Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-08
Special TO the Register.

Special TO the Register.
WASHINGTON, Junly 6.-The CON-
plete report of the coal production in
West Virginia in 1900 mas just been
prepared by Edward ". Parker, statis-
tician of the geological survey. The
total product in 1917 was 2 ,647, 207
short tons, OF the spot value of s18,4I6,-
871. Compared with 1899. the coal pro-
duction of West Virginia in 1900 shows
an increase of 3,39 PIP short tens, or
17.6 per cent The value increased So
1862 ,019, or 80 per cent. The report
says:
The development of West Virginia
as a coal producing State has been one
of the most remarkable features of the
Goa mining industry in the last TWEEN
ty years. During this entire period
there was only one year in which the
Goa production of West Virginia show
ed a decrease as compared with the pre-
eeding year. This was III 1885. and
was due to a general strike which pre-
vailed in the ~Pocahontas region, and
which caused a loss of about ,150, 900
tons In the two counties. Mcdowell and
Mercer, which constitute West
Virginia's portion that region.
The increase in the production of
the other counties of the State
was not sufficient to offset
the decrease in the output in the Po-
canontas district. Had it not been for
this strike, the production of West Vir-
ginia would have shown III uninterrupt-
ed annual increase for twenty years.
AS it is, the increase has amounted 10
an average of more than LOCO, 900 tons
per year during the last twenty years.
This State has been gradually approach
ing the second place as a GOA produ-
cling State. 1t surpassed Ohio as third
coal producingStat e in 1895, and has
continued in tie third place since that
date, although in point of value Ohio
continues to cad West Virginia. The
increased production of West Virginia
IN 1900 was distributed over almost the
entire State, there being only five out
of the twenty-one counties in which the
production in 1900 was less than that OF
1893. These counties were all compar-
actively unimp0rtant producers, and the
total decrease in those Ave counties was
less than $50, 000 tons. The largest in
crease in production in 1900 was IN
Fayette county, which also Is the most
important coal producing county in the
State. The next largest increase was
in Mcdowell county, which is the sec
ond county in producing importance.
Kanawha county, the fourth in rank.
was the third in increased production,
and Marion county, the third in pro-
duction, was fourth In the amount OF
increase. These four counties alto
gether contributed 1898, 100 tons u OF
the 3,394.212 tons. or the total increase
for the State. The largest percentage
of increase was made by Randolph
county, whose 1900 product was 80
times that of 1899. Barbour county
was second in the percentage of in
crease, the product in 1900 being near
ly t~wenty-seven times that of the pre-
ceding year.
The use of mining machines showed
q substantial increase in West Virginia
in 1sJO. The number of firms using ma
chimes increased from SO in 1899 to SO
in 1900. Ehe number of machines in
use was more than doubled. from 154
to S27. and the machine-turned product
increased from 1,1s1,125 to 3,41S,3 77
tons.
The coal mining industry of West
Virginia was comparatively unuIsturbed
by labor troubles during 1900. Out of
the 265 coal mining plants in the State
strikes occurred in but IL, and most
of these were of short duration. The
total number of men made idle by the
strikes was 1,SS3; the total number of
working days lost by them being 44,3lS,