CHRCME  MINES  OF  CHESTEIt  COUNTY,  PA. 
235 
oblique  direction  for  a  distance,  then  perpendicularly  again,  and 
so  on  to  the  bottom  of  the  pits,  the  men  being,  as  we  are  told, 
some  fifty  yards  farther  south  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  en- 
trance. The  chrome  is  drawn  up  by  mule  power.  Two  buckets 
about  the  size  of  a  flour  barrel  are  attached  to  a  rope  at  each 
end.  While  one  is  being  emptied,  the  other  is  being  filled.  Some 
300  yards  distant  is  the  mill  for  grinding  the  chrome  prepara- 
tory to  barrelling  it.  Here  they  have  a  water-power  excelled  by 
few,  having  the  advantage  of  all  the  water  of  the  Octoraro 
Creek,"  if  needed.  From  here  there  is  a  shaft  that  runs  (con- 
nected by  machinery  to  the  mill)  to  the  mine,  and  there  attached 
to  pumps  for  the  purpose  of  pumping  the  water  from  the  pits. 
Strangers  are  at  liberty  to  descend  to  the  pits,  having  a  torch 
and  a  man  to  lead  the  way  for  them  ;  but  the  "trip  "  down  is  a 
dangerous  one^  requiring  care  and  caution,  as  the  rounds  of  the 
ladder  are  continually  wet  and  slippery.  Owing  to  the  continual 
drippings,  it  is  a  most  beautiful  place  to  get  a  suit  of  clothes 
spoiled,  and  those  desiring  to  see  the  wonders  of  underground 
work  had  better  prepare  themselves  with  an  oil-cloth  suit.  The 
magnitude  of  the  business  done  here  cannot  be  well  compre- 
hended by  the  mere  reading  of  a  meagre  description  of  it.  This 
is  said  to  be  the  richest  vein  in  the  known  world. 
Chrome  ore  is  composed  of  the  oxide  of  iron  and  chromic  acid. 
This  is  the  acid  of  all  the  salts  called  "  chromates,"  that  are 
now  very  extensively  used  in  the  arts.  Chromic  acid  possesses 
the  remarkable  property  of  igniting  ether  when  brought  into 
contact  with  it ;  and  some  method  may  yet  be  employed  for 
using  it  in  the  manufacture  of  igniting  compounds  as  a  substi- 
tute for  phosphorus  and  the  chlorate  of  potassa.  Chromic  acid 
combined  with  potash  is  the  most  common  form  in  which  it  is 
used  in  the  arts.  In  this  relationship  it  is  called  the  bichromate 
of  potash ;  its  color  is  a  deep  orange,  and  in  form  it  is  a  beau- 
tiful crystalline  salt.  It  is  used  as  a  mordant  for  coloring  black 
on  wool,  and  for  making  black  ink  when  combined  with  logwood  ; 
it  colors  orange  and  yellow  on  cotton  goods,  and  the  oxyd  of 
chrome  is  a  common  green  pigment  employed  in  lithographic, 
copper-plate,  and  steel-plate  printing.  Its  green  color  is  very 
permanent,  and  this  quality  renders  it  well  adapted  for  printing 
bank  notes  for  which  purpose  it  is  now  much  used.    The  oxide 
