Ascending still another flight of stairs, the drying department is reached; this is the most spacious of all the many divisions of this establishment, for it has the sky for a ceiling and unlimited space, being virtually upon the roof. Here, ninety feet from the ground, is carried on one of the important divisions of the straw hat business. Two large rooms, really houses in themselves, are built upon this roof; these are the bleach houses, which are provided with artificial stone floors, rendering them thoroughly secure from the chance of ignited brimstone coming in contact with any part of the woodwork of the building. The remaining space upon the roof, equal in its extent to two good-sized city building lots, is secured around and over by a substantial wire netting. Within this enclosure the hats and straw braids coming from the bleaching and dyeing departments are dried. Ascent has been provided by stairways leading from the front part of this building; descent is also had by the rear, where broad stairs are partitioned off from the work-rooms, making a continuous spacious hallway from top to basement--a wise precaution, taken in consideration of the safety of the lives of those employed. This building, capable of accommodating six hundred work-people, is provided with the most convenient means of escape in case of fire by these broad stairways at each end of the building. As additional precaution for safety, the boilers supplying the required steam for the various departments, as well as for the motive power and heat, are in a building adjoining the main one, but separated by a fire-proof brick wall, and is only accessible by entrance from the outside; here are located two boilers, with a combined capacity of one hundred horse power. Above this boiler-room are two departments desirable to be kept apart from the others; these are the moulding and casting departments, in one of which is made the vast number of plaster shapes and blocks required in the factory, and some idea may be gained of the quantity when it is here mentioned that this department converts annually two hundred barrels of plaster of Paris into hat blocks. In the casting department are the necessary melting furnaces and other requisites for casting metal "dies," parts of machinery, and the various things needed in a large manufacturing business. Two large freight elevators, reaching from basement to roof, each of one ton capacity and propelled by steam power, are placed in the building. These elevators are furnished with automatic attachments by which as they ascend and descend each of the floors open and close, thus avoiding permanent openings, the frequent cause of accidents and assistance in the spread of a conflagration; an additional small elevator gives the convenience of transmitting light packages to and from every floor.