Cascade Tunnel broadcast - speakers and performers

My previous post provided a timeline for the January 12, 1929, broadcast dedicating the new Cascade Tunnel. Here I will give a little more information about the key participants.

From the NBC studios in New York City, the broadcast opened with announcer Phillips Carlin (1894-1971), who prepped the listening audience by stating "You have read history, tonight you will hear history being made."



Phillips Carlin, primary announcer for the Cascade Tunnel broadcast.



To get the program rolling, Carlin introduced one of the most popular bandleaders of the day, George Olsen (1893-1971). Performing as "George Olsen and His Music," this group had over 100 recordings on Victor records by 1929. Olsen's band played six different songs during the Cascade Tunnel broadcast, plus a musical interlude of just under one minute that might be considered an early attempt at creating the sound effects of a train.



Bandleader George Olsen (G. Maillard Kesslere photo)



George Olsen and His Music led off the musical portion of the evening's entertainment with a popular novelty song of the time, "I Faw Down and Go Boom".

Sharing the primary announcing duties was Graham McNamee (1888-1942). He provided on-site reporting first from the east portal and then (after riding the first passenger train through) the west portal of the Cascade Tunnel. McNamee and Carlin were very well known to radio audiences across the country. The two were often paired to cover major sporting events, such as the World Series. After the first number by George Olsen and His Music, McNamee began describing the features of the new tunnel from his post at Berne, the east portal.



Announcer Graham McNamee, illustrated in "What's On the Air" magazine.



For the railway, GN President Ralph Budd (1879–1962) was the featured representative. He already had some experience speaking on the radio. Budd was a hand-picked protégé of James J. Hill, the man who was most responsible for the building of the Great Northern Railway and its extensive influence in the growth and development of the Pacific Northwest.



Ralph Budd, President of the Great Northern Railway



In his on-air speech made at Scenic, WA, Budd related the story of how he had been in the company of Hill when the Empire Builder himself took his last journey over the line of the GN, just a couple years before his death in 1916. At that time, Hill talked about the challenges of conquering the Cascade Mountains by rail, and spoke of his hopes for future improvements to the line. Budd said in his radio speech that Hill "mentioned a tunnel such as this, and said: 'Some of you will live to see this mountain line eliminated.' It is, therefore, with the greatest satisfaction that I am now able, on behalf of the directors and stockholders of the Great Northern Railway, to dedicate this tunnel to the illustrious founder, the Empire Builder, James J. Hill."

Following Budd's speech, McNamee came back to the microphone and treated the radio audience to the sounds of the Oriental Limited, which was being positioned inside the mouth of the tunnel due to the very cold air outside on that early January night. Leading the first passenger train through the new tunnel that night was electric motor #5003-B, a Class Z-1 locomotive.

 

Back in New York City, George Olsen and His Music played their next selection, "Makin' Whoopee." This tune was featured in Florenz Ziegfield's Broadway production of "Whoopee!" (starring Eddie Cantor), which opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 4, 1928. With "Makin' Whoopee" the second number played on the broadcast, this gives a sense of just how fresh and contemporary the music played on the broadcast was.

At the end of this song, Phillips Carlin introduced J.B Campbell, Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Coincidentally, Campbell was from Spokane, Washington, a city on the line of the Great Northern.



ICC Chairman, J.B. Campbell of Spokane, WA (Library of Congress collection)

Campbell spoke about how he had known James J. Hill, and was certain that Hill would have been greatly satisfied by the opening of the new tunnel. He quoted Hill's famous admonition about railway-building, delivered to John F. Stevens when the GN's transcontinental route through the Rocky Mountains was being set in 1890: “What we want is the best possible line, shortest distance, lowest grades, and least curvature that we can build between the points to be covered.”

Carlin returned to the microphone to introduce Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861-1936), a world-renowned operatic contralto. Although the Cascade Tunnel broadcast found her past the peak of her professional career, Schumann-Heink still possessed a powerful voice and remained a popular performer over the radio nearly to the time of her death. One of many financial victims of the 1929 Wall Street crash, Schumann-Heink found it necessary to continue working beyond the point that some music critics believed she should have retired.

Mme. Schumann-Heink, as illustrated in "What's On the Air" magazine, with an added listing of the three songs she performed on the GN's Cascade Tunnel broadcast.

 

The first song performed by Mme. Schumann-Heink was "Land of Hope and Glory." This song, written by Sir Edward Elgar and A.C. Benson in 1902, is associated with a series of marches by Elgar known as "Pomp and Circumstance" - a melody familiar to anyone who has ever attended a high school graduation.

The continuity for the Cascade Tunnel broadcast indicates there was a 30-second break for station announcements allowed for at this time. The existing recording of the broadcast does not have this break, and may have been condensed at some point.

Next in the broadcast, Phillips Carlin redirected the listeners to Philadelphia, introducing General W.W. Atterbury, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. General Atterbury spoke of the need for progressive railroads in the U.S. to continue building for the future, as the GN had done by constructing the Cascade Tunnel. He then took his turn in congratulating Ralph Budd and all the people associated with the GN.

Gen. W.W. Atterbury, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

 

Mme. Schumann-Heink once again came to the microphone in San Francisco, this time singing "The Home Road" (1917) by John Alden Carpenter and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (1814) by Francis Scott Key. Both of these songs were at the time considered prominent patriotic tunes. The Star-Spangled Banner did not rise to status as the U.S. national anthem until 1931. Although she was Austrian by birth, Schumann-Heink settled in the U.S. later in life, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1908. During The Great War (WW I), Schumann-Heink demonstrated her sincerity in having become an American by entertaining Allied troops and working tirelessly to help sell war bonds - this despite having sons serving in both the German and Allied forces.

Carlin brought George Olsen and His Music back on the air to play four tunes: "The Song I Love," "That Monte Carlo Song," "Doin' the Raccoon," and "A Precious Little Thing Called Love."

By the time the songs had ended, word was received via telegraph that Graham McNamee and the Oriental Limited had finally arrived at Scenic, the west portal of the Cascade Tunnel. McNamee came to the microphone and ad libbed a report on the experience of travelling through the tunnel. He then announced the featured speaker of the broadcast, the Honorable Herbert Hoover (President-elect of the United States), speaking from his home in Washington, D.C.

Herbert Hoover, President-elect of the United States (at the time of the Cascade Tunnel broadcast).

 

As a professional engineer, Hoover (1874-1964) was understanding and appreciative of the enormity of the Cascade Tunnel project, the remarkable feat of constructing it in only three year's time, and the incredible impact of the improved mountain passage on commerce in general and specifically as it benefitted the Great Northern Railway.

In crafting the Cascade Tunnel broadcast, the GN was prepared to allot the President-elect as much as 15 minutes for his talk. As the broadcast was already running over its allotted time, Hoover thankfully only spent about two minutes with his speech.

Phillips Carlin concluded the broadcast by offering listeners a small booklet about the Cascade Tunnel and announcing the commencement of the weekly airing of "Empire Builders." He explained Empire Builders was "a series of programs designed to acquaint the entire country with the great northwest and the rich territory through which the Great Northern Lines run." Carlin told the listeners that the first three episodes of Empire Builders would be about the life of James J. Hill.

Cover of booklet offered to listeners of the Cascade Tunnel dedication broadcast - theirs by writing to the Great Northern Railway, St. Paul, Minnesota.