384 



WEST YIKMNIA. 



\\iui: QLASS, 



lorn* paid, 



4.607. The accident, plate-glass, and 

 r miscellaneous companies wrote risks amount- 

 ing i, i *s premiums rccn\cd, $66.251; 



:.."..; ..-.. *:.HV 



I iaeatlOB. The Superintendent .-f FiveSch.M.lx 



reported! mincration of school children 



in th- itfl an.l i-..|..n-d. at 2!vil7. nn in- 



crease over the previous year 1-1 until- 



-.665, a decrease of 2,043; .-ial numU-r 



hool, 80,825, an increase .f - 

 I .. m da .- . lulam . I n.'M : U i ben m- 



>tal number of srhoolhouses. B 



; ... .- '. - ' .;-. *-J.ir.-.M96; ralue of * ! 1 



lands. $851.580 The chief iwirt ..f tin* school rev- 

 enue* is dem 1 fn>m " local Ic\ies" that i. i: 



indc|-ndcnt M'luml district*, ami 



rint, as lai-1 by the \ari-.us Ixtards of edm-a- 



(inii. tde nil of what is known 



as the "teacher-.' fund ** ami fcha * taildhlf fuml." 



I hr former ..f which in ISIW nmi>untd to $1 



a9a.9A.an.l the latter to t56(^18M6, an aggregate of 



*I.M:>.586.25. which, added to the gross amount of 



H.I f mill. \-i/.. $405,650.98, gives a 



total of $2.221.273.22 e\peiid.d for school purposes 



in 1896. Adding t.. thi- amount the MIMI of $21.*..'Ni 



led by 1! Pot tin- improvement and 



maintenance of the State t'niversitv. ami $"' 



led fur the Mate Normal GUlOOl ami its 

 M.-. th.-re results a grand total .f $'. 

 led by the State in isft for primary, sec- 

 ondary, ami higher education. Kurollmeiit in the 

 norm tmountcd to 1.22. ami 27 tea- -In -rs 



were em pi 



Coal and Oil. The coal pn.ilu.-t of the - 

 was reported as follows: Number of mines, 100; 

 loaded at mines fur shipment. 8.858,256 sliori 

 sold to local trade and used liy eni|il.yees, -1! 

 hort -d at mines for >tenin and heat, 



50.595 short to) int.. <-.,ke. 2.o:{|.s7 ^><r\ 



total pr-Kluet. 11.:VS7.IMJ1 short tons; total 

 value. $7.1 tverage number of employees, 



i'.'.l ".'.'. 



f the oil beldswat 8,130.136 i.arrds, 

 of which 8,109,782 ImrnN were classed as illumi- 

 nating and 10.:(43 barrels as luliriratin<; oil; total 

 ralue of inluet. $1 1.0;{8.7?(>. an average of ^ 1 

 barrel. The aroraj?e \-r Barrel of tlie illuminating 

 oil wa $l..H5f. and the luKrieatiiitf oil ius s 



Agririihnrr. The < inmissioner of Lal.or n-- 

 porUsd: Total numU-r of farm- in the State, 73,128. 



- in farms total. 10.: improved, 

 i54.0nO: unimpro%. aluation land, 

 fence*, an- 1 tuiildin^. $155,635,801 ; impro\-mi-nts 

 and machinery. $3.245.420; live sto<-k, $1 

 eatimat(Ml value- ,f farm produc-K $14.717,80: , -ti- 

 mated cost of fortilizer- pun-has, -d. * \ \ }.:,.".<. |.' Hrm 



and prodmt n as f..ll..w ; Wheat, 



e,8,695,97:>l .. i, I- con acres, 



. ."..,; n . ,-, .. :;.,,;;;;.,;> 



burkwh-at. 14.1 13 m-res, rj:,.(i 1 i.u-heN : 



acrw, llH.n;7 l.i.si,, 



acres, 1.KK106 bushels. Farms cultivated i, y own- 

 ers, 60.152: farm-, undor 10 acres, 1,585: H 

 and under 20. 2.2311 : 20 acrra and und. r 

 Wacresand under HH. 17.329; HKI acres and und.-r 

 500. 27.21* J s ami under UM. 1 



acres and orer, 555. Farm- n-nted for fixed money 

 ralue. 4.296: rrnt-d for shaiv i.f pr.Kluet. 8.680. 

 LefiaUtife Selo. I'.y tho passage of a joint 

 the Ixjrilat ure r.r^aiiixeil a commi-io,, 

 Xo revise the ConM it ut ion of th. s?at.-. the roiiimi- 

 sion oonsi- i r, ,,f 



- nate. apiK.intod br the pr-i-i :,- oflic -era of 

 the respective bodies. This commi--u,n will report 

 to the next session of the General AssomHy. It 

 voted down a proposition to grant th- riiri.t .If Mif- 

 f rage to women. 



Am l.y the (Jeiieral A-M-IUO!\ 



he follow 



Apjiroiiriatini: $2.(KK) to mark the j..iti 

 pi.-.l b] \Ve>t Virginia troops at the battle of - 

 trabti 



.irinir 'he rnm.val of hat- ami honnets dur- 

 ing theatrical |N>rformam < - where an adn. 



Establishing an indu.slrial home f.-r u'irN. 

 .1 u'anie and li-li warden. 



TO ptv\eiit the ad 111 i nisteri nc of ana->theti 

 nareut i-> to females br any physician or dentil 

 rept in the preM-m-e of x<,iiie tliird p. 



Creating a dairy and f 1 t-ommis>i..n. 



li;i i.l.vxx. ThisnameisgiTentoawt 



nettillLTnf wire illiltedded in *heeN of molded j 



in -K\ lights and other places wh : 

 liability to lireaka.u'e. It wa lir-t introduced as a 

 -fill article of merchamli-e in l^'.i:;. and ix 

 :i p-neral UM- in lar. 



all <-\er the 1'nited Slates. The prin- 

 cipal fact..- || Philadelphia and Si. I,. mi-. 



operating under the patent.. ..f Frank simma- 



I'hihulelj.hia. who p<-rfecled the |.nee . I'. 

 the introduction of wire ejla-> il wa- cuxtoma: 

 protect lal'LTe sk\liull|s WJlll ^T>-< II- of W I I'e l;e|lill^ r 



on tli. o that when break* occurred glass 



iniirht not fall on person- below. Such prott-ctinn 

 was absolutely m-ces-jiry in the case of gla 

 ]> laced 5(1 or UN) fe-t above the level, where a large 

 number of people wen- obliged to pass. The sepa- 

 rate wire netting wn- un-ai i-factory. howrver. in 

 that it allowed small pieces of glass to drop t hrough 

 and in that it interfered with the denning of the 

 glass, thus tending to darken the interior, 

 matter in large workshops and railway BtatiODfl 

 where the glas* was being continually -moked. \- 

 long ago as 1 S 71 efTorls were made t> cast wire net- 

 ting within the glass by Thomas Hyatt, of Kimland. 

 but he failed to find means to keep the wire in I In- 

 center of t ! d could only make it in small 

 panes. In 1882, 1**7. and 1888 pro. pat- 

 ented in (iermany and Knglaml. but they proved 

 t'. be commercially impractical. The Shumau 

 1'nited States palein 1 ved all the diflicul- 

 ties ami secured for the inventor the .b.hn B 

 legacy and premium medal from the Franklin In- 

 stitin'e. With this proces< ji || i that the 

 wirenettini: shall be kept at a heat within a feu 

 H of 1 he temperature of melted gla--. The 

 .i-ting table is set in the floor of the simp and 

 the molten glass poured on with a large ladle. A 

 frame carrying four laru'e iron rollers is then run 

 over the glass. The first roller smooths and level- 

 the h. mid roller carries Jn the red 

 hot netting and imbeds it in the glass by means of 

 corrugations or ridges in the roller -urface; the 

 third roller resmooihs the surface of t he gla . com- 

 pleting the covering of the wire; and the fourth 

 roller ,eep the glass, which become- pla- 

 tic at . from curling up behind the third 

 roller, and also adds a smoother finish to the glass. 

 !;u*8 is next annealed so as to toughen it. and 

 trimmed to the si/e of the wire netting, which de- 

 termines the -i/e of the sheet, 

 any sj^c mav be introduced in the glass in thi- 

 practice differing from the ijuarter-inch me-h to 



I in which the crossed wires are three ji. 

 apart. Somet imes for sjwcial purpose-, the w;; 

 corrugated within the gla-*. this being accom- 

 i-lislied by altering the form of one of the rollers. 

 The thickness of this glass varies from thn-. 

 tccnths to an inch, and the common sixes are 2x7 

 and M X H feet. The cutting of the glass to small 

 v work, as the lines are fir-t scratched 

 with a diamond arid the glass cracked and then 

 1 back and forth until the crack opens sufli- 



