The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-07-24 00:00:00

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SHOW
AT MANCHESTER.

The people of Manchester. it is very well known, have a
disposition for work, and when royal personages pay them a .
visit they work right heartily to give their visitors a welcome
which cannot fail to convince them that they are the guests
of really loyal citizens.
The preparations for the reception, on the part alike of the
corporate authorities of Manchester and Salford and of the
Inhabitants, were upon a liberal and extensive scale, and
every effort was made by the authorities to have the streets
as perfect in order and imposing in appearance as possible.
The new Town Hall was set round with some four dozen of
tall flagstaffs, painted "red, white, and blue," from which an
enormous area, almost acreage, of bunting was displayed, in-
cluding an immense Royal ensign, from a giant pole, con-
structed of three pine trees, erected in the centre of the front
of the new building. The noble canopied statue of the Prince
Consort, in the centre of Albert-square, to which the new
Town Hall buildings has its principal front, had been care-
fully and thoroughly refurbished and decorated, and with its
blaze of fresh gilding upon the suburb iron railing round the
base and on Its apex, a very fine piece of ironwoi k, presented
quite a gorgeous appearance when unveiled.
The &splay of bunting upon fag-stalls, perpendicular,
horizontal, and oblique, and on lines acrodi the streets, was
most imposing. Pr. bably no inland tow n in the United
KU ad, mor in the w. :I I could make such a play as was
• made by Market,tr,et, Moceley-street, Portland-s treat,
Oldham-street, and others of the principal th roughfa res.
The display was not of coloured cotton pocket handk-rchiefs,
but of flags and banners, of real bunting from thirty to fifty
feet long and half as wide. The side streets all along the
principal arteries had their profuse display of Turkey red
cotton where the decorators could not Mr 'rd bunting.

OPENING OF fILE AuRICULTERAL 0110 W.

The Royal Agricultural show was opened to the public with
great citli, and a very large number of visitors were ,
admittel. It greatly excelled in all departments all pre-
ceding shows ot the society. It may give some idea
of the embarrassment produced by a first visit to say '
that the two catalogues with which visitors found it
necessary to arm themselves on entering the ground contain
—the one, the implement catalogue, 526 pages, and the
other, the 'catalogue of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, &c., ctc.,
dm.," 134 pages. There were nearly 400 exhibitors in the
implement and miscellaneous class, and very close upon 500
exhibitors of live stock, with 92 exhlbit,rs of butter and
cheese. The number of entries in the implement and miscel-
laneous class was 7,724, which ia a larger number of exhibits
by 1,355 than shown at Leicester last year. The number
of entries in live stock was also much greater than in any
previous sear
The show-ground occupied the site of the Art Treasures
Exhibition of 1557, with a large additional area adjoining.
Toe carriage approaches and departure and extensive lawn In
front of the principal entrance facade recall vividly the
Great Exhibition. Tee entire area of the ground—the pro-
perty of Sir Humphrey de Trafford is about eighty acres of
Hat land in pasture, and admirably adapted for the show.
In form it In an irregular parallelogram of about 940 lards
in length, by 300 yards broad, narrowing to the eastern or
main entrance extremity to 150 yards in width. For nearly
three months a corps of from severity to eighty men have
been occupied in preparing for the show, and have constructed
nearly 20,000 feet of shedding twenty feet wide, in which
above 1,01.4 loads of timber have been used.

The display of horses of all kinds was remarkably fine, in-
cluding thirteen agricultural stallions, eight Suffolk., twenty-
two thoroughbreds, five very fine pony stallions ; with mares
In foal, or foal at foot; roadsters. hunters, carriage horses,
to., in infinite variety.