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60 ft. high, with galleries on three sides. Nearly all the concerts, lectures, fairs, readings, &c., given in Boston, occur in Tremont Temple, Hor- ticultural hall, and the Music hall. In 1872-'3, 19 courses, embracing 205 lectures, were deliv- ered in Boston. The Music hall, completed in 1852, is in the interior of a block, with entrances from Winter and Tremont streets. The main hall is 130 by 78 ft. and 65 ft. high, and has two tiers of galleries on three sides. It is adorned with Crawford's statue of Beethoven, a statue of the Apollo Belvedere, and three casts of eminent composers presented by Miss Charlotte Cushman. The great organ in the Music hall is the largest instrument of the kind in Amer- ica, and ranks among the finest in the world. Its entire height is 60 ft., breadth 48 ft., depth 24 ft. It contains 5,474 pipes, of which 690 are in the pedal organ, and has 84 complete registers. It was constructed at Ludwigsburg in Germany, at a cost of $80,000, by Walcker, the builder of the great organs of Ulm and Stuttgart, and was formally inaugurated Nov. 2, 1863. Horticultural hall, corner of Tremont and Bromfield streets, is a handsome structure of fine-grained white granite, beautifully dressed. The front is surmounted by a granite statue of Ceres, and is ornamented by statues of Flora and Pomona. The lower floor is occupied for business purposes, while the two halls are used by the Massachusetts horticultural society and for public lectures, fairs, concerts, &c. The Masonic temple, on the corner of Tremont and Boylston streets, a structure of fine light- colored granite, highly ornamental and unique in style, was completed in 1867. It has a front of 85 ft. in Tremont street, and is 90 ft. high, having seven stories above the basement, and, besides numerous smaller apartments, contains three large halls for masonic meetings. Odd Fellows' hall has lately been erected on the corner of Berkeley and Tremont streets. The building is of elegant design, constructed of Concord and Hallowell white granite, is four stories high, and covers 12,000 square feet. The hall of the Massachusetts charitable me- chanics' association, constructed of dark free- stone in a modification of the Italian renais- sance style, at a cost, including land, of about $320,000, is on the corner of Bedford and Chauncey streets. It is used by the Boston board of trade and the national board of trade. The depot of the Lowell railroad company will when completed be one of the largest and most ornamental railroad structures in the country. It will be of brick, with trimmings of Nova Scotia freestone, and will be 700 ft. long, with a front of 205 ft. in Causeway street. The train house will be spanned by an arch of 120 ft. without central support. Fa- neuil Hall market, popularly known as Quincy market, situated just E. of Fanenil hall, was completed in 1827 at a cost of $150,000. It is of Quincy granite, 530 ft. by 50, and is two stories high. Washington market was erected in 1870 for the accommodation of the South End, on the corner of Washington and Lenox streets. It is 250 ft. long, 120 ft. wide, and contains nearly 100 stalls. Among the most ornamental of the private edifices may be men- tioned the "Sears building," corner of Court and Washington streets, constructed of gray and white marble in the Italian-Gothic style, at a cost, including land, of about $750,000, and devoted exclusively to offices, banks, &c. ; and the hotel Boylston, containing apartments for families, recently erected on the corner of Tremont and Boylston streets. Boston con- tains 25 public parks and squares. The prin- cipal one, Boston Common, is a park of 48 acres, surrounded by an iron fence, erected in 1836 at a cost of more than $100,000. The Common is considered to date from 1634, and by the city charter it is made public property for ever, and the city cannot sell it or change its character. The malls are spacious and shaded by magnificent trees, some of which were set out considerably more than a century ago. There are nearly 1,300 trees on the Common, which are kept in admirable order at a large annual expense. The " old elm " is regarded as the oldest tree in New England ; it is represented on a map engraved in 1722, and is supposed to be as old as Boston itself. In the great branch broken oif by the gale of 1860 nearly 200 rings could be easily counted. It was also mutilated by a high wind in 1869, and is now protected by strong iron bands and props, and an iron fence. One of the most conspicuous objects on the Common is a costly bronze fountain, known as the Brewer foun- tain, cast in Paris and set up at the expense of Gardner Brewer. The foundation for a sol- diers' monument has been laid on Flagstaff hill, near the centre of the Common. The public garden, which was once a portion of the Com- mon, is now separated from it by a part of Charles street. It comprises 21J- acres beau- tifully laid out, and contains a conservatory, an equestrian statue of Washington by Ball, a bronze statue of Edward Everett by Story, one representing Venus rising from the sea, and a monument to commemorate the discovery of ether as an anaesthetic. Besides the public statues already mentioned, there is one of Al- exander Hamilton in Commonwealth avenue, and two in Louisburg square, respectively rep- resenting Aristides and Columbus. Five city passenger railway companies have lines ex- tending to all parts of the city and suburbs, and there is an omnibus line from Concord j street to Charlestown. There are two ferries to East Boston North ferry, from Battery street to Border street, and South ferry, from Eastern avenue to Lewis street. Communica- tion with Chelsea is by the Winnisimmet ferry, popularly known as Chelsea ferry, es- tablished in 1631, and believed to be the oldest ferry in the United States. Eight lines of rail- road terminate in Boston, viz. : the Fitchburg, the Eastern, the Boston, Lowell, and Nashua, the Boston and Maine, the Boston and Provi-