Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-04
patty and are working together. although
they have no legal or official relations.
The Citv Hall of Belfast.

The city hall of Belfast is an imposing
building. which cost q million and hall
dollars and is very ornate for its purpose.
1t stands in the center of Il large square,
admirably located 50 that iIs fine proper
tons may he admired from all sides. The
interior is very ornamental, the walls and
stairways being of Carrara marble elabo-
rately carved. On either side are hand
some monuemnts. The building Is 100
feet long and :4O feet deep: the facade is
of the same design on each of the -four
sides and there Is a dome 10 feet high.
There is a great hall for official ceremo-
MES and public assemblies that Will seat
a thousand people, and several other state
apartments handsomely decorated.
In front of the city hall is a recent
statue of Queen Victoria in marble, and
II very good one il is. On another side
the late Lord Dufferin is represented In
bronze wearing the robes of a Knight of
st. Patrick. while the late Earl of Belfast
Sir Edward J. Harland, founder of the
great shipyards of Belfast, is honorcd in
Il similar manner. Not far away is the
Albert memorial Il clock tower, 142 feet
to the memory Of the prince consort in
1870. There are several other statues of
local dignitaries in different parts of the
city and a soul-stirrins memorial 10 the
members Of the Royal Irish Rifles who
died in the Boer war.
ouSlucSS Architecture FINE.
The business architecture of Belfast is
unusually fine and In striking contrast to
the rest of Ireland, where there has been
very little building for century. Belfast
however, is a distinctively modern CITY
and up to date. There are no skyscrap-
ers, and the limit of height of buildings
seems to be six stories. but there is con-
siderable architectural display The Snop-
ping streets are entirely modern, with
large and attractive show windows
The Weather.
You hear a great deal about the weather
Of Ireland, and l have already quoted an
old and common joke that it never rains
the 31st of February We have been very
fortunate in this respect however, and
have had an unusual amount of fine
weather this summer. But we never go
out without an umbrella or a macintosh,
because it is always safer to carry them.
1t rains in the most unexpected way The
clouds gather very suddenly and the pre-
dictions of the weather bureau cannot be
taken seriously. But the natives dom
seem to mind it, They are so used to
getting soaked that it's matter of no
consequence, and over in the shipyarGs
on through pouring rain without TAX
ing the slightest notice of 1t. Women
who are compelled to weather the storms
frequently line their skirts with rubber
cloth or leather so as to keep their under
clothing dry, and every man carries his
macintosh over his arm when he leaves
home in the morning.
Rain Two-Thirds Of the Year
The official reports show that in the
year 1907 rain fell on 232 out Of the 1865
days and In 1906 there were 237 rainy
davS Tn Octohar 1907 tbora u,ora On
rainy days: in December. 81; in May, %;
but in September there were only rainy
days. which might be called drought.
January, 1905. had % rainy days: Au-
December each %. The average annual
rainfall for the last forty years has been
30, 1913 inches.
The highest temperature last year was