One of the innovations in the matter of street decoration was the “Court of History,” in the space along the Avenue facing the Treasury Building, the White House, and the State, War, and Navy Departments. This was one of the most elaborate and interesting features ever introduced into the decorative scheme for inaugural ceremonies. It was a matter of surprise that it should have been designed for temporary purposes only. In addition to stately columns, the Court included pieces of statuary representing personages prominent in the early history of the nation, colossal allegorical figures representing transportation by land and by sea, and victory, massive urns filled with palms, palmettoes, and vines of the southland, and tall bamboo poles from the Philippines flying the Stars and Stripes. There was not a feature but was full of significance to the American people. The statues, of which there were three carloads, brought from the World’s Fair, at St. Louis, represented Clark, La Salle, Chancellor Livingston, President Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Bienville, Mabois, Narvez, and Anthony Wayne. A happy little ceremony in the Court had occurred at the moment the President took the oath. Upon a signal from a bugle, “Old Glory” burst to the breeze from forty-eight bamboo flagpoles. The gown worn by Mrs. Roosevelt at the inaugural ball that night will long be remembered, for it was distinctive both as to fabric and colour, and was rich enough for an empress. Following the custom set by Martha Washington, who refused, after she became First Lady of the Land, to wear any garments of imported material, Mrs. Roosevelt had the silk for her dress woven in Paterson, New Jersey, and then, to avoid the inevitable copying of cloth and pattern, she had the pattern destroyed after the required number of yards had been turned off the loom. Thus she might, if she chose, preserve her gown with the comforting knowledge that no other dress would ever be just like it. This gown was a gorgeous creation of robin’s-egg blue brocade, with raised gold design of large ostrich feathers, alternating with medallions of the gold. Family heirloom lace more than two hundred years old gave a delicate touch to the bodice. Though she rarely wore jewels, Mrs. Roosevelt, on this occasion, was literally ablaze with diamonds, but over and above every other feature of the magnificent costume was the elegant court train, three yards long. The weight of this gold-embroidered robe with its heavy underskirts of silk made it advisable to limit the Grand March to five minutes. The Committee desired to furnish Mrs. Roosevelt with two powdered youths to act as train bearers, but she declined. Mrs. Fairbanks’s rich white satin, with its gold embroidery and point lace, was a splendid foil for the gown worn by Mrs. Roosevelt. The freshness and elegance of the costumes worn by the six or seven thousand women with the display of jewels were a notable feature of the ball.