The Life of Henry Bradley Plant / Founder and President of the Plant System of Railroads and Steamships and Also of the Southern Express Company

by G. Hutchinson Smyth

CHAPTER XIII.

Plant Day at the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895 at Atlanta, Georgia—Preparations for its Celebration—Impressive Observance of Mr. Plant’s Birthday at the Aragon Hotel—Mr. Plant’s Remarks in Acknowledging Presentation of Gifts.

THE Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition was created through the zeal and enterprise of a number of the patriotic citizens of the city of Atlanta and of the State of Georgia, and, on the 18th day of September, 1895, when its doors were opened to the world, naught but words of admiration and praise could be spoken for the men, who, through the devotion of their energies, time and money, had made it in every way a success.

There are already extant records of the speeches of the prominent men who, from the Auditorium platform in the Exposition grounds, addressed the public on that day and proclaimed to the world the reasons which actuated the creation of this Exposition, not only for the advancement of the mercantile interests of the southern section of the country, but as well for the education of its people.

While it is, therefore, futile to reproduce here the history of the Exposition, it might be well to say that as far back as December, 1894, Mr. H. B. Plant was called upon by a committee of gentlemen representing the Cotton States and International Exposition Company and urged to make an exhibit at the Exposition. In recognition of his acquiescence, and the erection of a building by the Plant System of Railways and Steamship Lines, in which was placed a most creditable exhibit from the sections of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida traversed by the Plant System of Railways, the Exposition Company determined that a day should be set apart, to be known as “Plant System Day,” and as the founder and president of the System, Mr. Henry B. Plant, was to celebrate the seventy-sixth anniversary of his birth on October 27, 1895, it was decided that in his honor the two events should be commemorated as a unit. This plan was impracticable, as the 27th fell on Sunday, but that the celebration should be as closely connected as possible, the day following, October 28th, was named by the Committee and announced to the public as “Plant System Day” at the Cotton States and International Exposition.

From the time of this announcement until the day of the festivities, preparations were made to make the occasion in all ways enjoyable. Mr. Plant, accompanied by his family, arrived in Atlanta on Saturday, and on the succeeding morning, the seventy-sixth anniversary of his birth, was greeted by the following article, written by Mr. Clark Howell, and published in the Constitution. It served as an index to a time replete with pleasure, and as a welcome to Mr. H. B. Plant, President, and to the Plant System in Atlanta, Georgia, October 27 and 28, 1895.

From the Atlanta Constitution, October 27, 1895.

“No more important day will be celebrated during the present Cotton States and International Exposition than to-morrow, which has been set aside in honor of Mr. Henry B. Plant, the head of the great Plant railway and steamship lines. The importance of the day will spring not only from the successful life of which Mr. Plant is an example, but from the fact that above any other man living he represents the great industrial revolution which has come over the face of the Southern States, and which marks the success of free over slave labor.

“To-day Mr. Plant might be called an international developer. Of this, however, the story of his life will be the best witness. To-morrow he will have completed his seventy-sixth year, forty-one of which have been spent in the South, during which time the twin powers of steam and electricity have wrought wonders in the conditions of life. To-day he is the president of a railway system which embraces twelve different corporations, and whose mileage extends to 1941, with a list of employees numbering 5506. He is also president of the Plant steamship and steamboat lines, the one covering the coasts of the Gulf and going to Cuba and Jamaica, the other skirting the coasts of the North, running from Boston and along Nova Scotia to Cape Breton and the maritime provinces of Canada. In addition to these interests, he is still president of the Southern and the Texas Express Companies, which do a business as express forwarders over 24,412 miles of railway; have lines in fifteen States, employing 6,808 men, and using 1,463 horses and 886 wagons. As a complement to the handling of railroads, and the sailing of ships, and the expressing of freightage, Mr. Plant has erected four winter resort hotels in Florida, one of which, the great Tampa Bay Hotel, is probably the largest winter resort hotel of its kind on the continent. It will thus be seen that this great man, who is to be the toast at the Exposition to-morrow, does service under three flags, those of America, England, and Spain.

“Such developments as these are enough to make his life history of interest to the old and of profit to the young, as showing the vast possibilities which our country affords, and the immense rewards which come to industry, tact, and intelligence.

“The coming of Mr. Plant to the Southern States really marked the opening of Florida to the people of this country as a winter resort. It was in 1853, the year of Mr. Plant’s arrival, that he visited Florida for the sake of his invalid wife, when access could only be had by steamboat, by the St. John’s River. The mild climate of that State prolonged Mrs. Plant’s life for years. He saw the necessity of railroads in the State, and it was in this way that he began buying stock in various Florida and Georgia railroads, though he did not engage in any railroad enterprise as a manager until 1879. In that year Mr. Plant purchased the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad of Georgia, and subsequently reorganized the company as the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railway, of which he is still the head. The Savannah and Charleston Railway was next purchased in 1880, and the story of the completion of the Plant System—now extending to Charleston on the one side, to Montgomery, Alabama, on the other, covering Florida and forming a perfect network—would be to repeat the story of railroad development in that entire section.

“In these enterprises it was the purpose of Mr. Plant and his associates to extend and add to the various properties, and they believed this could best be accomplished under a single organization with ample powers. With this object in view, several of his associates being residents of Connecticut, the birth-place of Mr. Plant, a charter was obtained in 1882 from the legislature of that State, and the Plant Investment Company organized. Mr. Plant became president, and remained such to the present time. Among his associates were W. T. Walters and B. F. Newcomer, of Baltimore; E. B. Haskell, of Boston; Henry M. Flagler and Morris K. Jessup, of New York, and Lorenzo Blackstone, Henry Sanford, Lynde Harrison, H. P. Hoadley, and G. H. Tilley, of Connecticut. Since the formation of the Plant Investment Company, several properties have been acquired by purchase. In 1885, they bought the South Florida Railroad, at the time running only between Sanford and Kissimmee, which was changed from narrow to broad gauge, with an extension of the line to Port Tampa, Florida, which is the port of entry for the West India fast mail steamers (Plant Steamship Line) between Port Tampa and Havana, Cuba. Subsequently the line was extended north from Lakeland to a connection with the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railway (Gainsville division) at High Springs, thus completing the line from Charleston, South Carolina, to Port Tampa, Florida. Thereafter the company acquired, in 1887, the Brunswick and Western Railroad, between Brunswick and Albany, Georgia, via. Waycross, which road was rebuilt; in 1889, the Alabama Midland Railway, from Montgomery, Alabama, to Bainbridge, Georgia; and in 1892, the Silver Springs, Ocala, and Gulf Railroad, extending from Ocala to Homosassa and Inverness, Florida. In 1893, the Tampa and Thonotosassa Railroad was constructed, from Tampa to Thonotosassa, and the Winston and Bone Valley Railroad was purchased to accommodate the people of the phosphate mining districts. In 1894, the Abbeville Southern Railway, from Abbeville, Alabama, to a junction of the line of the Alabama Midland Railway, was built. The system has been extended in 1895 by the purchase of the Florida Southern Railway and the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad, both narrow gauge roads, and preparations are now being made to change them to standard gauge.

“In addition to the railway properties enumerated, Mr. Plant established two lines of steamboats: one, in 1880, to run between Sanford and Jacksonville, which was discontinued upon the completion of the railway between these two points; the other on the Chattahoochie River, known as the People’s Line, plying between Columbus and Bainbridge, Georgia, and Apalachicola, Florida. In 1886, he established the Plant Steamship Line for regular service between Port Tampa, Key West, and Havana, Cuba, under contract with the United States Post Office Department, for the carriage of the Key West and Havana mails, and for occasional service between Port Tampa and the island of Jamaica, with regular service between Port Tampa and Mobile, and Port Tampa and points on the Manatee River.

“Subsequently the line of the Atlantic, Canada, and Plant Steamship Line, Limited, running between Boston and Halifax, was acquired by purchase, and chartered under the Dominion Government as the Canada, Atlantic, and Plant Steamship Company, Limited. In 1893, the North Atlantic Line of steamers was added to the line through purchase, and the route between Boston, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island is now operated by the company of which he is at the head.

“The Plant Investment Company had widened the gauges of its various roads to the standard measure, has organized the fast mail steamships between Port Tampa and Havana, and has in many other ways developed the country and revolutionized the face of nature in that section. A reading of the names of the directors of the Plant Investment Company shows that through Mr. Plant other men, such as Mr. Flagler, have been led to investments in the Gulf States, which are of incalculable value, and which will perpetually influence the destiny of the South.

“Without entering into the statistical and prosaic relation of railroad names and technical details, it may be said Mr. Plant stands foremost as a developer, and that while honor is due him for the creation of so much wealth, for the integrity of his life, for the energy with which he has built up the country, yet it is as a public benefactor and as one who has contributed vastly to the possibility of such an Exposition being held in the South, that he will be spoken of to-morrow. When he came here, in 1854, he found the country wedded to a slave-labor system, which necessarily meant a purely agricultural condition, and under which it would be impossible to develop manufacturing and other corporative industries. Without having been connected in any way with the war or with the politics which preceded it or followed after it, yet he was the pioneer of that new business which the war made possible, and which marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new. His career is a remarkable example of what can be accomplished by untiring industry and indomitable will. The people of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama cheerfully acknowledge the great obligations under which they have been placed by the labors of this energetic and capable man.

“In recent years he has made his home in New York City, spending each summer in Branford, Connecticut. He is a member of the Union League Club and of the New England Society of New York, a man of commanding appearance, genial of nature, dignified and courteous of manner, and as modest as he is competent.

“Such a man needs no eulogy. His works speak for him. Such a people as those of the South need no incentive to recognize worth wherever they see it. Mr. Plant will be royally received to-morrow, and in the closing years of his life he may well rest satisfied that a people for whom he has done so much will not easily forget it, and that his name will be remembered as one of the men who have served their time and generation, and who deserve the laurel wreath of immortality.

“Forty-one years of his eventful life have been spent in the South; and his great fortune has been made in the South. How many important volumes of history are crowded into those forty-one years! Within that period this man of affairs has seen four million slaves emancipated; he has witnessed the greatest war of modern times; he has practically witnessed the birth of those twin powers—steam and electricity—whose combined forces have created new conditions of life; he has been an eye-witness to the tearing down and the upbuilding of States and the adjustment of the American people to a new environment. And yet, amid all this kaleidoscopic change, this quiet business man has gone on adding to his fortune in peace and in panic, in storm and in sunshine, and his potential force in Southern development will be fittingly recognized and crowned to-morrow, in a day set apart among the great days of the Exposition in his honor.

“What superb judgment and business sagacity make up the background of this picture! Mr. Plant has never sought or held office. His name is not on the roster of military heroes, nor is it emblazoned on the roll of those who have won renown in the evolution of statecraft. But in that great battle of rebuilding States and industrial life in the South he stands to-day pre-eminent. Behind him, and loyally supporting him, is a busy industrial army of 12,639 men, and, counting their families, an army of 60,000 people.

“The lessons of Mr. Plant’s life are simple and should be an inspiration to young men throughout America. He has avoided politics and speculation; he has never bought nor built a railroad to sell; he has never wrecked a property in order to purchase it. He lives, and his companies live, within their income. He is scrupulously exact in keeping his engagements, and always acts within the limits of that truth, which he often quotes, ‘It is easier to promise than it is to perform.’

“The lesson of his life, which the occasion justifies in emphasizing, is this: Faith in the South and her possibilities is the basis of his great fortune. When others have faltered he has gone on investing the earnings of his properties in the South. In his loyal friendship to the South, and his unwavering faith in her greatness and her coming glory, he has proven his faith by his work.

“Mr. Plant is one of those remarkable men who master all conditions and create environment. He is a builder—a creator. A whole State blossoms at the touch of his magic wand. Thousands and tens of thousands bless him that he uses and does not bury his talents. Long may he live—an example to all young men, an inspiration to investors, a true, a loyal, and a royal friend of the South.”

Surrounded by many of his friends and associates, who had assembled to pay their respects, Mr. Plant’s anniversary was most auspiciously ushered in by the foregoing remarks of a representative of the Atlanta people. But it yet needed the remembrance of the officers and employees of the Plant System of Railway and Steamship Lines and of the Southern Express Company to testify the admiration and esteem in which he was held by the men who served under him. This tribute on the part of the officers and employees was an unexpected pleasure to Mr. Plant. In referring to the event, the Atlanta Constitution published the following account of the presentations and of Mr. Plant’s response:

From the Atlanta Constitution, October 28, 1895.

“Mr. H. B. Plant, President of the Plant System of Railway and Steamship Lines, was complimented yesterday as few great railroad kings have ever been complimented by the men who compose the vast army of workers under their direction.

“It was the seventy-sixth birthday of the well-known giant of the Southern railway world, and he was presented with rich and rare tokens of the love, honor and affection which his employees bear him.

“It was a happy day all round, and the Plant people fairly revelled in the privilege of paying such becoming tribute to the man who has done so much for the Southern States.

“As for Mr. Plant himself, he declared that it was certainly one of the happiest moments of his life, and the brightest, happiest birthday he ever enjoyed.

“At a quarter to ten o’clock Mr. Plant was notified that a number of prominent officials of his various systems of transportation lines were waiting to see him at his private parlors at the Aragon.

“He met them, and was informed that they wanted to join with him in the name of every employee of the lines to exchange the congratulations and compliments of the season of his birthday. Mr. Plant at once summoned his family and friends, who are with him here, and soon Mrs. Plant, Mrs. M. A. Wood, Dr. G. Durrant, Rev. Dr. Smythe, and Vice-President M. F. Plant were in the parlor. There were also present the following friends and associates in the railway and express business:

“R. G. Erwin, Vice-President and General Counsel, Plant System; M. J. O’Brien, Vice-President and General Manager, Southern Express Company; D. F. Jack, Assistant to the President; B. Dunham, General Superintendent, Plant System of Railways; J. W. Fitzgerald, Superintendent, Plant Steamship Line; B. W. Wrenn, Passenger Traffic Manager, Plant System; F. B. Papy, General Freight Agent, Plant System; Hon. F. G. duBignon, General Counsel; T. W. Leary, Assistant General Manager, Southern Express Company; G. H. Tilley, Secretary and Treasurer, Southern Express Company; F. Q. Brown, President, Florida Southern Railway; Hon. S. G. McLendon, Counsel, Plant System of Railways; O. M. Sadler, Superintendent Southern Express Company, Piedmont Division; H. C. Fisher, Superintendent Southern Division, Southern Express; C. T. Campbell, Superintendent Southern Express Company, Central Division; W. W. Hulbert, Superintendent Georgia Division, Southern Express Company; Mark J. O’Brien, Assistant Superintendent Southern Express Company, Central Division; F. DeC. Sullivan, New York; E. M. Williams, New York; W. S. Chisholm, member of the firm of Erwin, DuBignon, & Chisholm, Attorneys for the Plant System of Railroads, Savannah.

“The room was a scene of rare beauty, there being on every side a huge bank of flowers, fragrantly speaking the affectionate salute of the employees of Mr. Plant and members of his family. On one side was a beautiful vase of American Beauty roses, sent from the main office of the Plant System in New York, by the employees there.

“Appropriate inscriptions were embroidered in letters of gold on the ribbons of red, white, and blue tied about the long stems of the roses. On the other side was a bank of carnations, chrysanthemums, lilies, and roses from H. B. Plant, Jr. This pleased Mr. Plant greatly, coming from a little son of Mr. M. F. Plant, a grandson of the distinguished railroad magnate.

“On a pretty table in the centre was a huge and gorgeous silver cup—a loving-cup—which was presented to Mr. Plant by Mr. S. G. McLendon, on behalf of the employees of the railway department of his great System. It is a most beautiful and elaborate solid silver cup, and will hold two gallons of champagne. It is, perhaps, the finest and most artistic piece of work ever made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, of New York. The idea conveyed in the loving-cup is a most beautiful one. The cup has two large handles, and around the festal board is turned from hand to hand, each guest taking a quaff, the cup being held by two persons. The cup never touches the board until it has made the round of the guests.

“This cup, presented by the Plant Railway System employees, is handsomely engraved, and bears on one side this inscription: ‘The Railway Employees of the Plant System to H. B. Plant, President.’ On the reverse side is the date, ‘October 27, 1895.’

“In presenting this beautiful token, Mr. S. G. McLendon, attorney for the Plant System at Thomasville, read the following testimonial on behalf of the employees:

“‘Mr. Plant:—The employees of the Plant System of Railways extend to you their sincere and heartfelt congratulations upon this, your birthday.

“‘As a slight token of their affectionate and loyal regard, they present you this loving-cup, filled with their best wishes for your continued health and strength. It was no idle fancy which prompted the selection of this modest testimonial; its name aptly marks the impulse which prompted the gift, and which it but inadequately measures by its size.

“‘The author of a great railway system, such as that which bears your name, must be to all mankind a genuine benefactor; but to you belongs, in truth, an honor and distinction far more precious.

“‘To promote the well-being of one fellow-man, to upbuild the material interests of great and growing States, and to see new life, hope, and promise rise up with smiling face and outstretched, laden hands, is indeed enough to fulfill the measure of any ordinary ambition; but when to the gratification which springs from such a consciousness is added the knowledge that those who labored with and under you in these great enterprises, whose part it was to follow and obey, are each and all as loyal and devoted to you personally as you have been, through many years and trials, to the great interests confided to your care, satisfaction must ripen into that contentment which only comes when the “softer green of our better selves” is in the ascendant.

“‘It is the earnest prayer of the employees that for many, many years yet to come your life and activity may be spared to the great properties which owe their existence and prosperity to your foresight and sagacity, and as the seasons come and go, they crave for themselves no higher privilege than to refill this cup with renewed affection and esteem.

“‘For the employees of the Plant System of Railways.

“‘B. Dunham,
“‘General Superintendent.’

“The employees of the steamship lines of the Plant System sent a handsome and perfect combination compass, barometer, and thermometer as a fitting birthday present to Mr. Plant. Hon. Fleming duBignon, General Counsel for the Plant System, read the following letter in making the presentation on behalf of the men who manage this branch of Mr. Plant’s vast business:

“‘Atlanta, Georgia, October 27, 1895.

“‘Mr. H. B. Plant, President.—Dear Sir: The love and confidence of associates, neighbors and friends are to be valued more than silver and gold. In this life the point set to bound one’s career ought to be the esteem of his fellow-men. For such an honor good men strive in all the protean forms of earthly contest. To gain this reward, to touch the dust-covered goal with a glowing chariot wheel, is worthy of the loftiest ambition. No human being can possess any greater glory than the estimation of the people among whom he lives.

“‘Acting upon the principle that labor conquers all things, and that time will bring its own rewards, you struck out for yourself into the great ocean of busy life around you and struggled heroically with its billows. You were strong and worthy, and your fellow-men were not slow in making the discovery. Your unbounded faith in the future of this marvellous section, coupled with your genius and intelligent direction, have advanced the several States into which your enterprises now extend into commanding positions of commercial superiority. Your ships have not drifted like dead sea-weeds upon the tops of sleepy waves, but, laden with the rich treasures of this and other climes, have travelled the wide seas over as a public benefaction. The mind of man cannot measure, nor can the tongue of man describe, the practical good your energies have accomplished. The Plant System, consisting of many thousands of miles of telegraph, express, railway, and steamship lines, founded by your genius, is a monument to your memory more lasting than brass and more enduring than marble.

“‘Concealing quick feelings under an appearance of reserve, you have never deemed it a weakness to give sway to the influence of loving and sympathetic emotions. Your benevolences, therefore, have made life beautiful to many people. Associated with you for so long a time, it is natural that we, the employees of the Plant Steamship Line, should feel a filial pride in the success of your varied and various undertakings. We are proud of the history you have made. We come to-day, therefore, to bring you our greetings, to manifest our love and admiration, and to express the hope that your useful and distinguished life may be spared many years to your country, family, and friends.

“‘As an evidence of our affection and respect, we herewith present you, as a fitting birthday gift, this compass, commonly used for directing and ascertaining the course of ships over a waste of waters. This compass is fitted with a magnetic needle which points ever to the north, enabling the tempest-tossed mariner to hold his way over the stormy sea when there is neither cape nor headland, sun, moon, nor stars, nor any mark in the heavens or on the earth to tell him when or where or how to steer.

“‘We pray that the star of destiny, like this mysterious needle, will ever guide and help you to keep an unfaltering step along the dangerous crags and treacherous precipices which beset the pathway of every man, and that your life may be long and useful “in the land that the Lord, thy God, giveth thee.”

“‘Truly yours,
“‘J. W. Fitzgerald.

“‘On behalf of the employees of the Plant Steamship Line.’

“The Southern Express men presented their president with a handsome marine glass.

“The following testimonial, read by T. W. Leary, Assistant General Manager of the Southern Express Company, which was organized by Mr. Plant in 1853, explains the sentiment conveyed with the gift:

“‘Atlanta, Georgia, October 27, 1895.

“‘Mr. H. B. Plant, President Southern Express Company.—Dear Sir: The employees of the Southern Express Company extend to you on this anniversary of your birthday cordial greetings, fraught with sentiments of highest respect and esteem, inspired by the kindly courtesy and impartial consideration which have ever marked your intercourse with them.

“‘Regarding you not alone as an official superior, but also as a personal friend, sensible to their welfare and the true relationship of the employer and the employee, exemplified by your long career in friendly association with those with whom you have called around you in the conduct of the company’s affairs, they are glad to avail themselves of this auspicious occasion to manifest the interest it inspires within them by an offering in token of their appreciation and good will.

“‘It is, therefore, the privilege and pleasure of the undersigned, in behalf of the employees of the Southern Express Company, to present to you the accompanying testimonial, coupled with heartfelt wishes that as things viewed through its lenses are brought clearer and closer to vision, so with each succeeding return of the day this glass commemorates, may you see the nearer fruition of the unremitting labor of years devoted to the upbuilding of those important enterprises with the history of which your name is indissolubly connected.

“‘Commending this souvenir to your acceptance with the united hope of those from whom it comes that continued health, strength, and success may be granted you in the future, we are, yours faithfully,

“‘F. L. Cooper, “‘W. A. Dewees, “‘W. M. Shoemaker, “‘Committee.’

“After the above letters were read, Mr. Plant addressed those present in substance as follows:

“‘Gentlemen of the Plant System of Railroads and Steamship Lines and of the Southern Express Company, and my Friends: I thank you sincerely for the beautiful presents which you have given me on this the anniversary of my birth, and for the loving words of congratulation which accompany them.

“‘While it reached my ears that there was to be some observance of the occasion, I am wholly unprepared for the magnificence of the gifts and the demonstration of fidelity and affection with which they are accompanied, and I am, therefore, unable to do justice to myself in expressing to you the appreciation I feel. I speak from a full heart, and can more than fill this beautiful loving-cup with affection and esteem for you, and for the employees whose feelings towards me are manifested not only by this testimonial, but as well by their constant and untiring devotion to the trusts confided to them through many years. To them, in a large measure, is due such success as has crowned my efforts in railway construction and management, and I now take pleasure in making this acknowledgment, and in assuring them of my continued confidence in them, and of my gratitude to them; without their unflagging efforts no measure of success could have been achieved. I look to them all with the fall assurance that the future, with their assistance, will result in still greater accomplishments in our railway enterprises.

“‘This compass, the gift of the employees of the Plant Steamship Line, brings to my mind the thought that, whatever may have been my mistakes in life, I have always had one aim, which, like the needle, though oscillating and varying at times in some slight degree, pointed ever to one end, and that was to endeavor to do what was right and just.

“‘Our steamships were the children of my later years, and they, with the faithful employees who operate them, are, and shall continue to be, very near to my heart.

“‘The gift of the employees of the Southern Express Company brings to my mind pictures of the past. The express business was my first love, and I see here present those who were with me in troublous times, and bore with me the heat and burden of the fight. Their affection and loyalty have sustained me in many an anxious moment, and the knowledge that I had around me those upon whom I could count in every peril has enabled me to achieve some measure of success. To extend to them my thanks for all that they have been to me and done for me would be idle. They know how I feel towards them, and I am sure I know how they feel towards me.

“‘I wish to say to you all that I am more apt to express my feelings in acts than in words; many of the employees of our several companies have been with me so long that they have become as members of my family. I feel towards all the employees that in a business sense they are members of my family and I want them to feel that they bear this relation to me.

“‘I see with us to-day one to whom I feel I owe much; I refer to Dr. G. Durrant, of New York. I had a severe attack of illness last May, but did not know until long after it was over how near to death I was. To his untiring and faithful attention, both as a good friend and as a skilled physician, I owe my recovery, perhaps my life, and it gives me pleasure to take this occasion to express my confidence in him and my thanks to him.

“‘These beautiful flowers on my left came to me from my little grandson, and I bespeak in his behalf from you all the love and affection which you have shown to me, and express the hope that in days to come, when I am no more with you, he may be one of yourselves and a co-worker in the enterprises which all the employees of our companies sustain by their energies and their work.

“‘These flowers on my right come from those at our New York office, some of whom cannot be with us to-day in person, but who are with us in spirit and love and testify their memory of the occasion by this beautiful remembrance.

“‘Mr. and Mrs. Frank Q. Brown, of Boston, have presented me with this cane, which I appreciate very highly, but will hope that I may not need to have immediate use for it, though if that time should come it will be a staff upon which I will gladly lean. Mr. Brown is now one of us, and though he has but lately come among us, I am sure you will all welcome the President of the Florida Southern Railway in our ranks.’ [Applause.]

“It was the happiest of seasons for Mr. Plant, and his face beamed brightly with the light of profound gladness.

“All day there was a stream of distinguished callers, who congratulated him on the day with good wishes for many returns. Letters and telegrams and cablegrams were read, all bearing the hearty congratulations of friends and employees.”