New York Cathedral.
When in New York I had the opportunity of visiting their cathedral, the construction of which had been recently commenced. The clerk of the works took me into a room to show me the model of the cathedral, and he also showed me a list of cathedrals with their principal dimensions. At the foot of the list came the New York cathedral, the largest of all. I said to him, "You have forgotten one cathedral, the Liverpool cathedral." He replied, "So I have; where will it come?" I told him to put it at the bottom. He looked at me for a few moments in evident surprise, and said, "Is it to be larger than New York?" and on my answering "Yes" he replied, "Oh, we will make that all right; we will add another bay to our nave." I thought this was truly American, a determination not to be beaten.