grounds then, for agreeing with one Iiistorian '^' who 

 conchides: 



The fact that Kelly was an American is evidently the 

 principal reason vvh\- certain popular writers have made 

 much of an invention that, had not Bessemer developed 

 his process, would never have attracted notice. 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 rights. 



'-' Louis C. Hunter, "The heavy industries since 1860," in 

 H. F. Williamson (editor), Thf growth of the American economy. 

 New York, 1944, p. 469. 



Kelly's suggestion '^^ that some British puddlef s may 

 have communicated his secret to Bessemer can, prob- 

 ably, never be verified. All that can be said is that 

 Bessemer was not an ironman; his contacts with the 

 iron trade were, so far as can be ascertained, non- 

 existent until he himself invaded SheHield. So it is 

 unlikely that such a secret would have been taken to 

 him, even if he were a well-known inventor. 



'-- Later developed into a dramatic story by Boucher, op. cil. 

 (footnote 97). 



PAPER .3: BEGINNINGS OF CHEAP STEEL 



47 



