1940 - Energy

Energy

A continuous coal-digging machine developed by Consolidation Coal Co. president Carson Smith and engineer Harold F. (Farnes) Silver, 39, will revolutionize coal mining. Six banks of cutter chains moving at 500 feet per minute will enable the Joy machine to dig out a series of vertical slices 18 inches deep and to bore a tunnel up to 18 feet wide. Joseph Joy, now 56, will purchase the rights in 1947; his Joy Manufacturing Co. will dominate coal-mining equipment production.