Tampa

a city of Florida. It is situated at the mouth of Hillsborough River, at the head of Tampa Bay, about twenty-nine miles from the open Gulf of Mexico. The harbor is the best on the western coast of Florida. There are regular steamer connections with Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston, and other Gulf ports, as well as with Havana, New York, and other Atlantic ports. Phosphate, cedar lumber, pitch, and turpentine are shipped in large quantities. Tampa is noted for the manufacture of cigars. There are over 100 concerns and nearly 5,000 workmen employed in the manufacture of tobacco. The tobacco used in the factories is chiefly Cuban. Cuban workmen are employed in the factories. Historically Tampa is the landing place of Narvaez. The ill-fated expedition of De Soto, which resulted in the discovery of the Mississippi and the explorer's death, it may be remembered, set out from Tampa Bay. The present population of the city, including suburbs, is over 30,000.