Mr. Plant has an intuitive knowledge, possessed by few men, of many things outside his immediate sphere of action. He spent several days going over the plans of _La Grande Duchesse_ in minute detail before the contract for building her was signed, noting scores of corrections which the architect was more than gratified to make. His after-dinner speeches at Southern banquets have no spread-eagleism in them; no declamation, but calm, quiet, easy suggestion, as if talking to a few friends whom he loved and wanted to help, and better still, wanted them to help themselves. There is no alarm, but friendly admonition, wise counsel, valuable instruction, most kindly administered. In March, 1886, the Tampa Board of Trade honored Mr. Plant with a splendid banquet, and warmly welcomed him and his friends to this once sleepy old hamlet, now kept awake by the steam whistles of the South Florida Railroad and those of the steamships sailing to the West Indies. In reply to a toast by General John B. Wall, Mr. Plant said: “Some two years and a half ago I was escorted here by some of the gentlemen present, upon a wagon-line across the peninsula of Florida from Kissimmee City, with Mr. Haines, Mr. Ingraham, Mr. Elliott, and Mr. Allen. We had a day’s journey to reach over the gap in the railway that was then being constructed, connecting Tampa with the St. John’s River. It was an interesting trip. I think to the best of my recollection we passed not more than seven habitations on that journey, certainly not more than that while daylight lasted, and now we can make the trip from Kissimmee to Tampa in three or four hours and find cities on the way,--cities of enterprise, with a frugal and industrious population. Business has grown, and great progress has been made in this part of Florida, but no place has improved more than this town of Tampa. Tampa, it seems to us, had a chill, although the climate was good. A citizen told me on that visit that they did not value the land at anything, but that the air was worth one thousand dollars an acre. That gave the value of Tampa land at that time. All are aware what is the value of Tampa land at present. Very little I am told is for sale.