THE FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE. 137 



largest affair of the kind in the world ; as an hotel, it 

 is second to very few. The company which has 

 brought it into existence was formed during May and 

 June, 1885, and it was registered on the 29th of July, 

 the following month. Some particulars of the eager- 

 ness manifested for the stock will show the opinion 

 held by the general public of the investment. The 

 capital is 100,000, in 100,000 shares of 1 each, and 

 the first issue closed on the 2nd November, 1885, at 

 which time 59,921 shares had been allotted. The list 

 was closed until the 14th of December in the same 

 year, and 16,268 shares were taken up at their full 

 price before it was again closed on the llth March last. 



" It might almost be called a triumph of the art of 

 the architect and the skill of the builder, and it can 

 readily be understood that so large an amount as 

 13,000 was required for the foundations which carry 

 the thousands upon thousands of bricks and the mas- 

 sive pillars which go to complete the building. The 

 style of architecture is not easily described. It com- 

 prises a little of everything Corinthian, Ionic, Doric, 

 early English, late English, Queen Anne, Elizabethan 

 and Australian in fact, it may be called the last 

 Though so great it is not heavy, and if the walls be 

 massive, they answer the dual purpose of preserving 



to 



