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.