e external walls are composed of variegated marble. It has an air
of lightness and elegance, that at once elicit the admiration of the
gazer. The interior is finished with white pine, ash, mahogany, oak, and
black walnut in their natural colors; no paint being used in the
building. Schools of art, a library, reading room, lecture room, and the
necessary rooms for the business of the institution, occupy the first and
second stories. The third floor is devoted to the gallery of paintings
and the sculpture room. At certain seasons of the year exhibitions of
paintings and statuary are held here. None but works of living artists
are exhibited.

[Picture: STEINWAY AND SONS' PIANO FACTORY.]

One of the most imposing buildings in the city is the new Grand Central
Depot, on Forty-second street and Fourth avenue. It is constructed of
red brick, with iron trimmings painted white, in imitation of marble.
The south front is adorned with three and the west front with two massive
pavilions. The central pavilion of each front contains an illuminated
clock. The entire building is 696 feet long and 240 feet wide. The
space for the accommodation of the trains is 610 feet long and 200 feet
wide. The remainder of the edifice is devoted to the offices of the
various railways using it. Waiting-rooms, baggage-rooms, etc. The
car-shed is covered with an immense circular roof of iron and glass. The
remainder of the building is of brick and iron. The principal front is
on Forty-second street. This portion is to be occupied by the offices
and waiting-rooms of the New York and New Haven and the Shore Line
railways. The southern portion of the west front is occupied by the
offices and waiting-rooms of the New York, Harlem, and Albany Railway,
and the remainder of this front by the offices and waiting-rooms of the
Hudson River and New York Central railways. These roads are the only
lines which enter the city, and they are here provided with a common
terminus in the very heart of the metropolis. The waiting-rooms and
offices are finished in hard wood, are handsomely frescoed, and are
supplied with every convenience. The height of the roof of the main body
of the depot is 100 feet from the ground; the apex of the central
pavilion on Forty-second street is 160 feet from the ground.

The car-house constitutes the main body of the depot. It is lighted from
the roof by day, and at night large reflectors, lighted by an e