Engineering Mechanics Statics 4th Edition Pytel

Solutions Manual download

https://testbankdeal.com/product/engineering-mechanics-
statics-4th-edition-pytel-solutions-manual/

Explore and download more test bank or solution manual

at testbankdeal.com
Here are some recommended products for you. Click the link to
download, or explore more at testbankdeal.com

Engineering Mechanics Statics SI Edition 4th Edition Pytel

Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/engineering-mechanics-statics-si-
edition-4th-edition-pytel-solutions-manual/

Engineering Mechanics Dynamics 4th Edition Pytel Solutions

Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/engineering-mechanics-dynamics-4th-
edition-pytel-solutions-manual/

Engineering Mechanics Dynamics SI Edition 4th Edition

Pytel Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/engineering-mechanics-dynamics-si-
edition-4th-edition-pytel-solutions-manual/

Practical Problems in Groundwater Hydrology 1st Edition

Bair Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/practical-problems-in-groundwater-
hydrology-1st-edition-bair-solutions-manual/
Sociology A Down To Earth Approach 12th Edition Henslin
Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/sociology-a-down-to-earth-
approach-12th-edition-henslin-test-bank/

Managing in a Global Economy Demystifying International

Macroeconomics 2nd Edition Marthinsen Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/managing-in-a-global-economy-
demystifying-international-macroeconomics-2nd-edition-marthinsen-test-
bank/

Physics for Scientists and Engineers 3rd Edition Knight

Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/physics-for-scientists-and-
engineers-3rd-edition-knight-test-bank/

Global Marketing Contemporary Theory Practice and Cases

1st Edition Alon Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/global-marketing-contemporary-theory-
practice-and-cases-1st-edition-alon-solutions-manual/

Economics Canada in the Global Environment Canadian 9th

Edition Parkin Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/economics-canada-in-the-global-
environment-canadian-9th-edition-parkin-solutions-manual/
Earth System History 4th Edition Stanley Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/earth-system-history-4th-edition-
stanley-test-bank/
 Chapter 6
6.1
3.75 m 60 kN
1
D B
A Bx
7.5 m 3m
NA 1.5 m By

3.75 m 60 kN
M1 M1 V1
B
A P1 P1 Bx = 0
D D
7.5 m V1 3m
By = 18.75 kN
NA = 41.25 kN 1.5 m

FBD of entire beam:

MA = 0 By (12) 60(3:75) = 0 By = 18:75 kN

Fx = 0 Bx = 0
Fy = 0 NA + 18:75 60 = 0 NA = 41:25 kN

FBD of segment AD:

Fx = 0 P1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 41:25 V1 60 = 0 V1 = 18:75 kN J
MD = 0 M1 41:25(9) + 60(5:25) = 0
M1 = 56:25 kN m J

FBD of segment DB

Fx = 0 P1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 V1 + 18:75 = 0 V1 = 18:75 kN J
MD = 0 M1 18:75(3) = 0 M1 = 56:25 kN m J

237
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.2
12 kN
1
D Bx
A
1.5 m 1.5 m 1.5 m B
NA By
12 kN V1
M1 M1
1.5 m 1.5 m P1 Bx = 0
A P1
D D 1.5 m B
NA = 8 kN V1 By = 4 kN

FBD of entire beam:

MA = 0 4:5By 12(1:5) = 0 By = 4 kN
Fx = 0 Bx = 0
Fy = 0 NA + 4 12 = 0 NA = 8 kN

FBD of segment AD:

Fx = 0 P1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 8 12 V1 = 0 V1 = 4 kN J
MD = 0 M1 8(3) + 12(1:5) = 0 M1 = 6 kN m J

FBD of segment DB:

Fx = 0 P1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 V1 + 4 = 0 V1 = 4 kN J
MD = 0 M1 4(1:5) = 0 M1 = 6 kN m J

238
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.3

6.4
240 lb 2.5 ft

3 ft
Ax A 1 B

5 ft 2 C 5 ft 240 lb 2.5 ft
Ay NB

M2 3 ft
Ax = 0 P2
C 5 ft
A 5 ft C V1 M1
Ay = 60 lb V2 P1

239
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 FBD of entire structure:

MB = 0 Ay (10) 240(2:5) = 0 Ay = 60 lb
Fx = 0 Ax = 0

FBD of segment above section 1:

Fx = 0 V1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 P1 240 = 0 P1 = 240 lb J
MC = 0 M1 240(2:5) = 0 M1 = 600 lb ft J

FBD of segment to the left of section 2:

Fx = 0 P2 = 0 J
Fy = 0 V2 = 60 lb J
MC = 0 M2 60(5) = 0 M2 = 300 lb ft J

6.5

240
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.6

6.7

241
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.8
V1
M1 P2 M2 V2
P1

.
6 in.

6 in
48 lb 60o 48 lb
O B O B
(a) (b)
FBD (a):
Fx = 0 P1 = 48 lb J
Fy = 0 V1 = 0 J
MO = 0 6P1 M1 = 0 M1 = 6(48) = 288 lb in. J
FBD (b):
FP 2 = 0 P2 48 sin 60 = 0 P2 = 41:6 lb J
FV1 = 0 V2 + 48 cos 60 = 0 V2 = 24:0 lb J
MO = 0 6P2 M2 = 0 M2 = 6(41:6) = 250 lb in. J

6.9
400 lb
By
1 12
A D
Bx
C B
12 2
NA 150 lb
20 20 20

400 lb By = 110 lb
20 M1
A C
P1 M2 12
Bx = 250 lb
12 P2
V1 D 20 B
NA = 110 lb 150 lb V2

FBD of entire stucture:

MA = 0 By (60) (150 + 400) (12) = 0 By = 110 lb
Fx = 0 Bx 400 + 150 = 0 Bx = 250 lb
Fy = 0 NA By = 0 NA = By = 110 lb

242
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 FBD of portion AC:

MC = 0 M1 + 150(12) 110(20) = 0
M1 = 400 lb in. J
Fx = 0 P1 = 150 lb J
Fy = 0 V1 = 110 lb J

FBD of portion DB:

MD = 0 M2 400(12) + 110(20) = 0
M2 = 2600 lb in. J
Fx = 0 P2 400 + 250 = 0 P2 = 150 lb J
Fy = 0 V2 = 110 lb J

6.10

3.6(2.4) = 8.64 kN 0.6 m 3.6(1.2) =4.32 kN

Ax C M1
B B
A P1 C
3.6 m 1.2 m NB
Ay V1 1.2 m oNB = 7.482 kN
30o 30
FBD of entire beam:

MA = 0 (NB cos 30 ) (4:8) 8:64(3:6) = 0 NB = 7:482 kN

FBD of segment CB:

MC = 0 M1 + 4:32(0:6) (7:842 cos 30 ) (1:2) = 0

M1 = 5:56 kN m J
Fx = 0 P1 + 7:482 sin 30 = 0 P1 = 3:74 kN J
Fy = 0 V1 + 7:482 cos 30 4:32 = 0 V1 = 2:16 kN J

243
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.11

C 1200 N

1.6 m P1
2 M1
B D
D
1 V1
800 N
1.6 m 1.6 m
Ax 1.8 m 1.8 m E
A E 0.9 m
Ay NE NE = 1466.7 N

FBD of entire frame:

MA = 0 NE (3:6) 800(1:8) 1200(3:2) = 0 NE = 1466:7 N

FBD of segment DE:

MD = 0 M1 1466:7(0:9) = 0 M1 = 1320 N m J
0:9
FV1 = 0 V1 1466:7 p V1 = 719 N J
0:92 + 1:62
1:6
F P1 = 0 P1 1466:7 p P1 = 1278 N J
0:9 + 1:62
2

244
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.12

Cx
C
1.8 m
Cy
1.6 m
By Dy
0.9 m 0.9 m Dx D
Bx B D Dx
800 N Dy = 400 N 1.6 m
Dy = 400 N
M2
0.9 m
Dx = 1425 N E
P2 F D
V2 NE = 1466.7 N

FBD of member BD:

MB = 0 Dy (1:8) 800(0:9) = 0 Dy = 400 N

FBD of member CE (NE was computed in the solution of Prob. 6.11):

MC = 0 Dx (1:6) + 400(0:9) 1466:7(1:8) = 0 Dx = 1425 N

FBD of segment F D:

MF = 0 M2 400(0:9) = 0 M2 = 360 N m J
Fx = 0 P2 = 1425 N J
Fy = 0 V2 = 400 N J

6.13

245
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.14

246
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Visit https://testbankdead.com
now to explore a rich
collection of testbank,
solution manual and enjoy
exciting offers!
 6.15
T
D

5.6 ft
1 2
C Cx
A
6 ft B 9 ft
Cy
2800 lb (a)
T = 4667 lb
D D

T = 4667 lb 5.6 ft 5.6 ft

M1 M2
A P1 A P2
6 ft B 6 ft B
V1 V2
2800 lb (b) 2800 lb (c)

FBD (a):
MC = 0 2800(15) 9T = 0 T = 4667 lb
FBD (b):
5:6
MB = 0 2800(6) p
(4667) + M1 = 0
5:62 + 62
M1 = 13 629 lb ft J
6
Fx = 0 p (4667) + P1 = 0 P1 = 3410 lb J
5:6 + 62
2

5:6
Fy = 0 p (4667) V1 = 0 V1 = 3180 lb J
5:62 + 62
FBD (c):

MB = 0 2800(6) + M2 = 0 M2 = 16 800 lb ft J
Fx = 0 P2 = 0 J
Fy = 0 4667 2800 V2 = 0 V2 = 1867 lb J

247
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.16
4 D
3
PCD P2
G
24 in. P1 M2 V2
PBE M1 6 in.
E V1 B 45 lb
E
12 in. 12 in. 12 in.
18 in. 1080 lb. in.
Fx 1080 lb. in. 1080 lb. in. F
A
F
Ay Fy 60 lb 60 lb 60 lb

FBD of entire frame:

MA = 0 1080 18Ay = 0 Ay = 60 lb
Fx = 0 Fx = 0
Fy = 0 Fy Ay = 0 Fy = Ay = 60 lb

FBD of member F ED:

MD = 0 24PBE 1080 = 0 PBE = 45 lb

FBD of segment DEF below section 1:

Fx = 0 V1 = 0 J
Fy = 0 P1 60 = 0 P1 = 60 lb J
ME = 0 M1 1080 = 0 M1 = 1080 lb in. J

FBD of segment ABC below section 2:

Fx = 0 V2 45 = 0 V2 = 45 lb J
Fy = 0 P2 + 60 = 0 P2 = 60 lb J
MG = 0 M2 45(6) = 0 M2 = 270 lb in. J

248
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.17

6.18

249
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 6.19
V2
M2
6000 lb B 6 ft C 6 ft C
3 P2 3
B
PCE 4 4
PCE = 5000 lb
8 ft

Ax
A
Ay

Note that CDE is a two-force body.

FBD of ABC:
3 4
MA = 0 PCE (8) + PCE (6) 6000(8) = 0 PCE = 5000 lb
5 5
FBD of BD:

MB = 0 4000(6) M2 = 0 M2 = 24 000 lb ft J
Fx = 0 P2 3000 = 0 P2 = 3000 lb J
Fy = 0 V2 + 4000 = 0 V2 = 4000 lb J

250
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 *6.20

6.21
w0 B
A x
L
w0L/2 w0L/2
w0L/2

V x
_ w L/2
0

2
w0L /8
M x

w0 x
x/2
A M
x
w0L/2 FBD V

251
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Other documents randomly have
different content
 “The main entrances are through three pairs of double doors, flanked by
sixteen polished granite columns, supporting Moorish arches, over which
balconies open from the gallery around the rotunda to the second floor. The
principal staircase is of stone, and the horseshoe arch and the crescent and
the star meet the eye at every turn—the electric lights in the dining-hall, the
music-hall, the drawing-room, the reception-room, the reading-room, and
the office being arranged after these patterns. The drawing-room is a casket
of beautiful and antique things, embracing fine contrasts. There are a sofa
and two chairs which were once the property of Marie Antoinette; a set of
four superb gilt chairs which once belonged to Louis Philippe; two antique
Spanish cabinets, and between ten high, wide windows appear Spanish,
French, and Japanese cabinets, both old and quaint. Old carved Dutch
chairs, rare onyx chairs, and queer seats of other kinds are scattered along
the hall. Among the large collection of oil paintings, water-colors, and
engravings, are portraits and old pictures of Spanish castles and fortresses.
“A large rustic gate for carriages and two for pedestrians lead into the
grounds on the northern side. These gates are made of cabbage-palmetto
trunks, the mid-ribs being of the leaves worked into a quaint and rustic
design. On either side of the great gate stand giant cabbage-palmettoes,
thirty and forty feet high, set in groups of five and seven, the Moorish
numbers. A number of large live-oaks, one a tree of great breadth and
beauty, remain on the grounds. Near the centre of the lawn a fort has been
built of white stone, having two embrasures. In it are mounted two old
cannon that were spiked on the reservation of Tampa during the Civil War.
The grounds front on the Hillsborough River and overlook the city, Fort
Brooke and Tampa Bay, and are filled with fruit-trees, roses and flowers.
“The streets of Tampa are not what they will be, but a great improvement
has been going on in the last year; and when all the thoroughfares are
paved, macadamized or otherwise hardened, they will be attractive drives.
The roads on the west side of the river are naturally hard and smooth,
giving fine drives in various directions. The water supply is obtained from
one of the largest springs of water in the State, and is abundant for all
purposes, and ample factories provide ice from distilled water. Until the
session of Congress of 1889, Tampa was in the Key West customs district,
and the customhouse business was looked after by a deputy appointed by
the Collector of Customs at Key West. But when Congress passed a bill
making Tampa a regular port of entry, a collector and a full corps of
assistants were appointed. To give an idea of the growth of Tampa, it is only
necessary to compare the customs returns for 1885, when, under a deputy-
collector, the receipts were only $75, with the report of last year, which
showed receipts considerably above $100,000.
“For a long time builders had suffered great inconvenience and delay
because there were no brickmaking works. It was not believed that good
brick could be made in Tampa, and all orders for this necessary building
material had to be sent away from home. But in 1888, one of the
enterprising citizens, who had found a bed of good clay just north of the
city, began to manufacture bricks. The result is that builders are now
furnished with home-made bricks almost as fast as they need them. It was
stated to me that as much as $300,000 had been expended in the erection of
brick buildings during the last year. One of the new public buildings is the
City Hall and Court House. It is 50 by 100 feet on the sides and is two and a
half stories high.
“Tampa’s population may certainly be called cosmopolitan, comprising
people from every quarter of the globe; but three classes preponderate so
largely as to warrant distinction,—the American, the Cuban white people,
and the African or colored people. There is no difference worthy of note
between the first mentioned in Tampa and those of other sections of the
United States. They have all the push and enterprise characteristic of the
American people, and are the peer of any in social life.
“There are between three and four thousand Cubans in Tampa, and some
Spaniards, too, but there is an intense prejudice on the part of the Spaniards
against the Cubans, and as the latter feel the same dislike for the Spaniards,
conflicts between the two sometimes occur, and if it were not for the good
police administration might prove serious in some instances. The Cubans
are many of them property-holders and are identified closely with the city’s
growth. They are reported as moral, temperate, energetic and quite desirable
citizens; and, are almost without exception, engaged in cigar-making and
kindred industries. They are also an amusement-loving people, have several
clubs and societies, an opera-house, a band and a newspaper. The Cuban
settlement is in the Fourth Ward, called Ybor City, after Martinez Ybor, the
pioneer cigar manufacturer in Tampa. Only four years ago this part of the
city was an unimproved and uncultivated forest; now it is an active,
bustling, wealthy town within itself, and, to add to its interest, Postmaster
Cooper recently established a branch station, as he has also in the settlement
of the colored people, for the accommodation of those who live far from the
general post-office.
“Twelve cigar factories are located in Ybor City, and there nearly all of
the cigar-makers live. The largest factories are those of Ybor &, Co.,
Sanchez, Haya & Co., Lozano, Pendas & Co., R. Monne & Bro., and E.
Pons &, Co. These five factories manufactured 33,950,575 cigars last year,
the output of the Ybors alone being 15,030,700. The total number
manufactured in the thirty factories in Key West was 77,251,374. More than
$30,000 is paid out to the 1500 or 2000 cigar-makers in Ybor City every
Saturday night, one-fourth of which is paid out at Ybor’s factory; and about
$150,000 has been expended here in the past six years upon improvements.
This cigar-making industry has contributed materially to the development
and growth of Tampa during the last five years, and it promises much
greater benefit in the future. It was in October, 1885, that Martinez Ybor &
Co., who began manufacturing in Havana in 1854, and afterward put up a
large factory in Key West, came to Tampa to investigate the resources and
advantages offered for cigar-making. They soon afterward purchased forty
acres of land in the Fourth Ward, cleared it of the pines, wild-oats and
gophers, and built a factory, a large boarding-house or hotel, and several
small cottages for the workmen whom they brought from Key West and
Havana. The venture proved a success from the start and improvements
were added. The original factory, a wooden structure, is now the opera
house, and a large brick factory has succeeded the first one, where the daily
output of the 450 cigar-makers employed is 40,000 to 50,000 cigars. Then
came Sanchez & Haya, Emilio Pons, and others, and all declare that they
are doing an excellent business.
“ ‘The required condition of the climate of Tampa for good cigars is said
to be fully equal to that of Key West or Havana,’ said one of the
manufacturers who has had factories in both places. ‘This has been proven
by an actual and thorough test. Another advantage comes from the superior
transportation facilities of the South Florida Railroad, which gets freight
quickly to New York.’
“The colored people of Tampa are declared to be in a better general
condition than they are in any other part of the South. They are also
represented to be a generous, quiet and inoffensive class of citizens. They
are also far more industrious than those in some other sections of the South,
working almost every day, and the 2000 negro population have a settlement
of their own, midway between Tampa proper and Ybor City, which would
be a credit to any community. Many of the houses, like the streets, run in
irregular lines, but the homes and the shops have a tidy and orderly
appearance as though not neglected, and at night everything about them is
quiet and peaceful, only the songs and the moderate conversations and the
musical laughter being heard. Very few of these people live in rented
apartments, but nearly all own their little cottage homes. They have many
excellent churches, schools taught by colored teachers, and nearly every
home has a small library. Then, too, or with very few exceptions, the
colored people command the respect of the whites.
“Port Tampa, which is the port from which the Plant Steamship Line
sails for Havana and other places, is about ten miles below here. One of its
attractions is ‘The Inn,’ a great hotel built in colonial style, beside the South
Florida Railroad, over the water and about 2000 feet from the shore. It is
both a summer and winter resort for tourists and Floridians. Another
attraction is the fishing, either for bass from the wharf or boats, or for the
tarpon, or, ‘Silver King,’ at Pine Island. The third attraction is Picnic Island,
the name itself telling its purpose.”
Notwithstanding the general depression of the country during the last
five years, the growth of Tampa has gone forward with a rapidity
unsurpassed in any five years of its history. The entire city has increased in
population from seven thousand to twenty-eight thousand during the past
decade and is still growing steadily. Property is as valuable on the main
business street of Tampa as it is in New York City above Central Park. The
city has a Board of Trade, a Board of Health, schools, academy and
churches of all Christian denominations. Few, if any, cities in Florida have a
more promising future before them than Tampa.
CHAPTER VIII.
Florida Mr. Plant’s Hobby—Banquet at Ocala—Mr. Plant’s Speech—Sail on Lakes
Harrison and Griffin—Banquet at Leesburg—Visit to Eustis—Cheering Words to a
Young Editor—Make the best of the Frost—It may be a Blessing in Disguise—Must
Cultivate other Fruits, (and Cereals) besides Oranges—Importance of Honesty—Sense of
Justice—Consideration for the Workmen—Unconscious Moulding-Power over
Associates and Employees—Letter of Honorable Rufus B. Bullock.

M R. PLANT’S associates say of him: “Oh, Florida is one of the

President’s pets.” Anything touching the prosperity of Florida is sure
to get a sympathetic hearing from him at all times. He loves the Land
of Flowers and has spent many pleasant days in it at all seasons of the year.
Nor does it fall to the lot of every man to receive such high appreciation for
the good he has done and such esteem and affection as Mr. Plant receives
from these warm-hearted, whole-souled Southern people. Mr. Plant having
recently included Ocala in his railroad and hotel system, a fact which
promises much for the future progress of this enterprising town and section
of Western Florida, the people wished to express their grateful appreciation
of the man whom all the South delights to honor. So, in the winter of 1896,
they tendered to him a grand banquet to which he and his friends and
associates in office were welcomed. Nothing was left undone by these good
people to make the occasion pleasant.
The feast was held in the Ocala Hotel which came into the possession of
Mr. Plant during 1896, and was opened that season as one of the Plant
System Hotels. The house was elaborately decorated with Southern ferns
and flowers. A reception was first held in the parlor, then about seventy
ladies and gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous dinner, enlivened by sweet
music, and good cheer. Many beautiful tributes of esteem and friendship
were eloquently presented to the guest of the evening, who had been
requested by the committee of arrangements to speak to the toast, “The
Plant System.” The following account taken from the Atlanta Constitution,
is a fairly good report of his speech, which held the audience spellbound
from beginning to end. He said: “I am gratified and pleased beyond
measure to be with you to-night on an occasion of social enjoyment to
exchange compliments and greetings with the undaunted citizens of Ocala
and revel in the bounteous hospitality of this proud and prosperous little
city. Words count for but little in the effort to express my sincere
appreciation of such evidences of cordiality as have been shown this night
to me and to my friends and associates in business. Surely the very presence
of so many of your community’s worthy citizens, your city’s leading
business and professional men, who have rendered the further compliment
of bringing with them their charming wives and daughters, would of itself
inspire any man, who is not insensible to the impulse of gratitude, with a
feeling of gratification and deep appreciation for the compliment it conveys.
It pleases me to see so many of the ladies of Ocala here to-night, for their
charming presence lends beauty to the brilliant scene and makes all the
more enchanting this hour of pleasure and promise.
“I feel that it is good to be here. I am always glad to mingle in social
intercourse with my good friends of Florida, for I warrant you that nothing
is more comforting than to know that in all my endeavors to aid them in the
upbuilding of their favored section I have their hearty good-will and
unstinted co-operation. In congratulation upon the continued prosperity of
Ocala, despite the recent chilling frosts, which seemed well-nigh to sweep
away your beautiful orange groves and blight the interests of your
agricultural community, I wish to say that it is pleasing to me to observe the
undaunted pluck and courage of your irrepressible and invincible people,
who, never swerving from the duties of citizenship, have set about the
arduous task of building up again the agricultural and industrial interests of
this region of Florida, with a newness of life and a heartier zest. Such
determined effort will surely be crowned with unbounded success and
prosperity in the end. There is no reason why Ocala should not be a
prosperous city. Your climate is excellent; your water is pure and
wholesome; your lands are fertile and prolific, and your people are joined
with a unity of ambition and a unity of aim for the upbuilding of every
interest alike.
“I have been asked to speak to you of what is known as the ‘Plant
System.’ Not this mere physical system of the man—for that speaks for
itself. But the system of railways and steamships and other interests which
have been built up as all other industries are built up in the great march of
American progress and industrial development. In touching upon the plans
and scope of the Plant System, I believe I will be credited with perfect
sincerity when I say in the very outset, that if some of the conditions of
which we now have knowledge had been known in the beginning, much of
this system would not exist to-day. I have reference to such conditions as
have in late years arisen and confronted corporations in the nature of an
obstacle and an obstruction. As you all perhaps know, there has been a great
change in the plans and methods of railroad construction during the last
decade or two. In the old days railroads were built for the most part by the
people of means along the proposed route, and they were for the most part
short lines. People did not set out in the earlier days to build long lines of
railways. As years rolled by, however, there sprang up among the people of
some sections an unexplained feeling of hostility to corporations—a sort of
antagonism to capital—which has worked its way like a devouring worm
into the politics of the nation, and which, in recent years, has well nigh
sapped the lifeblood from many of the leading railway systems of the
country, by plunging them into such a complicated pool of injurious
legislation as to land them on the dangerous shores of bankruptcy. Just at
the time when such a spirit of antagonism was at its zenith there came a
change in the methods of operating railway lines. Instead of the short lines,
several of the roads began to be joined together for a longer line, thus
reducing the expenses of operation and at the same time giving better
facilities of travel and of shipment. It was found that the railroads could not
live if operated on the short-line basis, for competition grew so great it
became necessary to link this road and that to form a through line binding
the commerce of one section to that of another in rapid transit at reduced
expenditure. This came as a necessity born of the situation, for the railroads
were being bankrupted on the old plan and were sold out by receivers for
their original owners to the men of capital, and they saw the absolute
necessity of a more economical basis of operation. Taxes were high,
competition was great and everything served evidence that the old plan
would no longer prove feasible.
“Just why there should be any hostility to such a plan of railway
management among the people who are, after all, the ones benefited most
by the increased facilities that are given them, is not made clear to me, but
such a spirit did prevail, and does prevail to-day in some sections to such an
extent that men, blinded to the interests of the people of their sections, are
continually stabbing at the very heart of the railway corporations and crying
out that they need to be watched by legislative censors, and of this notion
the railway commission was born. My friends, I know but little of the
motives that prompt such legislation against railroads, but I do know that
some very serious mistakes have been made. It has been said that the king
can do no wrong, but it has with equal truth been said that the king can
make mistakes. In the State of Georgia, this persistent spirit of hostility to
railroads, this organized effort of legislative restriction, has within the past
few years thrown nearly every railroad in the State into the hands of a
receiver. The result has been a gradual reorganization of these properties by
the men of capital in the East, and a new plan of operation at reduced
expenditure through consolidation. What else could have resulted?
“The interests of the people and the railroads are certainly not conflicting
interests. They are common interests and should go hand in hand and heart
to heart in the great work of building up this country. The one should not be
made an obstacle for the other. I cannot see how the Plant System of
railways and steamships could be other than a pillar in the structure of the
industrial world of this Republic, interested in all that tends to the
promotion of the general interests of the people. Of what avail would
railroad construction be to the owner if it were intended to be run in
hostility to the business interests of the people of the country it traversed?
What would a railroad be worth if not supported by a healthful business
community in perfect harmony? On the contrary, what would any country
be without the railroads?
“It is true that the people of this section have suffered heavy loss lately
through some unexplained stroke of Providence, by which the orange
groves of Florida were laid low by the withering touch of the hand of dread
winter, and it is furthermore true that the phosphate interests have been
injured by an over-production, but that is a matter that rests with the fates,
to be worked out in their own good season. Misfortunes sometimes prove to
be but blessings in disguise, and it rests not with mortals to gainsay the
wisdom of that edict which comes from an Omniscient Providence. In all
your losses on the farms and in the phosphate mines, bear in mind that the
railroads are suffering a kindred loss, for the blow was as keenly felt by
them as by you.
“Let us move together while the hand of adversity weighs heavily upon
us, just as we have always tried to do when we were more prosperous. Let
us take no part in the systematic effort that some are making, to persecute
the railway enterprises of Florida at such a time as this, for such persecutors
are blinded to their country’s interests. If there was ever a time when the
people and the railroads ought to work in perfect harmony that time is at
hand. I believe labor ought to be protected in a reasonable and rightful
degree, but I also believe that capital ought to be protected against the
unrighteous onslaughts of those who know not what they do.
 “In conclusion, my good friends of Ocala, I beg to thank you again for
your generous reception to-night. I believe there is much in the spirit that
rules here that bespeaks the dawn of brighter and better days for the people
of this region.”
The following day a special train took Mr. Plant and his party to
Leesburg, where arrangements had been made by the people of that
beautiful little town to give Mr. Plant and his friends another ovation of
most healthful pleasure and exquisite enjoyment. The Mayor and leading
citizens of the place met the party at the railroad station and welcomed them
with marked cordiality to their best hospitality and friendship. At the close
of a day’s most delightful sailing up Lakes Harrison and Griffin, and many
carriage rides on the shores of those beautiful lakes, situated as they are in
some of Florida’s most picturesque scenery, the party sat down to a banquet
in the hotel given by the Leesburg Board of Trade. “It was truly a feast of
reason and flow of soul,” for nothing could have been in better taste or
evinced more genuine esteem and friendship for the guest of the occasion
than was shown there.
On the next day a special train took Mr. Plant and his party to Eustis. At
the station all the prominent people in town were gathered to welcome him.
Carriages were in waiting to take him and his friends through the beautiful
little town. It was with visible emotion that he looked upon the withered,
lifeless orange trees bared by the terrible frost of the preceding winter, a
drear and desolate scene as compared with the bloom and beauty of other
days. Mr. Plant, however, was never given to fruitless murmuring. To a
young editor in the carriage with him he said: “No, we must make the best
of even the adverse situation. It might be worse. You must publish words of
cheer and hope to your people, and do all that you can to help them over
this trying time. Suggest to them the planting of other crops, the rearing of
other fruits. It will not do to be altogether dependent on oranges. The soil is
capable of raising many other things besides oranges, and it may be that this
calamity will become a blessing in disguise.” So he ministered good cheer
and practical instruction to the people, who felt that he loved them, and who
were very responsive to his encouraging words.
I doubt not these people uttered the true sentiments of their deep feeling
when they said as they bade him good-bye: “Mr. Plant, you have done us all
a great deal of good, we shall never forget you for this visit you have made
us. It will be a pleasant memory to us always, and if you and your friends
have enjoyed your visit half as much as we have enjoyed having you, then
is our happiness increased a hundred fold.” Never have we witnessed
anything more beautiful and tenderly impressive than the kindly interest
which Mr. Plant’s visit called out among these people. His every want was
anticipated, luncheons, rare and delicious, were carefully stored away on
boat and train and brought out at the right time. After sail or ride in train
and carriage in this most appetizing atmosphere had made the party hungry
as prairie wolves, then a sumptuous repast was served and enjoyed to the
full. Rooms, and rest and care in hotel, cars, or boats were provided with a
skill and tact that made one think of the Plant System.
Honesty is the foundation and keystone of every noble character. It is the
quality that must pervade the whole nature. Nothing can take its place or
atone for its absence, nor can there be a perfect manhood where it is not the
warp and woof of the whole man. “Honesty is the best policy” says the
policy man, but he who is honest only from policy and not from principle,
is not an honest man, but a knave, if not a fool as well. Genius, scholarship,
wit, humor, brilliancy are worse than worthless when they do not rest on a
foundation of honesty. Never was a greater tribute paid to man than when
President Lincoln’s neighbors dubbed him “Honest Abe.” Nor did poet ever
rise to higher flights of truth than when Scotia’s Bard wrote “An honest
man’s the noblest work of God.” “To be honest, as this world goes, is to be
one man picked out of ten thousand,” says Shakespeare. In the history of
the human race men of all ranks have ever paid the highest tributes to
honesty and accorded to it the first place in human character. It is this
quality, combined with his great energy, which has enabled Mr. Plant to
carry his undertakings to so successful an end.
One of his associates in business for long years said: “Mr. Plant does not
rashly promise but when he does, performance is sure, cost what it may.
Were I having a business transaction with Mr. Plant for any amount, and
knew that he would live to fulfil his engagement I would ask neither bond
nor written contract. His word would be just as good to me as any security
that could be drawn by the best legal authority in the land.” “I should name
honesty as the dominant principle of Mr. Plant’s character,” said another.
It has been naïvely said that no “man is a gentleman to his valet,” but the
testimonies here quoted are from men of long and most intimate
acquaintance, and might be multiplied by hundreds of those who were once
in his employ as well as by those still connected with the great System over
which Mr. Plant presides. Careful scrutiny and good judgment have
characterized all Mr. Plant’s dealings with his fellow-men, but crooked
ways and mean advantage never. He has rendered to his generation an
invaluable service in that he has demonstrated to it that honesty is the best
principle and the surest way to the greatest success. And he has done this in
departments of commerce proverbial for their unjust and unfair methods of
dealing.
He has a wonderful amount of unconscious power which moulds those
who come within its influence. Hence his associates have remained long
with him even when tempted by other positions. The following extracts
from a letter of ex-Governor R. B. Bullock will be found of interest in this
connection.
“Rev. Dr. Geo. H. Smyth.
“Reverend and Dear Sir:—
“Replying now to your esteemed favor of March 17th, would say that
Mr. Henry B. Plant came to this city in 1854, representing the Adams and
other express interests, which were then being extended through this section
of the country; and he continued to make this city his headquarters in that
connection until ’69 or ’70, when he made his home in New York. There are
no ‘incidents’ within my knowledge connected with Mr. Plant’s life here,
which would be of special interest to incorporate in a biography. He
developed then the same persistent, conservative and industrious
perseverance in planning for and directing the interests in his charge, which
have since developed into the important and widespread interests over
which he now presides.
“Naturally, in the development and establishment of the business in his
hands in those early days, it became necessary for him to select proper men
to fill the various positions connected therewith and it is a notable fact, by
experience shown, that the selections so made by him, were wise and
judicious, and one of the marked features of his executive action has been
the kindly exercise of unlimited and undisputed authority. There is no
recollection of his having displayed impatience or irritable temper, even
under very vexatious circumstances. His manner was always friendly, frank
and appreciative, so that the disposition of the men subject to his control,
was always found to be actuated by a desire to accomplish all that was
possible for the interest of the institution over which Mr. Plant presided,
sufficiently encouraged and cheered by the hope of his approbation. So
close an eye did he keep upon the services rendered by the most
insignificant employee, that no service well rendered failed to receive his
personal endorsement and approval.
“By reason of his evenly balanced judgment and temper, his relations
with the chief officers of railroad and steamship companies over and by
which express service was transacted, and with bank officials—who were
then our chief patrons—were always of the kindliest character, and he
always enjoyed their perfect confidence and highest respect.
“In fact, all of the characteristics, which have made his later life the
magnificent success which the country appreciates, were developed and
maintained throughout his early business experience.
“There is nothing new or peculiar about the facts to which I have
referred, because they are well known and appreciated by hundreds of men
now in the service, who have been continuously with it since its
organization.
“Very respectfully and truly,

“Rufus B. Bullock.”
 CHAPTER IX.
Mr. Plant’s Industry and Power to Endure Continuous Strain—Labor of Examining and
Answering his Enormous Mail—Letter from Japan—Mail Delivered Regularly to him at
Home and Abroad—His Private Car, its Style, Structure, Hospitality, and Cheering
Presence—Numerous Calls—The Secret of his Endurance—The Esteem and Love of the
Southern Express Company for its President—Mr. Plant Enjoys Social Life—He is a
Great Lover of almost all Kinds of Music—Mr. Plant a Medical Benefactor—Some of
the Progress Made in the Healing Art—Bishop of Winchester’s High Estimate of the
Value of Health—Dr. Long’s Opinion of the Gulf Coast as a Health Restorer—
Unrecognized Medicines in Restoring Lost Health—Nervousness among the American
People—The Soothing and Strengthening Effect of Florida Climate—Mr. Plant’s Part in
Facilitating Travel and Providing Comfortable Accommodations for the Invalid.

M R. PLANT’S industry and power of endurance are a marvel to those

around him in office work. Over five hundred letters a week received
is no unusual thing. These are read to him by his private secretary, and
answered under his direction or dictation. They come from the three
different departments of the Plant System, which extends over many
thousands of miles, by land and by sea, and in its Express department
forwards goods over a mileage greater than the circumference of the globe.
Some of these letters require deliberation, skill, care, and sound
judgment in replying to the many complex questions of such a large and
important business as the Plant System covers. Others are less complicated
and more easily disposed of, while many are of a social character, from Mr.
Plant’s numerous friends scattered, I might say, over the world. One day
while sitting in his office at Tampa Bay Hotel, he said: “I had a very
pleasant letter this morning from Japan. Some lady missionaries there write
me of an excursion I once gave them in Florida, which afforded them much
enjoyment and of which they write in enthusiastic appreciation though it
occurred many years ago, and I had forgotten all about it.”
 This large mail is a matter of daily occurrence. No day in the whole
week is free from its arrival. If he travels, as he often does in his own
elegant private car, his mail is delivered at important stations all along the
road. Being in constant communication with all departments of the System
by telegraph, telephone, or messenger, his mail is forwarded to him
promptly at all railroad stations named for its delivery, is examined and
replied to as readily as if in his main office in New York City, for he has an
office, desk, and all needed facilities in his car for sending out telegrams,
letters, or messages from the different stations by the way. His car is a
model of convenience, comfort, and elegance in all its appointments. It is
finished in richly carved mahogany, upholstered and curtained in rich blue
velvet, with numerous windows and mirrors of heavy French plate glass. It
is numbered “100,” and known all over the South. Its entrance at any station
causes sunshine to break on every face, and the old colored men who come,
bucket in hand, to wash and polish it where it happens to remain over a
night or a day at the station, are fairly beaming when they greet “Massa
Plant” and are always paid back in their own coin with United States
currency added. Every old “uncle” at the railroad stations in the Cotton
States knows “Car 100,” and asks no better holiday than to “shine her.”
To return to the enormous office work of the President of this great
system of transfer and traffic, it is a marvel how he has stood it all these
years. It is no unusual thing for him at Tampa to spend two hours in hard
work in examining his mail before breakfast, then till luncheon, with
perhaps an hour’s intermission, and then work until late in the afternoon.
His numerous calls from all sorts and classes of people, are a constant strain
upon brain and nerve, not to say heart at times. The secret of this endurance
of long and fatiguing work, is found in the fact that to a sound constitution,
inherited from a hardy, thrifty ancestry, Mr. Plant has added a temperate life
and great moderation in the use of stimulants. While a man of quick
intuition and keen sensibility, he has shown the most wonderful self-control
in the most trying circumstances. When others would be agitated and
wholly thrown off their balance Mr. Plant would remain calm, quiet, cool,
and clear-headed to a degree that stilled the tempest all around, and effected
an amicable adjustment of matters most important as they were most
complicated and difficult of settlement. This self-control is joined with
great fertility of resources, great charity for the peculiarities of men, and
withal a kindliness of nature, a disposition not to hurt any one, that have
enabled him to render services to his associates and to his country that may
not now be told, and perhaps will never be known until the great day when
the “cup of cold water” shall be rewarded. Mr. Plant is never in a hurry,
much less is he ever flurried, chafed, or worried about anything. All he does
is done deliberately, systematically, easily, and once done it seldom or never
has to be gone over again. “Make the best of everything,” is his motto.
A gentleman occupying a prominent position in the express department
of the Plant System writes:
“It affords me great pleasure to acknowledge the esteem and love of the
Southern Express Company’s employees, known to me, for Mr. Plant, who
has favored us so often with his kindness, liberality, and mercy even when
we were at fault. My knowledge extends back about thirty years, having
commenced with the Southern Express Company in North Carolina in
1866, and having worked in Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia,
Kentucky, and Mississippi since that time, mingling very freely and socially
with my fellow-employees. I have never heard one word of condemnation
of Mr. Plant during all that time but, on the contrary, a hearty, free
expression of respect and affection for the man who, by divine aid, had
done so much for the whole South as well as the great number of employees
in the Southern Express.
“Faithfully

“I. S. S. A.”
In long years of intimate association with Mr. Plant I have never heard
him utter a profane word or a bitter expression against any one.
“Greater is he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city,” said the
wise man. Mr. Plant has told me himself that if he learned of any one made
unhappy by anything he had ever done or said, or if any misunderstanding
should arise, he could not rest until all was settled to mutual satisfaction,
and that, too, just as speedily as possible. “Charity for all, malice toward
none,” briefly expresses the spirit, tone, and temper of this great and good
man. Hence he has been saved the consuming force of friction and hatred
which grind and wear out so many before their time. The young men now
entering public life will find most valuable suggestion even in this brief
record of a life so large, useful, and honored, through a period of our
country’s history the most intense as it has been the most important since
the days of the Revolution and the formation of a free and independent
republic.
His busy life has made him neither a recluse, a pessimist, nor a slave of
the world. He has been a good deal in society—both as guest and host he
has mingled freely with his fellow-men and enjoyed to the full the pleasures
of friendly reciprocity.
Mr. Plant’s love of music, in a man of his years and busy life, is
remarkable. He says: “Music rests me, and helps me to sleep when I retire
for the night, while I find it a great enjoyment in my waking hours. It is
medicine to me.” Hence he is often seen spending the last hours of the day
in the music room of the Tampa Bay Hotel, enjoying with the guests the
delightful music rendered with such exquisite taste by the skilled orchestra.
Mr. Plant is familiar with the best of the modern operas as well as with the
finest classical music of the past. Among his favorites are Haydn, Handel,
and Mozart. He is also fond of popular ballads and songs, such as Moore’s
melodies and national patriotic songs. He says he enjoys even the hurdy-
gurdy.
Mr. Plant might be termed a medical benefactor,—a health restorer,—
because of the results of his work for the South and the North as well. In no
department of scientific advancement during the last half-century has
progress been more marked than in the department of medicine. The healing
art, in its lessening of pain and in the prevention and cure of disease, has
made, and is daily making, the most wonderful discoveries. What a boon to
suffering humanity was the discovery of ether by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of
Boston, in 1846, who found that by the inhaling of this anæsthetic the
patient is rendered unconscious of pain. Vaccine inoculation, introduced by
Dr. Jenner in 1799, has prevented the spread of that much dreaded disease,
small-pox. The name of Dr. Koch will long be held in grateful remembrance
for his earnest efforts to cure consumption, as will those of Pasteur to cure
hydrophobia. The Southern States to-day have thousands of people in
ordinary good health, many of them in excellent health, who, ten, twenty, or
thirty years ago, were given up by their physicians as past recovery and
soon to die. But thirty years ago the modes of travel to the South and the
lack of adequate provision there for invalids were such as only a person in
fair health could bear. Through Mr. Plant’s efforts in large measure, both of
these requisites for a sick man, or a delicate woman, have reached a state of
perfection difficult to improve.
 At the banquet given to Mr. Plant at Leesburg, Florida, in the winter of
1896, one of the speakers referring to what Mr. Plant had done for the North
as well as for the South, said: “In the ‘Dixie’ land he has made the desert to
bloom like the rose, changed waste places into fertile fields, the swamps
into a sanitarium, the sand heap into a Champs Élysées, the Hillsborough
into a Seine, and reproduced the palace of Versailles on the banks of Tampa
Bay, and away up in freezing, shivering New England and Canada, when
the doctor had written his last recipe and the druggist had emptied his last
bottle and the undertaker was at the front door, our friend has placed the
patient in a wheeled palace, and signalled, ‘On to Richmond,’ not to die, but
to live; and old Virginia has smiled on the dying man, North Carolina has
fairly laughed aloud, South Carolina has taken him into her warm embrace,
and Florida has thrown flowers not on his coffin but on the resurrected
Lazarus, and the family have invited their friends, not to a funeral, but to a
feast. The Plant System ships have ploughed the Gulf of Mexico and
spanned the Caribbean Sea, and have brought health and happiness to many
homes over which bereavement and sorrow were hovering like the black
angel of death.”
The Bishop of Winchester once said: “The first thing is good health, and
the second is to keep it, and the third to protect it. Then arises the question,
where shall we go?” It is not known that the noted physician had ever seen
the Bishop’s question when he wrote: “Were I sent abroad to search for a
haven of rest for tired man, where new life would come with every sun, and
slumber full of sleep with every night, I would select the Gulf Coast of
Florida. It is the kindest spot, the most perfect paradise; more beautiful it
could not be made, still, calm and eloquent in every feature.” This was said
by Dr. Long, an army physician in charge at Fort Brook, Tampa. The power
of the fine arts over the mind, and of the mind over the body, are
demonstrated facts. The most frequent and depressing of ailments among
Americans is nervousness in various forms, and in different stages of
progress, from morbid sensitiveness to utter prostration. In many cases
medicine merely aggravates it. Its chief symptoms are irritability and
wretchedness, often ending in suicide. Healing must come largely through
the mind in rest, peace, comfort, and pleasant occupation.
While the mind in this condition cannot bear strain, neither can it be idle.
Idleness induces morbidness and misery. Physical comfort must not be
neglected, but there must be wholesome, nourishing food, pure air, and
proper exercise. Hence, the value of the well-equipped and elegantly
finished Pullman palace car, and the well-built steamer designed for
comfort and safety, furnished and finished in a style that delights the eye
and ministers to the enjoyment of every faculty. Hence the luxuriant hotel,
with all its home comforts, its artistic adornments, and its princely
entertainment, beauty for the eye, music for the ear, feasting the æsthetic
while feeding the materialistic nature of man. All this enjoyment, while a
soft, balmy air is breathed beneath a clear, blue sky, and while the invalid is
bathed in the bright, warm sunshine of a southern clime, induces repose,
peace, content, happiness, and health. The spirit loses its irritability, the
mind regains its elasticity, sleep refreshes the tired brain, food nourishes the
exhausted body, the whole man is renewed, and life that was not worth
living has become an inspiration, a joy, an heroic and manly achievement.
It should be said here that up to the time that Mr. Plant established the
steamship line between Tampa and Havana, there had been no regular
communication between those two ports during the quarantine season.
There were some irregular opportunities of transfer when passengers were
detained for days to be investigated, fumigated, and harassed by quarantine
regulations. Mr. Plant held that ships could be built and managed that would
make communication as safe in summer as in winter, and he has proved the
correctness of his theory. In ten years of regular service, the steamer
Mascotte has never had a case of yellow fever. Through Mr. Plant’s
suggestions, the Tampa Board of Health has established rules and
regulations for travel to the West Indian ports which make it perfectly safe
at all seasons of the year, so far as contagion from disease is concerned.
How much Mr. Plant has done to bring this blessed change to thousands,
many beautiful tributes testify in the public press of our times. The
expressions of enjoyment in the following letters could be extended almost
indefinitely. In the Saint Augustine News of March, 1895, an enthusiastic
correspondent writes: “It was early in the present century that this man of
brains and bounty appeared on the great stage, and began a career scarce
equalled by any in the annals of American financiers, and it is to him that
Florida owes a debt of gratitude, deeper than to any other man—and this
man is H. B. Plant. Favored indeed is Florida, not only in climate, scenery,
and fruit, but with the munificence of these mighty-hearted millionaires,
who have Alladin-like metamorphosed the sunny peninsula into a veritable
fairyland. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. H. B. Plant, who has
transmogrified Tampa, and ribboned Florida with his railroad system. As
usual with men of great minds and means, he is wholly unpretentious, as
much so as his humblest employee. He is anything but fastidious; yet he is a
clean-cut man of the world, of vast business capacity, a keen, penetrating
financier, and altogether lovable in his domestic life. His shipping interests
extend from Halifax to Boston, his express and rail lines from New York to
Tampa and New Orleans, and his connecting vessels run from Cuba and all
Gulf of Mexico ports. Mr. Plant’s homes are the family place in Branford,
Connecticut, a palace on Fifth Avenue, New York, and the Tampa Bay Hotel
in winter. Mr. Plant’s family consists of a son who will succeed to his great
responsibility and estate.”
Writing from Cuba in January 1888, “J. C. B.” says in his “Notes”:
“In the language of an intelligent observer, writing from Havana early in
the present month, it would be difficult to find any other interesting foreign
land, when its accessibility is considered, so worthy the attention of
American travellers as Cuba. To the average thought of one who has not
visited it, it seems far and repellent. It is neither of these.
“The improved special fast facilities furnished by the Pennsylvania
Railroad, the Atlantic Coast line, the Plant system of railways, and its new,
swift, and superb steamships, carry you from the American to the Cuban
metropolis in three days.
“While the north shore of the island has three important harbors—
Havana, Mantanzas, and Cardenas—the former is incomparably the finest
and most spacious; the city, to the west of the gleaming bay, is a rare study
in Moorish, Saxon, and Doric architecture. The scene has been thus pen-
pictured:
“ ‘On the east side, where the close jaws of the harbor open, and
clambering up the mountain side where frown the landward outworks of
Moro Castle, is Casa Bianca, with its queer villas and structures, each one
standing out in this wonderful daylight of the tropics in such distinctness,
and with such a strange seeming of approaching and growing proportions,
that, in your fancy, the houses individually become great pillared temples.
In and over and through this dreamful spot, away up the side of the
mountain, thread and run such indescribable wealth of vegetation that, as
you look again and again, the clustered, shining houses seem like great
white grapes bursting through a glorious wealth of vines and leaves.
 “ ‘Beyond Casa Bianca the bay debouches to the east. Here is a veritable
valley of rest. Every half a mile is a little cluster of homes set in a
marvellous wealth of rose and bloom. Beyond this valley are seen pretty
villages, each with its half-ruined church, whose only suggestion of use or
occupation is had in the din of never-ceasing chimes; and still beyond these
are uplands which almost reach the dignity of mountains, upon whose far
and receding serrated heights an occasional cocoa tree or royal palm looms
lonely as a ghostly sentinel upon some mediæval tower.
“ ‘Farther to the south lie the great Santa Catalina warehouses, where the
saccharine source of Cuba’s wealth is stored in huge hogsheads, or rests
dark as lakes of pitch in tremendous vats. Behind these is Regia, the lesser
Havana, across the harbor, with its churches, its quaint old markets, its
cockpits, its ceaseless fandangoes and its bull pen. Over beyond this, set
like a gleaming nest in the crest of the mountains, a glimpse is caught of
Guanabacoa, full of beautiful villas, beautiful gardens and fountains, and in
the olden times the then oldest Indian village of which Cuban legends tell.
Beyond Regia to the south, and upon the shores of the bay, is the ferry and
railroad station, whence thousands reach the outlying villas, or leave the
capital for the various seaports of the northern coast; and right here, night
and day, is as busy and interesting a spot for the study of manner and
character as may be found in all Cuba. At this station is seen a famous
statue to Edouard Fesser, founder of the Havana warehouse system. The
entire southern portion of the bay, where some day the barren shore line
will be lined with great warehouses and docks, is filled with old hulls of
sunken steamers and ships, conveying the keenest sense of desolation, and
the shore here rises to uplands bare as Sahara, until, skirting to the right, the
bold mountain, Jesu del Monte, is seen; and then come the great outlying
forts extending far around to the sea. Between you and these, if still aboard-
ship, you see Havana’s domes and minarets, and, to all intents, you are
anchored in a sceneful harbor of old Spain.’
“This schedule of the quick mail service performed by the elegant
steamers, Mascotte and Olivette, of the Plant line, in connection with the
railway system heretofore mentioned between Tampa and Key West, in the
east, affords but a few brief hours of rest in the harbor at Havana. Upon the
first appearance of the Olivette, fresh from her conspicuous performances in
distancing the fleet of steamers which accompanied the racing yachts of the
international regatta, the writer had the good fortune to be among the
invited guests who paid a visit to this magnificent vessel, which is justly the
pride of her distinguished owner, Mr. H. B. Plant, the President and
Managing Director of the Plant System of railways and steamships.”
 CHAPTER X.
Reason for Submitting Press Sketches of Mr. Plant—Descriptive America, December, 1886
—City Items, December, 1886—Railroad Topics—Home Journal, New York, March,
1896—F. G. De Fontain in same Journal—Ocala Evening Times June, 1896—Express
Gazette.

I N the following chapter are given a few press notices of Mr. Plant and his
work in the South, because they contain reliable information of some of
that work which we have left to them to chronicle, and because they are
public expressions of the appreciation of that work and of the justly high
esteem, and friendly regard in which the worker is held by the people
among whom and for whom he has spent the best part of his life. Instead of
a brief chapter, a volume of such complimentary sketches might be
presented, written in even stronger language than is here used and by
masters in the art of writing. But these few will suffice to show the deep
interest of the people in the life and work of their friend and benefactor, Mr.
H. B. Plant.
The following extract is taken from the Florida number of Descriptive
America.

RAILROAD AND EXPRESS PRESIDENT.

“In our Wisconsin number we gave the life-history of one man who,
beginning as a farmer’s son, had, by his energy, ability, and integrity, come
to occupy a position of great power, wealth, and usefulness, and we
emphasized the point, that, while he had been wonderfully successful, his
highest claim to our admiration, lay in the fact that, whenever the
opportunity offered, he had sought the prosperity of the nation, the state, or
the city of his adoption, and had made his own gain and increasing wealth
subordinate to the public weal. In this number we have some similar
characters, who, if their wealth does not equal that of the great banker and
railroad king, have at least followed his good example.
“Such men are always modest, their achievements seem to them very
small, compared with what they might and should have done, and they
shrink from publicity with genuine dread. One of these men is the subject of
our present sketch, Mr. H. B. Plant.
“Mr. Plant is of pure Puritan stock; his earliest American ancestors left
England about 1640, and if they were not among the little company who
came with John Davenport to Quinnipiac, afterward called New Haven,
they followed very soon after. They settled in Branford, Connecticut, a town
lying between New Haven and Guilford, at which place some of
Davenport’s most eminent men soon established themselves. The Plants of
Branford were a good family, and they have always borne a high reputation
through the eight or nine generations which have elapsed since they first
established themselves in Branford. They were intelligent, thoughtful
farmers, industrious, sound thinkers, orthodox in faith, and leading those
quiet country lives, of which the old New England towns presented so many
examples. The village minister was a man greatly reverenced by all his
people, and if a youth of more than ordinary promise could be instructed
under his direction, it was something to be proud of.
“To one of these Branford families, the representative Plant family in the
town, several children were born in the earlier decades of the present
century; one of them, H. B. Plant, gladdening their hearts in October,
1819. He must have been a boy of considerable promise, for after the usual
course of study in the District Schools, not at that time of a very high grade,
he spent several terms in the Branford Academy, then under the oversight of
the Branford pastor, Rev. Timothy P. Gillett, a man of high scholarship and
great aptitude for teaching. Whether he had any aspirations for a collegiate
course, we do not know; but he did not rest content, till he had completed
his course of study with John E. Lovell, of New Haven, the founder of the
Lancasterian system of instruction in America, and, at that time, the most
celebrated teacher in the country.
“His school days over, Mr. Plant soon found employment on the
steamboat line plying between New Haven and New York. Very soon, one
of the first express lines ever established in this country, known as
Beecher’s New York and New Haven Express, was started, and young Plant
became interested in it, and from that time to the present has always been
largely engaged in the express business. His first important interest in it was
with Adams Express. In 1853, he went to the South, and established
expresses upon the southern railroads, as a branch enterprise of Adams
Express. In 1861, he organized the Southern Express Co., and became its
president, and has continued so to the present time. He is also president of
the Texas Express Co. In 1853, he visited Florida for the first time, for the
benefit of the health of an invalid wife. There was no means of
communication with Jacksonville, except by steamers up the St. John’s. The
place was small and the accommodations meagre, but the fine climate and
mild and balmy air were the means of prolonging her life many years, and
from that time he made yearly visits thither. During these visits the place
grew, and he saw the necessity for railway communication with that and
many other points in Florida; but he devoted most of his attention to his
extensive express business, until 1879, though owning large blocks of
railroad stocks, particularly in the Georgia and Florida Railways. In 1879,
with some friends, he purchased the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad of Georgia,
and subsequently organized the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railroad,
of which he became president. Soon afterwards he extended this railroad to
the Chattahoochee River, and he also constructed a new line from Way
Cross to Jacksonville.
“The Savannah and Charleston Railroad (now the Charleston and
Savannah), had been in the courts for many years, but, in 1880, Mr. Plant
purchased and thoroughly rebuilt it; his purpose being to perfect the
connections between Florida, Charleston, and the North.
“The immense labor connected with the management of these railways,
and of the vast business connected with the expresses, led Mr. Plant and his
associates to organize the Plant Investment Co., to control these railways,
and also to manage and extend, in the interest of its stockholders, the
Florida Southern and the South Florida Railway. The former road was
extended by the Investment Company to Tampa, and to Bartow, and they
are now building it to Pemberton Ferry, where it will be joined by the South
Florida line thus making connection via Gainesville with South Florida, and
via Tampa for Key West and the West India Islands.
“In connection with these railroads, we may well answer the question
which is of special importance to us in this Florida number.
 “What has Mr. Plant done for Florida? We answer in general, that he has
rendered the culture of the orange and of the other perishable products of
the State profitable, has greatly facilitated the occupation of the best lands
of the State, opened the way for the settlement of the lands of Southern
Florida, given free and ready access to the Gulf ports, and thence to Mobile,
New Orleans, and Galveston, and established a regular, frequent, and
prompt steamboat service on the St. John’s River.
“How has he done this? When he had purchased and rebuilt the
Charleston and Savannah Railroad, access to the interior of Florida was
difficult and almost impracticable except by wagon road. There was
irregular and fitful navigation of the St. John’s River, but the steamboats ran
when they had sufficient freight, and only then. There had been some
railroads built (especially those of the Yulee system) but the country was
undeveloped, and as the orange groves required from five to ten years of
growth before they came into profitable bearing, meanwhile the railways
were suffering for want of freight and were unprofitable. Mr. Plant was
convinced that although a more rapid development was in progress, there
would still be delay before the railroads he proposed to build would prove
paying investments. He therefore determined to avail himself of the land
grants already made, and to keep them in repair.
“The orange product would not bear jolting over wagon roads, or being
stacked up on the wharves waiting for the uncertain coming of the steamers.
His first move was to build a railway direct from Way Cross, Ga., to
Jacksonville, thus bringing his Georgia roads into immediate
communication with a port on the St. John’s River. He then established a
steamboat line on that river which was regular, prompt, efficient, and
carried freight at low rates. Meantime a road had been constructed from
Jacksonville to Palatka, making connection with St. Augustine via Tocoi;
this road is now being extended to cross the river a few miles above Palatka
and thence by way of De Land and other places, re-crossing the St. John’s a
short distance north of Lake Monroe; thence proceeding to Sanford where it
will form a connection with the South Florida, thus opening up the fine
highlands west of the St. John’s and those east of that river to a ready
market, and giving choice of a river or rail transportation at several points.
The Legislature having granted a charter for a railway connecting Palatka
with Lake City by way of Gainesville and thence down the peninsula it was
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

testbankdeal.com