STEEL HARDENING METALS 179 



probably in 1803 with the opening of the Gap mine, in Lan- 

 caster county, Pa. This mine was worked ahnost contin- 

 uously and very extensively from 18G3 until 1880, and was 

 the only nickel mine then worked on the American continent. 

 With the discover}^, however, of the nickel deposits in the 

 Sudbury district, Ontario, Canada, and the moderate prices 

 which prevailed for nickel, work at this Gap mine began to 

 decrease, and about 1891 ceased altogether. It is very proba- 

 ble that there are still good deposits of nickel ore in quantity 

 in this mine and that in the near future it will again become 

 a producer. Since 1891 most of the nickel and cobalt pro- 

 duced in the United States has been at Mine Lamotte, Mo., 

 where it has been obtained as a by-product in lead mining. 

 Attempts were made to mine nickel in North Carolina about 

 1890, and although the mineral genthite, a nickel silicate, 

 w^as found in some quantity at a number of places, there was 

 only one place — near Webster, Jackson county — that gave 

 any indication whatever of containing it in commercial quan- 

 tity. Considerable work was done, but in 1891 the mine 

 w^as closed and remained so until 1902, when the shafts and 

 drifts were reopened and several carloads of ore were shipped 

 for experimental purposes. There has also been some de- 

 velopment of nickel deposits in Oregon and Idaho, and a few 

 tons of ore have been shipped for experimental purposes, but 

 none of the mines can be called producers. 



The first general use of nickel commercially was probably 

 in the manufacture of German silver or albata, an alloy of 

 zinc, copper, and nickel. Articles made of iron and plated 

 with nickel have to some extent replaced those made of Ger- 

 man silver. Another of the earlier uses of nickel was for 

 coinage, which is yet carried on quite extensivel}'^ by the 

 United States and many of the European countries. With 

 the introduction of nickel in the manufacture of a special 

 steel the demand for it has largely increased, so that this 

 use of the metal has become the most important. Large 

 quantities of nickel steel are used in the manufacture of 

 armor plates, turrets, propeller shafts, crank shafts, etc. 

 Another use that has received favorable consideration is in 

 the manufacture of nickel steel rails, which were first used 



