CHAPTER XIII. 



TRIBUTE SYSTEM. 



wage*. — The wages paid to miners in Eureka District, as well as in most 

 mining camps of Nevada, are $4" per shift of ten hours. In most of the 

 mines on Ruby Hill the shafts are sunk and levels opened by contract, as 

 are likewise drifts, cross-cuts, winzes, and upraises when driven in the 

 country rock. The companies furnish timber, lumber, and tools, and the 

 contractors candles, powder, fuse, etc. The waste is usually removed by 

 men paid by the company. The contract price varies with the kind and 

 size of the excavation and the hardness of the rock. For drifts run by the 

 Burleigh drill, the minimum price paid the miner is $5 per running foot, 

 and the maximum $12. The latter price is only paid in extraordinarily 

 compact and "short-breaking" ground; $9 per foot would be about the 

 average for hard ground. The cost per foot for blasting material is from 

 SI. 25 to $1.80. For drifts run by hand-drills the cost is from $6 to $14, 

 but the cost of blasting material is only about one-fifth of what it is when 

 Burleigh drills are used. In sinking shafts and winzes the cost is somewhat 

 greater. Where blasting is not necessary drifts are run for less than $3 

 per foot. At these rates it is supposed that the miner will earn something 

 over $4 per shift, as contractors usually work harder than miners paid by 

 the day. As a matter of fact, however, contractors often make less than 

 $4, as work by the shift at those wages is usually scarce, and they prefer 

 earning less to remaining idle, while the rules of the Miners' Union prohibit 

 them from taking smaller wages. 



Ore is generally extracted from the chambers by miners on day's pay, 

 except where it is removed under "tribute" — a pro rata method of paying 



» In some places where the work is particularly hard or dangerous, as is the case in some mines 

 on the Comstock, the length of shift is reduced to eight hours, and even less. 

 (150) 



