“The Cough”, written by Harry Humes is a story of the everyday, forgotten coal miner. As the title states the story is merely about a cough. This cough however, is as dangerous as the Bubonic Plague or Ebola. Black Phlegm, commonly referred to as The Black Cough was an environmentally induced health concern. It took the lives of the many impoverished men in the mining community. The health concern was a slow-moving issue that could take months or even years to kill the person with it. “...home in his black streaked breath…” The unnamed man in the story carried Black Phlegm with him out of the mines. However, he was not worried because he would die to put food on the table for his struggling family, “It’s good money Dorse. It’s our only money”.
