282 Beyond the Sierras. 



to the square of the distance. The character of the old-time tiivern, or puh- 

 hc house, is estabH.<hed in tradition and song. Since the time when Chau- 

 cer's pilgrims set out from the Tabard, taking mine host with them, on their 

 way to Canterbury, the inns of the English-speaking race have been nothing 

 to seek. With the rise of the great comniereial age the city hotel has come; 

 and, with the progress of civilization to the westward, it haa become an in- 

 stitution, certainly an integral part and parcel of all cities. 



In the great cities of the east, and of the Middle States, the first-class es- 

 tabli.shments for the entertainment of guests have Uiken a high rank l)oth for 

 architecture and furnishings and style of service: but it has remained for San 

 Francisco to claim and, as I think, to take the palm of excellence. At least, 

 her Palace Hotel proclaims herself as the first uiul best, not only in the 

 United States, but in the world. I think it may not be controverted that 

 the Palace is the largest and most commodious establishment of its kind. It 

 occupies, besides the addendum known formerly as the Grand, a whole 

 square of the city, having its principal front on Market street. It is seven 

 stories high, is superior in its architecture and elegant in adornment. It 

 has no fewer than a thousand and fifteen rooms for the accommodation of 

 its occupants. The dining-hall and hall of the restaurant are among the 

 finest apartments of the kind; and the superior methods of caring for the 

 guests and the details of accommodation are worthy of the highest praise. 

 The building is a quadrangle, having a magnificent court in the center. 

 This is entered at one side by the carriages, which find ample room within 

 for the delivery and reception of guests, and for exit. Around the four sides 

 of the court, which is covered with a glass canopy on high, are the interior 

 balconies, or promenades, supported by rows of Corinthian pillars. These 

 aflbrd to all the guests the opportunity of looking down upon the marble 

 floor of the court, where throngs of strangers are passing and rejKissing, and 

 where, on every evening, one of the finest of bands discourses excellent 

 music. I can not enter into minutiie, but will sum it up by saying that 

 whoever will seek or find the ideal of enterUiinment, the luxury of rest, the 

 exclusivenpss of absolute privacy in the midst of the most active tides of 

 civilized life, may enter with confidence, as he will certainly remain well 

 pleased, into the great Palace of San Francisco. thou skeptical cynic, 

 dost thou think that tlie poor writer of this panegyric had gratuitous benefits 

 at the Palace? Indeed, it is not so. He paid his bills like a gentleman, and 

 had no favors alK)ve the rest. 



