“The Tampa (Florida) Band then furnished music. “Mr. M. F. Plant addressed the crowds as follows: “‘Colonel Hemphill, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Members of our Family, the Plant System [Great cheering and applause]: I desire to thank you in behalf of my mother, of my wife, who is absent, and my boy, for the great compliment you have paid my father. [Great applause.] It is, indeed, a great treat to me to be here and to thank you for your kindness, not only to my father, but to the name of the System which, by your very careful, studious, and painstaking application to its business, you have built up. Gentlemen, I thank you.’ [Great applause and cheers.] “Mr. Hemphill announced that at 3 o’clock P. M. Mr. Plant would hold a reception in the Plant System Building. “This reception was most pleasant. Mr. Plant sat beneath the tropical foliage of the Plant Building display and shook hands with all his employees, who passed him by the hundred. He was driven back to the Aragon Hotel late in the afternoon.” [Illustration: text decoration] [Illustration: text decoration] CHAPTER XVI. Banquet at the Aragon Hotel Ends the Festivities of the Day--Sketch of the Southern Express Company--Distinguished Callers on President Plant during the Day--Many Telegrams and Letters of Congratulation Received--Many Press Notices of the Day, and many Tributes of Respect and Esteem for him who Called it forth. “The banquet at the Aragon last night,” says the Atlanta _Constitution_, “given in honor of Mr. H. B. Plant, was a fitting climax to the day set apart for the celebration of the seventy-sixth birthday of that distinguished man. “The occasion was one that must have been gratifying to the honored guest, in that he received the warmest assurances of the high esteem in which he is held by the people of the South from the eloquent representatives of many of the States. He was the toast of the evening, and he bore the distinguished honors with his characteristic demeanor. “When Captain Evan P. Howell called upon the fifty prominent guests to rise and drink to the health of the guest of honor, Mr. Plant, there was an enthusiasm and love for the latter inspired in the heart of every man around the banquet tables, which found vent in the many eloquent speeches of tribute which followed. Upon Mr. Plant there was bestowed the highest encomiums of praise, admiration, and love, and he was made to feel the enthusiasm of the sentiment in the hearts of the speakers. “The dinner in honor of Mr. Plant was given by the Exposition directors. It was the concluding honor bestowed upon the South’s benefactor in connection with the great Plant System Day at the Exposition. About fifty guests assembled to do honor to the occasion, and among them were some of the best-known and most influential men of the country. The South was represented by distinguished men from many States.