THE HOOSIER LINE

despite the fact that its tracks lie wholly within the borders of a single state Indiana the mononon as George aid used to say runs catty cornered to all of Indiana and in so doing intersects every East and West Route above the Ohio River thus it is not only the lifeline of Indiana it is one of the real Crossroads of America since the monan is a hooer it takes great pride in presenting an Indiana musical organization whose Fame has reached far beyond the borders of its native state the Purdue University Glee Club under the direction of Albert P Stewart for its first number the Glee Club is assisted by Virginia speaker soloist of deep only dance sing Indiana sh dance something the Hy the air in Indiana W to shout W to dance W to sing there's something about the Indiana Sunshine yes sir there is that something that really suits me of course I'm a hooer as you might guess some folks think that hoer is do an awful lot of bragging about India an and we do is it all right to be proud of the place you come from being proud of a place keep it the way it is or even make it a little better this whole country of ours has been built up by people caring about the things that are theirs always wanting to make them just a little bit better working planning dreaming make home where the bash flows and the prim R and the Violet grows going to make home where W river flows make home River to settle down forever going to make my home where the bash River flow the girl I left behind me she'll be sorry by and by but she'll come a running after with love our home where the W bash flows and the prim roll and the Violet grows going to make our home where the W River always singing that song Danny let's do it Ma let's do it right off do what let's go out there out across the mountain find us a place where we can get some land always dreaming just like you Paul other people are doing it why can't we we can find a place that's our build a house that belongs to us wouldn't you like that mall wouldn't you like to have things I got a lot to be thankful for now Danny a boy who's just like his Paul always wanting to get on we're going to get on M we're going to get on on right now if you'll say the word we'll go west make my home where the W bash flows and the prim Rose and the Violet grows going to make my home where the W River FL that was a spirit folks had when they opened up the land folks hankering to be somebody have things they could call their own and be proud of feeling that way they cleared the land and planted it to crops the women folk helped in the fields spun and toil they got on leanos gave way to log cabins log cabins to houses of brick and stone the Wilderness disappear all the good things we see around us today are products of that Pioneer spirit that house your PA built where you were born little businesses that have grown into big ones towns and cities that are good to live in we've kept right on forging ahead this country has because it's a place where one man any man can do things on his own I've got a personal Pride in one little chapter of our American story and not such a little chapter at that when you come to think about it all my life I've worked for the railroad and railroads believe you me grew up the American way wasn't much in this part of the country to make anybody want to build a railroad when some get up and go hoers started this way weren't enough people in this whole territory then to fill up a fair size count today land was mostly the way Nature Made it a whole lot of this United States was like that back in 1846 and thereabouts fact is it was only beginning to look like the United States as we know it today less than 50 years had gone by since the original 13 states started to spread out Texas was just getting into the union and the Oregon Country here in this middle part of the land Congress had set up what they called Northwest territory then as settlers began to fill up parts of it they cut it up into separate territories in States Ohio Michigan Illinois Wisconsin Indiana it was down here in Southern Indiana along the Ohio river that the folks I spoke about began to build the railroad there wasn't any very good way to haul things once you got away from the river that's what kept the country from developing faster depending on Riverbats a few roads and canals these weren't enough and some farsighted folks knew they weren't folks like James Brooks of New Albany Indiana there isn't any reason in the world for doubting the success of the project gentlemen railroads are being built in the East and not by dreamers either they're being built by sound businessmen because they have seen that the iron rail and the steam locomotive are the real answers to longdistance hauling I'd rather stick to canals we know what they'll do oh you can't build a canal over the knobs there's too much rough country between here and the White River the state's already poured a lot of money into the mam roads let's finish them wagons even on the best of Roads we'll never haul a pit of the stuff we could haul on Rails I say let's take over some of this R of way that's been graded and the new laws May it possible to and let's put rails on the right way railroads gentlemen are the answer men like James Brooks carried their point railroads were built and the people took to them they shipped their goods over them they wanted to ride the trains whenever they could hoay for the kiars oh it's fun to go riding and riding and riding along on the passenger car it's exciting exciting exciting exciting n yes sir folks took to the railroads and a lot of them were built but it was a big job take this line that James Brooks and his friends began in Indiana for example it tackled only 30 m or so of it at first um the began down here in uh New Albany and went on up to Salem matter of fact they called it the new Alban and Salem but they had bigger ideas than that they got themselves a charter which allowed them appear to Orleans not very far you might say but it was hard going then some other folks took a hand at Crawfordsville they decided to build a railroad to hook up with a Wabash and irie at lafier well the new Aly and Salem folks soon bought this out and made plans to tie it in with their line down here to the South had their Ron going north of Lafayette too on up to Michigan City Indiana's only Lake Michigan Port me trouble they had with the whole thing was money it didn't grow on bushes in those days or on Washington cherry trees either by the time the railroad got to Lafayette it was out of money and that's where who your Ingenuity took over and that's where this roving Charter came in mighty handy they loaned out the charter to John Murray Forbes of Boston who couldn't get a charter from the Indiana legislature and who was set on pushing his Michigan Central Railroad on into Chicago here ahead of its rival the Lakes Shore well a half million dollar in stock subscriptions the New Albany and Salem got from that transaction enough money to finish the railroad from Lafayette to the lake you couldn't beat men like that they were building Indiana they were building the nation they buil This na and work away they labed hard they labed long work away work away they opened up a continent from shin they cast along and fing keep on keep our country B flying Roll Along that's what we've been doing haven't we that's what we've been doing for a lot of years I don't claim much for my part in it but gosh when you think of all our American efforts together I've gone and talked till it's time for the hooer to come in I've got to go now say how about you taking a ride up and down the Mona see for yourself how she's still helping her part of America to Roll Along I can't go with you but the boys on the train will take good care of you all up and down the line you can see how the railroad has helped to create American Prosperity Farms producing great quantities of food which could never be fully marketed without modern mass transportation factories which assemble their raw materials from a lot of farflung points and send their finished products everywhere towns and cities in which people have grown used to buying things which are brought from all over the world our way of life which is literally a product of railroads at work take these factories which make pre-fabricated houses their Lumber comes from as far away is the Deep South and the Pacific Northwest their steel begins as iron ore from the Minnesota range ore which is converted in some of the world's largest Mills located in Northern Indiana countless other items have to be shipped into a factory such as this from hundreds of different places in order that one complete house can roll off the assembly line all up and down the railroads of America this miracle is repeated and repeated railroads are not the only Transportation used of course but because of their tremendous capacity their unfailing reliability and their basic economy they are the backbone of American industry and American agriculture railroads like the monan help out the territories they serve in other ways too these great steel highways not only link the communities together thus helping to create wealth they distribute much of their income in the communities they serve every time a train like this moves from one mile post to another the railroad will spend $102 on the labor and materials to operate the train maintain the tracks pay taxes and other costs each mile represents an investment of nearly $100,000 and costs nearly $6,000 per year to maintain this length of steel rail costs the railroad over $70 when laid each one of these new t eyes will cost more than $4 when placed in the track even the lowly Spike carries a price tag of nearly 5 cents the monan has to haul a ton of freight three miles in order to earn 5 cents work like this creates big payrolls payrolls which are spent largely in the towns and cities along the line taxes take a large part of every railroad dollar too taxes consume more than half of the revenue which is left after other expenses have been paid every mile of track which this train traverses pays an average annual tax to the county state and federal governments of $2,163 taxes paid by the railroads go to maintain the public schools and to provide other essential services in the community in many counties more than half of all the local taxes are paid by the railroads and on a national basis the railroads pay out four times as much in taxes as they do in dividends to their stockholders no other form of transportation makes any such contribution to the area it serves this Indiana which the monan has helped to build is quite a place it's a place that's fabled in story and in song many are the wonderers that are Lely to be old nature does her handy work right well leg and drills and Temple Hills this land of eyes and but in one spot my Fondest Memories dwell there's a little bit of paradise that all the world know sh of where the sweetest flowers grow and the sofes blow and there's magic as the seasons come and go there's a little bit of paradise I long again to ro it's the sh how I long to sneak down sugar cream like bare boy with t on and find again my there Parise all know where and the and Asic take a look at the shades and world-renowned Brown County French Lick Spring Mill the dunes they're all part of the great picture which the good Lord painted in Indiana and which hooers have tried to preserve and throw open for the enjoyment of everybody take a look at the towns and cities in Indiana too they're alert Progressive forward moving full of good sound Enterprise and they homey and friendly who your towns with all that that folks is term implies even the big industrialized places like Indianapolis the capital are hoer right down to the roots all of its factories its varied business enterprises haven't robbed Indianapolis of that friendly atmosphere which prompted a famous hooer poet to call the city high heaven Sole and only understudy Monument Circle which is the city's most distinguishing Landmark typifies this survival of the neighborly spirit which is so apparent throughout the hoer state Indianapolis 2 is the scene of one of the world's great annual sports events the 500m Memorial Day race each year since 199 America's Most Daring drivers have piloted their mechanical steeds around this great Proving Ground for the automotive industry and in these gring contests have tested nearly all of the new developments in automobile engineering for years the monan has helped to bring in the countless thousands who descended on Indian Apolis for this event transported them in an atmosphere of real ho your hospitality on its famous Chicago Indianapolis train the hoer a Time who your where every golden moment is the time for H your towns American towns towns where industry and Thrift and independent initiative are admired and rewarded good towns in which to locate factories the whole state of Indiana has an enviable record of friendly relations between management and labor and government state and local taxes are extremely favorable to business Transportation facilities and power resources are unexcelled that who your air is healthy for business the present management of the monan has been extremely Progressive in its efforts to provide its online communities with the finest in transportation service and Equipment the monan was the first class one railroad to become completely dieselized centralized servicing facilities with every modern device for maintaining equipment and Expediting repairs ensure Dependable schedule Diesel power in all switching operations means smooth handling of cars minimum breakage or damage to shipments along the railroad vast improvements have been made miles of new track have been laid lines have been shortened and straightened Bridges have been strengthened some have been completely rebuilt signal systems are being continually improved new interlockers installed to increase speed of train movement all points on the monan are now connected by Dependable overnight Freight Service to expedite Interline movements schedules are arranged so that they integrate efficiently with the schedules of connecting lines this is especially important when it is recalled how many major railroads intersect the monan and how strategically located the railroad is as a bridge line between its great terminals of Chicago Indianapolis and Louisville although Mon's trackage is primarily in Indiana and it is known as the hoer line the railroad is intimately connected with the commercial and Industrial life of its great terminal cities in Kentucky and in Illinois Louisville the Fall City key spot in the early winning of the West Hub of a great business area you've been in Louisville at Derby time no doubt or you're planning to go sometime come see Louisville see the Derby and all the other great attractions which this city has to offer say some sens what a thrill you you will L ladies with lest the to to see that Feld coming on coming oning on say ho Lou say sens what a thrill you had fun you will in Lou Lou say some sensation what a thrill if ever you have you yes Louisville's the monan town and Chicago railroad center of the nation the monan northern Terminus Chicago brief history as the story of civilization goes but World capital of many things there rain Chicago all our hes are are riding there a rainb over chag there Chicago Indianapolis Louisville the monan links together these three great cities serves a host of fine communities in between monan intersects all the important East West arteries in its part of the land and serves as a great Railway Bridge between Lake Michigan and the Ohio River the monan is proud of its place on the railroad map proud that it has helped the heart of America to grow and to prosper proud that it has kept pace with the increasing Transportation demands of its area proud that it's the hoer line because it's hoer soil the moonan is grounded in the hooer Commonwealth it has helped to build have a nice trip up and down the monan all of us on the railroad hope you did we hope you like this monan country as much as we do we hope too that you saw how the Monon means something to you whether you live in Indiana or some Far Away part of the country we think that the monan means something to you we think it means better handling of your transportation problems better travel when you come into or go through Indiana faster service for your shipments through this Crossroads of America one thing were for sure you will agree with us on this America of ours is the greatest place on Earth and the one thing above all else that makes it great is the fact that so many individuals had a hand in building it up that's the American Secret in a nutshell individual initiative that's why every one of us can be so proud of his own corner of America that's why why I'm so proud of the monan and of Indiana that's why I agree with those boys down at Purdue when they sing that IND theia