Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-02-06
NOT APPRECIATED.
JOHN BULLS MEANNESS TOWARD 4
FOREMOST INVENTOR.

JOhN BULLS M6ANNESS JOWAHO u
FOREMOST INVENTOR.
All Things British Tried Hard to Crush
the Discoverer Of the "Bessemer Proc
essr-The Great Change Wrought by the
Invention-Bessemer'ss Safety Stamp.
The inventor Of the celebrated "Bes-
semer process" is the most modest of
men, stunning rather than counting OBJ
servation. A few years since he was
sometimes to be seen taking 'consti-
tutional' in the neighborhood Of his un-
pretentious abode at Denmark Hill, in
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 ''Bessemer 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 solid column
| 49,. 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 Mr..
| 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 a means by which
impressions of the designs on 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 a more
important invention. He discovered that
the government of the time was robbed
to the tune of 100000 per annum by
| ln "a
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 it to the then chief
of the stamp department ut Somerset
House.
The potentate in 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. Hell
first comment upon it showed that she
was we'll fitted to become the wife of an
inventor. She said:
Eyes, I understand this, but surely, il
all stamps had date put upon them,
they could not at a future time be used
again without detection"
This proved very valuable sugges
ton, for Bessemer soon hit upon the idea
of steel die with space for a movable
date, and in that form his invention was
adopted by the authorities Will it BIZ
credited that he never received a solitary
farthing from the government for his
services or the use of his invention?
Such is nevertheless the fact, anc
when he limited mildly at legal remedie:
he was told by the solicitor to the stamI
department that he was entitled to NJ
compensation, inasmuch as he had pre-
sented his invention to the government
gratis! This was at time, too, wher
he was by no means well off, when in
deed he lacked the necessary money II
set up housekeeping with the clevel
young lady whose brilliant suggestion
had resulted in perfect stamping ma
chine! He received many generous prom
Uses from various ministers, of course
but one government went out of powel
after another, and to this day he ha'
never been compensated in any shape O
form.
A man Of vast wealth now, Sir Henri,
Bessemer can afford to regard the trou
bles of that period of his life with com
parative indifference, though he haI
since had more ample reason to cherisl
a dislike for all British government
and politicians. But his disappointment
in this instance taught him a very salu
tary lesson. When he made the grea
discovery Of his life-that by which i
is possible to convert pig iron into stee
by simple and Inexpensive process
he kept his discovery a secret. To SOM
extent it is secret to this day. Tn
importance. of the discovery can hardl..
be overestimated.
Before the Bessemer process cam
i. into use steel could not be bought unde
ESQ ton, and its price prohibited it
l ,,,, e <lx-~