Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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      <text>
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          <chap>
            <p type="main">
              <s>
                <pb pagenum="98"/>
              the
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              Bergmeister
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              and the Jurors, he renders an account of his receipts,
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              whether the money has been contributed by the owners or taken from the
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              Tithe-gatherer; and of his quarterly expenditure in the same way
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              to them and to the Mining Prefect and to the Mining Clerk, four
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              times a year at the appointed time; for just as there are four seasons
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              of the year, namely, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, so there are
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              fourfold accounts of profits and expenses. </s>
              <s>In the beginning of the first
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              month of each quarter an account is rendered of the money which the
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              manager has spent on the mine during the previous quarter, then of the
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              profit which he has taken from it during the same period; for example,
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              the account which is rendered at the beginning of spring is an account of all
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              the profits and expenses of each separate week of winter, which have been
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              entered by the Mining Clerk in the book of accounts. </s>
              <s>If the manager
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              has spent the money of the proprietors advantageously in the mine and
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              has faithfully looked after it, everyone praises him as a diligent and honest
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              man; if through ignorance in these matters he has caused loss, he is generally
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              deprived of his office; if by his carelessness and negligence the owners have
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              suffered loss, the
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              Bergmeister
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              compels him to make good the loss; and finally,
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              if he has been guilty of fraud or theft, he is punished with fine, prison, or
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              death. </s>
              <s>Further, it is the business of the manager to see that the foreman
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              of the mine is present at the beginning and end of the shifts, that he digs
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              the ore in an advantageous manner, and makes the required timbering,
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              machines, and drains. </s>
              <s>The manager also makes the deductions from the
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              pay of the workmen whom the foreman has noted as negligent. </s>
              <s>Next,
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              if the mine is rich in metal, the manager must see that its ore-house is closed
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              on those days on which no work is performed; and if it is a rich vein of gold
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              or silver, he sees that the miners promptly transfer the output from the shaft
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              or tunnel into a chest or into the strong room next to the house where the
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              foreman dwells, that no opportunity for theft may be given to dishonest
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              persons. </s>
              <s>This duty he shares in common with the foreman, but the one
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              which follows is peculiarly his own. </s>
              <s>When ore is smelted he is present in
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              person, and watches that the smelting is performed carefully and advan­
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              tageously. </s>
              <s>If from it gold or silver is melted out, when it is melted in the
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              cupellation furnace he enters the weight of it in his books and carries it
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              to the Tithe-gatherer, who similarly writes a note of its weight in his books;
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              it is then conveyed to the refiner. </s>
              <s>When it has been brought back, both
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              the Tithe-gatherer and manager again enter its weight in their books. </s>
              <s>Why
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              again? </s>
              <s>Because he looks after the goods of the owners just as if they were
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              his own. </s>
              <s>Now the laws which relate to mining permit a manager to have
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              charge of more than one mine, but in the case of mines yielding gold or
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              silver, to have charge of only two. </s>
              <s>If, however, several mines following the
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              head-mine begin to produce metal, he remains in charge of these others until
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              he is freed from the duty of looking after them by the
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              Bergmeister.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> Last of
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              all, the manager, the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster,
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              and the two Jurors, in agreement
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              with the owners, settle the remuneration for the labourers. </s>
              <s>Enough of the
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              duties and occupation of the manager.</s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
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