With the discovery of the Saint-Jean vein in 1549, the mines of Tellure, near Saint-Marie-aux-Mines, experienced a silver fever. People came from everywhere in Europe to work in arduous conditions. A vertical well about 330 ft (100 m) deep was usually drilled using a hydraulic machine. Miners would descend with a rope and dig horizontally amid unsanitary air. They worked with a steel chisel and a hammer within constantly flooded galleries. The water's overflow frequently hindered mining progress.