The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-01-25
An lNyENT0RiS WRONGS.

Henry Br>semer, the world famous inven
tn of the B-sSemer process of IN liking steel
vhIc.i has rev0lutioniz d Ia. iroa trad. of
the world. contributes In the London Times
= long story of his wrongs \. the hands of
The British Government in return for val
liable services rendered by his inventive
>.ii:i. The article Is intert ing, and con
veys a moral To inventors who's. conscieu-
''"us patrin.ism may temp them to forge,
'hIt Governments of all kinds are apt 10 b.
ungratefui.
Bessemer IN his younger days was as fer.
tile in invention as is Edison. though not
IN the same field. At the age of twenty.
which was forty five year. ago, he discover
ID e process by which Inc could make
permanent die. even from thin paper orig.
iral, capable of producing Thousand cop.
r'S"f an embossed stamp, such as is used 10y
lie Government and in legal transact ions
By lhis process the most valuable stamps
could b- cnuntcrfcitrd in ten minutes. at
the cost Of few cents, and by the merest
;siu, IN such manner as 20 utterly d.fy dc
lection. The public Knowledge of such
Means of forging would at that time hav,
utterly shattered the whole system of the
British Stamp office. \ harmed at the pos
s'ntc cous,qu' noes Of his discovery he aban
j 'ued fuithe experiment in that direction
aud buried the secret of tn. process in his
own breast where it has ever since remain
ed. Ills next step was to fluid some procrs>
hy which frauds on tn" Government cnuld
be prevented Instead of facilitated Having
learned that he ORD mary embossed stamp
fncn i'll use FOR large transactions. could by
little ingenuity. be transferred from old
documents to new, and thus h. III lde TO do
duty several times, ard that he annual loss
TO the Government IN this way probably
tIuallei half million dollars. Bessemrr
SCI himself tn work to provide stamp that
,ould not be obliterated by damp. As would
be the case with an emb ,ssed stamp on the
parchment Itself. or removed as was done
with stamps impressed on paper attached
10 The parchment. After months Of patient
labor. necessarily carried on in secret after
his regular daily duties were performed, he
invented die which perforated the paica-
nent with more than four hundred holes
il the shape of a design with the necessary
words. surrounded by delicate lace work
When this was completed he prescntrd
himself To tl:e Chief OF the Stamp Depart
m-nt, cx planned the process by which the
stamp in use could be easily counterfciied,
and exhibited the device Ia prevent existing
and possible frauds. The official was As
founded at the magnitude "f the peril in
which the stamp system stood and delight
ed W It'll the device for its safety. Arrange
menis were made by which the Government;
WIS 10 become exclusive owner Of the de-
VIC, aud Bessemer was To be rewarded 10y
a position in the office worth from s. 000 to
81 600 gear.
The inventor was ovefioyed At his good
fortune, and for good reason. He was
engaged to his present wife. but the young
pair were not Exactly in pecuniAry condi-
ton Ia wsd. The promised position made
the way clear, and lSessemcT FASTENED To-
inform his betrothed of the bright future be.
fore them and tn explain the invention that
h al made their happiness complete. She
WAS a clear headed young won an, lit to he
the W lie OF an inventor. After listening to
his explanation of the device aud frauds
that il prevented she said: Yes. | IN Ter
stand this; bu: surely. if all stamps had
date put upon Ii en-, they could not at
future time he used again without d-tec-
tIon?' In an instant Brssemer saw that
his elaborate device for perforatisg dies
was unnecessary. and that his labor OF
months had been wasted. Procuring one
OF the dies in common u>e, he drilled holes
for the insertion of movable steel type en-
graved with the day, month and ysar, and
this simple cnntrivance dispensed with the
necessity Of manufacturing now AMI costly
schemer he would have told this last discov-
cry 10 no one. and have stopped the future
Mrs. Bass, mer's mouth with kiss. But he
was simpl" minded inventor. aud at once
hurried oil To tht Stamp Office with his
news. The Government ofiic al saw the
advantage of the change aud Immediately
!op,ei 1t. Bess ventured to hint about