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1920-1929 The Age of Mechanization 1920-1929 T hroughout the late teens and into the early 1920s, modern "progressive" mines were rapidly experimenting with var- ious forms of mechanization. Loaders, cut- ters, conveyors and other new machines were being tested nationwide under all con- ditions. Machines were seen as ways to reduce both the costs and difficulties of labor, particularly as more miners were organizing and demanding higher wages. Machines also changed the way mining was done, creating new opportunities and help- ing increase production. In 1920, production of bituminous coal was more than 556,500,000 net tons, an increase of over 98 million tons or 21% above 1919. That year's total had been the second highest yet just behind 1918's total of 579 million bituminous tons. Anthracite coal, once predominant, accounted for only 89 million tons that year. In total, more than 677 million tons were mined in 1918—a fig- ure that would not be exceeded until 1944. 1920's total of 657 million tons was equaled again in 1923 and 1926. Though coal pro- duction fell to a low of 476 million in 1922, average production through the decade was roughly 588 million tons a year. 1926 proved a highpoint however, as the economy began to wane ahead of the Great Depression. In general, however, coal production would not equal the 1920s levels until the height of World War II in 1944. As coal production increased in 1920, the editors noted in a summary piece from January 1921 that "all producing fields did not share equally in the gain…we find that the Middle West—Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky—made the largest gain, 38 percent. The increase in quantity was 36,400,000 tons, exceeded only by that in the middle and northern Appalachian ter- ritory…comprising the coalfields of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan and eastern Kentucky, produced in 1920, 332,148,000 net tons of bituminous coal, a gain over the 48 www.coalage.com previous year of 43,837,000 tons, or 15 per- cent…Illinois, according to the prelimi- nary figures of the Geological Survey, in 1920 reached the goal for which she has been striving for years, namely to replace West Virginia as the second largest coal producing state. West Virginia's output increased only about 10 million net tons over 1919, while Illinois gained nearly 25 million tons." The Illinois Basin, that year, produced at roughly the same levels as the previous high water mark of 1918 while the rest of the nation's production fell. However, once again the most limiting factor in coal pro- duction was not demand or labor but avail- ability of railroad cars. "From the first week of January until the middle of December, car shortage was the principal factor in lim- iting production…that is, each week of this period the demand for coal was in excess of the ability of the railroads to carry it from the mines." So much then for the govern- ment's ability to run the railroads better than the railroads themselves. However, the low production mark of 1922 was largely due to massive nationwide railroad strikes as well as mine strikes in the east and Midwest. As coal production increased in 1920 by more than 16%, fatalities declined by over 7% year-over-year. The fatality rate in 1920 was 3.39 per million tons compared to 4.28 per million tons in 1919. One of the main reasons for that reduction was the rapid increase of mechanization throughout the nation's largest mines. In the March 6, 1920, issue, Coal Age published the first feature on the new Joy loading machine, "one of the devices developed during the war for the purpose of stimulating coal production. This has only recently been perfected and is now offered to the industry. The inventor, J.F. Joy, is the head of the Joy Machine Co., with main office in the Union Arcade Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. Development of the machine was fostered by the Pittsburgh Coal Co., and 100th Anniversary Special Issue August 2012 *Coal Age, January 20, 1921