The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-09
SEEN IN SOUTH florida.
Correspondent Describes an Inter
estIng Trip by Rail md Water.

Correspondent Describes an Inter-
estIng Trip by Rail and Water.
Gambler, Fla. Sept. 7.-Leaving Lakeland
over the main line of the South Florida
railroad we are soon going westward at
rapid rate; the train service on this
road is Of the highest order and the road
is kept in a splendid condition so that
travel is a luxury. Thirty minutes run
and we enter Plant City, which is a beau
tiful town. situated on high level plateau
and is tastefully laid OFF and well built.
In the center Of the town is a handsome
| park of natural forest timber which adds
greatly to the attractiveness of the
| place.
Splendid residences, substantial bust
ness houses and elegant churches are
seen in Plant City. and make IT one of the
| solid towns of South Florida. 1t is sur
rounded by a fine farming country, and
| before the freeze was a heavy shipping
point for oranges. but the large packing
/ houses are closed and silent, and like
| Othello, the orange packers occupation
is gone, but the groves, as elsewhere, are
springing up, and in few years Plant
City will again be busy shipping the gol-
den fruit.
The next point of interest is seffner,
| which is a prosperous village and is stu
| ated in a good section. This is a good
| fruit growing country and large quanti-
ties of strawberries are shipped from Self
ner
Leaving Seffner in a few minutes we
enter Tampa, the Magic City of the Gulf,
| and well she deserves the name; here all
! is activity and life, and the city is spread
| ing out into the woods. An Old resident,
living near town, who was on the train,
said he had to keep constantly moving
| to keep the town from growing over him.
Tampa is destined to be the metropolis
of South Florida. The cigar manufac-
| turing business here Is something i'm
| mense; factory follows factory, and new
| additions are being constantly added to
| the city, and even the suburbs are taking
on city airs.
To a person not accustomed to such a
| population as Tampa has it would seem
| a strange place. one would imagine
they were in Havana or Barcelona The
1 Cuban population is rapidly increasing,
| and Ybor City is entirely Cuban town.
| Their clatter of tongues sound strange
| " to us crackers from the interior. on
| every hand new buildings are in process
| of construction, from the humble cigar
| makers cottage to the immense three
and four story factories. The railroad
| traffic here is very heavy, and hundreds
| of cars from all over the country are to
be seen standing in the yards.
on the west bank or the Hillsborough
| river is the magnificent Tampa Bay no.
| tel H. b. Plant has here erected a
grand and costly memorial to his name,
and in years to come, when the present
| generation has passed away. this SPLEEN
did structure, built and furnished at
enormous cost, will stand a fitting nonu-
ment to the public spirited man who has
done so much for Florida. Tampa owes
a great deal to II. B. Plant and the
great system of which he is the head.
From a small hamlet it has grown in a
few years to a city of 1900 inhabitants,
and increasing at a rapid rate.
Next comes Port Tampa City. which is
of itself a large and growing place. The
town is built on the level pine lands that
border old Tampa Bay, and the town is
tastefully laid out, and the buildings Of
the most substantial character. Cigar
manufacturing Is in the lead here also.
At this place is the splendid cigar factory
of Lozanos Pendas & Co., employing near
~ LOCO cigar makers. Their factory is an
immense structure. Old Tampa Bay upon
the shore of which the town is built is a
magnificent sheet of water and for beauty
this bay is unexcelled. But there is still
anotherptown one mile further out, built
over the water
Port Tampa consists Of the wharves and
docks Of the Plant system, and the large
depot and warehouses are all built on pill
ing over the waters of the bay. Built out
over the clear, sparkling waters is The
Inn a handsome hotel. splendidly fitted
up and during the tourist season is well
patronized. The general offices of the rail-
road company, the custom house and a
large wharf frontage on deep water make
almost a town OF themselves
Port Tampa Is an attractive place and