“‘Gentlemen of the Plant System of Railroads and Steamship Lines and of the Southern Express Company, and my Friends: I thank you sincerely for the beautiful presents which you have given me on this the anniversary of my birth, and for the loving words of congratulation which accompany them. “‘While it reached my ears that there was to be some observance of the occasion, I am wholly unprepared for the magnificence of the gifts and the demonstration of fidelity and affection with which they are accompanied, and I am, therefore, unable to do justice to myself in expressing to you the appreciation I feel. I speak from a full heart, and can more than fill this beautiful loving-cup with affection and esteem for you, and for the employees whose feelings towards me are manifested not only by this testimonial, but as well by their constant and untiring devotion to the trusts confided to them through many years. To them, in a large measure, is due such success as has crowned my efforts in railway construction and management, and I now take pleasure in making this acknowledgment, and in assuring them of my continued confidence in them, and of my gratitude to them; without their unflagging efforts no measure of success could have been achieved. I look to them all with the fall assurance that the future, with their assistance, will result in still greater accomplishments in our railway enterprises. “‘This compass, the gift of the employees of the Plant Steamship Line, brings to my mind the thought that, whatever may have been my mistakes in life, I have always had one aim, which, like the needle, though oscillating and varying at times in some slight degree, pointed ever to one end, and that was to endeavor to do what was right and just. “‘Our steamships were the children of my later years, and they, with the faithful employees who operate them, are, and shall continue to be, very near to my heart. “‘The gift of the employees of the Southern Express Company brings to my mind pictures of the past. The express business was my first love, and I see here present those who were with me in troublous times, and bore with me the heat and burden of the fight. Their affection and loyalty have sustained me in many an anxious moment, and the knowledge that I had around me those upon whom I could count in every peril has enabled me to achieve some measure of success. To extend to them my thanks for all that they have been to me and done for me would be idle. They know how I feel towards them, and I am sure I know how they feel towards me. “‘I wish to say to you all that I am more apt to express my feelings in acts than in words; many of the employees of our several companies have been with me so long that they have become as members of my family. I feel towards all the employees that in a business sense they are members of my family and I want them to feel that they bear this relation to me.