There are already extant records of the speeches of the prominent men who, from the Auditorium platform in the Exposition grounds, addressed the public on that day and proclaimed to the world the reasons which actuated the creation of this Exposition, not only for the advancement of the mercantile interests of the southern section of the country, but as well for the education of its people. While it is, therefore, futile to reproduce here the history of the Exposition, it might be well to say that as far back as December, 1894, Mr. H. B. Plant was called upon by a committee of gentlemen representing the Cotton States and International Exposition Company and urged to make an exhibit at the Exposition. In recognition of his acquiescence, and the erection of a building by the Plant System of Railways and Steamship Lines, in which was placed a most creditable exhibit from the sections of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida traversed by the Plant System of Railways, the Exposition Company determined that a day should be set apart, to be known as “Plant System Day,” and as the founder and president of the System, Mr. Henry B. Plant, was to celebrate the seventy-sixth anniversary of his birth on October 27, 1895, it was decided that in his honor the two events should be commemorated as a unit. This plan was impracticable, as the 27th fell on Sunday, but that the celebration should be as closely connected as possible, the day following, October 28th, was named by the Committee and announced to the public as “Plant System Day” at the Cotton States and International Exposition. From the time of this announcement until the day of the festivities, preparations were made to make the occasion in all ways enjoyable. Mr. Plant, accompanied by his family, arrived in Atlanta on Saturday, and on the succeeding morning, the seventy-sixth anniversary of his birth, was greeted by the following article, written by Mr. Clark Howell, and published in the _Constitution_. It served as an index to a time replete with pleasure, and as a welcome to Mr. H. B. Plant, President, and to the Plant System in Atlanta, Georgia, October 27 and 28, 1895. From the Atlanta _Constitution_, October 27, 1895. “No more important day will be celebrated during the present Cotton States and International Exposition than to-morrow, which has been set aside in honor of Mr. Henry B. Plant, the head of the great Plant railway and steamship lines. The importance of the day will spring not only from the successful life of which Mr. Plant is an example, but from the fact that above any other man living he represents the great industrial revolution which has come over the face of the Southern States, and which marks the success of free over slave labor. * * * * *