The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27

P g7lIioh being held IN the south, that he
WI De spoken Of tomorrow. When he
came here in. 1884 he found the country
weddeq TO slave labor system, which ne
S5gssdflIy meant purely agricultural con-
dltion, and under which it would be i'm
possible 10 develop manufacturing and
other cooperative industries. Without hav-
ing been connected in any way with the
war or with the politics which preceded il
or followed after it, yet he was the pioneer
OF that new business which the war made
posslnie and which marks the end of the
ola ana the beginning Of the new His ca
feer IS remarkable example of what can
De accomplished by untiring industry and
4I1,lomitaolc will The people of Georgia,
FLORIDA. South Carolina and Alabama
eneerEully acknowledge the great Obliga-
lions under which they have been placed
~ the labors Of this energetic and capable
IN these enterprises it was the purpose
OF Mr.. Plant and his associates to extend
ana adq TO the various properties. and
tney believed this could best be accom-
pnsned under single organization with
ample powers. With this object in view.
several OF MS associates being residents of
SOhuecllcut the birthplace of Mr.. Plant,
a cnafIer was obtained in 1852 from the
legislature OF that state, and the rant In
Eestment Company organized Mr. Plant
became president and remains such to ,Ae
present TINE. Among his associates We're
W. T. WATERS and 3. +. Newcomer of
baltimore, e. 3. Haskell of Boston Henry
n. tlasler and Morris X. Jessup of New
York, and Lorenzo Blackstone Henry
SANFORD, Lynde Harrison II. p Hoadley
ana u. H. Tilley of Connecticut Since the
formation of the Plant Investment Com
pany several properties have been ac-
4ulred by purchase. In 1885 they bought
tle south Florida railroad, at the time
running only between Sanford and ks
slmmee, which was changed from narrow
20 broad gauge with an extension of the
nhe 70 Port Tampa, Fla, which is the
port OF entry for the West India fast mail
steamers (Plant Steamship Ijne) between
tort Iampa and Havana, Cuba. SuNse-
QuentlN wa Ta1
Lakeland to connection with the Savan-
nan, Florida and Western railway (t4aines-
NIlle dlVlslon), at High Springs, thus COM
RleLhg the line from Charleston, 5. c., to
Fort Tampa, Fla. Thereafter the com
pany acquired, in 1887 the Brunswick and
western railroad, between Brunswick and
Albany, Ga, via Waycross, which road
was rebuilt; in 1889, the Alabama Midland
railway, from Montgomery, Ala, to Balm
Drluge, "a, and in 1892 the Silver Springs
Ocala and Gulf railroad. extending from
Ocala TO Homosassa and Inverness Ella
IN 1898 the Tampa and Thonotosassa rail-
r0ad was constructed, from Tampa to
Ihonotosassa, and the Winston and Bone
valley railroad was purchased to accom-
modate the people of the phosphate min
ing ulstf1cts In 1894 the AbbeVille South
ern railway, from Abbeville, Ala, to a
junction of the line of the Alabama Mid
iand railway, was built The system has
peen extended in 1895 by the purchase of
Lhe FLORIDA Southern railway and the San
FORD and st. Petersburg railroad both
naIIQW. gauge roads, and preparations are
ard gauge ''''''''
In addition to the railway properties
enumerated Mr.. Plant established two
illes 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 ChattahOochee river
known as the Peoples line, plying be-
tween Columbus and Bainbridge, Ga,
lished the Plant steamship line for reg
ular service between Port Tampa, Key
west and Havana, Cuba, under contract
with the United States postoffice de-
partment for the carriage of the Key
West and Havana mails, and for occa-
sional service between Port Tampa and
the Island of Jamaica, with regular SER
vice between Port Tampa and Mobile
and Port Tampa and points on the Man
aztec river.
Subsequently. the line OF the Atlantic,
Canada and f'lauE Steamship Line, Linn
lied, running between Boston and Hall
fax, was acquired by purchase and char.
tered under the dominion government as
the Canada, Atlantic and Plant Steam
ship Company, Limited. In 1898 the
North Atlantic line of steamers was adj
ded to the line through purchase and
the route between Boston, Cape Breton
and Prince Edward Island Is now OPP
Grated by the company of which he is
at the head,
Having brought so many of these rail-
roads under control he organized the
Plant Investment Company with a large
HUMMER OF NEW England capitalists as
his colleagues. Among these were w. T.
Walters and b. +. Newcomer Of Balti-
more; e. B. Haskell of Boston; Henry
NJ. Flagler and Morris K. Jessup of New
York; Lorenzo Blackstone, Henry Sam
ford, Lynde Harrison, H. p. HOadley and
G.. II. Tilley of Connecticut. This COM
pany has widened the gauges of the va
rious roads to the standard measure,
his 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 In
vestment Company as above given,
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 per
petually influence the destiny of the
south.
II. recent years he has made his home
in New York city, spending each summer
in Branford, Conn. He is member of the
Union League Club and the New England
Society of New York, man of command
ing appearance, genial of nature, dignified
and courteous in manner, and as modest
as he is competent.
In 1912 he married Miss Ellen Eliza
beth Blackstone, daughter OF the Hon.
James Blackstone, by whom he had his
only child, Morton F. Plant, who is as
ISOLATED with his father as his assistant
and who is vice president of the various
institutions of which his father is presi-
dent. Mr.. Plants first wife died in 1861
ret Josephine LOughman only daughter Of
Martin Loughman of New York city.
Such a man needs no eulogy. His works
speak for him. Such people as those
Of the south need no incentive to recognize
worth wherever they see it. Mr.. Plant
will be royalty received tomorrow and in
the closing years of his life he may well
rest satisfied that a people for whom
lie has done so much will not easily for
get it and that his name will be remem-
bered as one of the men who have served
their time and generation and who de-
serve the laurel wreath of immortality.
Forty-one years of his eventfuI 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 mod
ern times; he has practically witnessed
the birth of those twin powerS-steam and
electricity-Whose combined force has
created new conditions Of life; he has
been an eye witness to the tearing down
and upbuildtng OF states and the adjust
ment of American people to new envi-
rOnment. And yet, amid all this kaleido-
scopic 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 deVel-
or,p,a7f yriI no dtfiuplV repogniZpd and