862 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



WISCONSIN. 



were as follow: State, $722,000; general school 

 fund, $349,500; school fund, $32,000. The total 

 estimated expenditures for the same period, $599,- 

 235, include the following: West Virginia School 

 for the Deaf and Blind, $34,600; West Virginia 

 Reform School, $18,600; Hospital for the Insane 

 at Weston, $127,500; Second Hospital for the In- 

 sane at Spencer, $41,800; State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, $5,000. 



Railroads. An official statement as to the as- 

 sessed value of railway property, based on returns 

 for the year ending Dec. 31, 1898, and subject to 

 levy for 1899, shows 51 lines operating within 

 the State. The grand total of all taxable prop- 

 erty belonging to the most important lines is as 

 follows: Chesapeake and Ohio, $4,554,260.50; 

 Baltimore and Ohio (main line), $5,167,804.80; 

 Norfolk and Western, $3,133,883; Ohio River, $1,- 

 459,337.38. 



Agriculture. The latest official report of the 

 State Board of Agriculture says : " Of our esti- 

 mated 825,000 population, fully 473,000 are 

 found, upon our 75.000 or more farms, and are 

 sustaining themselves, with much to spare, in 

 some sections, at least, to feed the remaining 

 352,000 who are engaged in the other call- 

 ings and professions. Farming in West Vir- 

 ginia is much more profitable than in many of 

 the Western and Northwestern States. The 

 State is well adapted to general agriculture, 

 including fruit growing and stock raising. Ac- 

 cording to recent figures the percentage of in- 

 cumbered farms in one of the Western States was 

 more that 55 per cent., and nearly as much in 

 8 other States the so-called great agricultural 

 States and the average for the United States is 

 more than 28 per cent. In West Virginia it was 

 less than 13 per cent, of the whole, there being 

 probably not more than 7,000 incumbered farms 

 in the State. . . . Nearly half of our total area is 

 cleared and in use for farming and grazing, while 

 the remainder is covered with valuable timber, 

 underlaid with beds of coal, oil, or gas. A very 

 considerable area of the forest lands is untouched 

 by the woodman's axe, and only a beginning has 

 been made upon our coal and oil area." 



The acreage and yield of the principal crops, 

 Sept. 30, 1898, was as follows: Corn, 624,037 

 acres, yielding 17,293,210 bushels; wheat, 376,420 

 acres, 'yielding 4,525,045 bushels; oats, 188,087 

 acres, yielding 4,707,755 bushels; Irish potatoes, 

 29,283 acres, yielding 2,632,780 bushels; hay (all 

 kinds), 569,962 acres, yielding 753,700 tons. 



At the same date the number and value of 

 farm animals w r ere as follow : Horses, mules, asses, 

 and jennets, 169,106, valued at $6.003.055; cattle, 

 all ages, 579,002, valued at $14,326.550; sheep, all 

 ages, 785,763, valued at $2,802,409; hogs, all ages, 

 390,839, valued at $1,789,040. 



Mining. From the latest available report of 

 the Chief Mine Inspector, showing conditions for 

 the year ending June 30, 1897, the following facts 

 appear: Counties in which coal is mined on a 

 commercial scale, 20; firms operating coal mines on 

 a commercial scale, 215; openings of all kinds sub- 

 ject to the mining law, 350; tons (2,240 pounds) of 

 pick-mined coal from commercial mines, 10,791,- 

 482 ; tons of machine-mined coal from commercial 

 mines, 600,418; estimated tons of coal from small 

 mines, 133,929; tons of coal converted into coke, 

 2,090,304; tons of coke manufactured (2,000 

 pounds), 1,374,497; value of coal at the mines, 

 $8,229,198; value of coke at the ovens, $1,718,121.- 

 25; value of a ton of coal at the mines (2,240 

 pounds), 70.3 cents; value of a ton of coke at the 

 ovens (2,000 pounds), $1.25; mining machines in 

 use, 55; coke ovens in use, 8,046; pick miners em- 



ployed in commercial mines, 13,218; machine 

 operators and miners employed in commercial 

 coal mines, 652; other underground employer- in 

 commercial coal mines, 3.199; outside employ. .--> 

 connected with the commercial coal mines, 2.M7; 

 number of coke employees, 2,306; total number 

 of men employed at the commercial mines ;m<l 

 ovens, 21,422. 



Political. The Democratic caucus of the 

 Legislature on Jan. 18 nominated John T. M<-- 

 Graw for United States Senator, the ballot being: 

 McGraw, 35; Watts, 5; Anderson, 2; W T ilson and 

 Bennett, each 1. The nomination of McGraw \\as 

 made unanimous. The Republican caucus 

 held on Jan. 19. On the first ballot Nathan I'.. 

 Scott received 18 votes; Gov. Atkinson, 14: <;<M. 

 5; Poffenbarger, 6; Caldwell, 2; Gaines, 1. On 

 the fourth ballot Scott received '24 vol. -. a ma- 

 'jority of the caucus, but not of all the Repub- 

 lican* members of the Legislature. Eighteen bal- 

 lots were taken, the final result giving Scott -Jx 

 Goff 15, and Atkinson 3. The House and Senate 

 took a ballot on Jan. 24, with this result: Scott. 

 46; McGraw, 46; Goff, 1: Blizzard (Rcpubli< an i. 

 1. The joint ballot was taken on the following day. 

 resulting in the election of Scott, the vote being: 

 Scott, 48; McGraw. 46. The Democrats filed pro- 

 tests against the votes of Senators Getzendanner 

 and Pierson, declaring that they had forfeited 

 their seats by accepting commissions in the army, 

 which they resigned before the Legislature con- 

 vened. 



WISCONSIN, a Western State, admitted to 

 the Union May 29, 1848; area, 56,040 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 305,391 in ls.~>0; 

 775.881 in 1860; 1,054,670 in 1870; 1,315,497 in 

 1880; and 1,688,880 in 1890. By tin- State census 

 of 1895 it was 1,937,915. Capital, Madison. 



Government. The following were the Slate 

 officers in 1899: Governor, Edward Scofield: Lieu- 

 tenant Governor, Jesse Stone; Secretary of State, 

 William H. Froehlich; Treasurer, James O. 

 Davidson; Attorney-General, Kmimtt II. Hick-: 

 Superintendent of Education, L. D. Harvey; Rail- 

 road Commissioner, Graham L. Rice; Insurance 

 Commissioner, Emil Giljohann; Adjutant Gen- 

 eral, C. R. Boardman; Dairy and Food Commis- 

 sioner, H. C. Adams; Labor Commissioner, 

 Halford Erickson; Bank Examiner, E. I. Kidd: 

 Health Commissioner, F. M. Schultz: Fish and 

 Game Warden, J. T. Ellarson: Tax Conmiis- 

 sioners, Michael Griffin, George Curtis, and Nor- 

 man S. Gilson; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, J. B. Cassoday, Republiean: .Wo.-jate .\\\<- 

 tices, John B. Winslow and Joshua E. Dodge, 

 Democrats, and Charles V. Bardeen and Ron jet 

 D. Marshall, Republicans; Clerk, Clarence Kel- 

 logg. With the exceptions mentioned, all the 

 elected officials are Republicans. 



Finances. The estimate of expenses for the 

 biennial period 1899-1900. as given in the message 

 in January, was, not including any special appro- 

 priations, $6,877,372; and the estimated income 

 $6,830,850. The measures taken to increase the 

 revenue and the decisions in regard to special 

 appropriations will be found under Legislative 

 Session. The Board of Equalization raised the 

 total valuation of the property in the State for 

 assessment from $600.000,000 to $625.000,000. Un- 

 der the new insurance law, the additional ' 

 paid by the stock life companies were estimated 

 at $167.396.19 for 1809. of which ,$152,739.21 was 

 from the Northwestern Mutual Life of Mil- 

 waukee. The law taxing express. >lee|in.ir (> ar. 

 freight line, and equipment companies also makes 

 a considerable addition to the income. The <l<lt 



