contents into the Blackstone river at Quinsigamond.

[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE.]

In Worcester, as in most of the smaller cities of New England, the Main
street is the chief thoroughfare and the site of many of the prominent
buildings. This street runs north and south, and is about two and a half
miles long. Near the north end, at Lincoln square, are the Court-House
and the American Antiquarian Society building. The latter contains a
large number of valuable and rare books, much sought after for reference
by students. Farther on toward the business centre are the Bay State
House--Worcester's principal hotel--and Mechanics' Hall. This hall is
one of the handsomest and largest in the State, and has a seating
capacity of about two thousand. In the centre of the city, bordering
upon Main street, is the Old Common, the original park of Worcester, now
a small breathing-place of the working class, where band concerts are
frequently given in summer. Here stand the Soldiers' Monument, designed
by Randolph Rogers, of Rome, and the Bigelow Monument, erected to
Timothy Bigelow, who commanded the minute-men who marched to Cambridge
upon receipt of the news of the Battle of Lexington, and served
throughout the Revolution as colonel of the Fifteenth Massachusetts
Regiment. At one corner of the Common, facing Main street, is the City
Hall, a small, unimposing structure, hardly worthy of the city. The
question of erecting a new one has been lately agitated. Near by stands
the Old South Church, built in 1763. The business portion of Main street
is well lined with large blocks, and the south end is laid out for
residences.

[Illustration: ELM PARK.]