Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950
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              <s>
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              tain reasons by the
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              Bergmeister;
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              in another the money which one mine
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              supplies to another for drawing off water or making machinery; and in
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              another the decisions of the
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              Bergmeister
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              and the Jurors, and the disputes
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              settled by them as honorary arbitrators. </s>
              <s>All these matters he enters in the
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              books on Wednesday of every week; if holidays fall on that day he does it
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              on the following Thursday. </s>
              <s>Every Saturday he enters in another book the
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              total expenses of the preceding week, the account of which the mine manager
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              has rendered; but the total quarterly expenses of each mine manager, he
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              enters in a special book at his own convenience. </s>
              <s>He enters similarly in
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              another book a list of owners who have been proscribed. </s>
              <s>Lastly, that no one
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              may be able to bring a charge of falsification against him, all these books
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              are enclosed in a chest with two locks, the key of one of which is kept by the
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              Mining Clerk, and of the other by the
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              Bergmeister.
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              <s>The Share Clerk enters in a book the owners of each mine whom
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              the first finder of the vein names to him, and from time to time replaces the
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              names of the sellers with those of the buyers of the shares. </s>
              <s>It sometimes
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              happens that twenty or more owners come into the possession of some
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              particular share. </s>
              <s>Unless, however, the seller is present, or has sent a letter
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              to the Mining Clerk with his seal, or better still with the seal of the Mayor
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              of the town where he dwells, his name is not replaced by that of anyone else;
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              for if the Share Clerk is not sufficiently cautious, the law requires him
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              to restore the late owner wholly to his former position. </s>
              <s>He writes out a
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              fresh document, and in this way gives proof of possession. </s>
              <s>Four times a
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              year, when the accounts of the quarterly expenditure are rendered, he
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              names the new proprietors to the manager of each mine, that the manager
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              may know from whom he should demand contributions and among whom
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              to distribute the profits of the mines. </s>
              <s>For this work the mine manager pays
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              the Clerk a fixed fee.</s>
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              <s>I will now speak of the duties of the mine manager. </s>
              <s>In the case of the
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              owners of every mine which is not yielding metal, the manager announces
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              to the proprietors their contributions in a document which is affixed to the
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              doors of the town hall, such contributions being large or small, according as
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              the
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              Bergmeister
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              and two Jurors determine. </s>
              <s>If anyone fails to pay these
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              contributions for the space of a month, the manager removes their names
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              from the list of owners, and makes their shares the common property of the
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              other proprietors. </s>
              <s>And so, whomsoever the mine manager names as not
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              having paid his contribution, that same man the Mining Clerk designates
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              in writing, and so also does the Share Clerk. </s>
              <s>Of the contribution, the
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              mine manager applies part to the payment of the foreman and workmen,
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              and lays by a part to purchase at the lowest price the necessary things for
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              the mine, such as iron tools, nails, firewood, planks, buckets, drawing-ropes,
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              or grease. </s>
              <s>But in the case of a mine which is yielding metal, the TitheĀ­
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              gatherer pays the mine manager week by week as much money as suffices
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              to discharge the workmen's wages and to provide the necessary implements
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              for mining. </s>
              <s>The mine manager of each mine also, in the presence of its
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              foreman, on Saturday in each week renders an account of his expenses to </s>
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