The name Creusot was first mentioned in an old charter in 1253. In the year 1502 coal was discovered there, and the year 1793 saw the opening of the Canal du Centre. During the French Revolution the plant was taken and exploited by the state and a little before the year 1800 was given back to its owners. During the Napoleonic wars much work was done here. In the year 1815, gun making was stopped and only coal mining was allowed. The dynasty of the Schneiders continued for four generations; the last one, Charles Eugene Schneider, was born in 1868. The first French locomotive was built at this plant and, in 1841, the first hammer moved by steam power. In the year 1855 the Crimean war led to much activity at this plant. In 1867 ten thousand workmen were employed. In the year 1870 the first Bessemer steel produced in France, was made here, although the process had then been in use in the United States for six years. Since 1884 these works have been exporting guns to many foreign countries. In 1897 a large plant was built near Le Havre for the manufacture of naval guns. In 1882 they built large naval works near Bordeaux, and since 1906 they have been building the largest warships at that place. In 1909, at Hyeres, near Toulon, studying and making of torpedoes was begun, and this was followed in 1910 by submarines. Five plants are now scattered through France for this kind of work. The Creusot works do not employ children under fourteen years of age. There are often three generations employed in this same kind of work, and some families have up to twenty members working in one plant. They have always been spared epidemics of any serious nature. With sanitary and prosperous homes, few deaths have occurred in the first year of life. The rate of deaths at Le Creusot is only ten per thousand while the average in France is 16 per thousand, and in bad industrial centers 25 per thousand. Eighty per cent. of the children are nursed by the mother. After the seventh month before birth mothers rest, and for a period after and during this time they receive the usual wages. The first school was opened here in 1787. At the age of fourteen children can become apprentices and those of other towns or villages are often attracted. After they have a school certificate, entrance to the works is optional. From the age of twelve to sixteen years they must do military preparation, with flags and musical band. The brightest children go to high school to become engineers, and they are taught by the best professors in France. They pay back the cost of their education only when they have secured a good position. A thorough medical examination is necessary. Since the year 1875 savings banks for children have existed.