[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 138 (Saturday, October 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IN RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COAL MINERS MEMORIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID D. PHELPS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 26, 2000

  Mr. PHELPS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the Southern 
Illinois Coal Miners and the Memorial that has been dedicated in their 
honor. The memorial consists of a wall with the names of coal miners 
who currently work or have worked in the southern Illinois mines.
  I would like to share with you this poem by Raymond D. Null of 
Herrin, IL. This work gives us an idea of the different kinds of 
struggles coal miners face.

                        ``Illinois Black Gold''

     In the early years, our MINERS lived in the ``patch,'' in 
         their little company houses, along the train tracks
     With their lunch bucket in hand, off to work they would go, 
         most walking to work, through the summers and snows
     Many fathers and sons, have worked side by side, in areas not 
         tall, and sometimes not wide
     They carved out their living, in walls of pure coal, as they 
         worked hard and labored, to mine this ``Black Gold''
     A ride down the deep shaft, a long walk through the mine, to 
         this deep darkened land, where the sun never shines
     Where it's deep as a dungeon, and nearly as cold, and the 
         MINERS were proud, to mine this ``Black Gold''
     Deep in the ground, everyday these men toiled, as they 
         spotted and blasted, through the layers of soil
     They were our MINERS, and they brought us our coal, with 
         their shovels and picks they mined this ``Black Gold''
     These pioneers of labor, with the coal black face, are the 
         legends of mining, that time won't erase
     They worked dangerously hard, in their race against time, in 
         this deep dark hole, that they call the mine
     In the early years, lives were taken at times, and the news 
         spread quickly, to other towns and their mines
     There would be sounds of sorrow, and sounds of pain, like the 
         quill from the whistle, of a slow passing train
     There are memorials that salute, those who answered their 
         call, and prayers are said daily, for those who gave all
     And for all of the MINERS, who mined this ``Black Gold,'' Let 
         us give thanks, and may God bless their soul.

  It is with this, Mr. Speaker, that I commend the coal miners of 
Southern Illinois. Due to their hard work and dedication in the mining 
industry, it is clear that they are an asset to Southern Illinois and 
all of the United States of America.

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