The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-27
RAN AND CROssTIE.

The Washington correspondent Of a
Philadelphia paper recently took a
trip through Florida, and writes as fol-
lows The fashionable season in Flor
ida opened last week The limited ex-
press trains have begun 10 run from
New York, and according to the papers
here the accomodations Of the Coast
Line on its fast train have been engaged
as far ahead as Jan. 80. The probabin-
ties are, however, that the Coast Line,
which is made up of the Pennsylvania
railroad, the Richmond and Fredericks-
burg, the Atlantic Coast Line proper,
and the Plant system, will provide ac-
comm odations even on it's fastest trains
for all that apply. The Atlantic Coast
Line proper which runs from Richmond
to Charleston, has recently purchased six
new monster locomotives in PHILADELPHIA
to accommodate this passenger service.
Each engine has 6-feet drivers and weighs
12l, 900 pounds. They are built to carry
ten cars each at the rate of forty miles
an hour, with stops They will be used
on the through trains to Florida The
grades of the Coast Line are now so low
as to enable trains to be run at seventy
miles an hour with safety. One of the
fast trains ran recently from Washington
to Jacksonville, a distance of 7S0 miles
in $50 minutes and on part of the way
it went ninety-six miles in ninety-three
minutes. The limited train on the road
is equal 20 anything of the kind in the
United States. being made up of Pull
man cars lighted by electricity, each
train with a library. writing desks, bar
Der shop, bath rooms. and all the mod
ern improvements. Even the baggage car
is furnished with sleeping berths for the
crew. Each one Of these trains is val
ued a 100000 When I first came to
Florida each one Of the railroads making
up what is now known as the Coast Line
ran its portion of the road separately,
and it took thirty-seven hours on the
fastest train to come from New York to
Jacksonville. The immense improvement
under the consolidated service accounts
largely for the advancement of Florida.
Formerly the roads all over the south
were short ones and separately managed.
Under the system of consolidation by
which the service has been so greatly
improved the south has made rapid
strides. Much of the credit for this is due
to Mr.. II. B. Plant, New York man,
who has invested S15,000, 900 in Florida
This special train service from New York
was begun under his Inspiration in 1886
Mr.. Plant is another illustration of the
opportunities that offer TO an energetic
man in this country. In 1s43 Mr.. Plant
was employed by an express company
to take charge of the conveyance of gold
bullion from New York to the Philadel-
phia mint He made the trip three times
a week, carrying gold in sacks suspended
on his shoulders. At the breaking out
of the war the express with which he
was employed withdrew from the south
ern field and Mr. Plant esta blished the
Southern Express Company. He now
controls / 400 miles of railroad in the
Plant system, chiefly in Florida,
and has accumulated very large for
tune And yet when he was at work
carrying gold in sacks on his shoulders
from New York to the Philadelphia mint
he had nothing more than what he could
save out OF small salary paid to him
for that work