St Etienne

St. Etienne, an important but smoky and unattractive town of France, in the department of Loire, on the Furens, an affluent of the Loire, 36 miles S.W. of Lyons by railway. The manufacture of ribons (mostly hand-made) and other silk articles gives employment to about 40,000 workers. More than 20,000 hands are engaged in the manufacture of steel and iron plates, cutlery, and other metal wares. The number of persons at work on the neighbouring coal-beds is estimated at 17,000.