The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

 THE OHALON WORKS. 131 the cradle carrying the boat previous to its reaching the water, when the résistance of the water and the friction of the timbers—these are not coated with tallow—are higher tlian the accelerated force of gravity. The iron cradle serves also to pick up in the river, and to haul up the slip, the tugboats which are sent to the Chalon yard for repairs. Figs. 360 and 361 show the arrangement of these slipways ; while Fig. 362 shows a first-class torpedo-boat, built by Messrs. Schneider and Co., afloat and ready for delivery down the Saône and the Rhône to Toulon Harbour. consists of ten pickling tanks containing muriatie acid at 10 deg. Beaumé, and one cleaning tank, for the préparation of black sheets. As the pickling takes from 2 to 2| hours, a large stock of pickled sheets is always prepared in advance. Before galvanising, the pickled sheets are steeped in a cleaning bath containing a weak solution of acid ; tliey are then dried in three return-flame stoves. This process, though more costly, gives rauch better pro- ducts than the drying by sal-ammoniae. There are three galvanising baths constantly in work ; their dimensions are the followino- : Fig. 362. First-Class Torpedo-Boat. The putting on board and erecting of machinery and boilers for the larger boats, are effected by the 1 O-ton crânes, which run on the wharf ; for loads above 6 or 7 tons, the 30-ton shears shown in the view are used. Galvanising Plant. -Galvanising is one of the special industries carried on in the Chalon works. The first plant was put down in 1877, when the French Navy commencée! the use of galvanised sheets and sections in the construc- tion of huils. In the beginning the plant was used ex- clusively for galvanising marine work, but subsequently it was inereased for treating merchant sheets and all kinds of iron and steel work, such as lightnino- conductors, baths, pana, sugar moulds, &c. The plant has been entirely remodelled recently, and Length. Width. Height. Total Annual Output. in. ft. in. ni. ft. in. m. ft. in. tons. No. 1 7.500 24 7 .650 2 2 1.500 4 11 2,800 2 5.000 16 5 .650 2 2 1.500 4 11 2,400 ,, 3 2.700 8 11 1.000 3 3 1.700 5 7 2,500 The capacity of the plant is therefore of 7,000 to 8,000 tons per year. This total is, however, not always reached, owing to irregularity of orders, delivery of black sheets, &c. The baths, No. 1 and 2, serve more especially for gal- vanising material for the construction of boats, while No. 3 is used for galvanising merchant sheets and the varions manufactured articles mentioned above, The old plant contained a bath 10 metres (32 ft.) long for galvanising