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{From the Atlantic Monthly for April, 1877.) 
 
 A STROLL THROUGH THE NEW BUCKINGHAM HOTEL, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 The most perplexing question now- 
 demanding the attention of thought- 
 ful people is the house and home 
 problem. Any man able and willing 
 to work can earn a living. To make 
 the earning bring the best living is a 
 matter few accomplish with entire 
 satisfaction. Given an income, it 
 would seem a simple matter to hire a 
 house and keep it in the conventional 
 manner; but so many questions of 
 economy of time, strength and money 
 arise ; so many problems of physical 
 and mental health appear, that people 
 of sense are seriously asking the good 
 of it all, and are casting about to see 
 if there be not a more excellent way. 
 
 The Frenchman has his fiats and 
 cafe, the Englishman his lodgings and 
 inn, and the American has tried hotel 
 life after a fashion of his own. In 
 New York, each of these — flats, hotels 
 and lodgings — have found more or 
 less favor, and people have sought in 
 all these ways to avoid the cares of 
 housekeeping, and yet to find a home. 
 Besides these, are the travelers, and 
 they, too, wish some kind of a home. 
 So it happens that New York hotels 
 are often filled with two classes of 
 guests, each seeking a home. But the 
 tourist and the permanent guest in our 
 hotels have different ideas concerning 
 a home. That which the traveler ex- 
 pects, the permanent resident does 
 not demand, and he looks always for 
 
 advantages hotels upon the American 
 plan can never afford. 
 
 New York hotels have been greatly 
 praised for their size, elegance and 
 convenience, and it would seem that 
 where so much wealth, skill and 
 science have been expended, the fine 
 art of living ought to reach its high- 
 est expression. If it is possible to 
 combine the quiet and seclusion of^ a 
 private house with entire freedom 
 from all its cares and responsibilities; 
 if the ideal mode of living can be real- 
 ized, it would appear that it might be 
 done in New York. 
 
 On the top of Cathedral Hill, one 
 of the highest elevations in the city, 
 and facing the great marble Cathe- 
 dral, is a new hotel that more com- 
 pletely realizes the perfection of living 
 than any house of its character in ex- 
 istence. Its plan of construction, and 
 system of management, are alike novel 
 and interesting, and are worthy of at- 
 tention as illustrating American con- 
 structive, engineering and household 
 art. 
 
 The house has a frontage on 
 Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street of 
 two hundred and thirty feet, and its 
 grand fagade, rising eight stories above 
 the street, gives it an imposing and 
 massive appearance that suggests so- 
 lidity, permanence and safety. Its 
 architectural character is Elizabethan, 
 a central pavilion rising in the mid- 
 
THE BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 die, and each end terminating in tow- 
 ers, with gilded iron crestings to join 
 them together along the sky line. 
 The materials are Baltimore brick, of 
 the best quality, and Belleville stone, 
 finished in various styles. The water 
 table supporting this immense struc- 
 ture is of Quincy granite, appropri- 
 ately dressed, and above this rises the 
 first story, built entirely of Belleville 
 stone, treated in various styles ; rock 
 surface with dressed edges, rubbed 
 surfaces and pointed seams, and end- 
 ing in a strikingly tasteful cornice. 
 The superstructure is of brick, with 
 Belleville stone quoins, belt courses 
 and trimmings. 
 
 There are two imposing porches of 
 rubbed Belleville stone, supported by 
 polished red granite columns and 
 pilasters, and above the chief entrance 
 rises a frontispiece, also of rubbed 
 stone, and reaching to the fifth story, 
 and forming with its arches, niches 
 and enrichments, a singularly striking 
 and elegant introduction and central 
 point of interest for the whole mag- 
 nificent facade. All the stone work 
 in the building is sculptured from 
 solid blocks, and all cheap trickery of 
 incised work is carefully avoided. 
 Over each door the name " Bucking- 
 ham " is cut in raised letters, and in 
 the centre of the beautiful cornice 
 that fitly crowns the whole edifice is 
 a monogram, *' B. H.," in painted and 
 gilded embosst d work. 
 
 At the rear of the house are two 
 large wings, with a wide space between 
 them, thus securing ample air and 
 sunlight on every side. 
 
 On entering the chief doorway, one 
 passes a vestibule, and the great ma- 
 hogany doors, and comes directly to 
 the grand stairway and the office. 
 The first impression is that of quiet- 
 ude, evenness of temperature, purity 
 of air, and a gratifying sense of seclu- 
 sion and peace. The idle multitude. 
 
 restless, inquisitive, and in every man- 
 ner disagreeable, that so often crowds 
 the entrance of American hotels, is 
 happily absent. The party, both ladies 
 and children, may enter the reception 
 rooms or pass to the office without the 
 sight of anything to offend the taste. 
 
 The reception room and gentle- 
 men's parlors are finished in solid ma- 
 hogany, and furnished in the English 
 manner, quietly, and with perfect 
 taste, and the open fire invites to ease 
 and warmth, and here we may sit till 
 an attendant comes to learn our 
 wishes. There is no noise, no con- 
 fusion of porters and waiters, no 
 loungers, nor patrons of the bar who 
 are not guests of the house ; no news 
 venders and cigar dealers. The house 
 is for the guests and the patrons of 
 the restaurant. There is no pub- 
 lic bar to attract idlers, and all the 
 halls and corridors are free to ladies 
 and children at every hour, day or 
 night. 
 
 Entering by the Fifth avenue door 
 one meets a charming vista two 
 hundred feet long, extending the 
 whole length of the house. The 
 marble floor, the painted walls and 
 heavy mahogany wainscoting, com- 
 bine to make a frame for the climax 
 of the view seen through the open 
 door of the dining room at the end of 
 the hall. Here an open fireplace, of 
 antique design, brilliant with beauti- 
 ful Minton tiles and mirror, throws its 
 bright glow upon its glittering fire 
 dogs, and seems to spread out friendly 
 hands of welcome, the best of house- 
 hold pictures. 
 
 A stairway must be useful, and it 
 may be beautiful. Here, the very 
 newel posts are made works of art 
 and the rail, so difficult of treatment, 
 suggests ease and safety, and gratifies 
 the taste with exquisite carvings in solid 
 mahogany. From the floor one can 
 look up through the stair well to the 
 
THE BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 and the house will not be fit for 
 healthful residence. Here, the open 
 fireplaces in all the rooms make the 
 best of ventilators. 
 
 Extra provisions are also made at 
 great expense for securing the most 
 perfect ventilation in all the halls, cor- 
 ridors, public rooms and bath-rooms. 
 
 The most simple and effectual 
 method of removing vitiated air from 
 a room or from a mine is to make 
 " an upcast shaft," to quote a miner's 
 phra^se. He has an empty shaft 
 opening to the outer air, and at the 
 bottom of this shaft he keeps a fire 
 burning, or he turns a steam jet into 
 it. In either case he heats the air in 
 his shaft, and it is quickly cast out at 
 the top. In this manner the upcast 
 shaft acts as a ventilator, sucking up 
 the air from below and discharging it 
 above. 
 
 In this house, which is ventilated 
 under the personal supervision of 
 Professor Hyslop, there are two im- 
 mense upcast shafts, 140 feet high, 
 reaching from sub-cellar to roof. 
 The smoke and flame from the 
 kitchen ranges and from the steam 
 boilers are taken through metal pipes 
 upward through these shafts, heating 
 the air in them on the way, and caus- 
 ing it to move u])ward and escape at 
 the top of the building. The kitchen, 
 every bath room, and all the halls and 
 public parlors in the house are con- 
 nected by pipes with these upcast 
 shafts. In the public rooms these 
 pipes open through spaces in the or- 
 namental work over each chandelier. 
 The products of combustion from the 
 gas lamps and all bad odors in the 
 rooms are swept away instantly and 
 thus the rooms are at all times pure 
 and sweet. There is not the faintest 
 hint of cooking even in the immedi- 
 ate neighborhood of the kitchen, 
 and every bath-room is absolutely 
 safe in a sanitary sense. 
 
 While ground rent in our cities is 
 so high, buildings of all kinds must, 
 with a view to economy, be lofty. 
 When floor is thus piled above floor 
 and the elevator makes them all equal- 
 ly accessible, it is essential that due 
 protection be made against fire. This 
 house is as well built and protected 
 against fire as skill and money can 
 make it, but, as still further precau- 
 tion against danger, there is a hydrant - 
 and hose on every floor fully prepared 
 for instant use. The hose is enclosed 
 in a small recess set in the wall, and pro- 
 tected by an ornamental glass door. 
 
 In the construction of the house the 
 advice of the Engineer of the Board 
 of Underwriters was sought and every 
 device was employed, that could in any 
 manner give extra security, such as 
 iron furring and iron wire netting for 
 plastering (in place of laths). An extra 
 stairway of iron almost entirely 
 surrounded by brick extends 
 from sub-cellar to roof, and out of 
 doors on the southern wall, is a per- 
 manent and substantial fire escape 
 opening upon balconies on every floor, 
 and reaching to the ground in the 
 rear. More than this, p. watchman 
 constantly patrols every unlocked 
 part of the house, from basement to 
 top floor. At three given points on 
 every floor is an idectric press-knob 
 communicating with an automatic 
 recorder, and the watchman on his 
 rounds must touch each of these 
 knobs in turn, or his neglect is regis- 
 tered in the office below. This regis- 
 ter is kept locked, and the key 
 carried by a responsible party, who 
 nofes each morning where and when 
 the watchman walked at each hour of 
 the night, and thus secures faithful 
 performance of duty. These knobs 
 are so located that to reach them the 
 watchman must visit every accessible 
 part, and thereby discover anything 
 that may be amiss. 
 
THE BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 9 
 
 Passing through the halls one enters 
 the great mahogany doors of the din- 
 ing room, and is welcomed to the 
 room by the blaze of the open fire. 
 Of all the rooms in a house the 
 dining room should be the most at- 
 tractive. This room is peculiar in its 
 character, suggesting by its heavily 
 timbered ceiling, its antique sideboard 
 and generous fireplaces, the English 
 dining halls of the fourteenth century, 
 and yet it has that atmosphere of re- 
 fined luxury the English halls never 
 knew. To be minute is to be tire- 
 some. There is no need to describe 
 the walls decorated in imitation of the 
 old stamped leather hangings, the 
 frescoes, carpeting, mirrors and chan- 
 deliers. They are of the best and 
 most costly description and yet when 
 one looks about, no one feature de- 
 mands attention. One mind developed 
 the entire room and combined every- 
 thing with consummate skill. True 
 art is never staring and obtrusive, 
 but is reposeful, suggestive and har- 
 monious. One may sit here a long 
 time and wonder what gives the 
 place its exquisite charm only to 
 find that it is simple purity and re- 
 finement of taste, richness toned by 
 culture. 
 
 From this room an iron bridge 
 thrown from one wing of the building 
 . to the other, and very happily treated 
 as a conservatory, leads to the break- 
 fast room which is finished in quite a 
 different style, and is an excellent 
 sample of the best school of modern 
 household art, rich and yet refined 
 and chaste. 
 
 All the public rooms and halls on 
 this floor, except the dining room and 
 breakfast room which are wooded in 
 oak, are finished in solid mahogany, 
 and the ceilings and walls are painted 
 in harmony with the wood work and 
 furnishings. The doors and windows 
 are fitted with richly embossed French 
 
 plate glass, ornamented with con- 
 ventionalized flowers and foliage. 
 
 On the basement floor is a large 
 and luxuriously fitted-up smoking 
 and reading room, and a barber's 
 shop and telegraph station. 
 
 There is no public bar or news- 
 stand or other enticement for the idle 
 multitude that so often crowds our 
 hotels to the annoyance of the guests 
 and injury of the house. 
 
 These make all the public rooms, 
 save the ladies' parlor on the second 
 floor. Before examining that, it may 
 be worth the while to glance at the 
 manufacturing plant under the house. 
 Cooking, laundry work, baking and 
 heating have been hitherto considered 
 as mere domestic labors that any 
 woman of average ability could per- 
 form. They are really arts and 
 sciences, employing skilled men and 
 women, aided by steam power. To 
 keep such a household as may be 
 gathered in the Buckingham in com- 
 fort, demands a number of steam 
 appliances of various kinds. There 
 are two stories under the sidewalk, a 
 basement and sub -cellar, and in the 
 sub-cellar are the steam pumps and 
 engines, the laundry and heating ap- 
 pliances, all of which are absolutely 
 fire-proof. The steam boilers are 
 placed quite outside of the building, 
 and under the sidewalk, and adjoin- 
 ing them is an elevator for lifting 
 goods from the sub -cellar and base- 
 ment to the sidewalk. A noiseless 
 engine supplies power for the laundry, 
 and two hoisting engines control the 
 passenger and baggage elevators. A 
 powerful noiseless duplex pump forces 
 Croton water to the great reservoir, at 
 the top of the building, which sup- 
 phes all the cold water used in the 
 house, both in the public and private 
 rooms, and gives a good head of 
 water for the fire hydrants in case of 
 need. The exhaust steam for all 
 
THE BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 11 
 
 these engines is thoroughly condensed, 
 and none is allowed to escape at the 
 top of the building. 
 
 The basement floor contains the 
 refrigerators, kitchen, bake shop, wine 
 room, store-rooms, servants' dining 
 room, the dining room for the chiefs 
 of departments, and the cooks' din- 
 ing room. The refrigerators are de- 
 signed to hold the fish, chops, but- 
 ter, poultry, &c., in separate store 
 places so that there can be no injury 
 to the flavors. The kitchen, 95 feet 
 long, is light, well ventilated and 
 sunny, rare qualities in a kitchen, and 
 is admirably arranged for work. 
 
 The ranges, ovens, plate warmers, 
 &c., are placed along one side of the 
 room, and over all is hung a hood to 
 catch the smoke and steam, and carry 
 it off into the upcast shaft, and thus 
 sweep all odors away into the outer 
 air at the top of the house. Adjoin- 
 ing the kitchen is the pastry room 
 and bake house, and arranged upon 
 the most approved plans. The cooks 
 have their own dining room, a bright 
 and pleasant room and the larger hall 
 for the general help is really better, 
 cleaner and sweeter than many a din- 
 ing room in our rural hotels. The 
 nurses' dining room is furnished in 
 oak and has a handsome mirror, bor- 
 dered by illustrated tiles, setting forth 
 the classic story of the House that 
 Jack built. The infant patron of the 
 house here takes his simple breakfast, 
 and studies art and English literature 
 as an aid to digestion. 
 
 Washing, once a domestic drudgery, 
 is now a trade, employing power tools. 
 Washing machines, wringers, centri- 
 fugal dryers, or hydro-extractors, 
 mangles and ironing machines are 
 now all driven by steam power and at 
 high speeds, and much of the labor of 
 washing and ironing is thus done 
 by machinery. The drying is also 
 equally well done in steam-heated 
 
 rooms at an immense saving of time 
 and labor. All the latest and best 
 laundry machinery is here employed, 
 and the result is that the washing for 
 the whole house is done expeditiously, 
 and without disturbing a single per- 
 son in the building. 
 
 These are the useful things, the 
 economic labors on which domestic 
 peace and comfort depend. Above, 
 on the second floor, is the more artis — 
 tic side of the house — the ladies par- 
 lor and reception room.- This room 
 is an adaptation from a salon in the 
 Grand-Trianon, known as the Salle 
 des Glaces and decorated to suit the 
 taste of Marie Antoinette. The col- 
 ors are white, French gray and gold. 
 The room is broken by an arch sup- 
 ported by two columns in the centre, 
 and opens into a smaller room at 
 either end by folding doors. The 
 carpets and furniture were made ex- 
 pressly to match the room, and the 
 whole work, decorations, pear-shaped 
 crystal chandeliers, marble work, fire- 
 places and draperies were designed 
 by one mind. The effect is rich, and 
 yet pure and reposeful, and though the 
 walls are of light tints the warm color 
 of the carpets and curtains save them 
 from coldness and severity. The 
 room is a picture, and is, perhaps, the 
 best sample of household art of its 
 character to be found in the country. 
 
 Could one visit all the private par- 
 lors and bridal suites in the Bucking- 
 ham, one would find everywhere the 
 same perfect taste. The furniture is 
 mainly mediceval in design and is 
 much more substantial and costly than 
 is commonly found in American 
 hotels. Most of the carpeting is in the 
 new styles of Indian patterns, tasteful 
 and chaste, and Indian rugs are used 
 before every hearth in all the rooms 
 both public and private. The chan- 
 deliers are all of real bronze, and were 
 made from patterns specially designed 
 
THE BRIDGE. 
 
THE BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 13 
 
 for the rooms they were to serve. 
 
 No attempt is made at mere display. 
 The "steamboat style" is nowhere 
 visible, and if the superficial observer 
 fails to discern anything particularly 
 striking at the first glance about the 
 interior of the house, it is because of 
 its real art. Wait a while, look about 
 and study the walls, decorations and 
 furniture, and the refined and cultured 
 taste that has stamped its mark on 
 everything will soon be' recognized. 
 True art is subdued, and perpetually 
 satisfactory, and never obtrusive. 
 
 Such is the Buckingham, a hotel 
 and a home. It more nearly realizes 
 the fine art of living than anything 
 yet devised. It affords peace, seclu- 
 
 sion and home-like privacy, with en- 
 tire freedom from care and household 
 troubles. For the luxuries and con- 
 venience in every suite, the prices 
 asked are no more than reason- 
 able. 
 
 The European plan, on which this 
 house is conducted, recommends it- 
 self for simplicity, equity and common 
 sense, and is justly popular with all 
 sensible people. 
 
 For the traveler, spending a week 
 or more in New York, and wishing a 
 home for wife and children, and for 
 the family seeking to avoid the cares 
 of housekeeping, the Buckingham 
 offers the best that art, science and 
 money can afford. 
 
Messrs. GALE, FULLER & CO., 
 
 PROPRIETORS OF THE 
 
 Buckingham Hotel, 
 
 Desire to call the attention of the Public to the 
 
 Schedule of Prjces 
 
 given below, which they feel, considering the accommodations aiforded, will 
 compare favorably with other first-class hotels. 
 
 Per Week. 
 Single Rooms — Very neatly furnished in Eastlake style, . $7 00 
 
 Bachelors' Rooms — With Private Bathroom and Closet, and Clothes 
 
 Closet, Eastlake furnishing, . . . . . 14 00 
 
 Large Bedrooms — Handsomely furnished in light and dark woods, 
 with Private Bathroom and Closet, suitable for two per- 
 sons, ....... $17 50 to 28 00 
 
 Parlors and Bedrooms — In Mediaeval styles (with Private Bathroom 
 
 and Closet), ...... $45 00 to 55 00 
 
 Suites — Elegantly decorated, comprising Parlors, Bedrooms, Toilet- 
 rooms and Bathrooms, .... $65 00 to 125 00 
 
 Maid's Room and Board, per week, ..... $17 50 
 
 Restaurant charges the same as at any first-class House. 
 
 (Transient Rates — Pro-rata.) 
 
OPINIONS OF THE FRESS. , 15 
 
 From the New York Thnes. 
 The new and elegantly furnished Buckingham Hotel, at Fifth Avenue and Fiftieth 
 Street, which was recently opened, is fast gaining popularity on account of its admirable 
 location, comfortable accommodations, excellent cuisine and moderate charges. It is 
 conducted on the European plan, and it is so arranged as to be equally desirable for 
 either transient or permanent guests, and offers admirable facilities for families who 
 wish to combine the conveniences of a hotel with the quiet and privacy of an attractive 
 home. 
 
 From the New York Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 The Buckingham Hotel, just completed, on Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street, near 
 Central Park, is in various respects a remarkable building. It is the first attempt to 
 build a first-class hotel in New York for private families. The idea pursued in making 
 and executing all plans was " real comfort and convenience " Health has been a first 
 consideration, with special reference to heating and ventilation. The plan of heating 
 adopted is that of indirect radiation. In place of carrying the steam up to the several 
 rooms, the coils are concentrated in huge piles, inclosed in brick work in the sub- 
 cellar. Cold air is brought in, and, after passing about the hot pipes, is carried up to 
 the rooms by Scotch vitrified tile pipes built into the heavy brick walls of the building. 
 Directly over each of the large chandeliers are ventilating openings in the ceilings, 
 hidden in the bossy ornament of the centre, which connect with one of two grand shafts 
 that extend from cellar to roof, and the air within these shafts is heated by flues con- 
 necting with the boilers and kitchen ranges, causing a strong upward current. The 
 means of transit are ample ; there is a passenger elevator and one for baggage, the main 
 staircase and another, iron framed, which extends from the cellar to the roof. Every 
 possible appliance is provided for immediatel}^ extinguishing any interior fire, as well 
 as for easy escape from any part of the building. Fire extinguislaers are also at hand, 
 and a watchman's detector, working b}' electricit)^ connects with dials in every unlocked 
 part of the building. Much might be said of the grand staircase; the solid, polished 
 mahogan)^ wainscoting ; the sumptuous parlors, public and private, especially the 
 ladies' parlors, in the style revived under the reign of Louis XVI. ; the dining and 
 breakfast rooms, in English Gothic ; mediaeval furniture, including huge " fire dogs,'' 
 and rich embossed leather for the side walls, in imitation of the old, stamped leather 
 hangings of baronial times. But as to details, " seeing is believing." We wish success 
 to the enterprise. 
 
 From the New York Journal of Commerce . 
 
 The Buckingham.- — This is the name of the new hotel on the corner of Fifth Ave- 
 nue and Fiftieth Street, now completed and ready for guests. It has been built in the 
 most careful manner under the direct supervision of its owner, Mr. George Kemp. The 
 structure combines solidit}' and strength with great beaut}' of finish inside and out, and 
 unusual exposure to light. In respect of equipment and provision for comfort it 
 possesses all the improvements which have been tested in the experience of the best 
 hotels in this country. It is heated by open grates and by registers, the latter being in- 
 troduced upon a plan partly new, with special reference to ventilation and health. The 
 dining and breakfast rooms on the ground floor are spacious apartments, fitted with ex- 
 quisite taste in the English Gothic style, in oak relieved with inlays of mora wood and 
 tracings of color on gold ground. The reception room and gentlemen's parlors, also 
 two private parlors, are models of richness and elegance in all their appointments. But 
 the most sumptuous eflFects are reserved for the ladies' parlors, three in number, on the 
 first floor. Tliese are elaborately decorated in delicate shades of straw, lilac, graj^, &c.; 
 the mantels are of pure statuary marble; the chandeliers of gilt bronze, with cr3'stal pen- 
 dants; the carpets Axminster, manufactured after original designs from Marcotte & Co.; 
 the chairs covered with a beautiful texture of red and gray; the curtains are of red satin 
 with rich borders. The entire upper part of the building is arranged for suites of rooms, 
 the furniture varying somewhat to suit different tastes, and so connected that a family of 
 ten or twenty persons can be accommodated as comfortably as a family of two. The 
 Buckingham diff'ers from other hotels in one regard: it has no public drinking bar, but 
 provides a most attractive coffee room for the exclusive use of guests of the house. A 
 passenger elevator gives easy access to every floor. Mr. Kemp instructed his architects 
 to build a hotel which would be as near perfection for its purpose as skill and money 
 could make it, and that_worthy ambition seems to be fully realized in the Buckingham. 
 
16 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 From the New York Herald. 
 
 Another first class hotel was formally opened last evening at Fifth Avenue and Fif- 
 tieth Street, and named the Buckingham. Fronting on Fifth Avenue and the Cathedral, 
 located in the centre of fashionable New York, conducted by gentlemen who have for 
 many 3'ears catered to the wealthiest citizens of the North and South during their sum- 
 mer sojourns at Fort William Henry Hotel, at Lake George ; the International, Niagara 
 Falls ; and the Brevoort House, in this city, the Buckingham has, in its management, all 
 the elements of success. The house is elegantly furnished, the decorations of the rooms 
 being fashioned after the English styles of the fourteenth century. The various appoint- 
 ments compare favorably with those of the best hotels in the country. The protection 
 against fire is ample, and more than ordinary advantages are offered to large parties who 
 desire to meet in the house, by the arrangement of rooms, which permits an entire 
 floor to be thrown en suite. Last evening the chef de cuisine, Domenico Piretti, late of 
 the Union Club, astonished the six hundred guests with a superb supper, the table 
 decorations representing an Erie Railway train, the Centennial bell, a trophee de mtisique, 
 a Swiss cottage and a temple of Liberty. The house is delightfully situated, the rooms 
 well lighted, ventilated and heated. The attendance is very good. The lessees are 
 Messrs. (iale. Fuller & Co. Mr. Gale was ior eighteen years the proprietor of the Fort 
 William Henrj^ Hotel, at Lake George, and for the last two years of the International at 
 Niagara Falls. Mr. Fuller filled a position of trust for ten years at the Brevoort House 
 in this city. 
 
 From the New Vofh Tribune. 
 
 The Buckingham Hotel, corner Fifth Avenue and Fiftieth Street, offers special in- 
 ducements to travelers and families who desire comfort and superb accommodations for 
 the Winter months or during their stay in this city. The Buckingham is unquestionably 
 the most perfectly ventilated and equjpped hotel in this country ; the cuisine is the very 
 best, the location is central and convenient, the Grand Central Depot, the Fourth and 
 Sixth Avenue cars, and the finest schools and churches are within a few moments' walk. 
 During the soiourn here of the Emperor and Empress of Brazil they remained a longer 
 time at the Buckingham than at an}^ other hotel in this countr}^ and when leaving for 
 Europe their Majesties congratulated the proprietors, Messrs. Gale, Fuller & Co., on 
 having the finest and best equipped hotel that they had found in this or any other 
 country, and pronounced the charges very reasonable and entirely satisfactory. 
 
 From the Home Journal. 
 
 Architects, hotel keepers, as well as those who pass their lives in hotels would find 
 it profitable to make a thorough inspection of the new Buckingham Hotel, on Fifth 
 Avenue and Fiftieth Street. In this remark we have no special reference to the beauty 
 and ornamentation of its exterior or interior. The superior location, on the most 
 fashionable thoroughfare, near Central Park ; the attractive front of Baltimore brick and 
 Belleville stone ; the dining halls after the English fourteenth century style ; the ladies' 
 parlor, with a pure specimen of Louis XVI. ornamentation ; the white Algerian marble 
 mantels and Eastlake furniture, are all worthy of note and remark ; but compared with 
 the admirable hygienic construction of the building, and the perfect arrangements for 
 the safet)', comfort and good health of the occupants all this beauty and art are as 
 nothing. Let us examine its safet}'. There are two separate elevators ; two staircases, 
 from cellar to top, iron framed ; ample means of escape in case of fire, from the roof to 
 gardens below, besides which there are mechanical fire detectors, constant watchman, 
 and a profusion of hose always ready. The appliances for heating and for supplying pure 
 air to all the apartments are made upon the latest and most approved scientific prin- 
 ciples, the details of which we may at some other time explain. In the meanwhile let 
 those interested "go through" the Buckingham, and they will agree with us that in con- 
 struction and in its arrangements for securing health and comfort to the guests, it is a 
 perfect success. 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS