Mr. Higinbotham made the following address, which happened to be his last public utterance: “It is my pleasure to deliver into the care and keeping of the South Park Commissioners this statue. It has been created as a memorial of the Exposition held here a quarter of a century ago to celebrate the Four-hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of America by Columbus. The Discovery and the celebration four hundred years later, in which the peoples of the earth so generously united, are landmarks, milestones, on the highway of civilization. “This statue is intended to commemorate both events, and is in such form as to do them the highest honor. It is made of purest metal. It is of heroic size, thus indicating that the events it commemorates were notable. It is in the image of a woman, typifying purity, strength, motherhood. Thus it suggests those qualities that in all the ages have commanded love and respect. “I cannot allow this last opportunity to speak of the World’s Columbian Exposition to pass without paying tribute to its high purpose, its beauty and beneficent influence. It sprang into being under circumstances and conditions that made it akin to a miracle. A new city in a far country was responsible for its conception, creation, and administration. Its magnificence caused the world to wonder and almost worship. Its Court of Honor will be remembered as worthy of a place beside the most beautiful creations of man. It won the smile of the world and had the blessing and benediction of the Divine. Its author did not live to witness its grandeur. The ‘Columbian Ode’ said of him: ‘Beauty opened wide her starry way, And he passed on.’ “The unanimity with which the Nations of the Earth united in the celebration is an indication of the value that the Discovery of the New World was to mankind in its onward march.” Soon after the close of the Exposition Mr. Higinbotham returned to active business. Unfortunately that part of his life is less a matter of public record, and in its history the present writer is wholly uninformed and incompetent. She once read an article by Mr. Higinbotham, intended for young would-be merchants, which set forth so clearly the qualities of mind and temperament required for such a career, and described many typical incidents so picturesquely, as to convince her that its author should use his literary gift to tell the whole dramatic story of the growth of the great business which engaged him for nearly forty years—from its small local beginning with Field, Palmer & Leiter in 1865, to the enormous world-wide commerce of Marshall Field & Co. from which he retired in 1902. Such a story would be, in effect, a commercial history of the great formative period of the nation, and its value can hardly be estimated.