Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-06-28
NOT APPRECIATED.
JOHN BULLS MEANNEss TOWARD 4
FOREMOST INVENTOR.

tenlef process is the most modest of
Men, stunning rather than counting OBJ
servation. A few years since he was
sometimes to be seen taking s'consti-
tutional'' i'll the neighborhood of his IN
pretentious abode at Denmark Hill, i'll
England, but the venerable gentleman
with the benevolent face, in the old
fashioned frock coat and voluminous,
many folded choker neckcloth, is now
rarely seen even by his immediate neigh
bors.
The British public, the British gov
eminent and British manufacturers did
their very best at one time to crush one
of the most useful men ever born in
Britain, and failed ignominiously. Shelf
field laughed at him, and Woolwich gave
him the official cold shoulder, but Shelf
field and Woolwich would be crippled
indeed at the present time were it not
for nBessemer steel" Yet, even now,
although foreign potentates have show
cred crosses and stars upon him, the
English government has not conferred
upon him any honor more important
than an ordinary knighthood, and this
in spite of the fact that he has created
one of the largest and most important
industries In the world.
Some fascinating calculations, made
by Sir Henry himself, prove that one
years production of Bessemer steel
might be represented by a solid column
1917 times the height Of St. Paul's Ca
thedral, and as thick through as an Or
binary gasometer-about 100 feet.
Henry Bessemer, son of the late MI
Anthony Bessemer, was born in Hert
Yorkshire in the year 1918. His earlier
years were devoted to art, and we find
that he was an exhibitor at the Royal
academy at the age of 20. At this early
age he had discovered means by which
impressions Of the designs OH coins,
medals and other reliefs could be repro
duced in any numbers on cardboard.
Some of his work in this line is still ex-
tant, and when specimens come into the
market they bring high prices.
This led him indirectly to more
important invention. He discovered that
the government of the time was robbed
to the tune Of 100000 per annum by
interruptions persons, who were in the
habit Of removing the embossed duty
stamps on legal and other documents
and using the same again. Young Bes-
semer invented the useful little contriv-
ance by which the stamp is embossed on
the paper OR parchment Of the document
itself, and submitted 1t to the then chief
of the stamp department at Somerset
House.
The potentate i'll question saw the adj
vantage of this system at a glance, and
soon afterward the authorities expressed
their willingness to make use Of it. A
pretty little story is connected with this
invention When his model was COM
pleted, Bessemer showed it to the young
lady to whom he was then engaged. Her
first comment upon it showed that she
was we'll fitted to become the wife Of an
inventor. She said:
''Yes, understand this, but surely, if
all stamps had date put upon them,
they could not at q future time be used
again without detection. n
This proved a very valuable sugges-
ton, for Bessemer soon hit upon the idea
Of steel die with space for movable
date, and in that form his invention was
adopted by the authorities. Will it be
credited that he never received solitary
farthing from the government for his
services or the use Of his invention?
Such is nevertheless the fact, and
when he limited mildly at legal remedies
he was told by the solicitor to the stamp
department that he was entitled to no
compensation, inasmuch as ha had pre-
scented his invention to the government
gratis! This was at time, too, when
he was by 10 means well of, when in
deed he lacked the necessary money to
set up housekeeping with the clever
young lady whose brilliant suggestion
had resulted in u perfect stamping ma
chine! Hereceived many generous prom
ises from various ministers, of course,
but one government went out Of power
after another, and to this day he has
never been compensated In any shape or
form.
A man of vast wealth now, Sir Henry
Bessemer can afford to regard the trou-
bles Of that period of his life with COM
parative Indifference, though he has
since had more ample reason to cherish
a dislike for all British governments
and politicians. But his disappointment
i'll this instance taught him very salu-
tary lesson. When he made the great
discovery Of his life-that by which it
is possible to convert pig iron into steel
by a simple and inexpensive process
he kept his discovery secret. To some
extent it is secret to this day. The
Importance Of the discovery can hardly
be overestimated.
Before the Bessemer process came
into use steel could not be bought under
ESQ tor, and its price prohibited its
use i'll nulnberless departments Of indus
try where it is now considered essential
At that time, too, only $1,000 tons of
cast steel were produced i'll Sheffield in
a year. In 1892, 33, SAG tons of steel
were manufactured in the world every
day according to the Bessemer process,
the selling price per ton averaging ea
perhaps. It is chiefly due to Sir Henry
Bessemer that one is almost as safe on
modern ocean steamship as Oh land, and
that the modern structure of steel is
nearly as inperishable as the Pyramids.
Such a discovery, it might be sup
posed, would be hailed with enthusiasm,
by those interested in the iron trade OF
Great Britain. Not a bit of it. Bes-
semer met with every possible discour-
agement The steel manufacturers of
Sheffield We're dead against him from
tho fret nd tho crn1o,.,aa,ao,at i1.,,o.oxa