, the
marble palace, to which he gave the name of the _Fifth Avenue Hotel_, was
opened to the public. By this time the city had grown so fast as to make
the need of this house imperative, but the first years of the war laid a
burden upon it which only the most skilful financial management could
overcome.

The hotel is the most perfectly appointed in the city. The ground floor
along Broadway and Fifth avenue is let out in stores. The main entrance
is on Fifth avenue, and is ornamented with a fine marble porch. From
this, the visitor enters into the spacious reception hall, tiled with
marble and handsomely frescoed. A marble counter at the lower end
encloses the offices of the hotel, and on this counter is laid the
Visitor's Register, of which several fresh pages are filled daily with
the names of new-comers. Opposite the office are the stairs leading to
the basement, in which are the billiard-rooms, storerooms, etc., of the
house. The hall upon which the office opens extends through to the rear
of the building. On the south side of this hall is the reading-room, in
which are to be found the daily papers of the leading cities of the
Union. Opposite the reading-room is the bar-room, one of the most
elegant apartments of the house, and beyond this is the handsome and
well-appointed barber-shop. There is a private entrance on Twenty-fourth
street, used mainly by gentlemen, another on Twenty-third street, and
still another on Broadway. Each is in charge of a door-keeper, whose
duty it is to exclude improper personages. Along the Twenty-third street
side are suites of private apartments on the ground floor, occupied by
permanent boarders.

The various floors are reached by means of an "elevator," the first ever
used in this country. Similar arrangements are now in use in all the
large hotels. The main stairway commences immediately opposite the
office. It is of white marble, and massive in its design. Ascending it
the visitor finds himself in a spacious hall, at one end of which is a
corridor at right angles to this hall. At the end nearest the stairs is
the dining-room, a magnificent apartment. When the tables are filled
with a handsomely dressed throng of guests at the dinner hour, this room
presents one of the most brilliant sights that can be witnessed on the
continent. The bill of fare comprises literally everything that is in
season. Back of the dining-room is the kitchen, an immense
establishment.