immense magnitude and probably two or three times as large
as the average Eastern man imagines. The site of the hotel covers a
space of more than an acre and a half, and several million dollars were
spent on this structure. Everything is magnificent, expansive, huge and
massive. The building itself is seven stories high, and in its center,
forming what may be described as the grandest enclosed court in the
world, is a circular space 144 feet across and roofed in with glass at a
great height. Carriages are driven into this enclosure, and, in the
nearest approach to severe weather known in San Francisco, guests can
alight practically indoors.

There are nearly 800 bed-rooms, all of them large and lofty, and the
general style of architecture is more than massive. The foundation walls
are 12 feet thick, and 31,000,000 brick were used above them. The
skeleton of wrought iron bands, upon which the brick and stone work is
constructed, weighs more than 3,000 tons. Four artesian wells supply
pure water to the house, which is not only one of the largest hotels in
the world, but also one of the most complete and independent in its
arrangements.

A pleasant ride of nearly four miles in length brings the rider to
Golden Gate Park. The Golden Gate, from which the park takes its name,
is one of the world's beauty spots, and here some of the most exquisite
sunsets ever witnessed can be seen. The Gate is the entrance from the
Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay, which varies in width from ten to
fifteen miles. At the Gate the width is suddenly reduced to less than a
mile, and hence at ebb and flow the current is very swift. Near the Gate
sea lions can be seen gamboling in the surf, and the waves can be
observed striking on the rocks and boulders, and sending up spray of
foamy whiteness to a height of a hundred feet.

Golden Gate Park is like everything else on the Pacific Coast, immense
and wonderful. It is not the largest park in the world, but it ranks
amongst the most extensive. Its acreage exceeds a thousand, and it is
difficult to appreciate the fact that the richly cultivated ground
through which the tourist is driven has been reclaimed from the ocean,
and was but once little more than a succession of sand bars and dunes.

When the reader goes to San Francisco, as we hope he will go some day,
if he has not already visited it, he will be told within a few minutes
of his entering the city, that he has at least reached what may be