Political Quotes

“Mr. President, a century ago on December 24, 1913, hundreds of miners and their families had gathered for a Christmas Eve celebration in the small Upper Peninsula town of Calumet, MI. Their community was under tremendous stress; the miners of what is known to this day as ``Copper Country'' had been on strike for 5 months. But they had come for a brief holiday respite from the trials and struggles of those difficult days. What began as a joyful day ended in tears and wails and inconsolable grief. While no one will know for certain what sparked the families' rush to the doors at the bottom of the stairs leading from the hall, most believe that someone yelled ``Fire!'' even though there was none. What resulted in the rush to the exit is almost unimaginable: 59 children and 14 adults were dead, having been trampled or suffocated. This dreadful disaster has forever brought back painful memories on December 24, Christmas Eve, for the community of Calumet, MI. On the centennial anniversary of this event, the anguish is still real. The sadness is only overshadowed by the senselessness of the event. The families celebrating in the Italian Hall were hard-working immigrants, struggling through the labor strike to fight for better wages, hours and working conditions. They came to Copper country for the promise of work, even though mining was difficult and dangerous.…”