838 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



and Pomeroy, making a total of 57'3 miles 

 constructed during the year. The Columbia 

 and Puget Sound Railroad Company (narrow 

 gauge), a corporation auxiliary to the Oregon 

 Improvement Company, has in operation 44'6 

 miles of line. The line from Seattle to Frank- 

 lin, 23'6 miles, was completed in January, 

 1885. The Puget Sound Shore Railroad Com- 

 pany operates a standard - gauge road from 

 Seattle to Stuck Junction, 23*5 miles. The 

 Olympia and Chehalis Valley Railroad (nar- 

 row-gauge), about fifteen miles in length, con- 

 nects Olympia, on Puget Sound, with the 

 Northern Pacific Railroad at Tenino. 



Educational and Reformatory. The people of 

 the Territory have contributed for common- 

 school purposes about $300,000 per annum by 

 direct taxation. At the last session of the 

 Legislature the following appropriations were 

 made : $100,000 for the erection of a new Hos- 

 pital for the Insane at Steilacoora ; $60,000, in 

 addition to the $17,000 previously raised, for 

 the erection of a new Penitentiary building at 

 Walla Walla ; $8,000 for the Deaf-Mute Asylum 

 at Vancouver, and $10,000 for the support of 

 the Territorial University at Seattle, which is 

 mainly supported by tuition fees. 



Political. The Republican Territorial Con- 

 vention met at Tacoma on Sept. 8, and nomi- 

 nated 0. M. Bradshaw for delegate to Con- 

 gress. The Democratic Territorial Convention 

 in August nominated Charles S. Voorhees for 

 re-election as delegate to Congress. W. A. 

 Newell was the Labor candidate. On Novem- 

 ber 2 the Democrats were successful. The vote 

 was: Democratic, 23,272; Republican, 21,080; 

 Labor, 2,875. There is a Republican majority 

 of two in the Legislature on joint ballot. 



WEST VIRGIIIi. State Government The fol- 

 lowing were the State officers during the year 

 Governor, E. Willis Wilson, Democrat; Sec- 

 retary of State, Henry S. Walker ; Treasurer, 

 William T. Thompson; Auditor, Patrick F. 

 Duffy ; Superintendent of Free Schools, Ben- 

 jamin S. Morgan; Attorney-General, Alfred 

 Caldwell ; Inspector of Mines, H. J. Tucker. 

 Supreme Court of Appeals: President, Okey 

 Johnson; Judges, Samuel Woods, Adam C. 

 Snyder, and Thomas C. Green. On Nov. 2 a 

 Republican was elected to Congress from the 

 First District by a plurality of 827; Demo- 

 crats were chosen in the Second, Third, and 

 Fourth Districts by pluralities of 90, 895, and 

 747, respectively. The Legislature of 1887 con- 

 sists of 14 Democrats and 12 Republicans in the 

 Senate, and 36 Democrats and 29 Republicans 

 in the House. 



Finances. The receipts at the treasury for 

 the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1885, were 

 $789,498.89 ; the balance on hand at the end 

 of the preceding year was $222,698.74; mak- 

 ing a total of $1,012,197.63. The disburse- 

 ments during the same period were $832,016.- 

 43 ; leaving a balance of $180,181.20. 



During 1885 and 1886 it was necessary for 

 the State to borrow $179,000, $59,000 of which 



was borrowed from the Board of the School 

 fund. Of these amounts the sum of $120,000 

 with interest, amounting in the aggregate to 

 $125,040.86, has been paid, leaving $59,000. 



The Legislature at its last session appropri- 

 ated for 1885 and 1886, $120,000 more than 

 the estimated receipts, which, together with 

 the fact that $130,000 of the revenues of 1885 

 were used in paying former obligations, ac- 

 counts for the large amount borrowed. 



The total assessed value of property in 1885 

 was $166,670,405; in 1886, $159,514,752. 



Education. In 1865 the irreducible school 

 fund amounted to $106,122.78; in 1886, to 

 $570,473.18. 



The State has expended for educational pur- 

 poses from 1865 to 1886, both inclusive, $14,- 

 565,777.48. There are six normal schools or 

 departments, as follow: Marshall College, 

 Fairmont Normal School, West Liberty Nor- 

 mal School, Concord Normal School, Shep- 

 herd College, and Glenville Normal School. 



The report of the Board of Regents gives 

 evidence that the State University is in better 

 condition than at any period since its founda- 

 tion. At the date of the last report the total 

 enrollment was 96 ; for the year ending June, 



1885, it was 107; and for the year ending 

 June, 1886, it was 136. At the date of the re- 

 port for the present year, the enrollment had 

 reached a total of 149, being the largest attend- 

 ance at the time of the year since the univer- 

 sity was established. 



Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. The health of the in- 

 mates of the institution for the two years end- 

 ing Sept. 30, 1886, has been unusually good, 

 and there has been an entire absence of epi- 

 demics and protracted cases of disease. Only 

 about one third of the deaf-mutes and blind in 

 the State, Jan. 1, 1884, under twenty and over 

 eight years of age, have as yet received the 

 benefits for which the institution was founded. 

 The full capacity of the present buildings is 100 

 pupils. There are now present 97. 



Insane. The greatest number of patients in 

 the hospital during the year ending Sept. 30, 



1886, was 688; lowest, 673; Sept. 30, 676; 

 daily average, 680 ; cost per capita per week, 

 $2.07 T V The superintendent expected the 

 new building to be finished by Jan. 1, 1887. 

 It will accommodate 150 patients. 



Coal. The year 1886 was eventful in coal- 

 mining in the State. Several large strikes oc- 

 curred, and the explosion of fire-damp in the 

 Mountain Brook Shaft mine at Newburg, in 

 Preston County, January 21, was attended with 

 greater fatality than any other accident that 

 has ever taken place in mining in the State. 



The estimate of coal and coke production for 

 1886 is: Number of mines reported, 77; not 

 reported, 35 ; production in reported mines, 

 2,625,461 tons; estimate for mines not re- 

 ported, 587,632 tons; total, 3,213,093; num- 

 ber of coke ovens, 1,154; production of coke, 

 228,623 tons. 



Boundary. Under chapter 68, West Virginia 



