that it has a suggestion of the Byzantine period, which is seen in so
many buildings of a public character. Nothing, however, could be more
dignified than this great and imposing structure, which is traversed
by a main corridor crossed by a central one with two others, one in
the east and the other in the west. These corridors which give you a
sense of amplitude, are paved with Vermont marble. It has one chief
dome, three hundred feet above the base, which is surmounted by a
colossal figure with a torch in the uplifted right hand, a goddess of
liberty. On another section of the Hall is a small tower with a flag
staff, then a lower dome with a flag staff, the dome being supported
by pillars with Corinthian capitals. Flowers were in bloom in the
court-yards the day when I visited the building, and they gave an
artistic appearance to the granite-foundations. The upper courses of
the Hall are made of stucco in imitation of granite. The building,
which was begun in 1870, was completed in 1895. What it cost is hard
to tell. I questioned several persons in regard to it, but received
different answers, ranging all the way from five millions of dollars
up to thirteen millions. San Francisco, however, may well be proud of
the white edifice, in which are located most of the offices relating
to the business of the city. But we must not depart from these
precincts until we have examined the monumental group in the New City
Hall Square on the south side or front. The monument is circular in
form and is crowned with a figure of a woman, representing California,
in bronze. She wears a chaplet made of olive leaves, and holds a wand
in her right hand, and in her left a large disk bordered with stars,
while a bear is seen standing on her right side. No doubt Bruin has
reference to the famous bear flag which had been raised on the Plaza
in 1846, when California declared herself independent of Mexico, and
which in the same year gave place to the Stars and Stripes. Around the
monumental figure of California are subjects in bronze. First of all