Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-08-25


WIN tl1k Il previous years III e<15
Ing the wonderful development q the
coal producing regions. It Will b of In
| terest to consider the records Of some
/ Of the important fields. OF these, there
are four-the Fairmont or Upper Mon
ongahela and the Elk Garden or Upper
Potomac, in the northern portion OF the
State; and the Pocahontas or Flat Top,
and the New and Kanawha river fields,
in the southern portion. The most inn
portant of these four regions is the
New and Kanawha river fields, en-
bracing Fayette and Kanawha coun-
ties. In 1886 the output from the New
and Kanawha river field was 2,290,563
short TONS Two years later it had in
creased to 2,S4O,63O tons In five years
more it had increased over 40 per cent
to 4,099, 112 tons, while in 1898 1t
amounted to 5,947,272 tons, an increase
of nearly so per cent. in the last five
years.
"The Pocohontas or Flat Top field
embraces Mcdowell and Mercer coun-
ties in West Virginia, and TazeWen
county, Va. Probably more than half
the product of Tazewell county, though
credited to Virginia, is taken from
THE WEST VIRGINIA SIDE
of the line, but as the opening is in Vir-
ginia and no accurate separation can be
made, the entire product is given to Vir-
ginia. The mines of Mcdowell county
did not begin shipping until 1889. In
1891 it produced more than either OF
the others, and since 1898 has produced
more each year than the other two to-
gether. In 1888 Mercer and Tazewell
counties produced 1,710,791 short tons
of coal In 1893 the product of the dis
trict was 3,S15,2SO tons, and in 1898 it
was 5,521,10 tons.
'The Fairmont or Upper Mononga-
hela region, embracing Harrison and
Marion counties, has shown the largest
ratio of increase in the last ten years Of
all the coal-producing regions of West
Virginia, Marion county taking the lead.
In 1883 this district produced less than
100000 tons. Five years later 1t pro-
duced over 1,25O,O00 tons, and this was
more than doubled in the next five
years, the product in 1898 amounting
to 2,525,294 short tons.
"The Upper Potomac region, which is
the southern extension of the Cumber-
land field of Maryland, had a product
in 1883 of 518,S78 short tons, of which
80 per cent was from Mineral county.
Five years later the product was 1,129,-
397 tons, of which Mineral county pro-
duced somewhat less than 60 per cent,
while in 1898 the product increased to
1851, 1862 short tons, of which Mineral
county produced less than 40 per cent,
and Tucker county produced over 60
per cent.
1.-THE enterprise of the four railroads
Baltimore & Ohio. the West Virginia
Central G Pittsburg, the Chesapeake &
Ohio and the Norfolk e Western. is
brought into sharp contrast with the
manufacturing enterprise of the people
Of the State for with the exception of
comparatively small amount used at
4Ia in inc
and at the salt works in Mason county,
together with the ordinary domestic
consumption and that of the transpor-
tation interests, practically all of West
Virginia's coal is
SHIPPED OUT OF THE STATE.
Of the 16,701 900 tons produced in West
Virginia in 1898, probably 100000
tons were consumed outside its Dor
ders.
'sThe use of machines in the mines of
West Virginia showed a marked in
crease in 1898, although compared with
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois it is
still small. The number of companies
having machine equipment increased
from 10 in 1897 to % in 1898; the total
| number of machines in use increased
from AZ to Sc, and the machine mined
product from 673,523 tons to 1,323,929
tons-practically 100 per cent.
"The time lost by strikes in 1898 was
Insignificant. The principal instance
of disaffection occurred in Fayette
county during April and was of short
duration, from ten to thirty days.
Only thirteen mines were affected
throughout the State; the total num-
Der of men made idle was 1887, and
the total time lost was 23,519 days, an
average of 81 days per man.
Considering the production in 1898
by counties it is seen that the output
in all the larger counties except Mer-