The central feature of the smelting department is the blast-furnace house, which comprises eight furnaces, each 48 by 160 in. at the tuyeres. In their general design they are similar to those at the Arkansas Valley works at Leadville. There are 10 tuyeres per side, a tuyere passing through the middle of each jacket, the latter being of cast iron and 16 in. in width; their length is 6 ft., which is rather extraordinary. The furnaces are very high and are arranged for mechanical charging, a rectangular brick down-take leading to the dust chamber, which extends behind the furnace-house. The furnace-house is erected entirely of steel, the upper floor being iron plates laid on steel I-beams, while the upper terrace of the lower floor is also laid with iron plates. As previously remarked, the lower floor drops down a step in front of the furnaces, but there is an extension on each side of every furnace, which affords the necessary access to the tap-hole. The hight of the latter above the lower terrace leaves room for the large matte settling-boxes, and the matte tapped from the latter runs into pots on the ground level, dispensing with the inconvenient pits that are to be seen at some of the older works. The construction of the blast furnaces, which were built by the Denver Engineering Works Company, is admirable in all respects. The eight furnaces stand in a row, about 30 ft. apart, center to center. The main air and water pipes are strung along behind the furnaces. The slag from the matte-settling boxes overflows into single-bowl Nesmith pots, which are to be handled by means of small locomotives. The foul slag is returned by means of a continuous pan-conveyor to a brick-lined, cylindrical steel tank behind the furnace-house, whence it is drawn off through chutes, as required for recharging. The charges are made up on the ground level, immediately behind the furnace-house. The ore and flux are brought in on trestles, whence the ore is unloaded into beds and the flux into elevated bins. These are all in the open, there being only two small sheds where the charges are made up and dumped into the cars which go to the furnaces. There are two inclines to the latter. At the top of the inclines the cars are landed on a transferring carriage by which they can be moved to any furnace of the series.