The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-07
nv NOT Be A COLLEGE.
r,ox IS RAISED ABOUT THE
a' TAMPA BAY HOTEL.

,,on of Mrs. Margaret D. "' e
F- york world Says May BE
.,.d by. the Consolidation
-. savannah, Florida and
% ru and the Atlantic Coast
nesire of Heirs to Divide
- plant Property said to BE the
for It's Ss.Ic-ThOse Who
of the Plant Systems Hand
earnings Express Surprise
THAT Owners Were willing to sell
Margaret B. Plants plan to
ut the Tampa Bay Hotel into a
T.srit, College may be defeated by the
' of the Savannah, Florida and
.,r.s,ern Railroad with the Atlantic
80 Line. The New. York World
>Hros this view of it. Saturdays issue
If the World says:
Mrs. Plants desire to have the Tam
~ Bay Hotel converted into d Jesuit
forsge may be thwarted by this rail-
''a, deal. Her stepson, Morton Plant,
.,d n 2. reporter for the World that
had not seen his stepmother for
100 weeks and knew nothing of her
nlon to make this gift. Morton Plant
ms ~ per cent. of the hotel property,
- Mrs. Plant IS per cent. Mr.. Plant
soolined to say if the absorption of the
piort system would affect his step
ootber's plan of endowing such col
Tao His consent would be necessary
:, anv event, but he gave no sign
rbetber he approved Mrs. Plants pro-
ect or not.
" is held that a division of the Plant
.s+ste has been the chief purpose actu-
oting the heirs in etfecting the sale of
tbe railway property. Those to whom
tbe fact that the Plant System has been
naving so handsomely of late express
he utmost surprise that the present
owners of the property ever decided to
sen TO the Coast Line or any other
comnanv. 1t is said that the earnings
Iost wear showed a remarkably heavy
iTcrease over the year before, and,
strange to say, the expenses showed a
decrease. OF the reason for the sale,
the World says:
"As a result of the breaking of the
will of the late Henry B. Plant by his
widow. and the consequent eagerness of
tbe heirs to divide the $17, 5000 estate,
tho famous Plant system of railways
and steamships practically has been
sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Rail
road Company.
Under the domination of Henry B.
Plant Florida may be said to have been
discovered and settled. He built rail-
roads down the East and West coasts
and connected them by lines extending
across the peninsula. He built a con-
tinuous road from Charleston to Mont
gomery. and drove spurs through to the
Gulf of Mexico from this main line.
This great system of railways caused
FlOrda's remarkable development as a
winter resort and costly hotels are eX-
tended in long chains along the east
and west coasts, following lines of rail-
way"
The railroads controlled by the Plant
system extend from Charleston to
Punta Gorda and to Montgomery, Ala,
with total mileage of 2,1S9. The sys-
ten Includes the Florida Southern, St.
Johns and Lake Eustis, Sanford and
St. Petersburg, and Savannah Florida
and Western roads The capital stock
Of the company aggregates $23, 4O3,900
and is owned by the Plant Investment
Company. The total of the bonds is
S34l73500. The Plant Investment Com
pany also controls the Plant Steam
ship Company and. the Canada, At
ahtic and Plant Steamship Company.
The water lines aggregate 1,449 miles
in length. The Plant System also IN
cludes three steamboat lines, 126 miles
in total length, operating in the wa
ters near Tampa.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Company, which has outstanding S15,-
SsO2OO common stock and $1S,S50, 900
preferred-a majority of its stock being
owned by the Atlantic Coast Line Com
pany-Operates system extending
from Richmond and Norfolk to Will
mington, Charleston and Augusta, its
total mileage, including many branches,
being 1901 By it's acquisition of the
lines of the Plant System, and its an
nounced arrangement with the South
ern Railway Company, the present ter
minus of which is at Brunswick, the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company
APPARENTLY becomes a formidable rival
10 the Seaboard Air Line. Both roads
reach Washington from Richmond by
way of the Richmond, Fredericksburg
and Potomac, which is controlled by
the Richmond Washington company, a
cOrporaton the stock of which is own
ed One-sixth each by the Atlantic Coast
Line, the Seaboard Air Line, the South
ern Railway Company, the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company, the Balti-
more and Ohio and the Chesapeake and
Ohio.
Like the Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast
Line reaches Wilmington and Charles
ton from Richmond. The gap between
Charleston and Savannah is now
brdged by it's acquisition of the Sa-
yannah, Florida and Western, which
road, with it's allied lines of the Plant
system, extends west from Savannah
to Montgomery, as does the Seaboard
Air Line, and south from Savannah
TO Jacksonville and Tampa, again vir-
llaly paralleling the Seaboard. Air