SALTING THE BULLION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1340, 4 August 1877, Page 3

SALTING THE BULLION.

A week or so ago there was a wholesale discharge of miners from the Bullion mine, for an alleged "salting" of rock by which the insiders lost some money. It seems that on the 2000-foot level, and in the north drift, some excellent indications were found, and to hurry up matters it was determined to take long hand-drills and send them on ahead, and assay the pulp aS it was drawn out. This worked well, but some one " played " the managers. He took some rich ore and pow- ' dered it, and mixed it with the pulp formed by the drill. The assays ran into the hundreds, and the "inside" loaded up with stock for arise. When the drift got to where the rock was supposed to come from, the trick was exposed. As it was impossible to find the guilty man, the whole force on that level was discharged. The worst of it was that " the drop in the market came just after the load-up above mentioned, and consequently the loaders are caught. Since then all the men have appeared before a Justice of the Peace, and made oath that they did not, at any time, tamper with the rock they were working, or salt it in any manner, and that they had no knowledge who had done so. After this it was no more than fair that the men should be reinstated, especially as employment is scarce just now in that' part of the country. It seems, however, ' a good judgment on the insiders, who were laying to catch some one else, and got caught themselves. A few lessons of this kind would be wholesome, and probably the man who did the "salting" had that in view, and did it to catch the very persons he did. At all events, nobody has much sympathy with people who keep ahead of a drift with a drill to take advantage of other stockholders who do not happen to be in the management. All sympathy is with the poor fellows who lost their places* on account of the affair. — California Mining News.