West Virginia

a state of the American Union, nicknamed the Panhandle State. It was formerly a part of Virginia. The mountaineers on the northwestern side of the Alleghanies, like those of Tennessee, were never in social or political sympathy with their neighbors in the Old Dominion. During the Revolutionary War the mountaineers petitioned the Continental Congress for independence.--recognition as a separate commonwealth. They opposed secession. When they were outvoted in the state convention of 1861, they declared their independence, proposing at first to take the name Kanawha. Although Virginia did not give the consent requisite under the United States Constitution the western delegates organized as "Virginia" and voted themselves out. Congress admitted the new state under its present name June 19, 1863. West Virginia furnished the Confederacy 10,000 soldiers and the Federal army 30,000. The state constitution provided for the gradual abolition of slavery. Wheeling was the first capital. Later the seat of government was changed to Charleston on the Kanawha. The new state refused to pay a just proportion of the old state debt, claiming that no part of the money had been used for the development of the western section. Aside from this repudiated obligation the state has no debts.

TOPOGRAPHY. In shape the state is the most irregular in the Union. It is bounded by six states. The chief river boundaries are the Big Sandy, the Ohio, and the Potomac. Five counties, forming a projection at the north called the Panhandle, are separated from Pennsylvania by an artificial line. A similar district along the Potomac seems more naturally a part of Viriginia. Area of the state, not including water, 24,645 square miles. The average elevation of the state is 1,500 feet, the greatest of any state east of the Rocky Mountains. The lowest point is Harper's Ferry, 260 feet above the sea. The surface is composed of mountain ranges and broad or narrow valleys. The climate varies greatly. Various sections may be regarded as having the climate of Vermont, Ohio, and Virginia respectively. The average annual rainfall is about forty-four inches. Mining, lumbering and stock raising are the chief occupations in the mountains. Farming is confined to the valleys.

MINERALS. West Virginia has immense mineral wealth. In the production of coal the state ranks second to Pennsylvania. There are about 15,000 square miles of coal land, nearly three-fifths of the entire area. Most of the mines are easily worked. Instead of requiring to be hoisted from deep pits, as in England, Belgium, and other level countries, the coal is brought out of tunnels on the mountain sides and lowered by its own weight through chutes into cars or docks set to catch it. The best known variety is the Pocahontas. Large quantities are shipped westward via Toledo and the Great Lakes. The state leads in the production of petroleum. It is conveyed through pipes to Philadelphia and Baltimore, where it is refined and barreled or tanked for shipment. Natural gas is piped to Cleveland, Pittsburg, and other cities for lighting, heating, manufacturing, and domestic purposes. There are valuable quarries of building stone, chiefly sandstone and limestone. Salt and lime may be found in unlimited quantities. There are practically no valuable ores.

INDUSTRIES. The introduction of railways has led to a vigorous-destruction of the interior forests of pine, hemlock, spruce, oak, chestnut, hickory, poplar, birch, maple, and other valuable trees. Just at present lumbering is an active industry. With the cutting away of the mountain forests there is a noticeable increase in the damage from floods. Over half of the manufactures of the state are located on the banks of the Ohio. Other centers are Charleston and Martinsburg. The making of iron and steel is the leading industry. Lumber and wood products and flour and feed follow in order. West Virginia produces nearly as much coke as Pennsylvania. A single plant in McDowell County is designed to employ ten thousand men. The gathering of oak and hemlock tan-bark gives occupation to many people.

AGRICULTURE. As compared with Iowa, for instance, agriculture is carried on with difficulty. The average farm contains 115 acres. Less than one per cent of the farms are owned by colored people. On an average less than $25 per farm is paid for hired help. Farm boundaries run in every direction, as from tree to stream, and from stone to hilltop. All the ordinary domestic animals are reared. Corn, hay, and wheat are the leading crops. Orchard fruits, including apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, and small fruits, especially berries, are raised in large quantities for shipment. Potatoes are an important crop. Tobacco is a valuable crop in the territory tributary to Huntington.

POPULATION AND EDUCATION. The population of the state when admitted to the Union was about 400,000. In 1900 it was 958,800. The colored population is estimated at 43,567. State officers, including the state superintendent of schools, are elected for a term of four years. Separate schools are maintained for colored children. The laws of the state forbid mixed schools. A state university has been established at Morgantown. There are six normal schools for white and three for colored students. There are over 1,000 school libraries. The leading churches are the Methodist, the Baptist, and the Roman Catholic.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

See Washington; George; Virginia