November 12, 1924

"The salt air has been replaced by the scent of coal smoke and upturned earth. I have crossed into the heart of the machine. Sttel & Soil. Here the quiet of academia is drowned out by rhythmic thunder of the mills and the tireless labor of the plains.

In Pennsylvania and Ohio, the sky glows orange at midnight from the blast furnaces, while further west, the rich soil of Indiana seems to stretch into eternity. It is a land of calloused hands and iron spires-where the raw materials of the earth are forged into the future of the Republic. The grace of the East is gone, replaced by a beautiful strength. This is the engine room of the nation, and its song is written in soot and sweat.

                                     Eli