Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-12-09
ABOUT SOME THINGS WE THREE
SAW IN BOSTON AND
NEW YORK.

Arrived in Boston at $3.50 Friday
morning.. We hired room on Stan
ford ST. for one week. Two of us
never were in city before. We went
through the new State House addition,
about three times larger than the old
part, with two grand marble stair cas-
es,polished marble wainscoting, white
porcelain tile walls, cube or cut mar
BILE floors, in borders and three colors.
We were much pleased to see what
money could do. Then we went to the
new court house, Pemberton So. The
main hall or staircase is all finished
in polished marble, in colors. The
main room is 70 #. high. We found
this to be full finer finished than the
State House. Next we took a walk
through the Common and public gar
den; took look at the fine churches,
museum of fine arts, Harvard medical
school, and then to Copley Square.
The new Boston Public Library, look
ing east, fronting 225 TT. on Copley
Square, 227 ft.deep and 20 TT high. 1t is
built of pink granite, quarried at Mil
ford, Mass. The cost of the building
and land was $2,7OO,OOO. The grand
staircase is'unequalled in richness and
magnificence by anything in the Unit
ed States. The marble used in the
opening arch of the staircase is almost
several years to obtain this marble.
1t was imported from Sienna. The
large public reading room = Bates
Hall isa named in honor Of Joshua
Bates, who gave the library in early
days $50, 900 and $780, 900 worth of
books. Bates hall is the noblest and
most perfect feature of the whole
building. 1t is 21S fit. long, 421a fit.
wide, 90 fit. high to crown of it's arch
es. The floor of the hall is terrazzo-
crossed by paths of yellow Verona
marble This terrazzo is a sort of
rough mosaic, made by strewing small
keystone shaped pieces of marble up
on layer of Portland cement, rolling
the whole together with heavy iron
rollers, and finally polishing with sand
stone and oiling. In this case the ce-
ment was stained yellow and the mar
BILE was for the body of the design;
| the yellow Sienn and white Italian,
| for the border black Belgian. Bates
Hall accommodates about three hun
| dred readers. There are 33 heavy oak
tables IL fit. long, 81 ft. wide. Each
| table has eight chairs. The trustees
hold 5000, 600 in trust Most of the in
come is used to buy new books. In
1894 the total expense of carrying on
the library was S175,O0 This was in
the old building. In the new building
it will cost $40, 900 more year. This
expense is paid by the city.
Our next step was to the new post
| office and up into the US Treasurer's
room. This is one of the finest bust
ness rooms in Boston.
We took car for Bunker Hill
climbed to the top of the monument,
/ and had a fine view of Boston and
| vicinity. We went through the navy
| yard, but didn't find much life there
| We went to So. Boston and walked
! over the new bridge to old Fort Inde-
| pendence. We had a fine view of Bos-
ton harbor. We went to Chestnut
Franklin Park. Our next day was al
| old Cambridge. We found the Agas-
siz museum very interesting place
1t would take two days to see one
half the contents of the building.
We left Mechanics Fiar well pleas
ed, although the manufacturers die
not have as many kinds as usual.
/ We started for New York by the
Fall River line, at $50, Thursday
The steamers on this line are of the
best; over 500 fit. long, so wide, 55(
state rooms, dining rooms, equal to
any hotel. We steamed from Long
Island Sound through East River by
daylight; had a fine view of the cross
streets from east to west. We got a
good look at the shipping, landed near
the foot of MurraySt. and then walked
to City Hall park. From there we
took a Broadway Belt Line car up to
Central Park. All along Fifth Avenue
we could see the finest residences Of
this country, and as for nice turnouts
in the way of teams, horses and car.
riages, there are no better. Our time
was limited, so we could not half see
Central Park. The new water acque
duct cost s25, oOO, 900; it is tunne IL.
it. in diameter and over 80 miles long
carried through solid rock at an av
erage depth of 500 feet below the sur
face; it leads to the present system
of pipes. The main distributing tn,