All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

46 AH About Inventions in his private office when there came a knock at the door. A clerk answered, to find a young woman, neatly though poorly clad, and evidently in sore distress. She wished to see Mr. Bessemer. Her voice was pleading, and her mission apparently so sincere that she was ushered into Bessemer’s presence. Here she made herself known as the daughter of Mr. Mushet, and went on to explain that, having heard that Mr. Bessemer was a kind-hearted man, she had decided, upon her own free will and unknown to her father, to seek out the steel inventor and to explain the dire straits to which they had been reduced. Her father and his family were so poor that they scarcely knew how to continue the struggle for existence. Gathering confidence as she related her sad story, the young woman stated that she had heard that Mr. Bessemer was making a lot of money out of her father’s invention, the fruits of which he had lost through no fault of his own, and she had come that day in the hope that Mr. Bessemer might be able to see his way to assist them. The steel inventor listened in silence to the sad story. When his visitor had completed the narrative a few diplomatic questions convinced him that the woman’s story was indeed true. There and then he comforted the daughter by declaring his intention to see that Mushet should pass the evening of his days in comfort. The woman brightened up and returned home confident that Bessemer would adhere to his word. He did so, settling an annuity of £300 upon hisjormer and now unfortunate rival. Bessemer’s works in Sheffield grew and flourished