Dur on sea and land and in factories. ing the three centuries preceding this marvelous innovation the whole world had been explored, and all parts of it had been brought into commercial intercourse. The extension of commerce during the present century is unparaleled in history. At every great progressive stride made by commerce new features in her operations have displayed themselves not only in a general but also in a detail point of view. The most conspicuous of the latter in the present age is the institution of department establishments for the local distribution of commodities of every kind and description. These great establishments occupy relatively the same position in a nation which the greater emporiums of commerce do in the world. at large; they are, in fact, retail empo riums for the concentration and distribution of foreign and domestic productions locally desirable and in demand, and have been brought into vogue by the vast scope of modern commerce. The most prominent of these institutions are the Bon Marché and Louvre of Paris, Whiteley's of London, Wanamaker's of Philadelphia, Marshall Field & Co. of Chicago, and Hilton, Hughes & Denning of New York. These are soon to be more than equaled in San Francisco. Only he that has wandered hour after hour through the corridors, up and down the grand stairways, along the almost endless aisles, of such wonderful expositions as the Louvre and the Bon Marché in Paris can form any adequate conception of what this Emporium of San Francisco, a greater exposition, will be. The eye must really see to believe, the mind can not grasp it aided simply by photograph and printed letter. Convenience and the reduction of retail prices are the mainsprings of the success which attends these great department emporiums. The concentration of the productions of all industries at a single point in a flourishing seat of population affords the consumer facilities for purchase without waste of time which individual stores scattered over a large area cannot present; while the fact that most of the goods with which these establishments are stocked are supplied directly from the manufacturer, without the intervention of the wholesale dealer and middle-men, points conclusively to low prices. These may be regarded as the chief factors of success, but there are others, far from unimportant, which may be catalogued under the general term attractions. Such great institutions as those mentioned afford veritable spectacles, which invite the attention of the resident and transient public alike. The magnificence and gorgeousness of the displays, the immense variety of goods, the grandeur of the building, the marble stairways and wide passage-ways, and the great concourse of people, purchasers, idlers, and sightseers, promenading through the numerous departments, excite the wonder of the visitor and arouse in him feelings of pleasure and satisfaction second only to those experienced on a visit to a world's fair. Establishments of this character exist in all of the large cities of the world. San Francisco has been, perhaps, dilatory in producing an institution of the kind befitting her rank as Queen of the Pacific, but she is now about to make amends, and will soon have an emporium greater in area, more magnificent in architecture, and more complete in all its arrangements than any of the great establishments mentioned or existing elsewhere. This vast enterprise, which when completed will represent a capital of five million dollars and give employment to from two thousand to two thousand five hundred people, has been created and carried out by the brains and capital of San Francisco's own citizens, and is one of the most potent indications of the dawn of the new era of prosperity which is opening for our State. Five and twenty years ago the stranger visiting San Francisco was struck with wonder at beholding a city that had sprung up in two decades on the site of an insignificant trading post. The Cosmopolitan, Occidental, Lick House, and the Grand Hotel, had been built; on Montgomery, Kearny, and Market streets fine stores offered the purchaser almost every variety of articles manufactured in all quarters of the globe; theaters had been built, great churches had been erected, and the visitor marveled at the tremendous energy and activity displayed by the city builders of the West. Commerce was the cause of this wonderful transformation; for it was California's wealth in gold, the commercial medium of exchange, that started her in her career of prosperity. But the contrast between the aspect of the city at the time alluded to and that which it now wears is immense. The foundation stones of the Palace Hotel and the New City Hall had not been laid, California Street Hill and Van Ness Avenue were almost without buildings; the railroad ran down Valencia Street, and steam paddies were leveling sand PLACING THE STEEL FRAMEWORK OF THE DOME. DIAMETER, ONE HUNDRED FEET. VOL. xxvi.-37. hills south of Market Street; none of the notably great and fine business structures and private mansions that now adorn San Francisco then existed. Today they proclaim the rapidity and permanency of her progress, and the new building will be a worthy addition. to them, both architectural and commercial. Its site was formerly owned by the Society of Jesus and for many years was occupied by the Jesuit College. After the Society moved to their new quarters, the lot was purchased by the Parrott Estate, but owing to its great size the Estate could determine upon no advantageous improvement until the Emporium Company was formed, and it was decided to erect a structure exceptionally ornamental to the city and to be devoted to an enterprise in step with the commercial progress of the age. A lease of the entire building for twenty years has been made with this Company. Sit No more favorable position could have been chosen for the establishment. uated at a point on the main artery of the city most easy of access from all parts; placed in the very center of public movement; within short distance of the New City Hall and the future Post Office, the building will be a focus of congregation and a lodestone of attraction. As you stand on Market Street and gaze at the magnificent façade, 275 feet in length and seven stories high, you can hardly realize the great size of its component parts. This is due to the symmetry and harmony of the architecture, the style of which is Modern Renaissance. Whether you look at the grand main entrance, with its flanking Doric pilasters and massive entablature, or at that striking feature of the façade, the long row of Corinthian columns, you are hardly conscious of their real size. The superficial area of the main entrance is immense, the span of the arch alone. being 25 feet and its height 40 feet. It is the largest single bond arch as yet constructed in any mercantile building or business block, and some of the stones used in it weigh twelve and even fourteen tons apiece. The building is provided with two other handsome entrances, one at each end, leading to the office floors of the building, and the spaces between them and the main entrance are occupied by great show windows, twelve in number, which will present an almost unbroken surface of plate glass and furnish a A TWENTIETH CENTURY PALACE OF COMMERCE. 467 gorgeous spectacle with their brilliant displays of rich goods. The second story will also be similarly glazed on the Market Street front. Above the third story rises the imposing colonnade of Corinthian columns, eighteen in number, flanked to half their height by pilasters. These columns reach to the top of the sixth story, thus covering with bases and capitals included, a height of three stories. Their entablature is simple and elegant, and above it rises the façade of the seventh story, which is surmounted by a rich cornice and stone balustrade. This beautiful front is built entirely of Oregon gray sandstone, taken from the Pioneer Quarry, Lincoln County, and Yaquina Bay, Oregon. About 5500 tons. of this handsome building material, which resembles granite, was used in the construction. But even the great length and height of the façade do not fully convey a realization of the actual magnitude of the edifice; for it has a depth of no less than 350 feet, and therefore, an area of 96,250 square feet, while that of the basement is still larger by 8,250 square feet, owing to extensions of twenty feet. under Market Street and ten feet under Jessie Street. This immense basement will be complete and perfect in all its numerous arrangements, and it will be devoted mainly to departments of this great store; but in it will also be located the heating and ventilating apparatus, an electric plant, supplying motive power for the elevators and light for innumerable incandescent and arc burners, and all the most modern contrivances for the comfort and convenience of the numerous occupants of the building. A grand and lofty vestibule, embellished with magnificent carvings in stone, and having show windows upon either side, forms a fitting entrance to this great establishment. It is without doubt the grandest entrance to any mercantile establishment. From this vestibule the visitor passes through the doors and beholds a spectacle unequaled in the world. This is a single room 275 feet wide, 350 feet long, and from 45 to 100 feet high. There is seen a forest of magnificent pillars, but nowhere is there a single partition to divide this vast room. The fixtures and shelving for the merchandise alone serve the purpose of dividing the different departments from one another. The visitor now stands upon the main aisle of the store, a veritable highway. It is paved with beautiful marble and is forty feet wide. Along its sides begin the rows of massive pillars which uphold the second story, built as balconies in this vast room. This grand aisle extends in a straight line for one hundred and twenty-five feet from both ends, and then with the same width of forty feet extends in semi-circular form to the right and left, forming a rotunda one hundred and forty feet in diameter, in the center of the store. This grand aisle is remarkable by reason of the fact that over the straight portion its ceiling is 45 feet from its floor, |