The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

IV. GOAL MINES. The Coal Mines of Creusot.—Coal is raised from the Creusot mines by several pits, varying in depth from 1,100 ft. to 1,350 ft. All the installations of these mines, the surface as well as the underground plant, are of modern types, and the hoisting machinery is arrangée! for rapid and safe working. Sortino- screening’, and washing 1 O O’ O the coal, are done immediately after extraction. One shaft, called the St. Laurent Pit, is devoted to draining the mine ; it has a steam pump that discharges on an average 3,000 tons of water per twenty-four hours. The bed of coal at Creusot consists of a main seam 50 ft. to 65 ft. in thickness, from the walls of which run smaller seams ; the thickness of these often reaches 12 ft. to 14 ft. The coal is extracted from three pits, the Chaptal, the St. Pierre, and the St. Paul. The headworks of the Chaptal pit are illustrated by Fig. 24, Plate V., and those of St. Pierre and St. Paul, by Fig. 25 on the same Plate. From the Chaptal pit, the liighest part of the bed is worked ; it yields semi-bituminous coal, giving 22 per cent, of volatile matter. The lower parts of the bed are worked by the St. Pierre and St. Paul shafts ; they yield anthracite only, containing 12J per cent, of volatile matter. Botli the classes of coal mined are of high quality, and well adapted for metallurgical purposes. The coal in the Creusot mine is worked by horizontal stalls, the spaces being completely filled up afterwards. This method of working was tried for the first time at these pits as long ago as 1840, and since then it has been generally followed. A new pit, the St. Antoine, is now being sunk at the Creusot group, with a view to facilitate the opening of those parts of the bed that had been only partially mined by the ancient workings, where fires were of frequent occurrence, owing to the methods of extraction followed in former times. The Decize Mines. —These mines, the working centre of which is at La Machine (Nièvre) are among the oldest in France; they were commenced under the protection of a decree, dated July 16th, 1689. On August IGtli, 1806, they were conceded definitely to M. de Mallevault, and in 1869 they became the property of Messrs. Schneider and Co. The mines are placed in communication with Creusot, 55 miles distant, by a branch of the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway—the line from Chagny to Nevers. A private railway of five miles connects these mines (1) to the Nivernais Canal, at the Port du Rio ; and (2) to the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway, by a branch running to the Decize (Nièvre) station. Very important