"(h) The whole of the amalgam taken from the plates during each twenty-four hours to be cleaned and squeezed by the two amalgamators on duty every forenoon at nine o'clock in the presence of the mill manager, who should weigh each lot and enter it in a book to be kept for the purpose, and the entry to be signed by the mill manager and both amalgamators as witnesses.
"(i) Every alternate Friday the mortars (boxes) to be cleaned out; the work to be commenced punctually at eight A.M. by the six amalgamators in the presence of the mill manager, assisted by the three amalgam cleaning room watchmen and the four battery feeders on duty, prohibiting any of them from leaving until the cleaning up was finished, and the amalgam cleaned, squeezed and weighed, and the amount entered by the mill manager in the record look and attested by the amalgamators.
"I think the intelligent readers (particularly those with a knowledge of the business) will see the drift of the above regulations, viz., for there to be any peculation the whole of the battery staff—fourteen in all—would have to participate in it, and the number was too many to keep a secret. Formerly the amalgam cleaning room was sacred to the mill manager, and on announcing to that official the new instructions he at once tendered his resignation in a tone of offended dignity, immediately followed by that of the mine manager. It is a significant fact that shortly afterwards these two officials purchased a large mill and other property at a cost of ten thousand pounds, and that the mine yielded for the following three years during which I was connected with it an average of over 17 dwt. to the ton, as against formerly 10 to 12 dwt.
"The reader must draw his own conclusions. I used to make it a practice to visit the mine daily and prospect the ore, and having the mine and mill managers' daily prospecting as a guide as well as my own, every man at the mill knew it was impossible for them to thieve without my detecting it; moreover, I made it a rule to discharge any of the mill employees that I discovered were interested in any small private claims.
"The crux of the whole thing is having a practical miner at the head of affairs, and it is impossible for him to thieve if the work is carried out in the manner I have described."
To bring the whole matter to a conclusion. It may be taken as a safe axiom that to make gold mining in the mine as distinct from mining on the Stock Exchange really profitable the same system of economy, of practical supervision, and scientific knowledge which is now adopted in all other businesses must be applied to the raising and extraction of the metal. Then, and not till then, will genuine mining take the place to which it is entitled amongst our industries.
CHAPTER XI
RULES OF THUMB
This chapter has been headed as above because a number of the rules and recipes given are simply practical expedients, not too closely scientific. My endeavour has been to supply practical and useful information in language as free from technicalities as possible, so as to adapt it to the ordinary miner, mill operator and prospector, many of whom have had no scientific training. Some of the expedients are original devices educed by what we are told is the mother of inventions; others are hints given by practical old prospectors who had met with difficulties which would be the despair of a man brought up within reach of forge, foundry, machine shop, or tradesmen generally. There are many highly ingenious and useful contrivances besides these I have given.