“It was not necessary to provide any of these facilities for the especial purpose of handling the government war business. They were all there and in use before the war, and the government used them in sending off this fleet of thirty-six vessels, under convoy of a large number of war vessels. It was one of the most imposing sights of the age to see this great fleet steaming down the bay; flags flying and bands playing, and sixteen thousand American soldiers cheering as they felt the vessels move over the waters of Tampa Bay, all bound for a victorious campaign against the enemy. “The Plant System has done well its part in the great modern war, and is equally well prepared to do its part in carrying on the great commerce between the United States, Cuba, the West India Islands, and all of the South American countries.” The _Marine Journal_ of New York of July 9, 1898, has the following editorial: “PORT TAMPA--Phœnix-like Rose and Met the Occasion--Over Thirty Troop Ships Loaded and Departed from its Piers--The Largest War Fleet ever Sent from One Port at One Time in the Nation’s History--The Port’s Immense Facilities. “It would take the entire reading space of the _Marine Journal_ to describe the great amount of work done at Port Tampa, Fla., in getting Gen. Shafter’s army afloat, and the exhaustive facilities that were found by the government to exist there available for this purpose; in fact, only those who have visited the West coast of Florida within ten years past have any idea of the extensive improvements that have been made at Port Tampa by the Plant System with a view to bringing the commerce of the United States within close communication with the Island of Cuba, Jamaica, and other nearby Gulf ports. Millions of dollars have been expended by Henry B. Plant and associates under the supervision of the best known experts in railroad and harbor improvements that could be obtained for this object, and the work was near completion when war was declared with Spain, and the Island of Cuba became the base of hostilities. “Fortunately the government was well informed as to the superior facilities already in operation at Port Tampa, and the Quartermaster’s Department of the Army was not slow in recommending this place for the mobilization of troops and their preparation and embarkation to Cuba therefrom. The vexatious delays caused by inexperience in handling such a large body of men and munitions of war, reports of spook Spanish fleets, etc., are more or less familiar to our readers, as well as the detail of the fitting out and embarking of over 12,000 troops and their supplies which were loaded on board over thirty transports at Port Tampa in a very short space of time. The wharf facilities at some times accommodated as many as thirteen of these troop ships strung along end on.