TORONTO: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 



open spaces of Osgoode Hall, presented as a gift to 

 the Law Society by Sir John Robinson, and Wykham 

 Hall, formerly the residence of Sir James Macaulay, 

 and now the seat of the Bishop Strachan School. At 

 the opposite corners of the other diagonal, S.E. and 

 N.W.. the energy and generosity of the North of Ire- 

 land still find fitting representatives. The one contains 

 the immense establishment stores, factories, stables 

 and garages of the T. Eaton Company, unsurpassed 

 as an example of rapid commercial success. The firm 

 in its building operations seems to be executing an 

 echelon movement by squares to reach the opposite 

 north-western angle of the " ward." Here the splen- 

 didly-equipped surgical wing of the new General Hos- 

 pital bears witness to the generosity of Mr. J. C. 

 Eaton, the present head of the Company. 



Within the central space between these points lies 

 closely congested the greater part of Toronto's foreign 

 population. Six synagogues and half a dozen foreign 

 missions indicate the cosmopolitan character which 

 the " ward " has now assumed and the efforts which 

 are being made to assimilate and Canadianize its 

 new denizens. To the lover of the .picturesque and 

 the cosmopolitan a walk through this region is an 

 unfailing source of delight. The eye of the pessimist 

 sees " slums " writ large over the district. The opti- 

 mist rejoices in the sight of this teeming life, so eager 

 to reproduce itself, so hopeful of the outlook in this 

 land of magnificent opportunities, so confident of 

 gaining, not only a comfortable livelihood, but an 

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