Physically Indianapolis is one of the most attractive inland cities in America. It is built on a level plain surrounded by low, gently sloping and beautifully wooded hills. Four principal avenues radiate from points near a central circle to the four corners of the city. The other streets run at right angles to one another. Streets and avenues are 90 ft. wide, except Washington Street, which has a width of 120 ft. An excellent system of parks--8 within the city with an aggregate area of 1311 acres, and 3 with an aggregate area of 310 acres just outside the city limits--adds to the beauty of the city, among the most attractive being the Riverside, the St Clair, the University, the Military, the Fair View, the Garfield and the Brookside. The city is lighted by gas and electricity,--it was one of the first cities in the United States to adopt electric lighting,--and has a good water-supply system, owned by a private corporation, with a 4½ acre filter plant of 18,000,000 gallons _per diem_ capacity and an additional supply of water pumped from deep wells outside the city. The public buildings and business blocks are built mostly of Indiana building stone. The state capitol stands in a square 8 acres in extent, and has a central tower and dome 240 ft. high. It covers 2 acres of ground and cost $2,000,000. The Marion county court-house cost $1,750,000. Other noteworthy buildings are the Federal building (containing post-office, custom-house and Federal court-rooms; erected at a cost of $3,000,000); Tomlinson Hall, capable of seating 3000 persons, given to the city by Daniel Tomlinson; the Propylaeum, a club-house for women; the Commercial club; Das Deutsche Haus, belonging to a German social club; the Maennerchor club-house; the Union railway station; the traction terminal building; the city hall, and the public library. Near the city is the important United States army post, Fort Benjamin Harrison, named in honour of President Benjamin Harrison, whose home was in Indianapolis. In or near the city are the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane, the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Blind, the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Deaf, the Indiana Girls' School (included with the Women's prison until 1899, and under the same management as the prison from 1899 to 1903, when it became a separate institution,--it was removed to Clermont, 10 m. from Indianapolis, in 1907), and a Women's prison (opened in 1873, the first in the United States), which is under female management. The public library, founded in 1871, contains more than 100,000 volumes. There are ten other libraries, the most important of which are the state law library (about 40,000 volumes) and the state library (about 46,000 volumes).