Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-10-07
A GROUNDLEss CHARGE.
Alleged Underground Abuses I'm the
Eureka Consolidated.

Aiieseu Underground Abuses In the
Eureka Consolidated.
The New York Mining Record Of Sept. q
contains the following:
1--WE have been Of the belief that, upor
the whole, the industrial management o.
TINS property, substantially, had been il
tne interest or for the advantage OF the
shareholders. However, we received In.
formation from valuable sources, that there
are existing abuses even in that part of the
administration Of the Eureka Consolidated
which call for radical correction.
zone abuse reported to us is in connec.
lion with the practice imported from Cor.
nish mines, of setting off certain portions
OF the ground to be worked by 'tributers.
for a percentage of the gross value of the
ore mined-ground which, in the opinion
OF the foreman, cannot be worked profita-
bly by the company. Under this system,
should the foreman see fit To unscrupu-
lousy arrange With q confidential miner
for a share Of the proceeds, and thereupon
set OH to him a rich piece Of ground to be
worked on tribute, there is ample oppor-
tunity IN such a mine as the Eureka I'M
der this Cornish system. 1t seems, OF an
abuse That may in o year materially affect
the revenues OF q mining company.
We learn from several sources hat it
IS an open secret at Eureka that fully $75,-
0Oo have gone to England during the last
IL months, as the result OF fortunate
tribute mining by certain Cornish miners
to whom ground had been awarded in the
Eureka by their foreman. We are assured
that this is a matter Of general notoriety
at Eureka, n that in some cases these
tributers have been known to employ from
five to ten men On the ground or pitches
allotted, so as to work them out with the
utmost possible dispatch. May we not
ask our contemporary at Eureka whether
We have been correctly informed as to the
currency, in that quarter, of such a re-
port as that which we have mentioned ?"
The Record has been imposed upon. No
such abuse as it ~recites upon information
exists in the underground workings OF the
Eureka Con. We are advised Of this from
many sources, which we consider reliable,
outside of the management. Whoever the
informant OF the Record may be, he has
either wilfully or ig~norantly misstated
every item furnished to that journal. The
assertion that the subject matter was OF
general notoriety in Eureka is totally IN
true. We never heard Of it until we saw
1t in the Record. There appears to be not
the. slightest foundation for the charges
here brought, except that the managers Of
the mine employ tributers. This system,
however, is in vogue all over the. district,
and throughout Eastern and Southern
Nevada, and is universally, as we
learn from good authority, more
profitable to the owners or shareholders of
mines than employing men at 81 a day.
Inc tributer takes the risk OF finding his
pay; the employe looks to his wages from
the employer whether the mine pays or
not. In the Eureka Con. there are 200
men employed, one or two more or less.
One hundred OF these are tributers, the
others receive "a q day. The tributers
are not set into the face OF bonanzas, but
are placed where they have to search for
ore, or where its extraction il tedious, diff
fcult and expensive. They only expect to
make wages. but sometimes are lucky
enough to come across q pocket" but
even this is taken away from them as soon
as 1t is discovered that 1t becomes too
profitable and the dead work has been
paid for. From what we can learn the
tributers in the Eureka Con. for the past
four years have not been making even
wages. Some time since o party happened.
to make their way into q good-sized body
OF ore. and realized about 50, 900 each
from the find; but this was an exceptional
case, and has not occurred since, and may
not occur again. Generally the miners
prefer to work for wages, than to take
their chances under thr tribute system.
There 10 no doubt but that q conspiracy
between the men, Foreman, superintend-
emit. Assayer and Office clerks could perpe-
trate gigantic frauds under the tribute
system. but such q combination could not
be kept secret for q week. There
fore, the charge that the Record pub
lishes against the tributers appears
groundiess and the offense simply impos-
sible. As for sending SIS, 900 back to
that Is rather under than over the amount.
But. how does the correspondent OF the
Record know that the money was derived
from tributing? Surely his prescience
must be omnipotent. Probably two-thirds
Of the men working in the Eureka Con.
are Cornishmen. These left parents,
wives, children or other relatives in the
old country. Is it not proper for them to
save some OF their hard-earned wages to
support those who are probably dependent
upon them . We say that SIS, 900 does
not cover the amount sent out Of this dis
trict to England. Twice that sum will
probably not cover 1t. A well-informed
gentleman asserts that there are 400
Cornish miners employed in the district.
a low estimate. At 81 a day these would
earn, during "a working days, Sss, 900 per
month. or $456, 900 q year. Is it, then,
anything extraordinary il SIS, 900, or even
$3.50, 900. are sent annually to England
from Eureka Yet 1t is extraordinary to
see that 1t should be made .
basis for a charge against the local
administration of a great mine. We