Guess which D.C. workers rake in the highest average annual pay of any industry? Those in finance? Communication? Not even close. The fattest of Washington’s many fat cats turn out to be those in the mining industry. Historically, miners have had some of the worst American jobs, laboring for Third World wages in the carcinogenic mines of Appalachia. But according to recent Labor Department statistics, the 52 District proles classified as mining-industry workers netted an average of more than $111,000 in 1993, the last year for which data are available. The next-highest pay —just $49,000—went to transportation, communications, and public utilities employees. The 19 mining-related firms in D.C. do all of their prospecting on Capitol Hill, lobbying Congress to maintain the industry’s massive subsidies. It may be dirty work, but then again, real miners in West Virginia averaged just $41,000 in 1993.