BOSTON AND ITS ENVIRONS. 47 



and which was just ready for the addition of the roof 

 when the Great Fire of 1872 descended upon it and beat 

 upon it so fiercely that even to-day the traces of the 

 intense heat are visible on parts of the edifice. 

 Damage to the amount of $175,000 was done. The 

 Sub-Treasury, the United States courts, the pension and 

 internal revenue offices are domiciled here, and it is 

 considered the handsomest public building in all New 

 England, having cost $6,000,000. The interior fur- 

 nishings are sumptuous in the extreme, the doors and 

 windows in the Sub-Treasury apartments being of solid 

 mahogany, beautifully polished. The ^' marble cash- 

 room " is a splendid hall, decorated in Greek style, with 

 wall-slabbing of dark and light shades of Sienna mar- 

 ble and graceful pilasters of Sicilian marble. 



The City Hall, on School street, is the seat of the 

 municipal housekeeping. Here the departments of ♦ 

 streets, water, lighting, police, and public printing 

 have their offices, and Common Council sits in august 

 assemblage. It is a commanding structure of granite, 

 fireproof, and in the Renaissance style. Its cost was 

 $500,000. Two fine bronze statues, one by Greenough, 

 of Franklin, one by Ball, of Josiah Quincy, ornament 

 the grassy square in front of the building. 



No picture of Boston ^vould be complete without 

 that old landmark, Tremont Temple. It occupies 

 the former site of the Tremont Theatre and contains 

 one of the largest halls in the city. The building it- 

 self, however, sinks into insignificance before the crowd 

 of associations that stir the blood at its very name. 

 For years it has been the rallying point of Boston's 

 most notable gatherings — political, intellectual, and 

 religious. If, instead of colorless words, we could 



