Office of the Chief Inspector of Mines,

COLUMBUS, OHIO, January 31, 1902.

Hon. George K. Nash, Governor of Ohio:

SIR: As Chief Inspector of Mines of the State of Ohio, I hereby submit the twenty-sixth annual report of the Mining Department as required in Section two hundre nd ninety-three of the Revised Statutes.

Very respectfully,

E. G. BIDDISON, Chief Inspector of Mines.

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Annual Report.

To His Excellency, George K. Nash, Governor of the State of Ohio:

SIR: In compliance with section two hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes relating to Mines and Mining I herewith submit the Twenty-sixth Annual Report of this Department.

That portion of this report relative to the Inspection of Mines covering the period from November 15, 1899, to May 1, 1900, was under the direct supervision of my worthy predecessor, Hon. R. M. Haseltine.

On the above-named date I received the appointment as Chief Inspector of Mines at your hands, and immediately assumed charge of the Department, appointing, by your approval and sanction, the following District Mine Inspectors: First District, R. M. Mason, Logan, Ohio; Second District, D. H. Williams, Glouster, Ohio; Third District, D. B. Wilson, Corning, Ohio; Fourth District, Thomas McGough, Bridgeport, Ohio; Fifth District, W. H. Turner, Cambridge, Ohio; Sixth District, James P. Davis, Dell Roy, Ohio; and for the seventh district, W. H. Miller, Massillon, Ohio.

I desire to express to you my appreciation of the diligent and efficient manner in which the above named inspectors have acquitted themselves in performing the duties of the positions entrusted to them.

The statistical portion of this report has been arranged to conform to the calendar year, while that portion which is devoted to the inspecting of mines extends from November 15, 1899, to November 15, 1900.

On February 20, 1900, at a meeting held at Columbus, Ohio, between the Ohio State Officials of the United Mine Workers of America, by their duly authorized representatives, and the operators of the Hocking Valley District (being the basis on which prices are calculated for the other Districts of the State), the price of mining was fixed and adjusted from April 1, 1900 to April 1, 1901, as follows. Price to be paid for pick mining per ton for screened lump coal, eighty cents; for run of mine, 5-7 lump price, fifty-seven and one-seventh cents; coal mined by the Jeffrey type of mining machine, nine cents per ton, etc. A detailed list of the mining scale as adopted at this meeting occurs later in this report through the courtesy of F. S. Brooks, secretary of the Ohio Coal Association.

There was no disturbance between capital and labor during the year of any great importance, strikes being of a local nature and of short duration.