The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

V III.—THE STEEL WORKS. General Arrangement. —■ The steel department of Creusot comprises four independent groupa of workshops, tlie positions of which are shown on the plan, Fig. 23, Plate IV., and in greater detail on Fig. 77, Plate XVIII. The four groupa referred to are as follows : 1. Those for the manufacture of steel in ingots and for special castings. 2. Those for forging heavy pieces, with a full plant for [ cementation, tempering, and reheating. 3. Machine-shop for finishing all classes of steel work. 4. The wheel-tyre shops. First Group.—In the first group, steel is manufacturée! by the Bessemer and the Siemens-Martin processes. For the Siemens-Martin process there are four furnaces of a new type, three having a capacity of 35 tons of steel at a cast, with a moulding pit for each of them. For the largest ingots, the weight of which may exceed 120 tons, a special casting pit of very large dimensions has been provided. The annexes to the first group of the steel works include a foundry where machine parts and other com- plicated castings are produced, as well as those for gun mountings, stern frames, and other pieces required for ship construction. Two 10-ton Siemens-Martin furnaces produce the steel required for this work. For the larger castings, such, for example, as armoured turrets, the steel is made in the large Martin furnaces above mentioned, and carried in ladies to the steel foundry. In the steel foundry is a converter employed in the production of smaller steel castings, of weights varying from 2 Ib. to 1,000 Ib. Second Group.—The 100-ton steam-hammer of Creusot was the largest of its kind that had been erected at the time ; a full-sized model of it was shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Its maximum power can be raised to 120 tons, and the complété installation, with four furnaces and four crânes of 100 and 160 tons each, forms a very remarkable plant. Armour-plates of a thickness of 23 j in. and weighing 65 tons, have been produced in the steel- forging works. The equipment is sufficiently extensive to produce annually, in addition to marine shafting and gun parts, more than 6,000 tons of armour-plates. Messrs. Schneider and Co. have already delivered to varions Governments about 60,000 tons of such plates; of this total the French Government has taken about 26,000 tons, and the remainder has been distributed atnong nearly all the Navy yards of the world. The manufacture of steel gun parts is one of the most important specialities of the company. Pieces for guns of all calibres, from 40 milli- métrés (1| in.) up to 45 centimetres (17J in.), have been manufacturée! in great n um bers for French artillery and for most foreign countries. The Schneider steel has, as as a material for gun-making, a universal reputation, which has been established for many years. The tempering-shop, which is placed near tlie main forge, contains special furnaces for heating armour-plates, gun parts, &c. ; tanks for water-tempering thin armour- plates ; a second installation for water-tempering ; another for tempering armour-plates in oil ; and a tank, 66 ft. deep, for oil-tempering gun tubes, &c. Third Group.—The fitting-shops are important and extensive ; a multitude of operations are performed liere, the most important being for armour-plate work, gun-making, &c. The work clone includes straightening and bending, planing the edges of plates, drilling holes for the bolts that attach the plates to the ship’s framing, &c. ; for these and other miscellaneous purposes, there is a great number of very powerful tools, such as dise metal-cutting saws, horizontal and vertical planing machines, drilling machines, &c. Fourth Group.—The fourth group of the steel works contains shops for making tyres. The plant for this manufacture, which was at first installée! in the armour- plate finishing shop, has been, on account of tlie very large increase in business, re-established in a section especially devoted to the work. The shop, which is thoroughly equipped with new machinery, is connectée! to the ingot foundry by a tunnel 400 yards in leng’th, in which rails are laid, to allow the rapid transit of the ingots intended for making tyres, immediately after they bave been cast. Tyres of ail dimensions for locomotives, tenders, carriages, wagons, and tramways, are made in this department. The total annual output amounts to between 12,000 and 15,000 tons.