Halifax was greatly different from Saint John; it had been a British military and naval base for more than 100 years. Here, there was great formality, and class distinction: the larger homes had servants' quarters at the rear, with separate entrances; smart landaus and four-wheel coaches were driven along the streets by liveried coachmen. Scarlet-coated British soldiers and blue-jacketed sailors of the Royal Navy lent colour to the scene. When night came, the lamp-lighters turned up the gas jets in their square glass cages along the streets. All night long, the watch patrolled the street calling out the hour: "Three o'clock and all's well!"