The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

THE HISTORY OF CREUSOT. 5 100-ton guns—those costly follies built for the Italian ironclads, and uselessly repeated subsequently to some extent in the British Navy. As the natural conséquence of the great facilities they possessed in the production and manufacture of steel, Messrs. Schneider and Co. took, and have maintained since 1870, the leading position in France as makers of steel ordnance. For a number of years this department of the Works was included as a part of the general machine shops; but in 1888 the company, in order to extend the manufacture of war material, erected a very extensive gun factory, where ail the final operations are complétée!, and the mountings and war material for forti- fications, etc., are made. Adjoining tlie gun shops of Creusot is a polygon, where the firing trials of guns and mountings are conducted, as well as tests of armour- plates, etc. Shortly after the establishment of the gun factory, an electrical department on a very large scale was established. The chief addition in 1892 was that of a steel foundry, in which. castings of the largest size are produced. On account of the constantly increasing Orders for armour-plates from the French and otlier Governments, it had become necessary to increase and modify the machine tools and other appliances, for the completion of such Orders. These additions include extensive installations for forging, cementation, tempering, and finishing the steel plates, especially of the most modem types, such as those with hardened surfaces, or Harveyised; the first of these were manufacturée! in 1893, by a process patented and owned solely by the company. These constant changes and extensions of the steel departments involved the re- moval of the old railway tyre shops, which have now been shifted to a new position ; the change was made in 1895. At the commencement of 1897, Messrs. Schneider and Co. acquii-ed the Ordnance Department of the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée, and they have combinée! this department with that of Creusot, and the polygon of Hoc with tliat of the Villedieu, under the general name of “ Services de l’Artillerie.” This huge department has been placed under the direction of Mr. Canet, whose reputation as a gun designer and con- structor is known throughout the world. This combina- tion has placed at the disposai of Messrs. Schneider and Co. extraorelinary means of producing war material, which are still further being extended. It will readily be understood that by this combination there has been formée! a great and very powerful establish- ment in France, for the manufacture of ordnance and its accessories for ail nations. This material is now known as “ Schneider-Canet,” and Messrs. Schneider and Co. are tlie only French manufacturera of war material who construct largely for foreign countries. It is almost unnecessary to say that during this rapid and constant development, tlie town of Creusot has grown also. In 1836 tlie population was 2,700 ; to-day it is 32,000. We liave endeavoured in the foregoing pages to sketch in mere outline the history and development and the work accomplished by the succeeding generations of Schneiders, and which préparée! the way to the gigantic industry of Creusot as it exista to-day.