The age-herald., 1900-08-05
THE L. & N. RAILROAD
 A GREAT BENEFACTOR
This Corporation Stands, Perhaps, the Most Important Factor in
 General Development.

Through a broad-gauged and progressive policy the Louisville & Nashville Railroad stands today perhaps the most important factor in the general development of all that section of country through which 1t runs than any other agency. Controlling as it does about 5000 miles of main track in the States of Ohio Indiana, Kentucky, Ten nessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida ,and touching the great cities of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans and Atlanta, it's importance as great railroad is at once apparent.
 Railroads as Benefactcrs
 All well-managed railroads are benefac- tors to the general public; they are devel- opers, wealth producers, educators, civil izers. The Louisville & Nashville Is emi- pently so. No other railroad entering Ala bama does so great a business in freight and passenger service as does the Louis vile & Nashville. No other railroad has done so much to encourage the spirit of industrial development. Running through the very center of this State, from north to south, and touching the three impor- tant cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile, with branches east and west, 1t neglects no section of Alabama, but con- stitutes a large part of the wealth of the entire State, and is thus deeply concerned in all that goes to develop and populate and utilize Alabama's natural resources.
 In Alabama
 With over twelve hundred q, ,2OO) miles of track in this State alone, and with vast possessions of other property, enjoying the good will of an intelligent population, which appreciates the power of the great corporation as a developing agency, 1t Is DO wonder that the management of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad is ever so solicftous for the progress and welfare of the State. To every public or private enter prise which means development along its lines it extends a helping hand, appreciat- ing, as 1t does, the fact that whatever Is good fer Alabama is good for the Louisville 6 Nashville Railroad.
 N Money For the Peo; le
 The vast sums of money which the L. 6 N. pays annually to the tax-gatherers of the State, and the monthly pay rolls which 1t meets with such unerring regularity does much towards supporting government and forms most important feature in ouI general commerce. Payday for the l.. & N." is a household expression in Ala bama-
 From Small tO Great
 It is not the purpose of this article to present anything like a historical sketch of the birth, growth and development of the l.. N. Enough to remind the read CT that the short line-the original l.. & N connecting Louisville, Ky, with Nashville Tenn, was built in 1852, and that since that time the company has extended It's lines by purchase, lease and construction, until to day the system comprises actually 5.05I.6 miles. The capital stock of the company i $52. 2.T11620. Its gross earnings last year were t23. 759. 4S5 69; Its operating expenses, $5. .731 6S7.6S. These figures are given merely tc show the magnitude of this great railroad
 Expansion
 It was with a view of more rapid and certain development of the resources of the Birmingham district that few years ago