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 254 BALTIMORE nearly finished (1873), is one of the finest mu- nicipal structures in the country. It occupies an entire square, on Ilolliday, North, Lexing- ton, and Fayette streets, and is 125 ft. in height to the top of the centre building and 222 to the top of the dome. The renaissance style predominates. The material used for the outer walla is Maryland marble, with an inner casing of brick, and the building is fire-proof. Its entire cost will be $3,000.000. The court house, on Monument square and Lexington street, has ample accommodations for three courts besides various offices. Near it is the record office, a fire-proof building of solid granite. The jail, built in 1864, and containing all the modern improvements in prison disci- pline, is a substantial structure of hammered stone, flanked by square towers, with a high wall on the sides and rear. The penitentiary, a large brick building, adjoins it on the south- east. The city contains 189 churches, viz. : 21 Protestant Episcopal, 18 Presbyterian, 23 Ro- man Catholic, 55 Methodist Episcopal (of which 6 are colored), 8 Methodist Protestant, 2 Independent Methodist, 6 African Method- ist, 6 Reformed, 1 Christian, 9 Baptist, 12 Evangelical Lutheran, 2 Evangelical Associa- tion, 2 Independent, 1 Seamen's Union Bethel, 3 Friends', 1 Universalist, 1 Unitarian, 3 Swe- denborgian, 9 Jewish synagogues, and 6 United Brethren. Many of the churches are very fine. The Roman Catholic cathedral, the most im- posing, is in the form of a cross, and surmount- ed by a lofty dome and two bell towers. The church of St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Alphonsus, and many others, are rich in architecture and decorations. Many of the Protestant churches are elegant. Of other public buildings, the vast state tobacco warehouses well repay in- spection. The total number of charitable in- stitutions is 22. The more prominent of these are the new state insane asylum ; the Mt. Hope retreat ; the Maryland institution for the in- struction of the blind, in the northern part of the city; St. Mary's industrial school for boys ; the orphan asylums of St. Anthony of Padua and of St. Vincent de Paul; and the Baltimore infirmary, under the super- vision of the Sisters of Charity. The church home, on Broadway near Baltimore street, belonging to the Episcopal church, and the Union Protestant infirmary, are under the management of ladies. In the W. part of the city is an elegant edifice called the aged wid- ows' home, and near it is a similar structure for aged men. The house of refuge and city almshouse are situated near the Frederick turnpike, about two miles from the city. Dur- ing the year 1871 over $600,000 was bequeathed by wealthy citizens to charitable purposes. St. Mary's college, a Roman Catholic institution under the charge of the Sulpitians, with a theological seminary, was founded in 1791, and maintained itself with vigor for many years, possessing very extensive grounds and build- ings, a Gothic chapel, and a library of 16,000 ] volumes. The seminary had 70 pupils in 1871. The college was suppressed in 1851. Loyola j college, in another part of the city, supplies its . place for Roman Catholics ; this is under the charge of Jesuits, and was opened in 1855; in 1871 it had 158 students and a library of ! 21,000 volumes. The Roman Catholic female i seminary of Notre Dame was chartered in 1864, and in 1871 had 170 pupils. Baltimore college was chartered in 1803, and subsequent- ly united to the medical school under the title j demical department, independent of the school of medicine, alone went into operation. This academy was not generally flourishing, and in 1854 was finally given up, and a scientific school established in the building. The medi- cal school, on the contrary, has always been active; at one time it stood highest in the United States, and is now in excellent condi- tion; in 1871 it had 10 instructors and 172 students. It has a massive building on Lom- i bard street, completed in 1812. The Washing- i ton university was established in 1828, but has ' never been very flourishing, and its medical school, which in 1871 had 9 instructors and 170 students, is the only department ever organized. The Baltimore female college (Methodist Epis- copal) was chartered by the state in 1849, and in its course of study and power of conferring degrees is similar to the colleges for male stu- dents; it had 175 pupils in 1871. The con- vent of the Visitation has a very large female school under charge of the sisterhood. The first public school was opened in 1829. By one of the sections of the act providing for public edu- cation throughout the state, passed by the legis- lature in 1870, the control of the public school system of Baltimore is vested in the mayor and city council. The entire management of the schools is intrusted by the mayor and council to a board of 20 commissioners, one from each ward, elected annually. On Jan. 1, 1872, there were under the authority of this board the city college, 2 female high schools, 18 male and 19 female grammar schools, 28 male and 31 female primary schools, 10 day and 3 evening colored schools, and 2 schools unclassified ; total number of schools, 113. Male teachers, 70 ; female teachers, 508 ; total number of teachers, 578. Number of pay pupils, 11,627; free, 13,730; total on roll Jan. 1, 1872, 25,357. Number in all the schools during 1871, 34,872 ; number in colored schools, 2,048; increased attendance over 1870, 7,316. The total amount expended for school pur- poses in 1871 was $583,108. To those who can afford it, a charge of $1 a term of 12 weeks is made for each pupil ; all others are admitted free on application to the board of education. The Bible is daily read in all the schools, the version of King James to the Protestants, and the Douay version to the Roman Catholics, in separate apartments. The principal libraries are the state law library, containing 8,000 vols. ; Odd Fellows', 21,136; and mercantile,
 * of the "University of Maryland," but the aca-