With the idyls and historic or picturesque subjects that the Universal
Exposition gives us the occasion to publish, we thought we would make
a happy contrast by selecting a subject of a different kind, by
presenting to our readers Mr. Layraud's fine picture, which represents
the gigantic power hammer used at the St. Chamond Forges and Steel
Works in the construction of our naval guns. By the side of the
machinery gallery and the Eiffel tower this gigantic apparatus is well
in its place.
[Illustration: UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION--BEAUX ARTS--MARINE IRON AND STEEL
WORKS AT SAINT CHAMOND--PRESENTATION OF A PIECE OF ORDNANCE UNDER THE
VERTICAL HAMMER.--PICTURE BY M. JOSEPH LAYRAUD.]
The following is the technical description that has been given to us
to accompany our engraving: In an immense hall, measuring 260 ft. in
length by 98 ft. in width, a gang of workmen has just taken from the
furnace a 90 ton ingot for a large gun for an armor-clad vessel. The
piece is carried by a steam crane of 140 tons power, and the men
grouped at the maneuvering levers are directing this incandescent mass
under the power hammer which is to shape it. This hammer, whose huge
dimensions allow it to take in the object treated, is one of the
largest in existence. Its striking mass is capable of reaching 100
tons, and the height of the fall is 16 ft. To the left of the hammer
is seen a workman getting ready to set it in motion. It takes but one
man to maneuver this apparatus, and this is one of the characteristic
features of its construction.
The beginning of this hammer's operation, as well as the operations of
the forge itself, which contains three other hammers of less power,
dates back to 1879. It is with this great hammer that the largest
cannons of the naval artillery--those of 16 inches--have been made
(almost all of which have been manufactured at St. Chamond), and
those, too, of 14, 13, and 12 inches. This is the hammer, too, that, a
few months ago, was the first to be set at work on the huge 13 in.
guns of new model, whose length is no less than 52 ft. in the rough.
Let us add a few more figures to this account in order to emphasize
the importance of the installations which Mr. Layraud's picture
recalls, and which our great French industry has not hesitated to
establish, notwithstanding the great outlay that they necessitated.
This huge hammer required foundations extending to a depth of 32 ft.,
and the amount of metal used in its construction was 2,640,000 pounds.
The cost of establishing the works with all the apparatus contained
therein was $400,000.--_Le Monde Illustré._
* * * * *