,,contributions ,,from ,,the ,,museum   
,,of ,,history ,,and ,,technology3      
,,paper #c    ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of   
,,cheap ,,steel   ,philip ,w4 ,bishop   
,,steel ,,before ,,the #ahej's          
#bi  ,,bessemer ,,and ,,his             
,,competitors               #cj         
,,robert ,,mushet                       
#cc  ,,ebbw ,,vale ,,and ,,the          
,,bessemer ,,process         #ce        
,,mushet ,,and ,,bessemer               
#cg  ,,william ,,kelly',s               
,,air-,,boiling ,,process        #db    
,,conclusions                           
#df     ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,cheap 
,,steel  ,by ,philip ,w4 ,bishop        
,other inventors claimed a part in the  
invention of the ,bessemer process of   
making steel4 ,here1 the contemporary   
discussion in the technical press is    
re-examined to throw light on the       
relations of these various claimants to 
the iron and steel industry of their    
time1 as having a possible connection   
with the antagonism shown by the        

ironmasters toward ,bessemer's ideas4   
,,the ,,author3 ,philip ,w4 ,bishop is  
curator of arts and manufactures1       
,museum of ,history and ,technology1 in 
the ,smithsonian ,institution's ,united 
,states ,national ,museum4   ,the       
development of the world's productive   
resources during the #aith century1     
accelerated in general by major         
innovations in the field of power1      
transportation1 and textiles1 was       
retarded by the occurrence of certain   
bottlenecks4 ,one of these affected the 
flow of suitable and economical raw     
materials to the machine tool and       
transportation industries3 in spite of a
 rapid growth of iron production1 the   
methods of making steel remained as they
 were in the previous century2 and      
outputs remained negligible4  ,in the   
decade #ahee-ahfe1 this situation was   
completely changed in ,great ,britain   
and in ,europe generally2 and when the  
,united ,states emerged from the ,civil 
,war1 that country found itself in a    

position to take advantage of the       
,european innovations and to start a    
period of growth which1 in the next #ej 
years1 was to establish her as the      
world's largest producer of steel4      
,this study reviews the controversy as  
to the origin of the process which1 for 
more than #ce years#a provided the      
greater part of the steel production of 
the ,united ,states4 ,it concerns four  
men for whom priority of invention in   
one or more aspects of the process has  
been claimed4        #a ,from #ahgj     
through #aijg1 ,bessemer production     
accounted for       not less than #ej   
percent of ,united ,states steel        
production4 ,from       #ahhj through   
#ahie1 #hj percent of all steel came    
from this source3       ,historical     
,statistics of the ,united ,states      
#aghi-aide 7,washington1       ,u4,s4   
,department of ,commerce1 ,bureau of the
 ,census1 #aidi71 ,tables       ,j4     
#afe-agj at p4 #ahg4  ,the process      
consists in forcing through molten cast 

iron1 held in a vessel called a         
converter1 a stream of cold air under   
pressure4 ,the combination of the oxygen
 in the air with the silicon and carbon 
in the metal raises the temperature of  
the latter in a spectacular way and     
after blowing for a certain period1     
eliminates the carbon from the metal4   
,since steel of various qualities       
demands the inclusion of from #j4ae to  
#a4gj percent of carbon1 the blow has to
 be terminated before the elimination of
 the whole carbon content2 or if the    
carbon content has been eliminated the  
appropriate percentage of carbon has to 
be put back4 ,this latter operation is  
carried out by adding a precise quantity
 of manganiferous pig-iron              
7spiegeleisen7 or ferromanganese1 the   
manganese serving to remove the oxygen1 
which has combined with the iron during 
the blow4  ,the controversy which       
surrounded its development concerned two
 aspects of the process3 ,the use of the
 cold air blast to raise the temperature

 of the molten metal1 and the           
application of manganese to overcome the
 problem of control of the carbon and   
oxygen content4  ,bessemer1 who began   
his experiments in the making of iron   
and steel in #ahed1 secured his first   
patent in ,great ,britain in ,january   
#ahee1 and was persuaded to present     
information about his discovery to a    
meeting of the ,british ,association for
 the ,advancement of ,science held at   
,cheltenham1 ,gloucestershire1 in       
,august #ahef4 ,his title ,the          
,manufacture of ,iron without ,fuel was 
given wide publicity in ,great ,britain 
and in the ,united ,states4 ,among those
 who wrote to the papers to contest     
,bessemer's theories were several       
claimants to priority of invention4     
,two men claimed that they had          
anticipated ,bessemer in the invention  
of a method of treating molten metal    
with air-blasts for the purpose of      
purifying or decarbonizing iron4 ,both  
were ,americans4 ,joseph ,gilbert       

,martien1 of ,newark1 ,new ,jersey1 who 
at the time of ,bessemer's address was  
working at the plant of the ,ebbw ,vale 
,iron ,works1 in ,south ,wales1 secured 
a provisional patent a few days before  
,bessemer obtained one of his series of 
patents for making cast steel1 a        
circumstance which provided ammunition  
for those who wished to dispute         
,bessemer's somewhat spectacular claims4
 ,william ,kelly1 an ironmaster of      
,eddyville1 ,kentucky1 brought into     
action by an ,american report of        
,bessemer's ,british ,association paper1
 opposed the granting of a ,united      
,states patent to ,bessemer and         
substantiated1 to the satisfaction of   
the ,commissioner of ,patents1 his claim
 to priority in the air boiling process4
  ,a third man1 this one a ,scot        
resident in ,england1 intervened to     
claim that he had devised the means     
whereby ,martien's and ,bessemer's ideas
 could be made practical4 ,he was       
,robert ,mushet of ,coleford1           

,gloucestershire1 a metallurgist and    
self-appointed sage of the ,british iron
 and steel industry who also was        
associated with the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron   
,works as a consultant4 ,he1 like his   
,american contemporaries1 has become    
established in the public mind as one   
upon whom ,henry ,bessemer was dependent
 for the origin and success of his      
process4 ,since ,bessemer was the only  
one of the group to make money from the 
expansion of the steel industry         
consequent upon the introduction of the 
new technique1 the suspicion has        
remained that he exploited the          
inventions of the others1 if indeed he  
did not steal them4  ,in this study1    
based largely upon the contemporary     
discussion in the technical press1 the  
relation of the four men to each other  
is re-examined and an attempt is made to
 place the controversy of #ahee-ahfe in 
focus4 ,the necessity for a reappraisal 
arises from the fact that today's       
references to the origin of ,bessemer   

steel#b often contain chronological and 
other inaccuracies arising in many cases
 from a dependence on secondary and     
sometimes unreliable sources4 ,as a     
result1 ,kelly's contribution has1      
perhaps1 been overemphasized1 with the  
effect of derogating from the work of   
another ,american1 ,alexander ,lyman    
,holley1 who more than any man is       
entitled to credit for establishing     
,bessemer steel in ,america4#c        #b
 ,see especially material distributed by
 the ,american ,iron and       ,steel   
,institute in connection with its       
celebration of the       centennial of  
,steel3 ,steel centennial 7#aieg71 press
       information1 prepared by ,hill   
and ,knowlton1 ,inc41 and released      
by the ,institute as of ,may #a1 #aieg4 
#c ,holley's work is outside the scope  
of this paper4 ,belatedly1       his    
biography is now being written4 ,it can 
hardly fail to       substantiate the   
contention that during his short life   
7#ahcb-ahhb7 ,holley1 who negotiated the

 purchase of the ,american       rights 
to ,bessemer's process1 also adapted his
 methods to the       ,american scene   
and laid a substantial part of the      
foundation for       the modern         
,american steel industry4   ,steel      
,before the #ahej's  ,in spite of a     
rapid increase in the use of machines   
and the overwhelming demand for iron    
products for the expanding railroads1   
the use of steel had expanded little    
prior to #ahee4 ,the methods of         
production were still largely those of a
 century earlier4 ,slow preparation of  
the steel by cementation or in crucibles
 meant a disproportionate consumption of
 fuel and a resulting high cost4        
,production in small quantities         
prevented the adoption of steel in uses 
which required large initial masses of  
metal4 ,steel was1 in fact1 a luxury    
product4  ,the work of ,raumur and1     
especially1 of ,huntsman1 whose         
development of cast steel after #agdj   
secured an international reputation for 

,sheffield1 had established the         
cementation and crucible processes as   
the primary source of cast steel1 for   
nearly #ajj years4 ,josiah ,marshall    
,heath's patents of #ahci1 were the     
first developments in the direction of  
cheaper steel1 his process leading to a 
reduction of from #cj to #dj percent in 
the price of good steel in the          
,sheffield market4#d ,heath's secret was
 the addition to the charge of from #a  
to #c percent of carburet of manganese#e
 as a deoxidizer4 ,heath's failure to   
word his patent so as to cover also his 
method of producing carburet of         
manganese led to the effective breakdown
 of that patent and to the general      
adoption of his process without payment 
of license or royalty4 ,in spite of this
 reduction in the cost of its           
production1 steel remained1 until after 
the midpoint of the century1 an         
insignificant item in the output of the 
iron and steel industry1 being used     
principally in the manufacture of       

cutlery and edge tools4        #d       
,andrew ,ure1 ,dictionary of arts1      
manufactures and mines1 ,new            
,york1 #ahef1 p4 #gce4        #e ,see   
abridgement of ,british patent #hjba of 
#ahci quoted by       ,james ,s4 ,jeans1
 ,steel1 ,london1 #ahhj1 p4 #bh ff4 ,it 
is not clear       that ,heath was aware
 of the precise chemical effect of the  
use of       manganese in this way4     
,the stimulus towards new methods of    
making steel and1 indeed1 of making new 
steels came curiously enough from       
outside the established industry1 from a
 man who was not an ironmaster--,henry  
,bessemer4 ,the way in which ,bessemer  
challenged the trade was itself unusual4
 ,there are few cases in which a        
stranger to an industry has taken the   
risk of giving a description of a new   
process in a public forum like a meeting
 of the ,british ,association for the   
,advancement of ,science4 ,he challenged
 the trade1 not only to attack his      
theories but to produce evidence from   

their own plants that they could provide
 an alternative means of satisfying an  
emergent demand4 ,whether or not        
,bessemer is entitled to claim priority 
of invention1 one can but agree with the
 ironmaster who said3#f ,mr4 ,bessemer  
has raised such a spirit of enquiry     
throughout 444 the land as must lead to 
an improved system of manufacture4      
#f ,mining ,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4
 #dfe4   ,bessemer and his ,competitors 
,henry ,bessemer 7#ahac-ahih71 an       
,englishman of ,french extraction1 was  
the son of a mechanical engineer with a 
special interest in metallurgy4 ,his    
environment and his unusual ability to  
synthesize his observation and          
experience enabled ,bessemer to begin a 
career of invention by registering his  
first patent at the age of #be4 ,his    
active experimenting continued until his
 death1 although the public record of   
his results ended with a patent issued  
on the day before his seventieth        
birthday4 ,a total of #aag ,british     

patents#g bear his name1 not all of     
them1 by any means1 successful in the   
sense of producing a substantial income4
 ,curiously1 ,bessemer's financial      
stability was assured by the success of 
an invention he did not patent4 ,this   
was a process of making bronze powder   
and gold paint1 until the #ahcj's a     
secret held in ,germany4 ,bessemer's    
substitute for an expensive imported    
product1 in the then state of the patent
 laws1 would have failed to give him an 
adequate reward if he had been unable to
 keep his process secret4 ,to assure    
this reward1 he had to design1 assemble1
 and organize a plant capable of        
operation with a minimum of hired labor 
and with close security control4 ,the   
fact that he kept the method secret for 
#dj years1 suggests that his machinery#h
 7,bessemer describes it as virtually   
automatic in operation7 represented an  
appreciation of coordinated design      
greatly in advance of his time4 ,his    
experience must have directly           

contributed to his conception of his    
steel process not as a metallurgical    
trick but as an industrial process2 for 
when the time came1 ,bessemer patented  
his discovery as a process rather than  
as a formula4        #g ,sir ,henry     
,bessemer1 ,f4,r4,s41 an autobiography1 
,london1 #aije1       p4 #ccb4        #h
 ,ibid41 p4 #ei ff4  ,in the light of   
subsequent developments1 it is necessary
 to consider ,bessemer's attitude toward
 the patent privilege4 ,he describes his
 secret gold paint as an example of what
 the public has had to pay for not being
 able to give 444 security to the       
inventor in a situation where the       
production of the material could not be 
identified as having been made by any   
particular form of mechanism4#i ,the    
inability to obtain a patent over the   
method of production meant that the     
disclosure of his formula1 necessary for
 patent specification1 would openly     
invite competitors1 including the       
,germans1 to evolve their own           

techniques4 ,bessemer concludes3#aj     
,had the invention been patented1 it    
would have become public     property in
 fourteen years from the date of the    
patent1 after which     period the      
public would have been able to buy      
bronze powder at its     present i4e41  
ca4 #ahij market price1 viz4 from two   
shillings     and three pence to two    
shillings and nine pence per pound4 ,but
 this     important secret was kept for 
about thirty-five years and the         
public had to pay excessively high      
prices for twenty-one years     longer  
than they would have done had the       
invention become public     property in 
fourteen years1 as it would have been if
 patented4 ,even     this does not      
represent all the disadvantages         
resulting from secret     manufacture4  
,while every detail of production was a 
profound     secret1 there were no      
improvements made by the outside public 
in     any one of the machines employed 
during the whole thirty-five     years2 

whereas during the fourteen years1 if   
the invention had been     patented1    
there would1 in all probability have    
been many improved     machines invented
 and many novel features applied to     
totally     different manufactures4     
#i ,ibid41 p4 #hb4        #aj ,ibid41 p4
 #hc4  ,while these words1 to some      
extent1 were the rationalizations of an 
old man1 ,bessemer's career showed that 
his philosophy had a practical          
foundation2 and1 if this was indeed his 
belief1 the episode explains in large   
measure ,bessemer's later insistence on 
the legal niceties of the patent        
procedure4 ,the effect of this will be  
seen4  ,bessemer's intervention in the  
field of iron and steel was preceded by 
a period of experiments in the          
manufacture of glass4 ,here ,bessemer   
claims to have made glass for the first 
time in the open hearth of a            
reverberatory furnace4#aa ,his work in  
glass manufacture at least gave him     
considerable experience in the problems 

of fusion under high temperatures and   
provided some support for his later     
claim that in applying the reverberatory
 furnace to the manufacture of malleable
 iron as described in his first patent  
of ,january #ahee1 he had in some manner
 anticipated the work of ,c4 ,w4        
,siemens and ,emil ,martin4#ab          
#aa ,ibid41 p4 #ajh ff4        #ab      
,ibid41 p4 #ada4 ,bessemer's assertion  
that he had approached       within     
measurable distance of anticipating the 
,siemens-,martin       process1 made in 
a paper presented at a meeting of the   
,american       ,society of ,mechanical 
,engineers 7,transactions of the        
,american       ,society of ,mechanical 
,engineers1 #ahig1 vol4 #bh1 p4 #dei71  
evoked       strong criticism of        
,bessemer's lack of generosity 7ibid41  
p4       #dhb74 ,one commentator1       
friendly to ,bessemer1 put it that      
,bessemer's relation to the open-hearth 
process was very much       like        
,kelly's to the ,bessemer process4444   

,although he was       measurably near  
to the open-hearth process1 he did not  
follow it       up and make it a        
commercial success4444 7ibid41 p4 #dia74
  ,the general interest in problems of  
ordnance and armor1 stimulated by the   
,crimean ,war 7#ahed-ahef71 was shared  
by ,bessemer1 whose ingenuity soon      
produced a design for a projectile which
 could provide its own rotation when    
fired from a smooth-bore gun4#ac        
,bessemer's failure to interest the     
,british ,war ,office in the idea led   
him to submit his design to the ,emperor
 ,napoleon ,,iii4 ,trials made with the 
encouragement of the ,emperor showed the
 inadequacy of the cast-iron guns of the
 period to deal with the heavier shot2  
and ,bessemer was presented with a new  
problem which1 with the open mind which 
derived from a limited knowledge of the 
metallurgy of war1 he attacked with     
impetuosity4 ,within three weeks of his 
experiments in ,france1 he had applied  
for a patent for ,improvements in the   

,manufacture of ,iron and ,steel4#ad    
,this covered the fusion of steel with  
pig or cast iron and1 though this must  
be regarded as only the first practical 
step toward the ,bessemer process1#ae it
 was his experiments with the furnace   
which provided ,bessemer with the idea  
for his later developments4        #ac  
,british patent #bdhi1 ,november #bd1   
#ahed4        #ad ,bessemer1 op4 cit4   
7footnote #g71 p4 #acg ,he received     
,british patent #ff1 dated ,january #aj1
 #ahee4        #ae ,see ,james ,w4      
,dredge1 ,henry ,bessemer #ahac-ahih1   
,transactions of the ,american ,society 
of ,mechanical ,engineers1       #ahih1 
vol4 #ai1 p4 #iaa4  ,these were         
described in his patent dated ,october  
#ag1 #ahee 7,british patent #bcba74     
,this patent is significant to the      
present study because his application   
for an ,american patent1 based on       
similar specifications1 led to the      
interference of ,william ,kelly and to  
the subsequent denial of the ,american  

patent4#af ,in ,british patent #bcba    
,bessemer proposed to convert his steel 
in crucibles1 arranged in a suitable    
furnace and each having a vertical      
tuyre1 through which air under pressure 
was forced through the molten metal4 ,as
 ,dredge#ag points out1 ,bessemer's     
association of the air blast with the   
increase in the temperature of the metal
 showed his appreciation of the end in  
view1 and the general way of attaining  
it1 though his mechanical details were  
still crude and imperfect4        #af   
,see ,u4,s4 ,patent ,office1 ,decision  
of ,commissioner of ,patents1           
dated ,april #ac1 #aheg1 in ,kelly vs4  
,bessemer ,interference4 ,this is       
further discussed below 7p4 #db74       
#ag ,dredge1 op4 cit4 7footnote #ae71 p4
 #iab4  ,illustration3 ,figure          
#a4--;,,bessemer',s ,,design ,,for ,a   
,,converter1 ,,as ,,shown ,,in ,u4,s4   
,,patent #afjhb4 ,this patent1 dated    
,november #aa1 #ahef1 corresponds with  
,british patent #cef1 dated ,february   

#ab1 #ahef4 ,the more familiar design of
 converter appeared first in ,british   
patent #egh1 ,march #a1 #ahfj4 ,the     
contrast with ,kelly's schematic drawing
 in ,fig4 #b 7p4 #db7 is noticeable4    
,experiments were continued and several 
more ,british patents were applied for  
before ,bessemer made his appearance    
before the ,british ,association on     
,august #ac1 #ahef4ah ,bessemer         
described his first converter and its   
operation in some detail4 ,although he  
was soon to realize that he too readily 
allowed myself to bring my inventions   
under public notice1#ai ,bessemer had   
now thrown out a challenge which        
eventually had to be taken up1          
regardless of the strength of the vested
 interests involved4 ,the provocation   
came from his claims that the product of
 the first stage of the conversion was  
the equivalent of charcoal iron1 the    
processes following the smelting being  
conducted without contact with1 or the  
use of1 any mineral fuel2 and that      

further blowing could be used to produce
 any quality of metal1 that is1 a steel 
with any desired percentage of carbon4  
,yet1 the principal irritant to the     
complacency of the ironmaster must have 
been ,bessemer's attack on an industry  
which had gone on increasing the size of
 its smelting furnaces1 thus improving  
the uniformity of its pig-iron1 without 
modifying the puddling process1 which at
 best could handle no more than #djj to 
#ejj pounds of iron at a time1 divided  
into the homeopathic doses of #gj or #hj
 pounds capable of being handled by     
human labor4#bj ,bessemer's claim to do 
#hjj pounds of metal in #cj minutes     
against the puddling furnace's output of
 #ejj pounds in two hours was calculated
 to arouse the opposition of those who  
feared the loss of capital invested in  
puddling furnaces and of those who      
suspected that their jobs might be in   
jeopardy4 ,the ensuing criticism of     
,bessemer has to be interpreted1        
therefore1 with this in mind2 not by any

 means was it entirely based on         
objective consideration of the method or
 the product4#ba        #ah ,bessemer's 
paper was reported in ,the ,times1      
,london1 ,august       #ad1 #ahef4 ,by  
the time the ,transactions of the       
,british ,association       were        
prepared for publication1 the           
controversy aroused by       ,bessemer's
 claim to manufacture malleable iron and
 steel without       fuel had broken out
 and it was decided not to report the   
paper4       ,dredge 7op4 cit41 footnote
 #ae1 p4 #iae7 describes this decision  
as sagacious4        #ai ,bessemer1 op4 
cit4 7footnote #g71 p4 #afd4        #bj 
,the ,times1 ,london1 ,august #ad1      
#ahef4        #ba ,david ,mushet        
recognized that ,bessemer's great       
feature was       this effort to raise  
the after processes 444 to a level      
commensurate with the preceding case    
7,mining ,journal1 #ahef1 p4            
#eii74  ,within a month of his address1 
,bessemer had sold licenses to several  

ironmasters 7outside ,sheffield7 and so 
provided himself with capital with which
 to continue his development work2 but  
he refused to sell his patents outright 
to the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works and by  
this action1 as will be seen1 he created
 an enemy for himself4  ,the three years
 between #ahef and #ahei1 when ,bessemer
 opened his own steel works in          
,sheffield1 were occupied in tracing the
 causes of his initial difficulties4    
,there was continued controversy in the 
technical press4 ,bessemer 7unless he   
used a nom-de-plume7 took no part in it 
and remained silent until he made       
another public appearance before the    
,institution of ,civil ,engineers in    
,london 7,may #ahei74 ,by this time     
,bessemer's process was accepted as a   
practical one1 and the claims of ,robert
 ,mushet to share in his achievement was
 becoming clamorous4   ,robert ,mushet  
,robert 7,forester7 ,mushet             
7#ahaa-ahia71 born in the ,forest of    
,dean1 ,gloucestershire1 of a ,scots    

father 7,david1 #aggb-ahdg7 himself a   
noted contributor to the metallurgy of  
iron and steel1 is1 like the ,american  
,william ,kelly1 considered by many to  
have been a victim of ,bessemer's       
astuteness--or villainy4 ,because of    
,robert ,mushet's preference for the    
quiet of ,coleford1 many important facts
 about his career are lacking2 but even 
if his physical life was that of a      
recluse1 his frequent and verbose       
contributions to the correspondence     
columns of the technical press made him 
well-known to the iron trade4 ,it is    
from these letters that he must be      
judged4  ,in view of his propensity to  
intervene pontifically in every         
discussion concerning the manufacture of
 iron and steel1 it is somewhat         
surprising that he refrained from       
comment on ,bessemer's ,british         
,association address of ,august #ahef   
for more than fourteen months4 ,the     
debate was opened over the signature of 
his brother ,david who shared the family

 facility with the pen4#bb ,recognizing 
,bessemer's invention as a congruous    
appendage to the now highly developed   
powers of the blast furnace which he    
describes as too convenient1 too        
powerful and too capable of further     
development to be superseded by any     
retrograde process1 ,david ,mushet      
greeted ,bessemer's discovery as one of 
the greatest operations ever devised in 
metallurgy4#bc ,a month later1 however1 
,david ,mushet had so modified his      
opinion of ,bessemer as to come to the  
conclusion that the latter must indeed  
be classed with the most unfortunate    
inventors4 ,he gave as his reason for   
this turnabout his discovery that       
,joseph ,martien had demonstrated his   
process of purifying metal successfully 
and had indeed been granted a           
provisional patent a month before       
,bessemer4 ,the sharp practice of       
,martien's patent lawyer1 ,mushet       
claimed1 had deprived him of an         
opportunity of proving priority of      

invention against ,bessemer4 ,mushet was
 convinced that ,martien's was the first
 in the field4#bd        #bb ,see       
,mining ,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 pp4  
#hci and #hee4 ,david       ,mushet     
withdrew from the discussion after #aheh
 and his relapse       into obscurity is
 only broken by an appeal for funds for 
the       family of ,henry ,cort4 ,a    
biographer of the ,mushets is of the    
opinion that ,robert ,mushet wrote these
 letters and obtained       ,david's    
signature to them 7,fred ,m4 ,osborn1   
,the story of the       ,mushets1       
,london1 #aieb1 p4 #dd1 footnote74 ,the 
similarity in the       style of the two
 brothers is extraordinary enough to    
support this       idea4 ,if this is so1
 ,robert ,mushet who disagreed with     
himself as       ,sideros was also in   
controversy with himself writing as     
,david4        #bc ,mining ,journal1    
#ahef1 vol4 #bf1 p4 #efg4        #bd    
,ibid41 pp4 #fca and #fdg4 ,the case of 
,martien will be       discussed below  

7p4 #cf74 ,david ,mushet had overlooked 
,bessemer's       patent of ,january    
#aj1 #ahee4  ,robert ,mushet's campaign 
on behalf of his own claims to have made
 the ,bessemer process effective was    
introduced in ,october #aheg1 two years 
after the beginning of ,bessemer's      
experiment and after one year of silence
 on ,bessemer's part4 ,writing as       
,sideros#be he gave credit to ,martien  
for the great discovery that pig-iron   
can1 whilst in the fluid state1 be      
purified 444 by forcing currents of air 
under it 4441 though ,martien had failed
 to observe the use of temperature by   
the deflation of the iron itself2 and   
for discovering that--      when the    
carbon has been all1 or nearly all1     
dissipated1 the     temperature         
increases to an almost inconceivable    
extent1 so that     the mass1 when      
containing only as much carbon as is    
requisite to     constitute with it cast
 steel 444 still retains a perfect      
degree of     fluidity4        #be      

,mining ,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4   
#gbc4 ,robert ,mushet was a             
constant correspondent of the ,mining   
,journal from #ahdh4 ,the       adoption
 of a pseudonym1 peculiar apparently to 
#aheg-aheh 7see       ,dictionary of    
national biography1 vol4 #ci1 p4 #dbi71 
enabled him       to carry on two       
debates at a time and also to sing his  
own       praises4  ,this1 says         
,sideros1 was no new observation2 it had
 been before the metallurgical world1   
both practical and scientific1 for      
centuries1 but ,bessemer was the first  
to show that this generation of heat    
could be attained by blowing cold air   
through the melted iron4 ,mushet goes on
 to show1 however1 that the steel thus  
produced by ,bessemer was not           
commercially valuable because the       
sulphur and phosphorous remained1 and   
the dispersion of oxide of iron through 
the mass imported to it the inveterate  
hot-short quality which no subsequent   
operation could expel4 ,sideros         

concludes that ,bessemer's discovery was
 at least for a time now shelved and    
arrested in its progress2 and it had    
been left to an individual of the name  
of ,mushet to show that if fluid        
metallic manganese were combined with   
the fluid ,bessemer iron1 the portion of
 manganese thus alloyed would unite with
 the oxygen of the oxide and pass off as
 slag1 removing the hot-short quality of
 the iron4 ,robert ,mushet had          
demonstrated his product to ,sideros and
 had patented his discovery1 though not 
one print1 literary or scientific1 had  
condescended to notice it4  ,sideros    
viewed ,mushet's discovery as a spark   
amongst dry faggots that will one day   
light up a blaze which will astonish the
 world when the unfortunate inventor can
 no longer reap the fruits of his       
life-long toil and unflinching          
perseverance4 ,in an ensuing letter     
he#bf summed up the situation as he saw 
it3  ,nothing that ,mr4 ,mushet can     
hereafter invent can entitle him to the 

merit of ,mr4 ,bessemer's great         
discovery 444 and 444 nothing that ,mr4 
,bessemer may hereafter patent can      
deprive ,mr4 ,robert ,mushet of having  
been the first to remove the obstacles  
to the success of ,mr4 ,bessemer's      
process4        #bf ,ibid41 p4 #hbc4    
,mushet's distinction between an        
inventor       and a patentee is        
indicative of the disdain of a son of   
,david       ,mushet for an amateur 7see
 also p4 #hhf74  ,bessemer still did not
 intervene in the newspaper discussion2 
nor had he had any serious supporters1  
at least in the early stage4#bg         
#bg ,one ,william ,green had commented  
extensively on ,david       ,mushet's   
early praise of the ,bessemer process   
and on his sudden       reversal in     
favor of ,martien soon after ,bessemer's
 ,british       ,association address    
7,mechanics' ,magazine1 #ahef1 vol4 #fe1
 p4 #cgc       ff474 ,green wrote from  
,caledonian ,road1 and the proximity to 
,baxter ,house1 ,bessemer's ,london     

headquarters1 suggests the              
possibility that ,green was writing for 
,bessemer4  ,publication in the ,mining 
,journal of a list of ,mushet's         
patents1#bh evidently in response to    
,sideros' complaint1 now presented      
,bessemer with notice of ,robert        
,mushet's activity1 even if he had not  
already observed his claims as they were
 presented to the ,patent ,office4      
,mushet1 said the ,mining ,journal--    
appears to intend to carry on his       
researches from the point where     ,mr4
 ,j4 ,g4 ,martien left off and is       
proceeding on the ,bessemer plan     of 
patenting each idea as it occurs to his 
imaginative brain4 ,he     proposes to  
make both iron and steel but does not   
appear to have     quite decided as to  
the course of action 444 to accomplish  
his     object1 and therefore claims    
various processes1 some of which are    
never likely to realize the inventor's  
expectations1 although     decidedly    
novel1 whilst others are but slight     

modification of     inventions which    
have already been tried and failed4     
#bh ,mining ,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1  
p4 #gfd4  ,the contemporary attitude is 
reflected in another comment by the     
,mining ,journal3#bi      ,although the 
application of chemical knowledge to the
 manufacture     of malleable iron      
cannot fail to produce beneficial       
results1 the     quality of the metal   
depends more upon the mechanical than   
the     chemical processes4444 ,without 
wishing in any way to discourage the    
iron chemists1 we have no hesitation in 
giving this as our opinion     which we 
shall maintain until the contrary be    
actually proved4 ,with     regard to    
steel1 there may be a large field for   
chemical research     444 however1 we   
believe that unless the iron be of a    
nature adapted     for the manufacture  
of steel by ordinary processes1 the     
purely     chemical inventions will only
 give a metal of a very uniform         
quality4        #bi ,ibid41 p4 #gfd4    

,another correspondent1 ,william ,green1
 was of the opinion that ,mushet's new  
compounds and alloys1 promised well as  
an auxiliary to the ,bessemer process   
but that the evil which it was intended 
to remove was more visionary than real4 
,bessemer's chief difficulty was the    
phosphorus1 not the oxide of iron as    
,mr4 ,mushet assumes4 ,this1 ,bessemer  
no doubt would deal with in due course1 
but meanwhile he did well to concentrate
 his energies upon the steel operations1
 after which he would have time to      
tackle the difficulties which have so   
far retarded the iron operations4#cj    
#cj ,ibid41 p4 #gia4  ,mushet#ca claims 
to have taken out his patent of         
,september #bb1 #ahef1 covering the     
famous triple compound1 after he--      
had fully ascertained1 upon the ordinary
 scale of manufacture that              
air-purified cast-iron1 when treated as 
set forth in my     specifications1     
would afford tough malleable iron 444 ,i
 found1     however1 that the remelting 

of the coke pig-iron1 in contact with   
coke fuel1 hardened the iron too much1  
and it became evident that     an       
air-furnace was more proper for my      
purpose 444 the     difficulties arose1 
not from any defect in my process1 but  
were     owing to the small quantity of 
the metal operated upon and the         
imperfect arrangement of the purifying  
vessel1 which ought to be so            
constituted that it may be turned upon  
an axis1 the blast taken     off1 the   
alloy added and the steel poured out    
through a spout 444     ,such a         
purifying vessel ,mr4 ,bessemer has     
delineated in one of his     patents4   
#ca ,ibid41 p4 #ggj 7italics supplied74 
,mushet also claimed to have designed   
his own purifying and mixing furnace1 of
 #bj-ton capacity1 which he had         
submitted to the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron      
,works many months ago1 without comment 
from them4 ,there is an intriguing      
reference to the painful subject of two 
patents not proceeded with1 and not     

discussed in the avaricious hope that   
the parties connected with the patents  
will make me honorable amends 444 these 
patents were suppressed without my      
knowledge or consent4 ,lest his         
qualifications should be questioned1    
,mushet concludes3      ,i do not       
profess to be an iron chemist1 but ,i   
have undoubtedly made     more          
experiments upon the subject of iron and
 steel than any man     now living and  
,i am thereby enabled to say that all ,i
 know is but     little in comparison   
with what has yet to be discovered4  ,so
 began ,mushet's claim to have solved   
,bessemer's problem1 a claim which was  
to fill the correspondence columns of   
the engineering journals for the next   
ten years4 ,interpretation of this      
correspondence is made difficult by our 
ignorance of the facts concerning the   
control of ,mushet's patents4 ,these    
have to be pieced together from his     
scattered references to the subject4    
,his experiments were conducted1 at     

least nearly up to the close of the year
 #ahef1 with the cooperation of ,thomas 
,brown of the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron         
,works4#cb ,the price of this assistance
 was apparently half interest in        
,mushet's patents1 though for reasons   
which ,mushet does not explain the deed 
prepared to effect the transfer was     
never executed4#cc ,mushet continued1   
however1 to regard the patents as wholly
 my own1 though at the same time1 ,i am 
bound in honor to take no unfair        
advantage of the non-execution of that  
deed4 ,a possible explanation of this   
situation may be found in ,ebbw ,vale's 
activities in connection with ,martien  
and ,bessemer1 as well as with an       
,austrian inventor1 ,uchatius4          
#cb ,ibid41 p4 #ggj4        #cc ,ibid41 
p4 #hbc4   ,ebbw ,vale and the ,bessemer
 ,process  ,after his ,british          
,association address in ,august #ahef1  
,bessemer had received applications from
 several ironmasters for licenses1 which
 were issued in return for a down       

payment and a nominal royalty of #be    
pence per ton4 ,among those who started 
negotiations was ,mr4 ,thomas ,brown of 
,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works1 one of the    
largest of the ,south ,wales plants4 ,he
 proposed1 however1 instead of a        
license1 an outright purchase of        
,bessemer's patents for #ej1jjj4        
,bessemer refused to sell1 and according
 to his#cd account--      intense       
disappointment and anger quite got the  
better of ,brown     and for the moment 
he could not realize the fact of my     
refusal4444     ,he then left me very   
abruptly1 saying in an irritated tone   
444     ,i'll make you see the matter   
differently yet and slammed the door    
after him4        #cd ,bessemer1 op4    
cit4 7footnote #g71 p4 #afi4  ,david    
,mushet's advocacy of ,martien's claim  
to priority over ,bessemer has already  
been noticed 7p4 #cc74 ,from him we     
learn#ce that ,martien's experiments    
leading to his patent of ,september #ae1
 #ahee1 had been carried out at the     

,ebbw ,vale ,works in ,south ,wales1    
where he engaged in perfecting the      
,renton process4#cf ,martien's own      
process consisted in passing air through
 metal as it was run in a trough from   
the furnace and before it passed into   
the puddling furnace4        #ce ,mining
 ,journal1 #ahef1 vol4 #bf1 p4 #fca4    
#cf ,james ,renton's process 7,u4,s4    
patent #hfac1 ,december #bc1 #ahea7     
had been developed at ,newark1 ,new     
,jersey1 in #ahed4 ,it was a            
modification of the puddling furnace1 in
 which the ore and carbon       were    
heated in tubs1 utilizing the waste heat
 of the       reverberatory furnace 7see
 the ,mechanics' ,magazine1 vol4 #fb1 p4
       #bdf1 #ahee74 ,renton died at    
,newark in ,september #ahef 7,mechanics'
       ,magazine1 #ahef1 vol4 #fe1 p4   
#dbb74  ,it is known that ,martien's    
patent was in the hands of the ,ebbw    
,vale ,iron ,works by ,march #aheg4cg   
,this fact must be added to our         
knowledge that ,mushet's patent of      

,september #bb1 #ahef was drawn up with 
a specific reference to the application 
of his triple compound to iron 444      
purified by the action of air1 in the   
manner invented by ,joseph ,gilbert     
,martien1#ch and that this and his other
 manganese patents were under the       
effective control of ,ebbw ,vale4 ,it   
seems a reasonable deduction from these 
circumstances that ,brown's offer to buy
 out ,bessemer and his subsequent threat
 were the consequences of a             
determination by ,ebbw ,vale to attack  
,bessemer by means of patent            
infringement suits4        #cg ,mining  
,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4 #aic4     
#ch ,british patent #bbai1 ,september   
#bb1 #ahef4  ,some aspects of the ,ebbw 
,vale situation are not yet explained4  
,martien came to ,south ,wales from     
,newark1 ,new ,jersey1 where he had been
 manager of ,renton's ,patent           
,semi-,bituminous ,coal ,furnace1 owned 
by ,james ,quimby1 and where he had     
something to do with the installation of

 ,renton's first furnace in #ahed4 ,the 
first furnace was unsuccessful4#ci      
,martien next appears in ,britain1 at   
the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works4 ,no       
information is available as to whether  
,martien's own furnace was actually     
installed at ,ebbw ,vale1 although as   
noted above1 ,david ,mushet claims to   
have been invited to see it there4      
#ci ,joseph ,p4 ,lesley1 ,the iron      
manufacturer's guide1 ,new ,york1       
#ahei1 p4 #cd4 ,martien's name is       
spelled ,marteen4 ,a description of     
the furnace is given in ,scientific     
,american of ,february #aa1       #ahed1
 7vol4 #i1 p4 #afi74 ,in the patent     
interference proceedings       referred 
to below1 it was stated that the furnace
 was in       successful operation in   
#ahed4  ,martien secured an ,american   
patent for his process in #aheg and to  
file his application appears to have    
gone to the ,united ,states1 where he   
remained at least until ,october        
#aheh4dj ,he seems to have taken the    

opportunity to apply for another patent 
for a furnace similar to that of ,james 
,renton4 ,this led to interferences     
proceedings in which ,martien showed    
that he had worked on this furnace at   
,bridgend1 ,glamorganshire 7one of the  
,ebbw ,vale plants71 improving ,renton's
 design by increasing the number of     
deoxydizing tubes4 ,this variation in   
,renton's design was held not           
patentable1 and in any case ,renton's   
firm was able to show that they had     
successfully installed the furnace at   
,newark in #aheb-ahec1 while ,martien   
could not satisfy the ,commissioner that
 his installation had been made before  
,september #ahed4 ,priority was         
therefore awarded to ,quimby1 ,brown1   
,renton1 and ,creswell4#da        #dj   
,u4,s4 patent #affij1 ,february #bb1    
#aheg4 ,a correspondent of the          
,mining ,journal 7#aheh1 vol4 #bh1 p4   
#gac7 states that ,martien had       not
 returned to ,england by ,october #aheh4
        #da ,u4,s4 ,patent ,office1     

,decision of ,commissioner of ,patents1 
dated ,may #bf1 #ahei in the matter of  
interference between the                
application of ,james ,m4 ,quimby and   
others 444 and of ,joseph               
,martien4  ,since ,renton had not       
patented his furnace in ,great ,britain1
 ,martien's use of his earlier knowledge
 of ,renton's work and of his experience
 at ,bridgend in an attempt to upset    
,renton's priority is a curious and at  
present unexplainable episode4 ,perhaps 
the early records of the ,ebbw ,vale    
,iron ,works1 if they exist1 will show  
whether this episode was in some way    
linked to the firm's optimistic         
combination of the ,british patents of  
,martien and ,mushet4  ,that ,ebbw ,vale
 exerted every effort to find an        
alternative to ,bessemer's process is   
suggested1 also1 by their purchase in   
#ahef of the ,british rights to the     
,uchatius process1 invented by an       
,austrian ,army officer4 ,the           
provisional patent specifications1 dated

 ,october #a1 #ahee1 showed that        
,uchatius proposed to make cast steel   
directly from pig-iron by melting       
granulated pig-iron in a crucible with  
pulverized sparry iron 7siderite7 and   
fine clay or with gray oxide of         
manganese1 which would determine the    
amount of carbon combining with the     
iron4 ,this process1 which was to prove 
commercially successful in ,great       
,britain and in ,sweden but was not used
 in ,america1#db appeared to ,ebbw ,vale
 to be something from which1 we can have
 steel produced at the price proposed by
 ,mr4 ,bessemer1 notwithstanding the    
failure of his process to fulfil the    
promise4#dc        #db ,j4 ,s4 ,jeans1  
op4 cit4 7footnote #e71 p4 #ajh4 ,the   
process is       not mentioned by ,james
 ,m4 ,swank1 ,history of the manufacture
 of       iron in all ages1             
,philadelphia1 ,american ,iron and      
,steel       ,association1 #ahib4       
#dc ,mining ,journal1 #ahef1 vol4 #bf1  
p4 #gjg4  ,so far as is known only one  

direct attempt was made1 presumably     
instigated by ,ebbw ,vale1 to enforce   
their patents against ,bessemer1 who    
records#dd a visit by ,mushet's agent   
some two or three months before a       
renewal fee on ,mushet's basic manganese
 patents became payable in #ahei4       
,bessemer entirely repudiated ,mushet's 
patents and offered to perform his      
operations in the presence of ,mushet's 
lawyers and witnesses at the ,sheffield 
,works so that a prosecution for        
infringement would be a very simple     
matter4 ,that1 he says1 was the last    
heard from the agent or from ,mushet on 
the subject4#de ,the renewal fee was not
 paid and the patents were therefore    
abandoned by ,ebbw ,vale and their      
associates1 a fact which did not come to
 ,mushet's knowledge until #ahfa1 when  
he himself declared that the patent was 
never in my hands at all so that ,i     
could not enforce it4#df        #dd     
,bessemer1 op4 cit4 7footnote #g71 p4   
#bij4        #de ,the ,american ,iron   

and ,steel ,institute's ,steel          
centennial       7#aieg7 press          
information 7see footnote #b71 includes 
a pamphlet1       ,kelly lighted the    
fireworks 444 by ,vaughn ,shelton 7,new 
,york1       #aief71 which asserts 7p4  
#ab7 that ,bessemer paid the renewal fee
       and became the owner of ,mushet's
 vital patent4        #df ,robert       
,mushet1 ,the ,bessemer-,mushet process1
 ,cheltenham1       #ahhc1 p4 #bd2 ,the 
,engineer1 #ahfa1 vol4 #ab1 pp4 #agg and
 #ahi4  ,further support for the thesis 
that ,ebbw ,vale's policy was in part   
dictated by a desire to make ,bessemer  
see the matter differently is to be     
found in the climatic episode4 ,work on 
,martien's patents had not been         
abandoned and in #ahfa certain patents  
were taken out by ,george ,parry1 ,ebbw 
,vale's furnace manager4 ,these1        
represented as improvements of          
,martien's designs1 were regarded by    
,bessemer as clear infringements of his 
own patents4#dg ,when it came to        

,bessemer's knowledge that ,ebbw ,vale  
was proposing to go to the public for   
additional capital with which to        
finance1 in part1 a large scale working 
of ,parry's process1 he threatened the  
financial promoter with injunctions and 
succeeded in opening negotiations for a 
settlement4 ,all the patents which had  
been for years suspended over ,bessemer 
were turned over to him for #cj1jjj4    
,ebbw ,vale1 thereupon1 issued their    
prospectus#dh with the significant      
statement that the directors have agreed
 for a license for the manufacture of   
steel by the ,bessemer process which1   
from the peculiar resources they        
possess1 they will be enabled to produce
 in very large quantities4444 ,so       
,bessemer became the owner of the       
,martien and ,parry patents4 ,mushet's  
basic patents no longer existed4        
#dg ,the ,engineer1 #ahfb1 vol4 #ad1 p4 
#c4 ,bessemer1 op4 cit4       7footnote 
#g71 p4 #bif4        #dh ,mining        
,journal1 #ahfd1 vol4 #cd1 p4 #dgh4     

,mushet and ,bessemer  ,that ,mushet was
 used by ,ebbw ,vale against ,bessemer  
is1 perhaps1 only an assumption2 but    
that he was badly treated by ,ebbw ,vale
 is subject to no doubt4 ,mushet's      
business capacity was small but it is   
difficult to believe that he could have 
been so foolish as to assign an interest
 in his patents to ,ebbw ,vale without  
in some way insuring his right of       
consultation about their disposition4   
,he claims that even in the drafting of 
his specifications he was obliged to    
follow die demands of ,ebbw ,vale1 which
 firm1 believing1 on the advice of ,mr4 
,hindmarsh1 the most eminent patent     
counsel of the day1#di that ,martien's  
patent outranked ,bessemer's1 insisted  
that ,mushet link his process to        
,martien's4 ,this1 as late as #ahfa1    
,mushet believed to be in effective     
operation4#ej ,his later repudiation of 
the process as an absurd and            
impracticable patent process possessing 
neither value nor utility#ea may more   

truly represent his opinion1 especially 
as1 when he wrote his #ahfa comment1 he 
still did not know of the disappearance 
of his patents4        #di ,the         
,engineer1 #ahfa1 vol4 #ab1 p4 #ahi4    
#ej ,ibid41 p4 #gh4        #ea ,mushet1 
op4 cit4 7footnote #df71 p4 #i4         
,mushet's boast#eb that he had never    
been into an ironworks other than his   
own in ,coleford is a clue to the       
interpretation of his behavior in       
general and also of his frequent        
presumptuous claims4 ,when1 for         
instance1 the development of the        
,uchatius process was publicized1 he    
gave his opinion#ec that the process was
 a useless one and had been patented    
before ,uchatius understood its nature2 
yet later#ed he could claim that the    
process was in fact1 my own invention   
and ,i had made and sold the steel thus 
produced for some years previously to   
the date of ,captain ,uchatius' patent4 
,moreover1 he claims to have instructed 
,uchatius' agents in its operation6 ,he 

may1 at this later date1 have recalled  
his challenge 7the first of many such7  
in which he offered ,uchatius' agent in 
,england to pay a monetary penalty if he
 could not show a superior method of    
producing sound serviceable cast steel  
from ,british coke pig-iron1 on the     
stomic plan and without any mixture of  
clay1 oxide of manganese or any of these
 pot destroying ingredients4#ee         
#eb ,ibid41 p4 #be4        #ec ,mining  
,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4 #gee4     
#ed ,mushet1 op4 cit4 7footnote #df71 p4
 #bh4 ,the ,uchatius       process      
became the ,you-cheat-us process to     
,mushet 7,mining       ,journal1 #aheh1 
vol4 #bh1 p4 #cd74        #ee ,mining   
,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4 #gee      
7italics supplied74  ,it was ,david     
,mushet 7or ,robert1 using his brother's
 name7#ef who accused ,bessemer1 or     
rather his patent agent1 ,carpmael1 of  
sharp practice in connection with       
,martien's specification1 an allegation 
later supported by ,martien's first     

patent agent1 ,avery4#eg ,the story was 
that for the drafting of his final      
specification1 ,martien1 presumably with
 the advice of the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron    
,works1 consulted the same ,carpmael1 as
 the leading man in the field4 ,the     
latter advised that the provisional     
specification restricted ,martien to the
 application of his method to iron      
flowing in a channel or gutter from the 
blast furnace1 and so prevented him from
 applying his aeration principle in any 
kind of receptacle4 ,in effect1         
,carpmael was acting unprofessionally by
 giving ,bessemer the prior claim to the
 use of a receptacle4 ,according to     
,mushet1 ,martien had in fact actually  
and publicly proved his process in a    
receptacle and not in a gutter1 so that 
his claim to priority could be          
maintained on the basis of the          
provisional specification4        #ef   
,see footnote #bb4        #eg ,mining   
,journal1 #ahef1 vol4 #bf1 pp4 #ehc1    
#fca4  ,this1 like other ,mushet        

allegations1 was ignored by ,bessemer1  
and probably with good reason4 ,at any  
rate1 ,martien's ,american patent is in 
terms similar to those of the ,british  
specification2 he or his advisers seem  
to have attached no significance to the 
distinction between a gutter and a      
receptacle4  ,mushet's claim to have    
afforded ,bessemer the means of making  
his own process useful is still subject 
to debate4 ,unfortunately1 documentation
 of the case is almost wholly one sided1
 since his biggest publicizer was       
,mushet himself4 ,an occasional         
editorial in the technical press and a  
few replies to ,mushet's lucubrations   
are all the material which exists1 apart
 from ,bessemer's own story4  ,mushet   
and at least five other men patented the
 use of manganese in steel making in    
#ahef2 his own provisional specification
 was filed within a month of the        
publication of ,bessemer's ,british     
,association address in ,august #ahef4  
,so it is strange that ,robert ,mushet  

did not until more than a year later    
join in the controversy which followed  
that address4#eh ,in one of his early   
letters he claims to have made of his   
steel a bridge rail of #gej pounds      
weight2 although his brother insists    
that he saw the same rail in the ,ebbw  
,vale offices in ,london in the spring  
of #aheg1 when it was presented as a    
specimen of ,uchatius steel6#ei ,robert 
,mushet's indignant advertisement of    
,january #e1 #aheh1fj reiterating his   
parentage of this sample1 also claimed a
 double-headed steel rail made by me    
under another of my patent processes1   
and sent to ,derby to be laid down there
 to be subjected to intense vertricular 
triturations4 ,mushet's description of  
the preparation of this ingot#fa shows  
that it was derived from ,bessemer scrap
 made by ,ebbw ,vale in the first       
unsuccessful attempts of that firm to   
simulate the ,bessemer process4 ,this   
scrap ,mushet had remelted in pots with 
spiegel in the proportions of #dd pounds

 of scrap to #c of melted spiegel4 ,it  
was his claim that the rail was rolled  
direct from the ingot1 something        
,bessemer himself could not do at that  
time4        #eh ,october #ag1 #aheg1   
writing as ,sideros 7,mining ,journal1  
#aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4 #gbc74        #ei   
,mining ,journal1 #aheg1 vol4 #bg1 p4   
#hga1 and #aheh1 vol4 #bh1       p4 #ab4
        #fj ,ibid4 7#aheh71 p4 #cd4     
#fa ,mushet1 op4 cit4 7footnote #df71 p4
 #ab4 ,the phrase quoted       is       
typical of ,mushet's style4  ,this was  
the beginning of a series of claims by  
,mushet as to his essential             
contributions to ,bessemer's invention4 
,the silence of the latter during this  
period is impressive1 for according to  
,bessemer's own account#fb his ,british 
,association address was premature1 and 
although the sale of licenses actually  
provided him with working funds1 the    
impatience of those experimenting with  
the process and the flood of competing  
inventions all embarrassed him at the   

most critical stage of this development 
of the process3 ,it was1 however1 no use
 for me to argue the matter in the      
press4 ,all that ,i could say would be  
mere talk and ,i felt that action was   
necessary1 and not words4#fc        #fb 
,bessemer1 op4 cit4 7footnote #g71 pp4  
#afa ff4 and #bef ff4        #fc ,ibid41
 p4 #aga4  ,action took the form of     
continued experiments and1 by the end of
 #aheg1 a decision to build his own     
plant at ,sheffield4#fd ,an important   
collateral development resulted from the
 visit to ,london in ,may #aheg of ,g4  
,f4 ,goransson of ,gefle1 ,sweden4      
,using ,bessemer equipment1 ,goransson  
began trials of the process in ,november
 #aheg and by ,october #aheh was able to
 report3 ,our firm has now entirely     
given up the manufacture of bar iron1   
and our blast furnaces and tilt mills   
are now wholly employed in making steel 
by the ,bessemer process1 which may1    
therefore1 be now considered an         
accomplished commercial fact4#fe        

#fd ,this enterprise1 started in        
conjunction with ,galloway's of         
,manchester1 one of the firms licensed  
by ,bessemer to make his                
equipment1 was under way by ,april #aheh
 7see ,mining ,journal1       #aheh1    
vol4 #bh1 p4 #bei74        #fe ,mining  
,journal1 #aheh1 vol4 #bh1 p4 #fif4     
,mushet commented       7p4 #gac7 that  
he had done the same thing eighteen     
months ago4  ,goransson was later to    
claim considerable improvements on the  
method of introducing the blast1 and1 in
 consequence1 the first effective       
demonstration of the ,bessemer          
method#ff--this at a time when ,bessemer
 was still remelting the product of his 
converter in crucibles1 after           
granulating the steel in water4 ,if     
,mushet is to be believed1 this success 
of ,goransson's was wholly due to his   
ore being totally free from phosphorous 
and sulphur4#fg ,however1 ,bessemer's   
own progress was substantial1 for his   
,sheffield works were reported as being 

in active operation in ,april #ahei1 and
 a price for his engineers' tool and    
spindle steel was included in the       
,mining ,journal ,mining ,market weekly 
quotations for the first time#fh on     
,june #d1 #ahei4        #ff ,swank1 op4 
cit4 7footnote #db71 p4 #dje4        #fg
 ,the ,engineer1 #ahei1 vol4 #g1 p4     
#cej4        #fh ,mining ,journal1      
#ahei1 vol4 #bi1 pp4 #cif and #dja4 ,the
 price       quotation was continued    
until ,april #ahfe4  ,in ,may #ahei     
,bessemer gave a paper1 his first public
 pronouncement since ,august #ahef1     
before the ,institution of ,civil       
,engineers4#fi ,the early process1 he   
admitted1 had led to failure because the
 process had not reduced the quantity of
 sulphur and phosphorous1 but his       
account is vague as to the manner in    
which he dealt with this problem3       
,steam and pure hydrogen gas were tried1
 with more or less success     in the   
removal of sulphur1 and various flues1  
composed chiefly of     silicates of the

 oxide of iron and manganese were       
brought in     contact with the fluid   
metal1 during the process and the       
quantity     of phosphorous was thereby 
reduced4        #fi ,the ,engineer1     
#ahei1 vol4 #g1 p4 #dcg4  ,but the clear
 implication is that the commercial     
operation at ,sheffield was based on the
 use of the best ,swedish pig iron and  
the hematite pig from ,workington4 ,the 
use of manganese as standard practice at
 this time is not referred to1#gj but   
the rotary converter and the use of     
ganister linings are mentioned for the  
first time4        #gj ,jeans1 op4 cit4 
7footnote #e71 p4 #cdi refers to the    
hematite ores of ,lancashire and        
,cumberland as the ores hitherto        
almost exclusively used in the ,bessemer
 process4        ,a definitive account  
of the ,swedish development of the      
,bessemer       process1 leading to a   
well-documented claim that the first    
practical realization of the process was
 achieved in ,sweden in       ,july     

#aheh1 was recently published 7,per     
,carlberg1 ,early       ,production of  
,bessemer ,steel at ,edsken1 ,journal of
 the ,iron and       ,steel ,institute1 
,great ,britain1 ,july #aieh1 vol4 #ahi1
 p4 #bja74  ,mushet had1 with some      
intuition1 found opportunity to reassert
 his contributions to ,bessemer a few   
days before this address1 describing his
 process as perhaps lacking the         
extraordinary merit of ,mr4 ,bessemer1  
being merely a vigorous offshoot        
proceeding from that great discovery2   
but1 combined with ,mr4 ,bessemer's     
process1 it places within the reach of  
every iron manufacturer to produce cast 
steel at the same cost for which he can 
now make his best iron4#ga        #ga   
,the ,engineer1 #ahei1 vol4 #g1 p4 #cad4
 ,bessemer's intention       to present 
his paper had been announced in ,april4 
,one of ,mushet's replies to the paper  
itself took the form of the announcement
 of his provisional patent for the use  
of his triple compound which1 in the    

opinion of ,the ,mining ,journal        
appeared to be but a very slight        
modification of several of ,mr4         
,bessemer's inventions4 ,another half   
dozen patents appeared within two       
months1 so that it is apparent that ,mr4
 ,mushet's failure to make the public   
appreciate his theories has not injured 
his inventive faculties4#gb ,these      
patents include1 besides variations on  
his triple compound theme1 his important
 patent on the use of tungsten for      
cutting tools1 later to be known as     
,mushet steel4#gc        #gb ,mining    
,journal1 #ahei1 vol4 #bi1 p4 #eci and  
#fdj4 ,another       ,mushet patent is  
described as so much like ,uchatius'    
process that       it would seem to be  
almost unpatentable4        #gc ,see    
,jeans1 op4 cit4 7footnote #e71 p4 #ecb4
  ,mushet's formal pronouncement on     
,bessemer's paper1 dated ,june #bh1     
#ahei1 is perhaps his most intelligible 
communication on the subject4 ,he alone 
from the first consistently advocated   

the merits and pointed out the defects  
of the ,bessemer process1 and within a  
few days of the ,british ,association   
address he had shown ,ebbw ,vale where  
the defect would be found and what would
 remedy it4 ,it was not1 in fact1 the   
presence of one-tenth of a percent of   
sulphur or phosphorous which affected   
the result if the ,bessemer process were
 combined with his process by adding a  
triple compound of iron1 carbon1 and    
manganese to the pig4 ,there never was a
 bar of first-rate cast steel made by   
the ,bessemer process alone2 7and that  
included ,goransson's product7 and there
 never can be1 but a cheap kind of steel
 applicable to several purposes may be  
thus produced4 ,after emphasizing the   
uniqueness of his attempt to make       
,bessemer's process successful1 he      
asserts3#gd      ,in short1 ,i merely   
availed myself of a great metallurgical 
fact1     which has been for years      
before the eyes of the metallurgical    
world1 namely that the presence of      

metallic manganese in iron and     steel
 conferred upon both an amount of       
toughness either when cold     or when  
heated1 which the presence at the same  
time of a notable     amount of sulphur 
and phosphorous could not overcome4     
#gd ,the ,engineer1 #ahei1 vol4 #h1 p4  
#ac 7italics supplied74 ,it       is    
noted that ,mushet's ,american patent   
7#agchi1 of ,may #bf1 #aheg7            
prefers the use of iron as free as      
possible from ,sulphur and              
,phosphorous4  ,the succeeding years    
were enlivened1 one by one1 by some     
controversy in which ,mushet invoked the
 shadow of his late father as support   
for some pronouncement1 or edict1 as    
some said1 on the subject of making iron
 and steel4 ,in #ahfj1 on the question  
of suitable metal for artillery1 later  
to be the subject of high controversy   
among the leading experts of the day1   
,mushet found a ready solution in his   
own gun metal4 ,this he had developed   
fifteen years before4 ,it was of a      

tensile strength better even than that  
of ,krupp of ,essen who was then        
specializing in the making of large     
blocks of cast steel for heavy forgings1
 and particularly for guns4 ,indeed1 he 
was able publicly to challenge ,krupp to
 produce a cast gun metal or cast steel 
to stand test against his4#ge ,a year   
later his attack on the distinguished   
,french metallurgist ,fremy1 whom he    
describes as an ass for his interest in 
the so-called cyanogen process of steel 
making1 did little to enhance his       
reputation1 whatever the scientific     
justification for his attack4 ,his      
attitude toward the use of ,new ,zealand
 7,taranaki7 metalliferous sand1 which  
he had previously favored and then      
condemned in such a way as to injure a  
project he can no longer control1#gf was
 another example of a public behavior   
evidently resented4        #ge ,the     
,engineer1 #ahfj1 vol4 #i1 pp4 #cff1    
#daf1 and passim4        #gf ,the       
,engineer1 #ahfa1 vol4 #aa1 pp4 #ahi1   

#bjb1 #bij1 #cjd4  ,by mid-#ahfa1 on the
 other hand1 ,bessemer was beginning to 
meet with increasing respect from the   
trade4 ,the ,society of ,engineers      
received a dispassionate account of the 
achievement at the ,sheffield ,works    
from ,e4 ,riley1 whose firm 7,dowlais7  
was among the earlier and disappointed  
licensees of the process4#gg ,in ,august
 #ahfa1 five years after the ill-fated  
address before the ,british             
,association1 the ,institution of       
,mechanical ,engineers1 meeting in      
,sheffield1 the center of the ,british  
steel trade1 heard papers from ,bessemer
 and from ,john ,brown1 a famous        
ironmaster4 ,the latter described the   
making of ,bessemer rails1 the product  
which above all was to absorb the       
,bessemer plants in ,america after      
#ahfe4 ,after the meeting1 the engineers
 visited ,bessemer's works2 and later it
 was reported1#gh at ,messrs4 ,john     
,brown and ,company's works1 the        
,bessemer process was repeated on a     

still larger scale and a heavy armor    
plate rolled in the presence of some    
#bej visitors4444        #gg ,the       
,engineer1 #ahfa1 vol4 #ab1 p4 #aj4     
#gh ,ibid41 p4 #fc4  ,these proceedings 
invited ,robert ,mushet's intervention4 
,still under the impression that his    
patent was still alive and1 with        
,martien's1 in the able hands of the    
,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,company1 he condemned
 ,bessemer for his lack of grace to do  
him justice1 and took the occasion to   
indict the patent system which denied   
him and ,martien the fruits of their    
labors4#gi        #gi ,ibid41 pp4 #gh   
and #agg4  ,the ,engineer found         
,mushet's position untenable on the very
 grounds he was pleading--that patents  
should not be issued to different men at
 different times for the same thing2 and
 showed that ,bessemer in his patents of
 ,january #d1 #ahef1 and later1 had     
clearly anticipated ,mushet4 ,in a      
subsequent article1 ,the ,engineer      
disposed of ,martien's and ,mushet's    

claims with a certain finality4 ,the    
,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works had spent      
#g1jjj trying to carry out the ,martien 
process and it was unlikely that they   
would have allowed ,bessemer to infringe
 upon that patent if they had any       
grounds for a case4 ,bessemer was not   
imitating ,mushet4 ,the latter's triple 
compound required manganese pig-iron    
7with a content of #b to #e percent of  
manganese7 at #ac per ton while         
,bessemer used an oxide of manganese 7at
 a #ej percent concentration73 at #g per
 ton4      ,the alloy of manganese and  
other materials now used in the         
atmospheric process contains #ej percent
 of manganese a proportion     which    
could never be obtained from the blast  
furnace1 owing to the     highly        
oxidisable nature of that metal4 ,and it
 is absolutely     necessary1 in order  
to apply any useful alloy of iron1      
carbon and     manganese1 in the        
manufacture of malleable iron and very  
soft steel     that the manganese should

 be largely in excess of the carbon     
present4#hj        #hj ,ibid41 p4 #bjh4 
,there is an intriguing reference in    
this       editorial to an interference 
on behalf of ,martien against a         
,bessemer application for a ,u4,s4      
patent4 ,no dates are given and         
the case has not been located in the    
record of ,u4,s4 ,patent                
,commissioner's decision4  ,sufficient  
answer to ,mushet was at any rate       
available in the fact that many hundreds
 of tons of excellent ,bessemer metal   
made without any mixture of manganese or
 spiegeleisen in any form were in       
successful use4 ,and1 moreover1         
spiegeleisen was not a discovery of     
,robert ,mushet or an exclusive product 
of ,germany since it had been made for  
twenty years at least from ,tow ,law    
7,durham7 ores4 ,if ,bessemer had       
refused ,mushet a license 7and this was 
an admitted fact71 ,bessemer's refusal  
must have been made in self-defense3    
,mr4 ,mushet having set up a number of  

claims for improvements upon     which  
claims1 we have a right to suppose1 he  
was preparing to take     toll from ,mr4
 ,bessemer1 but which claims1 the latter
 gentleman     discovered1 in time1 were
 worthless and accordingly declined any 
negotiations with the individual making 
them4#ha        #ha ,ibid41 p4 #bed4    
,mushet's claims were by this time      
rarely supported in the periodicals4    
,one interesting article in his favor   
came in #ahfd from a source of special  
interest to the ,american situation4    
,mushet's ,american patent#hb had been  
bought by an ,american group interested 
in the ,kelly process at about this     
time1#hc and ,bessemer's ,american      
rights had also been sold to an         
,american group that included ,alexander
 ,lyman ,holley1#hd who had long been   
associated with ,zerah ,colburn1 another
 ,american engineer4 ,colburn1 who      
subsequently 7#ahff7 established the    
,london periodical ,engineering and is  
regarded as one of the founders of      

engineering journalism1 was from #ahfb  
onward a frequent contributor to other  
trade papers in ,london4 ,colburn's     
article of #ahfdhe seems to have been of
 some importance to ,mushet1 who1 in the
 prospectus of the ,titanic ,steel and  
,iron ,company1 ,ltd41 issued soon      
after1 brazenly asserted#hf that1 by the
 process of ,mr4 ,mushet especially when
 in combination with the ,bessemer      
process1 steel as good as ,swedish steel
 would be produced at #f per ton4       
,mushet may have intended to invite a   
patent action1 but evidently ,bessemer  
could now more than ever afford to      
ignore the sage of ,coleford4        #hb
 ,u4,s4 patent #agchi1 dated ,may #bf1  
#aheg4 ,the patent was not       renewed
 when application was made in #ahgj1 on 
the grounds that       the original     
patent had been made co-terminal with   
the ,british       patent4 ,the latter  
had been abandoned by ,mushet's own     
fault so       that no right existed to 
an ,american renewal 7,u4,s4 ,patent    

,office1       ,decision of             
,commissioner of ,patents1 dated        
,september #ai1 #ahgj74        #hc ,see 
below1 p4 #de4 ,the exact date of the   
purchase of ,mushet's       patent is   
not known4        #hd ,engineering1     
#ahhb1 vol4 #cc1 p4 #aad4 ,the deal was 
completed       in #ahfc4        #he    
,the ,engineer1 #ahfd1 vol4 #ah1 pp4    
#dje1 #djf4        #hf ,mining ,journal1
 #ahfd1 vol4 #cd1 pp4 #gg and #id       
7italics       supplied74 ,it has not   
yet been possible to ascertain if this  
company was successful4 ,mushet writes  
from this time on from                  
,cheltenham1 where the company had its  
offices4 ,research continues       in   
this interesting aspect of his career4  
,the year #ahfe saw ,mushet less        
provocative and more appealing2 as for  
instance3 ,it was no fault of ,mr4      
,bessemer's that my patent was lost1 but
 he ought to acknowledge his obligations
 to me in a manly1 straightforward      
manner and this would stamp him as a    

great man as well as a great            
inventor4#hg        #hg ,mining         
,engineer1 #ahfe1 vol4 #ce1 p4 #hf4     
,but ,bessemer evidently remained       
convinced of the security of his own    
patent position4 ,in an address before  
the ,british ,association at ,birmingham
 in ,september #ahfe he made his first  
public reply to ,mushet4#hh ,in his long
 series of patents ,mushet had attempted
 to secure--      almost every          
conceivable mode of introducing         
manganese into the     metal4444        
,manganese and its compounds were so    
claimed under all     imaginable        
conditions that if this series of       
patents could have     been sustained in
 law1 it would have been utterly        
impossible for     me to have employed  
manganese with steel made by his        
process1     although it was considered 
by the trade to be impossible to make   
steel from coke-made iron without it4   
#hh ,the ,engineer1 #ahfe1 vol4 #bj1 p4 
#agd4  ,the failure of those who        

controlled ,mushet's batch of patents to
 renew them at the end of three years1  
,bessemer ascribed to the low public    
estimation to which ,mushet's process   
had sunk in #ahei1 and he had therefore1
 used without scruple any of these      
numerous patents for manganese without  
feeling an overwhelming sense of        
obligation to the patentee4 ,he was now 
using ferromanganese made in ,glasgow4  
,another alloy1 consisting of #fj to #hj
 percent of metallic manganese was also 
available to him from ,germany4  ,this  
renewed publicity brought forth no      
immediate reply from ,mushet1 but a year
 later he was invited to read a paper   
before the ,british ,association4 ,a    
report on the meeting stated that in his
 paper he repeated his oft-told story1  
and that he still thought that the      
accident 7of the non-payment of the     
patent stamp duties7 ought not to debar 
him from receiving the reward to which  
he was justly entitled4 ,bessemer1 who  
was present1 reiterated his constant    

willingness to submit the matter to the 
courts of law1 but pointed out that     
,mushet had not accepted the            
challenge4#hi        #hi ,mechanics'    
,magazine1 #ahff1 vol4 #af1 p4 #adg4    
,three months later1 in ,december #ahff1
 ,mushet's daughter called on ,bessemer 
and asked his help to prevent the loss  
of their home3 ,they tell me you use my 
father's inventions and are indebted to 
him for your success4 ,bessemer replied 
characteristically3      ,i use what    
your father has no right to claim2 and  
if he had the     legal position you    
seem to suppose1 he could stop my       
business by an     injunction tomorrow  
and get many thousands of pounds        
compensation     for my infringement of 
his rights4 ,the only result which      
followed     from your father taking out
 his patents was that they pointed out  
to me some rights which ,i already      
possessed1 but of which ,i was not      
availing myself4 ,thus he did me some   
service and even for this               

unintentional service1 ,i cannot live in
 a state of indebtedness4444  ,with that
 he gave ,miss ,mushet money to cover a 
debt for which distraint was            
threatened4#ij ,soon after this action1 
,bessemer made ,mushet a small allowance
 of #cjj a year4 ,bessemer's reasons for
 making this payment1 he describes as   
follows3 ,there was a strong desire on  
my part to make him 7,mushet7 my debtor 
rather than the reverse1 and the payment
 had other advantages3 the press at that
 time was violently attacking my patent 
and there was the chance that if any of 
my licensees were thus induced to resist
 my claims1 all the rest might follow   
the example4#ia        #ij ,bessemer1   
op4 cit4 7footnote #g71 p4 #bid4        
#ia ,ibid4  ,mushet's ,titanic ,steel   
and ,iron ,company was liquidated in    
#ahga and its principal asset1 ,r4      
,mushet's special steel1 that is1 his   
tungsten alloy tool metal1 was taken    
over by the ,sheffield firm of ,samuel  
,osborn and ,company4 ,the royalties    

from this1 with ,bessemer's pension seem
 to have left ,mushet in a reasonably   
comfortable condition until his death in
 #ahia2ib but even the award of the     
,bessemer medal by the ,iron and ,steel 
,institute in #ahgf failed to remove the
 conviction that he had been badly      
treated4 ,one would like to know more   
about the politics which preceded the   
award of the trade's highest honor4     
,bessemer at any rate was persuaded to  
approve of the presentation and attended
 the meeting4 ,mushet himself did not   
accept the invitation1 as ,i may        
probably not be then alive4#ic ,the     
,president of the ,institute emphasized 
the present good relations between      
,mushet and ,bessemer and the latter    
recorded that the hatchet had long since
 been buried4 ,yet ,mushet continued to 
brood over the injustice done to him and
 eventually recorded his story of the   
rise and progress of the                
,bessemer-,mushet process in a          
pamphlet#id written apparently without  

reference to his earlier statements and 
so committing himself to many           
inconsistencies4        #ib ,see ,fred  
,m4 ,osborn1 ,the story of the ,mushets1
 ,london1       #aheb4        #ic       
,journal of the ,iron and ,steel        
,institute1 #ahgf1 p4 #c4        #id    
,robert ,mushet1 ,the ,bessemer-,mushet 
process1 ,cheltenham1       #ahhc4      
,william ,kelly's ,air-boiling ,process 
,an account of ,bessemer's address to   
the ,british ,association was published 
in the ,scientific ,american on         
,september #ac1 #ahef4ie ,on ,september 
#af1 #ahef1 ,martien filed application  
for a ,u4,s4 patent on his furnace and  
,mushet for one on the application of   
his triple compound to cast iron        
purified or decarbonized by the action  
of air blown or forced into 444 its     
particles while it is in a molten 444   
state4#if ,mushet1 by this time1 had    
apparently decided to generalize the    
application of his compound instead of  
citing its use in conjunction with      

,martien's process1 or1 as he put it1 he
 had been obliged to do for his ,english
 specification by the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron 
,works4        #ie ,scientific          
,american1 #ahef1 vol4 #ab1 p4 #f4      
#if ,u4,s4 patent #agchi1 dated ,may    
#bf1 #aheg4 ,martien's ,u4,s4 patent    
was granted as #affij1 dated ,february  
#bd1 #aheg4  ,illustration3 ,figure     
#b4--,,only ,,known ,,design ,,for      
,,kelly',s ,,air-,,boiling ,,furnace1   
,,from ,u4,s4 ,,patent #agfbh4 ,a is the
 flue to carry off the carbonic gas     
formed in decarbonizing the iron1 ,b is 
the port through which the charge of    
fluid iron is received1 ,c and ,c' are  
the tuyres1 and ,d is the tap hole for  
letting out the refined metal4  ,the    
discussion in the ,scientific ,american1
 which was mostly concerned with        
,martien's claim to priority1 soon      
evoked a letter from ,william ,kelly4   
,writing under date of ,september #cj1  
#ahef1 from the ,suwanee ,iron ,works1  
,eddyville1 ,kentucky1 he claimed to    

have started a series of experiments in 
,november #ahea which had been witnessed
 by hundreds of persons and discussed   
amongst the ironmasters1 etc41 of this  
section1 all of whom are perfectly      
familiar with the whole principle 444 as
 discovered by me nearly five years ago4
 ,a number of ,english puddlers had     
visited him to see his new process4     
,several of them have since returned to 
,england and may have spoken of my      
invention there4 ,kelly expected shortly
 to have the invention perfected and    
bring it before the public4#ig          
#ig ,scientific ,american1 #ahef1 vol4  
#ab1 p4 #dc1 ,kelly's       suggestion  
of piracy of his ideas was later        
enlarged upon by his       biographer   
,john ,newton ,boucher1 ,william ,kelly3
 ,a true history       of the so-called 
,bessemer process1 ,greensburg1         
,pennsylvania1       #aibd4  ,bessemer's
 application for an ,american patent was
 granted during the week ending         
,november #ah1 #ahef1 and ,kelly began  

his interference proceedings sometime   
before ,january #aheg4ih        #ih     
,ibid41 p4 #hb4 ,kelly's notice of his  
intention to take       testimony was   
addressed to ,bessemer on ,january #ab1 
#aheg4 ,see       papers on             
,interference1 ,william ,kelly vs4      
,henry ,bessemer       ,decision ,april 
#ac1 #aheg4 ,u4,s4 ,patent ,office      
,records4 ,quotations       below are   
from this file1 which is now permanently
 preserved in       the library of the  
,u4,s4 ,patent ,office4  ,kelly's       
witnesses were almost wholly from the   
ranks of employees or former employees4 
,the only exception was ,dr4 ,alfred ,h4
 ,champion1 a physician of ,eddyville4  
,dr4 ,champion describes a meeting in   
the fall of #ahea with two or three     
practical ,ironmasters and others at    
which ,kelly described his process and  
invited all present to see it in        
operation4 ,he stated3      ,the company
 present all differed in opinion from   
,mr4 ,kelly and     appealed to me as a 

chemist in confirmation of their doubts4
 ,i at     once decided that ,mr4 ,kelly
 was correct in his ,theory and then    
went     on to explain the received     
opinion of chemists a century ago on    
this subject1 and the present received  
opinion which was in direct             
confirmation of the novel theory of ,mr4
 ,kelly4 ,i also mentioned the          
analogy of said ,kelly's process in     
decarbonising iron to the     process of
 decarbonising blood in the human lungs4
  ,the ,doctor does not say1            
specifically1 if he or any of the       
company went to see the process in      
operation4  ,kelly obtained affidavits  
from another seventeen witnesses4 ,ten  
of these recorded their recollections of
 experiments conducted in #ahdg4 ,five  
described the #ahea work4 ,two knew of  
or had seen both4 ,one of the last group
 was ,john ,b4 ,evans who became forge  
manager of ,kelly's ,union ,forge1 a few
 miles from ,suwanee4 ,this evidence is 
of interest since a man in his position 

should have been in a position to tell  
something about the results of ,kelly's 
operations in terms of usable metal4    
,unfortunately1 he limits himself to a  
comment on the metal which had chilled  
around a tuyre which had been sent back 
to the ,forge 7it was partly malleable  
and partly refined pig-iron7 and to an  
account of a conversation with others   
who had worked some of ,kelly's good    
wrought iron made by the new process4   
,only one of the witnesses 7,william    
,soden7 makes a reference to the        
phenomenon which is an accompaniment of 
the blowing of a converter3 the         
prolonged and violent emission of sparks
 and flames which startled ,bessemer in 
his first use of the process#ii and     
which still provides an exciting1 if not
 awe-inspiring1 interlude in a visit to 
a steel mill4 ,soden refers1 without    
much excitement1 to a boiling commotion1
 but the results of ,kelly's air-boiling
 were1 evidently1 not such as to impress
 the rest of those who claimed to have  

seen his furnace in operation4 ,only    
five of the total of eighteen of the    
witnesses say that they witnessed the   
operations4 ,soden1 incidentally1 knew  
of seven different air-boiling furnaces1
 some with four and some with eight     
tuyres1 but he also neglected to report 
on the use of the metal4        #ii     
,bessemer1 op4 cit4 7footnote #g71 p4   
#add4  ,as is well known1 ,kelly        
satisfied the ,acting ,commissioner that
 he had made this invention and showed  
it by drawings and experiment as early  
as #ahdg1 and he was awarded priority by
 the ,acting ,commissioner's decision of
 ,april #ac1 #aheg1 and ,u4,s4 ,patent  
#agfbh was granted him as of ,june #bc1 
#aheg4 ,the ,scientific ,american       
sympathized with ,bessemer's realization
 that his ,american patent was of no    
more value to him than so much waste    
paper but took the opportunity of       
chastising ,kelly for his negligence in 
not securing a patent at a much earlier 
date and complained of a patent system  

which did not require an inventor to    
make known his discovery promptly4 ,the 
journal advocated a certain fixed time  
after which such an inventor should not 
be allowed to subvert a patent granted  
to another who has taken proper measures
 to put the public in possession of the 
invention4#ajj        #ajj ,scientific  
,american1 #aheg1 vol4 #ab1 p4 #cda4    
,little authentic is known about        
,kelly's activities following the grant 
of his patent4 ,his biographer#aja does 
not document his statements1 many of    
which appear to be based on the         
recollections of members of ,kelly's    
family1 and it is difficult to reconcile
 some of them with what few facts are   
available4 ,kelly's own account of his  
invention1#ajb itself undated1 asserts  
that he could refine fifteen            
hundredweight of metal in from five to  
ten minutes1 his furnace supplying a    
cheap method of making run-out metal so 
that after trying it a few days we      
entirely dispensed with the old and     

troublesome run-out fires4#ajc ,this    
statement suggests that ,kelly's method 
was intended to do just this2 and it is 
not without interest to note that       
several of his witnesses in the         
,interference proceedings1 refer to     
bringing the metal to nature1 a term    
often used in connection with the finery
 furnace4 ,if this is so1 his assumption
 that he had anticipated ,bessemer was  
based on a misapprehension of what the  
latter was intending to do1 that is1 to 
make steel4        #aja ,boucher1 op4   
cit4 7footnote #ig74        #ajb ,u4,s4 
,bureau of the ,census1 ,report on the  
manufacturers       of the ,united      
,states at the tenth census 7,june #a1  
#ahhj7 4441       ,manufacture of iron  
and steel1 report prepared by ,james ,m4
       ,swank1 special agent1           
,washington1 #ahhc1 p4 #abd4 ,mr4 ,swank
 was       secretary of the ,american   
,iron and ,steel ,association4 ,this    
material was included in his ,history of
 the manufacture of iron       in all   

ages1 ,philadelphia1 #ahib1 p4 #cig4    
#ajc ,ibid41 p4 #abe4 ,the run-out fire 
7or finery fire7 was a       charcoal   
fire into which pig-iron1 having been   
melted and       partially refined in   
one fire1 was run and further refined to
       convert it to wrought iron by the
 ,lancashire hearth process1            
according to ,a4 ,k4 ,osborn1 ,an       
encyclopaedia of the iron and           
steel industry1 ,new ,york1 #aief4      
,this statement leaves the reader under 
the impression that the process was in  
successful use4 ,it is to be contrasted 
with the statement quoted above 7page   
#dc71 dated ,september #ahef1 when the  
process had1 clearly1 not been          
perfected4 ,in this connection1 it      
should be noted that in the report on   
the ,suwanee ,iron ,works1 included in  
,the iron manufacturer's guide1#ajd it  
is stated that ,it is at this furnace   
that ,mr4 ,kelly's process for refining 
iron in the hearth has been most fully  
experimented upon4        #ajd ,j4 ,p4  

,lesley1 op4 cit4 7footnote #ci71 p4    
#abi4 ,the preface       is dated ,april
 #f1 #ahei4 ,the data was largely       
collected by ,joseph       ,lesley of   
,philadelphia1 brother of the author1   
during a tour of       several months4  
,since ,suwanee production is given for 
#dd weeks       only of #aheg 7i4e41    
through ,november #d or #e1 #aheg7 it is
       concluded that ,lesley's visit   
was in the last few weeks of #aheg4  ,a 
major financial crisis affected ,united 
,states business in the fall of #aheg4  
,it began in the first week of ,october 
and by ,october #ca the ,economist      
7,london7 reported that the banks of the
 ,united ,states had almost universally 
suspended specie payment4#aje ,kelly was
 involved in this crisis and his plant  
was closed down4 ,according to          
,swank1#ajf some experiments were made  
to adapt ,kelly's process to need of    
rolling mills at the ,cambria ,iron     
,works in #aheg and #aheh1 ,kelly       
himself being at ,johnstown1 at least in

 ,june #aheh4 ,that the experiments were
 not particularly successful is         
suggested by the lack of any ,american  
contributions to the correspondence in  
the ,english technical journals4 ,kelly 
was not mentioned as having done more   
than interfere with ,bessemer's first   
patent application4 ,the success of the 
latter in obtaining patents#ajg in the  
,united ,states in ,november #ahef1     
covering the conversion of molten crude 
iron 444 into steel or malleable iron1  
without the use of fuel 444 also escaped
 the attention of both ,english and     
,american writers4        #aje          
,economist 7,london71 #aheg1 vol4 #ae1  
pp4 #aabi1 #abji4        #ajf ,swank1   
op4 cit4 7footnote #db71 p4 #abe4 ,john 
,fritz1 in his       ,autobiography     
7,new ,york1 #aiab1 p4 #afb71 refers to 
experiments       during his time at    
,johnstown1 i4e41 between ,june #ahed   
and ,july       #ahfj4 ,the iron        
manufacturer's guide 7see footnote #ajd7
 also       refers to ,kelly's process  

as having just been tried with great    
success at ,cambria4        #ajg ,u4,s4 
patents #afjhb1 dated ,november #aa1    
#ahef1 and #afjhc1       dated ,november
 #ah1 #ahef4 ,bessemer's unsuccessful   
application       corresponded with his 
,british patent #bcba1 of #ahee 7see    
footnote       #ih74  ,it was not until 
#ahfa that the question arose as to what
 happened to ,kelly's process4 ,the     
occasion was the publication of an      
account of ,bessemer's paper at the     
,sheffield meeting of the 7,british7    
,society of ,mechanical ,engineers on   
,august #a1 #ahfa4 ,accepting the       
evidence of the complete industrial     
success of ,bessemer's process1 the     
,scientific ,american#ajh asked3 ,would 
not some of our enterprising            
manufacturers make a good operation by  
getting hold of the ,kelly patent and   
starting the manufacture of steel in    
this country8        #ajh ,scientific   
,american1 #ahfa1 new ser41 vol4 #e1 pp4
 #adh-aec4  ,there was no response to   

this rhetorical question1 but a further 
inquiry as to whether the ,kelly patent 
could be bought#aji elicited a response 
from ,kelly4 ,writing from              
,hammondsville1 ,ohio1 ,kelly#aaj said1 
in part3      ,i would say that the ,new
 ,england states and ,new ,york would be
 sold     at a fair rate4444 ,i removed 
from ,kentucky about three years ago1   
and now reside at ,new ,salisbury about 
three miles from     ,hammondsville and 
sixty miles from ,pittsburg4 ,accept my 
thanks for     your kind efforts in     
endeavoring to draw the attention of the
     community to the advantages of my  
process4        #aji ,ibid41 p4 #caj4   
#aaj ,ibid41 p4 #cdc4  ,this letter     
suggests that the ,kelly process had    
been dormant since #aheh4 ,whether or   
not as a result of the publication of   
this letter1 interest was resumed in    
,kelly's experiments4 ,captain ,eber    
,brock ,ward of ,detroit and ,z4 ,s4    
,durfee of ,new ,bedford1               
,massachusetts1 obtained control of     

,kelly's patent4 ,durfee himself went to
 ,england in the fall of #ahfa in an    
attempt to secure a license from        
,bessemer4 ,he returned to the ,united  
,states in the early fall of #ahfb1     
assuming that he was the only citizen of
 the ,united ,states who had even seen  
the ,bessemer apparatus4#aaa        #aaa
 ,his claim is somewhat doubtful4       
,alexander ,lyman ,holley1 who       was
 later to be responsible for the design 
of most of the first       ,bessemer    
plants in the ,united ,states had been  
in ,england in #ahei1       #ahfj1 and  
#ahfb4 ,in view of his interest in      
ordnance and armor1 it       is unlikely
 that ,bessemer could have escaped his  
alert       observation4 ,his first     
visit specifically in connection with   
the       ,bessemer process appears to  
have been in #ahfc1 but he is said to   
have begun to interest financiers and   
ironmasters in the ,bessemer            
process after his visit in #ahfb        
7,engineering1 #ahhb1 vol4 #cc1 p4      

#aae74  ,in ,june1 #ahfb1 ,w4 ,f4       
,durfee1 a cousin of ,z4 ,s4 ,durfee1   
was asked by ,ward to report on ,kelly's
 process4 ,the report#aab was           
unfavorable4 ,the description of the    
apparatus used by ,mr4 ,kelly at his    
abandoned works in ,kentucky satisfied  
me that it was not suited for an        
experiment on so large a scale as was   
contemplated at ,wyandotte ,detroit4    
,since it was confidently expected that 
,z4 ,s4 ,durfee would be successful in  
his efforts to purchase ,bessemer's     
patents1 it was thought only to be      
anticipating the acquisition of property
 rights 444 to use such of his          
inventions as best suited the purpose in
 view4        #aab ,w4 ,f4 ,durfee3 ,an 
account of the experimental steel works 
at ,wyandotte1 ,michigan1 ,transactions 
of the ,american ,society of            
,mechanical ,engineers1 #ahhd1 vol4 #f1 
p4 #dj ff4  ,thus the first ,bessemer   
plant in the ,united ,states came into  
being without benefit of a license and  

supported only by a patent not suited   
for a large experiment4 ,kelly seems to 
have had no part in these developments4 
,they took some time to come to         
formation4 ,although the converter was  
ready by ,september #ahfb1 the blowing  
engine was not completed until the      
spring of #ahfd and the first blow      
successfully made in #ahfd4 ,it may be  
no more than a coincidence that the     
start of production seems to have been  
impossible before the arrival in this   
country of a young man1 ,l4 ,m4 ,hart1  
who had been trained in ,bessemer       
operations at the plant of the ,jackson 
,brothers at ,st4 ,seurin 7near         
,bordeaux7 ,france4 ,the ,jacksons had  
become ,bessemer's partners in respect  
of the ,french rights2 and the          
recruitment of ,hart suggests the       
possibility that it was from this       
,french source that ,z4 ,s4 ,durfee     
obtained his initial technical data on  
the operation of the ,bessemer          
process4#aac        #aac ,research in   

the ,french sources continues4 ,the     
arrival of ,l4       ,m4 ,hart at       
,boston is recorded as of ,april #a1    
#ahfd1 his ship being       the ,,ss    
,africa out of ,liverpool1 ,england     
7,archives of the ,united       ,states1
 card index of passenger arrivals       
#ahdi-ahia list ,no4 #ci74  ,during the 
organization of the plant at ,wyandotte1
 ,kelly was called back to ,cambria1    
probably by ,daniel ,j4 ,morrell1 who1  
later1 became a partner with ,ward and  
,z4 ,s4 ,durfee in the formation of the 
,kelly ,pneumatic ,process ,company4#aad
 ,we learn from ,john ,e4 ,fry1#aae the 
iron moulder who was assigned to help   
,kelly1 that--      in #ahfb ,mr4 ,kelly
 returned to ,johnstown for a crucial1  
and as it     turned out1 a final series
 of experiments by him with a rotative  
,bessemer converter made abroad and     
imported for his purpose4     ,this     
converter embodied in its materials and 
construction several     of ,mr4        
,bessemer's patented factors1 of which1 

up to the close of     ,mr4 ,kelly's    
experiments above noted1 he seemed to   
have no knowledge     or conception4    
,and it was as late as on the occasion  
of his return     in #ahfb1 to operate  
the experimental ,bessemer converter1   
that he     first recognized1 by its    
adoption1 the necessity for or the      
importance of any after treatment of1 or
 additions required by the     blown    
metal to convert it into steel4         
#aad ,swank1 op4 cit4 7footnote #db71 p4
 #dji4        #aae ,johnstown ,daily    
,democrat1 souvenir edition1 autumn     
#ahid       7italics supplied74 ,mr4    
,fry was at the ,cambria ,iron ,works   
from       #aheh until after #ahhb4     
,fry later asserted#aaf that ,kelly's   
experiments in #ahfb were simply        
attempts to copy ,bessemer's methods4   
7,the possibility is under investigation
 that the so-called pioneer converter   
now on loan to the ,u4,s4 ,national     
,museum from the ,bethlehem ,steel      
,company1 is the converter referred to  

by ,fry47        #aaf ,engineering1     
#ahif1 vol4 #fa1 p4 #fae4  ,william     
,kelly1 in effect1 disappeared from the 
record until #ahga when he applied for  
an extension of his patent of ,june #bc1
 #aheg4 ,the application was opposed 7by
 whom1 the record does not state7 on the
 grounds that the invention was not     
novel when it was originally issued1 and
 that it would be against the public    
interest to extend its term4 ,the       
,commissioner ruled that1#aag on the    
first question1 it was settled practice 
of the ,patent ,office not to reconsider
 former decisions on questions of fact2 
the novelty of ,kelly's invention had   
been re-examined when the patent was    
reissued in ,november #aheg4 ,testimony 
showed that the patent was very         
valuable2 and that ,kelly had been      
untiring in his efforts to introduce it 
into use but the opposition of iron     
manufacturers and the amount of capital 
required prevented him from receiving   
anything from his patent until within   

very few years past4 ,kelly's           
expenditures were shown to have amounted
 to #aa1ejj1 whereas he had received    
only #b1djj4 ,since no evidence was     
filed in support of the public interest 
aspect of the case1 the ,commissioner   
found no substantial reason for denying 
the extension2 indeed very few patentees
 are able to present so strong grounds  
for extension as the applicant in the   
case4        #aag ,see ,u4,s4 ,patent   
,office1 ,decision of ,commissioner of  
,patents1 dated ,june #ae1 #ahga4  ,in a
 similar application in the previous    
year1 ,bessemer had failed to win an    
extension of his ,u4,s4 patent #afjhb1  
of ,november #aa1 #ahef1 for the sole   
reason that his ,british patent with    
which it had been made co-terminal had  
duly expired at the end of its fourteen 
years of life1 and it would have been   
inequitable to give ,bessemer protection
 in the ,united ,states while ,british  
iron-masters were not under similar     
restraint4 ,but if it had not been for  

this consideration1 ,bessemer would be  
justly entitled to what he asks on this 
occasion4 ,the ,commissioner#aah        
observed3 ,it may be questioned whether 
,bessemer was first to discover the     
principle upon which his process was    
founded4 ,but we owe its reduction to   
practice to his untiring industry and   
perseverance1 his superior skill and    
science and his great outlay4           
#aah ,u4,s4 ,patent ,office1 ,decision  
of ,commissioner of ,patents       dated
 ,february #ab1 #ahgj4   ,conclusions   
,martien was probably never a serious   
contender for the honor of discovering  
the atmospheric process of making steel4
 ,in the present state of the record1 it
 is not an unreasonable assumption that 
his patent was never seriously exploited
 and that the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works  
hoped to use it1 in conjunction with the
 ,mushet patents1 to upset ,bessemer's  
patents4  ,the position of ,mushet is   
not so clear1 and it is hoped that      
further research can eventually throw a 

clearer light on his relationship with  
the ,ebbw ,vale ,iron ,works4 ,it may   
well be that the opinion of             
metallurgists in later years#aai is     
sound1 and that both ,mushet and        
,bessemer had successfully worked at the
 same problem4 ,the study of ,mushet's  
letters to the technical press and of   
the attitude of the editors of those    
papers to ,mushet suggests the          
possibility that he1 too1 was used by   
,ebbw ,vale for the purposes of their   
attacks on ,bessemer4 ,mushet admits    
that he was not a free agent in respect 
of these patents1 and the failure of    
,ebbw ,vale to ensure their full life   
under ,english patent law indicates     
clearly enough that by #ahei the firm   
had realized that their position was not
 strong enough to warrant a legal suit  
for infringement against ,bessemer4     
,their purchase of the ,uchatius process
 and their final attempt to develop     
,martien's ideas through the ,parry     
patents1 which exposed them to a very   

real risk of a suit by ,bessemer1 are   
also indications of the politics in the 
case4 ,mushet seems to have been a      
willing enough victim of ,ebbw ,vale's  
scheming4 ,his letters show an almost   
presumptuous assumption of the mantle of
 his father2 while his sometimes absurd 
claims to priority of invention 7and    
demonstration7 of practically every new 
idea in the manufacturing of iron and   
steel progressively reduced the respect 
for his name4 ,bessemer claims an       
impressive array of precedents for the  
use of manganese in steel making and1   
given his attitude to patents and his   
reliance on professional advice in this 
respect1 he should perhaps1 be given the
 benefit of the doubt4 ,a dispassionate 
judgment would be that ,bessemer owed   
more to the development work of his     
,swedish licensees than to ,mushet4     
#aai ,william ,t4 ,jeans1 ,the creators 
of the age of steel1       ,london1     
#ahhd4  ,kelly's right to be adjudged   
the joint inventor of what is now often 

called the ,kelly-,bessemer process is  
questionable4#abj ,admittedly1 he       
experimented in the treatment of molten 
metal with air blasts1 but it is by no  
means clear1 on the evidence1 that he   
got beyond the experimental stage4 ,it  
is certain that he never had the        
objective of making steel1 which was    
,bessemer's primary aim4 ,nor is there  
evidence that his process was taken     
beyond the experimental stage by the    
,cambria ,works4 ,the rejection of his  
apparatus by ,w4 ,f4 ,durfee must have  
been based1 to some extent at least1    
upon the ,johnstown trials4 ,there are  
strong grounds then1 for agreeing with  
one historian#aba who concludes3        
,the fact that ,kelly was an ,american  
is evidently the principal     reason   
why certain popular writers have made   
much of an invention     that1 had not  
,bessemer developed his process1 would  
never have     attracted notice4        
,kelly's patent proved very useful to   
industrial     interests in this country

 as a bargaining weapon in negotiations 
with the ,bessemer group for the        
exchange of patent rights4        #abj  
,bessemer dealt with ,kelly's claim to  
priority in a letter       to           
,engineering1 #ahif1 vol4 #fa1 p4 #cfg4 
#aba ,louis ,c4 ,hunter1 ,the heavy     
industries since #ahfj1 in ,h4       ,f4
 ,williamson 7editor71 ,the growth of   
the ,american economy1 ,new       ,york1
 #aidd1 p4 #dfi4  ,kelly's              
suggestion#abb that some ,british       
puddlers may have communicated his      
secret to ,bessemer can1 probably1 never
 be verified4 ,all that can be said is  
that ,bessemer was not an ironman2 his  
contacts with the iron trade were1 so   
far as can be ascertained1 nonexistent  
until he himself invaded ,sheffield4 ,so
 it is unlikely that such a secret would
 have been taken to him1 even if he were
 a well-known inventor4        #abb     
,later developed into a dramatic story  
by ,boucher1 op4       cit4 7footnote   
#ig74