the Alleghanies. The closely allied foundry and
machine shop industry has had a rapid recent
growth, in the manufacture of coke the State
ranks second, and the Flat Top district, in the
southern part of the State, is the second most
important coking region in the United States.
The availability of natural gas has led to a
thriving glass-manufacturing industry. There
was a significant development between 1890 and
1900 in the manufacture of pottery, terra-cotta,
and fire-clay products in the region adjacent to
East Liverpool, Ohio. Flour and grist milling
shares in the State's general industrial progress.
The extensive oak and hemlock forests furnish
bark for tanning and a thriving leather industry
has recently developed.
The following table shows the industrial
status according to census reports:
INDUSTRIES
Year
Number of establishments
Average number wage-earners
Value of products, including custom work and repairing
Total for selected industries for State
1900
2,060
21,347
$48,897,302
1890
1,181
11,624
22,513,520
Increase, 1890 to 1900
Per cent. of increase
......
879
9,723
$26,383,782
......
74.4
83.6
117.2
Per cent. of total of all industries in State
1900
46.7
64.5
65.9
1890
49.7
60.1
58.2
Cars and general shop contruction and
repairs by steam railroad companies
1900
23
2,605
$2,943,557
1890
7
1,022
910,393
Clay products:
Total
1900
55
1,744
1,451,239
1890
35
448
304,865
Brick and tile
1900
41
475
346,356
1890
27
387
247,493
Pottery, terra-cotta,
and fire-clay products
1900
14
1,269
1,104,883
1890
8
61
55,372
Coke
1900
77
3,131
3,529,241
1890
45
1,034
1,130,762
Flouring and grist mill products
1900
737
314
5,541,352
1890
496
545
3,902,994
Foundry and machine shop products
1900
62
591
1,401,852
1890
30
355
506,513
Glass
1900
16
1,949
1,871,795
1890
7
1,371
945,234
Iron and steel
1900
11
4,467
16,514,212
1890
7
2,013
7,490,934
Leather, tanned, curried, and finished
1900
46
664
3,210,753
1890
50
210
896,120
Lumber and timber products
1900
950
5,327
10,612,837
1890
454
4,182
5,515,065
Lumber, planing-mill products,
including sash, doors, and blinds
1900
83
555
1,820,463
1890
50
444
910,640
Transportation and Communication. West
Virginia owes its rapid growth and industrial
importance to the excellent transportation facilities
with which it is favored. The navigable
streams include the Ohio, Monongahela, Great
and Little Kanawha, and the Big Sandy. The
natural commercial advantages of the
Monongahela and the Great Kanawha have from time
to time been augmented by the deepening of their
channels and the construction of locks and dams.
The improvements wrought in the Great Kanawha
by the National Government in 1899
enable coal to be shipped via this river at all
seasons of the year, and in 1902 the navigable
length of the Monongahela was extended as far
as Fairmont, affording an outlet for the large
coal area of that region. The bulk of the State's
foreign trade is carried on by way of the Ohio,
which offers means of water communication with
the Gulf. The sections of the State remote from
navigable waterways have to a large extent
been brought into touch with the trade centres
by the development of the railroads. There are
three trunk lines traversing the State from east
to west—the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Baltimore
and Ohio, and the Norfolk and Western. The
Chesapeake and Ohio, built in 1872, and extended
to Cincinnati in 1888, forms an outlet for the
vast deposits of bituminous coal in the region
drained by the New and the Great Kanawha
rivers, while the building of the Norfolk and
Western in 1884 made possible the exploitation
of the coal fields in the extreme southern part
of the State. In 1902 five railroads in all had
extended their lines into the different coal
regions of the State. The rapid development of
the railroads is disclosed by the fact that a mileage
of 1847 in 1894 had increased to a mileage
of more than 3500 in 1902. Additional lines
aggregating 1000 miles in length are projected.
Banks. The condition of the banks of West
Virginia in 1902 is given in the following table,
which is based upon the report of the Comptroller
of the Currency:
National
State (July 16, 1902)
Savings (July 30, 1902)
Number
55
111
1
Capital
$4,455,000
$5,119,600
......
Surplus
1,437,000
1,733,400
......
Cash, etc.
1,069,000
1,718,700
$417,500
Loans
18,065,000
24,982,000
......
Deposits
20,765,000
30,367,000
680,000
Government. The right to vote is given to
male citizens twenty-one years of age who have
resided in the State one year and in the county
sixty days. Upon the demand of a majority of
the members elected to either House of the
Legislature the question of calling a constitutional
convention must be submitted to the people, and
the issue is decided by a majority of the votes
cast. The acts of the convention must be sub-
