138 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. 



warmth in the cold months and keeping out the heat 

 of summer. These features should be in every hotel, 

 and the directors and architects of the Federal Coffee 

 Palace have done wisely in ensuring them. There are 

 three entrances, one on the corner and one each in 

 King and Collins' Streets. Fluted Corinthian pillars 

 rise on each side of it to a height of between twenty 

 feet and thirty feet, and hold a massive cornice, on 

 which is a motto, 'Restez Ici,' with a similar invita- 

 tion in German. From this entrance the grand stair- 

 case is reached. This is of veined marble, and the 

 effect of such very tine stone, with the most brilliant 

 white of plastered walls, make the effect palatial 

 indeed. The grand staircase leads to corridors, from 

 which access may be had to any portion of the build- 

 ing, but it is not the only means of ascent and descent. 

 Half a dozen other staircases, all of stone and fire- 

 proof, provide greater facilities, and the fast travelling 

 American lifts, which latterly have come so much 

 into favor, afford additional comfort and safety. At 

 the corner entrance are the offices of the managers, 

 and apart from the shops in King and Collins' Streets, 

 nearly the whole of the remainder of ground floor is 

 taken up by the public dining saloon. Like the palace 

 itself, this is on a great scale, as can be imagined 

 when it is stated that from 600 to 700 persons can be 



