loving interest. Indeed, he
seemed to need her as much as she needed him, to yearn with an
intense hunger over her as a thing of beauty,—he who to her was
strength, beauty, ideals, power, all the substance of beauty and
delight that she could crave.
Yes, here was where they had come to gaze at the
towers of the bridge beyond.
And so for over a year it was that they clung together, seeking to
make of their lives an ideal thing. Only it was after she came into his
life that he had begun to worry—and because of what? It was no
hardship for him to live upon what he could make, but now that she
had come, with her beauty and her beauty’s needs, it was no longer
the same. As soon as she appeared he had seemed to sense his
inefficiency as a creator of means. Bowdler, the wealthy dealer, had
once told him that if he pleased him with something it might be worth
five hundred dollars. Five hundred dollars! But when he took a
painting to Bowdler he said he was overstocked, had too many of his
things on hand—the very things that to-day—(now that Vivian was
gone) —were selling for as much as ten and twelve thousand! And a
single one of all those now being sold would have made them both
happy for a whole year or more!
He had called this tree her parasol!
And she had been able to do so little for him! Realizing how little
life had done for him she had decided then and there that all her
efforts must be bent toward correcting this injustice. Life owed him
more. And so it was that at last she had turned to the stage and
sought earnestly, day after day and week after week, only to obtain
very little of all she needed to make them happy, a small part in one
of Wexford’s many productions, he of the comedies and farces and
beauty shows. Yet after some effort she had made him admit that
she was distinctive and that he could use her. But then had come
that long wait of nearly three months before the work began! And in
the meantime what labor, the night and day work of rehearsals and
appearances, the trying to get back to him each afternoon or night.
And he had been so patient and hopeful and helpful, waiting for her
after late hours of rehearsal to walk home with her and encouraging
her in every way. And yet always there was a tang of something
unreal about it all, hopes, as she so truly feared, that were never to
be realized, dreams too good to come true. The hours had flown.
The very pressure of his hand had suggested paradise, present and
yet not to be.
She must be returning now. It was not wise for her to sit
here alone.
And while those three months were dragging their slow days she
had borrowed what money she could to keep them going. She had
even borrowed from her mother! Yet they had been happy,
wandering here and there, he always rejoicing in the success which
her work promised to bring her. The studios facing the great park
where she now lived at which they had looked, he seeming to think
they were not for such as he. (The creatures who really dwelt there!)
Yes, she must be going. His train was due at four.
And then at last, her trial period was over, Wexford had
complimented her and her salary had been increased. She had
begun to buy things for Vivian and his studio, much as he protested.
But best of all for her the hope of better days still to come, greater
fame for herself and so better days for Vivian, a real future in which
he was to share—money,—comfort for them both.
“To the apartment, Fred.”
And then—In spite of all her wishes and fears, had come the
necessity for her to go on the road with the show. And owing to their
limited means he was compelled to remain behind. Worse, despite
the fact that each knew that every thought was for the other, the
thought of separation tortured them both. Wherever she was there
was the thought of him, alone, at his easel and brooding. And herself
alone. It had seemed at times as though she must die unless this
separation could be ended.
If only Harry were not coming into her life again!
But it was not ended—for weeks. And then one day, after a brief
silence had come the word that he had been ill. A wave of influenza
was sweeping the city and had seized him. She was not to worry.
But she did worry—and returned immediately, only to find him far
along the path which he was never to retrace. He was so ill. And
worse, a strange despondency based on the thought that he was
never to get well, had seized him. He had felt when she left, or so he
said, that something were sure to happen. They might not ever,
really, be together again. It had been so hard for him to do without
her.
He had added that he was sorry to be so poor a fighter, to bring
her back from her work. Her work! And he ill!
The immense wall these hotels made along the park!
And then against the utmost protest of her soul had come the end,
a conclusion so sudden and unexpected that it had driven despair
like metal into her very soul. Hour after hour and under her very
eyes, her protesting if not restraining hands and thoughts, he had
grown weaker. Though he knew, he seemed to wish to deny it, until
at last his big dear eyes fixed upon her, he had gone, looking as
though he wished to say something.
This wretchedly wealthy West Side!
It was that look, the seeking in it, that wishing to remain with her
that was written there, that had haunted her and did still. It was as
though he had wished to say: “I do not want to go! I do not want to
go!”
And then, half-dead, she had flung herself upon him. With her
hands she had tried to draw him back, until she was led away. For
days she was too ill to know, and only his grave—chosen by
strangers!—had brought it all back. And then the long days! Never
again would life be the same. For the first time in her life she had
been happy. A bowl of joy had been placed in her eager fingers, only
to be dashed from them. Yes, once more now she was alone and
would remain so, thrust back upon herself. And worse, with the
agonizing knowledge of what beauty might be. Life had lost its lustre.
What matter if others told of her beauty, if one or many sought to
make her life less bare?
This stodgy porter always at the door in his showy braid!
Why might not such as he die instead?
 But then her mother and sister, learning of her despair, had come
to her. Only since there was nothing that any pleasure, or aspect of
life could offer her, the days rolled drearily,—meaninglessly. And only
because of what was still missing in her mother’s life, material
comfort, had she changed. It had been with the thought of helping
her mother that after a year she had returned to the city and the
stage, but exhausted, moping, a dreary wanderer amid old and
broken dreams.
By degrees of course she had managed to pick up the threads of
her life again. Who did not? And now nature, cynical, contemptuous
of the dreams and longings which possess men, now lavished upon
her that which she and Vivian had longed for in vain. Fame? It was
hers. Money? A Score of fortunes had sought her in vain.
Friendship? She could scarcely drive it from the door. She was
successful.
But what mattered it now? Was it not a part of the routine, shabby
method of life to first disappoint one—sweat and agonize one—and
then lavish luxury upon one,—afterwards?
“I want nothing. And if any one calls, I am not in.”
And so it was that after a time Harry descending upon her with his
millions, and seeking solace for himself through her sympathy, she
had succumbed to that—or him—as a kindly thing to do. He too had
confessed to a wretched dole of difficulties that had dogged his early
years. He too had been disappointed in love, comfort—almost
everything until too late. In his earliest years he had risen at four in a
mill-town to milk cows and deliver milk, only later to betake himself,
barefooted and in the snow, to a mill to work. Later still he had
worked in a jewelry factory, until his lungs had failed. And had then
taken to the open road as a peripatetic photographer of street
children in order to recover his health. But because of this work—the
chemistry, and physics of photography—he had interested himself in
chemistry and physics—later taking a “regular job,” as he phrased it,
in a photographic supply house and later still opening a store of his
own. It was here that he had met Kesselbloom, who had solved the
mystery of the revolving shutter and the selenium bath. Financing
him and his patents, he had been able to rise still more, to fly really,
as though others were standing still. The vast Dagmar Optical and
Photographic Company. It was now his, with all its patents. And the
Baker-Wile Chemical Company. Yes, now he was a multimillionaire,
and lonely—as lonely as she was. Strange that he and she should
have met.
“No, I will not see any one.”
So now, through her, he was seeking the youth which could be his
no more. Because of some strange sense of comradeship in misery,
perhaps, they had agreed to share each other’s unhappiness!
“You say Mr. Harris telephoned from the station?”
Yes, as he had told her in his brooding hours, at fifty it had
suddenly struck him that his plethora of wealth was pointless. As a
boy he had not learned to play, and now it was too late. Already he
was old and lonely. Where lay his youth or any happiness?
And so now—nearly icy-cold the two of them, and contemning life
dreams—they were still facing life together. And here he was this
day, at her door or soon would be, fresh from financial labors in one
city and another. And returning to what? With a kind of slavish and
yet royal persistence he still pursued her—to comfort—as well as to
be comforted, and out of sheer weariness she endured him. Perhaps
because he was willing to await her mood, to accept the least crumb
of her favor as priceless. The only kinship that existed between them
was this unhappy youth of his and her sympathy for it, and his
seeming understanding of and sympathy for the ills that had beset
her. Supposing (so his argument had run) that the burden of this
proposed friendship with him were to be made very light, the lightest
of all burdens, that upon closer contact he proved not so hopeless or
dull as he appeared, could she not—would she not—endure him?
(The amazing contrarieties and strangenesses of things!) And so
friendship, and later marriage under these strange conditions. Yet
she could not love him, never had and never would. However it
might have seemed at first—and she did sympathize with and
appreciate him—still only because of her mother and sister and the
fact that she herself needed some one to fall back upon, a support in
this dull round of living, had caused her to go on as long as she had.
How deserted that wading-pool looked at evening, with
all the children gone!
And now at this very moment he was below stairs waiting for her,
waiting to learn whether she had smiled or her mood had relaxed so
that he might come up to plead afresh for so little as she could give
—her worthless disinterested company somewhere!
Well, perhaps it was unfair to serve one so who wished nothing
more than to be kind and who had striven in every way for several
years now to make himself useful if not agreeable to her, and yet—
True, she had accepted of his largess, not only for herself but for her
mother; but had she not had things of her own before that? And had
she not been content? Was it charity from her or from him?
And still—
Those darkening shadows in the sky in the east!
And yet it was always “Ulrica” here and “Ulrica” there. Did she so
much as refer to an old-time longing was it not he who attempted to
make amends in some way or to bring about a belated fulfilment?
Vivian’s painting now in the museum, the talk as to his worth, his
monument but now being erected—to whom, to whom were those
things due—this belated honoring of her darling—?
“Oh, well, tell him to come up. And you may lay out my
green evening dress, Olga.”
 XII
THE VICTOR

Some excerpts from an article on the late J. H.

Osterman, by C. A. Gridley, Chief Engineer of the
Osterman Development Company. This article appeared
in the Engineering Record, for August last.

“M Y admiration for the late J. H. Osterman was based on his

force and courage and initiative, rather than upon his large
fortune and the speed with which he had accumulated it after he had
passed the age of forty. Mr. Osterman was not always a pleasant
person to be near. Not that he was given to violent rages, but in the
prosecution of his various enterprises he had the faculty of giving
one the impression that but a fraction of his thoughts was being
revealed and that he was sitting apart and in judgment upon one, as
it were, even while he talked. He had the habit of extracting the most
carefully thought-out opinions of all those about him, and when all
had been said of shaking his head and dismissing the whole matter
as negligible, only to make use of the advice in some form later. At
such times he was apt to convince himself, and quite innocently, I
am sure, that his final opinion was his own.
“In so far as I could judge from hearsay and active contact with
him for a period of something like fourteen years, Mr. Osterman was
one who required little if any rest and at all times much work to keep
him content. His was an intense and always dominant personality.
Even after he had passed the age of sixty-five, when most men of
means are content to rest and let others assume the strenuous
burdens of the world, he was always thinking of some new thing to
do. It was only the week before he died, stricken while walking upon
his verandah, that he was in my office with a plan to subsidize the
reigning authorities of a certain minor Asiatic state, in order that
certain oil and other properties there might be developed under
peaceful conditions. A part of this plan contemplated a local army to
be organized and equipped and maintained at his expense. Of a
related nature was his plan for the double-screw platform descents
and exits for the proposed New York-New Jersey traffic tunnel, which
he appears to have worked out during the spring which preceded his
sudden demise and plans for which he was most anxious to have
this department prepare in order that they might be submitted to the
respective states. It is hardly needful to state, since the fact is
generally known, that those plans have been accepted. Of a related
nature were those Argentine-Chilean Trans-Andean railway projects
so much discussed in the technical engineering as well as the trade
papers of a few years since, and which recently have been jointly
financed by the two governments. Only the natural tact and
diplomacy of a man like Mr. Osterman, combined with his absolute
genius for detecting and organizing the natural though oftentimes
difficult resources of a country, would have been capable of making
anything out of that very knotty problem. It was too much identified
with diplomacy and the respective ambitions and prejudices of the
countries involved. Yet it was solved and he succeeded in winning
for his South American organization the confidence and friendship of
the two governments.”

II

The facts concerning the founding and development of the fortune

of the late J. H. Osterman, as developed by C. B. Cummings,
quondam secretary to Mr. Osterman, special investigator for E. X.
Bush, of counsel for the minority stockholders of the C. C. and Q. L.,
in their suit to compel the resale of the road to the original holders
and the return of certain moneys alleged to have been illegally
abstracted by J. H. Osterman and Frank O. Parm, of Parm-Baggott
and Company, and by him set forth in his reminiscences of Mr. Bush
and the Osterman-Parm-C. C. & Q. L. imbroglio.
 1. The details of the Osterman-De Malquit matter were, as near as
I have been able to gather, or recall, since I was Mr. Osterman’s
secretary until that time, as follows: De Malquit was one of the many
curb brokers in New York dabbling in rubber and other things at the
time Osterman returned from Honduras and executed his very
dubious coup. The afternoon before De Malquit killed himself—and
this fact was long held against Mr. Osterman in connection with his
sudden rise—he had come to Osterman’s office in Broad Street, and
there, amid rosewood and mahogany and an unnecessary show of
luxury which Osterman appeared to relish even at that time, had
pleaded for time in which to meet a demand for one hundred
thousand dollars due for ten thousand shares of Calamita Rubber,
which Osterman then entirely controlled and for which he was
demanding the par or face value. And this in spite of the fact that it
had been selling on “curb” only the day before for seven and one-
fourth and seven and three-fourths. De Malquit was one of those
curb brokers whom Osterman, upon coming to New York and
launching Calamita (which was built on nothing more solid than air),
had deliberately plotted to trap in this way. Unwitting of Osterman’s
scheme, he had sold ten thousand shares of Calamita on margin at
the above low price without troubling to have the same in his safe, as
Osterman well knew. That was what Osterman had been counting on
and it had pleased him to see De Malquit, along with many others
just at that moment, in the very same difficult position. For up to that
day Calamita, like many another of its kind, had been a wildcat
stock. Only “wash sales” were traded in by brokers in order to entrap
the unwary from the outside. They traded in it without ever buying
any of it. It had to fluctuate so that the outsider might be induced to
buy, and that was why it was traded in. But when it did fluctuate and
the lamb approached, he was sold any quantity he wished, the same
being entered upon their books as having been sold or bought on his
order. When a quotation sufficiently low to wipe out the margin
exacted had been engineered among friends, the lamb was notified
that he must either post more money to cover the decline or retire. In
quite all cases the lamb retired, leaving the broker with a neat profit.
This was the very situation upon which Osterman had been
counting to net him the fortune which it eventually did, and overnight
at that. Unknown to the brokers, he had long employed agents
whose business it was to permit themselves to be fleeced for small
sums in order that these several brokers, growing more and more
careless and finding this stock to be easy and a money-maker,
should sell enough of it without actually having it in their safes to
permit him to pounce upon them unexpectedly and make them pay
up. And so they did. The promoters of the stock seeming indifferent
or unable to manage their affairs, these fake sales became larger
and larger, a thousand and finally a ten thousand share margin sale
being not uncommon. When the stage was set the trap was sprung.
Overnight, as it were, all those who at Osterman’s order had bought
the stock on margin (and by then some hundreds of thousands of
dollars’ worth had been disposed of) decided that they would not
lose their margins but would follow up their cash with more and take
the stock itself, holding it as an investment. It then became the duty
of these brokers to deliver the stock within twenty-four hours or take
the consequences—say, a petition in bankruptcy or a term in jail.
Naturally there was a scrambling about to find any loose blocks of
the stock. But these had been carefully garnered into the safe of Mr.
Osterman, who was the sole owner of the stock, and they were
compelled to hurry eventually to him. Here they were met by the
genial eye of the cat that is expecting the mouse. They wanted
Calamita, did they? Well, they could have it, all they wanted ... at par
or a little more. Did that seem harsh, seeing that it had been selling
only the day before for seven and three-fourths or seven-eighths?
Sorry. That was the best he could do. They could take it at that price
or leave it.
Naturally there was a panic among those who were short. The
trick was obvious, but so was the law. Those who could, pocketed
their losses without undue complaint and departed; some who could
not, and were financially unimportant, decamped, leaving
Osterman’s agents to collect as best they might. Only one, Mr. De
Malquit, finding himself faced by complications which he could not
meet, took his own life. He had unfortunately let himself in for much
more money than had the others and at a time when he could least
stand the strain.
 The day De Malquit came to see Osterman, he was behind his
desk expecting many, and because, as I afterwards learned from Mr.
Osterman himself, Mr. De Malquit had been so wary, making
agreements at first, which made it hard to trap him, Osterman saw
him as one of those who had made it most difficult for him to win,
and therefore deserving to be sheared the closest. “One hundred per
share, take it or leave it,” was his only comment in reply to Mr. De
Malquit’s statement that he found himself in a bit of a hole and would
like to explain how a little time would see him through.
“But, Mr. Osterman,” I recall De Malquit replying, “I haven’t so
much now, and I can’t get it. These shares were being quoted at
seven and three-fourths only yesterday. Can’t you let me off easier
than that, or give me a few months in which to pay? If I could have
six months or a year—I have some other matters that are pressing
me even more than this. They will have to come first, but I might pull
through if I had a little time.”
“One hundred, on the nail. That’s the best I can do,” Osterman
replied, for I was in the room at the time. And then signaled me to
open the door for him.
But at that Mr. De Malquit turned and bent on him a very troubled
look, which, however, did not move Mr. Osterman any. “Mr.
Osterman,” he said, “I am not here to waste either your time or mine.
I am in a corner, and I am desperate. Unless you can let me have
some of this stock at a reasonable price I am done for. That will bring
too much trouble to those who are near and dear to me for me to
care to live any longer. I am too old to begin over again. Let me have
some of it now. To-morrow will be too late. Perhaps it won’t make
any difference to you, but I won’t be here to pay anybody. I have a
wife who has been an invalid for two years. I have a young son and
daughter in school. Unless I can go on—” He turned, paused,
swallowed, and then moistened his lips.
But Mr. Osterman was not inclined to believe any broker or to be
worked by sentiment. “Sorry. One hundred is the best I can do.”
At that De Malquit struck his hands together, a resounding smack,
and then went out, turning upon Osterman a last despairing glance.
That same night De Malquit killed himself, a thing which Osterman
had assumed he would not do—or so he said, and I resigned. The
man had really been in earnest. And, to make matters worse, only
three months later De Malquit’s wife killed herself, taking poison in
the small apartment to which she had been forced to remove once
the breadwinner of the family was gone. According to the pictures
and descriptions published in the newspapers at the time she was,
as De Malquit had said, an invalid, practically bedridden. Also,
according to the newspapers, De Malquit had in more successful
days been charitably inclined, having contributed liberally to the
support of an orphan asylum, the Gratiot Home for Orphans, the
exterior appearance of which Osterman was familiar with. This fact
was published in all of the papers and was said to have impressed
Osterman, who was said always to have had a friendly leaning
toward orphans. I have since heard that only his very sudden death
three years ago prevented his signing a will which contained a
proviso leaving the bulk of his great fortune to a holding company
instructed to look after orphans. Whether this is truth or romance I do
not know.
2. The case of Henry Greasadick, another of Mr. Osterman’s
competitors, was similar. Mr. Greasadick has been described to me
as a very coarse and rough man, without any education of any kind,
but one who understood oil prospecting and refining, and who was
finally, though rather unfortunately for himself, the cause of the
development by Osterman of the immensely valuable Arroya Verde
field. It is not likely that Greasadick would ever have made the
fortune from this field that Osterman and his confrères were destined
to reap. However, it is equally true that he was most shabbily treated
in the matter, far more so than was De Malquit in regard to his very
questionable holdings and sales. The details of the Arroya Verde
field and Greasadick are as follows: Greasadick has been described
to me as a big, blustery, dusty soul, uncouth in manners and speech,
but one who was a sound and able prospector. And Osterman, it
appears, having laid the foundation of his fortune by treating De
Malquit and others as he had, had come west, first to the lumber
properties of Washington and Oregon, where he bought immense
tracts; and later, to the oil lands of California and Mexico, in which
state and country he acquired very important and eventually (under
him) productive holdings. Now it chanced that in his wanderings
through southern California and Arizona he came across
Greasadick, who had recently chanced upon a virgin oil field which,
although having very little capital himself, he was secretly attempting
to develop. In fact, Greasadick had no money when he discovered
this oil field and was borrowing from L. T. Drewberry, of the K. B. &
B., and one or two others on the strength of his prospects. It also
appears that Drewberry it was who first called the attention of
Osterman to Greasadick and his find and later plotted with him to
oust Greasadick. Osterman was at that time one of three or four men
who were interested in developing the K. B. & B. into a paying
property by extending it into Arizona.
At any rate, Greasadick’s holdings were one hundred miles from
any main line road, and there was very little water, only a thin trickle
that came down through a cut. True, the K. B. & B. was about to
build a spur to Larston in order to aid him, but Larston, once the line
was built to it, was fourteen miles away and left Greasadick with the
problem of piping or hauling his oil to that point. Once he heard of it
Osterman saw at a glance that by a little deft manœuvring it could be
made very difficult for Greasadick to do anything with his property
except sell, and this manœuvring he proceeded to do. By buying the
land above Greasadick’s, which was a mountain slope, and then
because of a thin wall of clay and shale dividing the Arroya Verde, in
which lay Greasadick’s land, from the Arroya Blanco, which was
unwatered and worthless, being able to knock the same through, he
was able to divert the little water upon which Greasadick then
depended to do his work. Only it was all disguised as a landslide—
an act of God—and a very expensive one for Greasadick to remedy.
As for the proposed spur to Larston—well, that was easy to delay
indefinitely. There was Drewberry, principal stockholder of the K. B. &
B., who joined with Osterman in this adroit scheme. Finally, there
was the simple device of buying in the mortgage given by
Greasadick to Drewberry and others and waiting until such time as
he was hard-pressed to force him to sell out. This was done through
Whitley, Osterman’s efficient assistant, who in turn employed another