IO
MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS.
operation at the works. Up to this time water-power
had to Le almost entirely relied upon where mechanical
power was required in industrial operations ; and as this
source of energy was lacking at Creusot, the company
applied to a still more famous Englishman, James Watt,
to erect steam engines for them. In 1785 other coal and
In 1793 the great Central Canal was constructecl ; as
it passed near the Creusot works it opened a new and
very important means of communication for the latter,
thus giving extended facilities for the receipt of raw
materials, and the transport of manufactured products.
By this time, too; the increase in the population, due to
Fig. 2. Le Creusot in 1782.
Fig. 3. The Town
iron mines were opened, and the foundry had in that year
become so largely extended, that it gave employment to
more than 1,500 persons, for whom houses had been built by
the company. In 1787, the industry known as the “ Manu-
facture de Cristaux de la Reine,” which had previously been
established ai Sèvres, was transferred to Creusot; these glass
works were inaintained in operation until the yeai 1832.
of Creusot in 1851.
the growing industry, made Creusot, which had hitherto
been a dependence of the district of Breuil, of so much
importance that it was raised to the dignity of a separate
commune. During the period of the Revolution, the
foundry was requisitioned by tlie Provisional Govern-
ment, and was worked wholly on account of the nation.
। Restored to its former condition as a private enterprise.