Here the fabrics are opened and
sent to their departments. The cellar is the carpet sales-room. The
first floor is the general sales-room, and is the most attractive place
in the building. It is three hundred feet long by two hundred wide, and
is provided with one hundred counters, each fifty feet in length. Behind
these counters the goods are arranged, with no effort at display, on the
shelves, which rise but a few feet above the counters. There is an
abundance of light in all parts of the house, especially over the silk
counters, which are just under the rotunda. The second floor is taken up
with ladies' suits, shawls, curtain goods, etc., and the next floor is
devoted to the same purpose. The fourth floor is used as a manufactory
for making up the suits, etc., placed on sale or ordered by customers;
on the fifth is the fur-room and upholstery manufactory; and the sixth
is occupied as a laundry. The most perfect order is maintained in every
part of the establishment, the mere direction of which requires
administrative ability of a very high character.

As fast as the sales are made, the articles, unless taken away by the
purchaser, are sent to the parcel desk, which is located in the cellar.
This is the busiest department in the house, and one of the most
important. Each order is accompanied by a ticket stating the quality and
amount of the goods, the price, and the address of the purchaser. It is
remeasured and examined here, so that any error on the part of the
salesman may be detected and repaired. Errors of this kind, however, are
rare, and the burden of the labor in this department consists of making
the goods up into secure packages and sending them to their
destinations. The tickets delivered at the parcel desk are then sent to
the checking desk, which is also in the basement, where they are
compared with those delivered by the salesmen to the cashiers, and if no
error is discovered, the goods are sent to the wagons for delivery.

The wagon department constitutes a very important branch of the
business. The vehicles and horses are accommodated in a fine stable on
Amity Street, near Broadway. The building was formerly a Baptist church,
and was presided over by the Rev. Dr. Williams. When the congregation
went higher up town, they sold the old church, which found a purchaser
in Mr. Stewart. He converted it into a stable, and has since more than
doubled its size. The floor was taken up, a sewer built to carry off