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 there is an overland wagon drawn by oxen, with pioneers accompanying it.  Secondly an Indian wigwam with hunters and Indians representing the year 1850.  In the third scene we have a buffalo hunt, the hunter holding a lasso in his hand, and then there is the dying buffalo.  Succeeding this we have a domestic scene—­fruits and wheat—­and a reaper in 1848.  We then note bronze-medallions of Sutter, James Lick, Fremont, Drake, the American Flag, and Serra.  Moreover on this central monument we have the names of Stockton, Castro, Vallejo, Marshall, Sloat, Larkin, Cabrillo-Portalo.  Then the date, “Erected A.D. 1894.  Dedicated to the City of San Francisco by James Lick.”

The scenes on the four monuments around the central one are—­First, the finding of gold in “’49”—­three miners.  Second, a figure with an oar.  Third, Early Days.  Indian with bow and arrow.  Pioneer with saddle and lasso.  A Franciscan preaching.  Fourth, a figure crowned with wheat, apples in right hand, and the Horn of plenty with various fruits in the left hand.  The monument bears this inscription, near the base—­Whyte and De Rome, Founders.  Frank Appersberger, Sculptor.