The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-06-28 00:00:00

VISIT OF THE SHAH OF PERSIA.

THE INIPEOTION OF THE FLEET.

The Inspection of the fleet at Spithead by the Shah dld not
COMDICIICO so early on NI-to:ay morning WI woo exp cted,
owing to the day of the yisit,re In reaching Portsmouth by
rallw .y. The R ,yal train won taken out to the jetty, at the
en' of which lay the Royal yacht, Vietorm and Albert, non
only just sufficient time was allowed for thu presentation
of it. I\ thltees to the Shah by the Corporation of Ports-
mouth h -fore the order awe given to let go The
peers and peeresses who went down were accommodated on
board the SilllOM. while the Tamar was placed at the die
pwal f the member, of the Rouse f Commons Shortly
of ter eleven o'clock the Victoria and Albert left the j,tty
sod steamed slowly out of the harbor, amidst the cheers of
the men who manned the penis of the Donegal, the l',ctory,
the Duke of Wellington, and the other ye dlels which lay
in the harbour. Sir wan followed by the Enchantrexe, one
of the Admiralty yacht., with the Lords of the Admi-
ralty and a numerous party on board, in the wake
of which Y WI the Vigilant, In which were the members of the
Shatis lathe and some ~thee Portsmouth Barbour,
with Its wise's, Its flags. Its cheering crowds, and its salutes,
was so -a 14s bettb.d, and the yachts threaded their way
throggh quite a.fleet of little crafts that Were afloat. . ,
. .

As the Rol al aid Admiralty boats steamed out of the bar.
boor they were received with a deatening salute from
the ironclad. Just at this came to a conclusion,
there was very nearly a collision between the Vigilant and
a little steamer which endeavoured to cross Mir track.
The engines of the Vigilant were stopped and her helm put
hard sport, but the iit.le steamer came perilously near the
more powerful boat. The steamer was crowded with en-
cursionista, who loudly cheered the Persians who stood on the
salon deck and cidnteously returned the greeting. As the
yachts steamed outward they met the cloud of s alike from
the ironclad., and this for a time kept them from view. Sud-
denly the Isle of Wight again appeared behind the line of
ships. Aft, this the yachts with the Royal and dlstin.
Walled party steamed slowly between the lines of Irmo:lads
to enable all to take a rapid view of their enormous
strength. . . . When the Royal yacht had reached the
end of the double line t.f vessels, and was about E.,
turn, another salute was given, and again for a minute
or two all the vessels which followed her were enveloped lo
a light cloud of smoke. This was about noon, at which
thee an archient happened to the engines of the Vigilant,
and prevented those on hoard from taking any furth- r part
In the inspection. the chief engine-r declared it In.possible
to proceed, and signals of distress were therefore ern up for
assista• ce in reply to which the admiral of the fleet ordered
two D. t'a. tugs to the all of the Vigilant, and after-
wards sent one of the little Admiralty steamers to the
relief of th ale who were on bonrd, and ',sling a very
pleasiint t me quite by theme ive s a long w,ey from the
reed of the ves,ela which conveyed the visitors. It was
not until after an hour's delay that the company on board
she Vigilant were transferred to the little Vat& Oue of
the two, brought four Indians on board, who so er
frateruhred with the Persians. A few minutes sufficed
to bring the Vivid near the monster Sultan jut
as the V ictoria and Alb, rf brought the Royal
party to that vessel. There It lay by for some
time drifting gradually near the (ilatton a-id not
far from the DruaNtatioa. which seemed to be the
c. untie of interest be vhdtors on board the numerous
craft that followed in the wake of the Royal yacht. Much
to the regret of the Shah's stile, no opportuLity was sIY .rded
to them to los ~ect the interior of any of the vessels Icing at
Subhead. Note ithstainilog the accident to the Vigilant,
width took them out, they still hoped to see something it
what -as Intuit shown to the Shah whin they were left behind,
hut wiles the Shah returned from the Sultan, and all the
Royal party were again on board their yache, the tronclads
tired another salute, the Vittoria and Albert was put
about, seed driven as rapidly as possibie into Portsmouth
llarbour. She was followed by all the other boats which
conveyed the visitors. . . . Time pressed, and it was already
steer the hour at which the Shah was tn land, so the yachts
steamed to past Scutinies beech, which was crowded with
man, thonsand spectators, at..l hit e the dockyard, another
salute teeing tired from the bastion at the entrance within
the dockyard.

There were large numbers of spectators, who loudly
cheese I the Shah and the Prince and Princ•ss of Wales as
they lauded. After having bad a most delightful tour, they
were joined by the nietW,ers of the Shah's suite, out all
drove away to the Admiralty House, where lunch was served.
I 'ver P2o persons Fat down to the luncheon wh, eh had
been provide t, most the staff Moen of distinction being
pre.ent. he "bah, with the rtinet of Wales, the Duke of
iitinurgh, and the remainder of the Royal party, with the
Lords of the Admiralty and other guests, to the number of
about 40, dined separately In a smaller room on the
right of the henqueting-hall, In which are some excellent
portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Luncheon over shortly
alter four, the guests proceeded to a low balcony overt .ok.
leg the Admiralty gardens, beneath which played the baud
Of the Marines.

bahqu,ting hall the Royal party visited one
of the sheds, where lay the Blonde composite frigate in
• coarse of construction. A large number of Men had been
etained here and at the factory.
On account of the late hour the visit to other parts of the
do. kyard was abandoned, end the R .pal party proceeded to
the train. The Priem, of Wales and the Duke of Etilibor.h
shook hand. with the naval -flicers. The Shah h..ewl to the
people, and the Royal train left Portsmouth Dockyard for
London at &quarter past eve odor k

‘,
lityor'of P rtamouth entert,iced a lam party at
dinner alter the Shah's departure for L ndon, ai the Queen's
Hot -I, Southaes, and afterwiads rectived upwards of 700
pinata kti a bill at Siti%sea Pier Arseinitly R lona. A very
effective pyrotechnic display was made 011 Southaes Common,
but the fliiet war not illuminated The effeJt of the lights
from the fleet at Spithead was, however veiy beautiful, and
Ryde with the hundreds of lighted yitchta anchored there,
and with the occtaional exhibition of an electric light, was a
thing to be area only on special occasion', such se the visit
of a Shah 01 Panda.

THE SHAH AT THE INTERNATIONAL EX-
HIBITION AND THE ALBERT HALL.

The Times thus &scribes the visit to the Interns.
tional Exhibition, and the enthusiastic reception at the
Albert Hall :

In the evening the Shah visited, as had been agreed, the
International Exhinition and the Albert Hail. The moat
Indefatigable sightseers must acknowledge that they never
had a barter view of the Shah of Persia than at the Albert
Hall on Monday night.
Al precisely hall-pest tin the 11,,nrishe. of the State
trumpeters announced that the Roy al carriages contaluing
Hie Majesty and his suite had drawn up at the nortn.west
entrance in Prince Albert-road, to the Exhibition building.
Thither, a short half-hour before, had arrived their Royal
Higlineises the Prince of Wale., the huge of EH& urgh,
Prince Arthur, and other members of the Special C mmittee,
Including 1.-,rd Cameroon, Lord Granville, KG., Lord Ripon,
Lord Lansdowne, and many other.. An toe Shah alighted he
was welcomed by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with.
outs moment's delay all took their places, and, still preceded
hy four trumpeters, who from time to time sounded a
nourish, the proceesion entered the Macidnery Department.
A 118111, line of spectators fringed the regulation red
drugget, and extenleil through all the rout Nowhere
was there the slightest crowd or inconvenience : a handful
of policemen and slew Sapper. scattered here and there were
ail that was necessary to keep the line. Air hour before His
Majesty's arrival the machicery hal been set gds: and
the wcirr of the wheel, and steady tap of the treddle.
must have made conversation an effort. Sir Henry Raw-
linaon's absence, too, added to the difficulty of explaining to
the Shah the purposes of the VAILIII limms and machines
before ipm. Bat in spite of this drawback and of the far
greater one of personal fatigue, hit Majesty stopped at
neatly every object on the way, and examined each in turn
with an air which was perfect In Its assumption of interest.
The Roi al progress through the Picture Galleries
naturally a mcre promenade through those well-lighted cor-
ridor., whffih were not over-crowded, but just sufficiently
filled with spectator..

All tots tole—that is to say, for close upon two hours—a
hriiliisot cempany had been wattlig in the Albert Hall for
the guest of the evening During that time Madame
Mittens, Mr. Sims Retiree, Madeline Trehelli-Settini, and a
whole orchestra of bandsmen and white-robed ladles had
been doirg their hest to beguile the waiting ; but, In spite
of all, It sees with a great sigh of relief that the closely
packed audience saw the Royal occupants of the Queen's
Box rise and leave the Hall. They only retired to Her
Majesty's room, where they joined the Shah and his
splendid following, and after a brief delay another flourish
of trumpets •nneunced that the supreme moment had
arrived Exaetly opposite the great orzan, where Dr. Stainer
presided, a Wets-dais had been erected, so that from every
part of the house its illustrious occupant, were conspicuous.
Bordered by the Persian colours, to green leaves and yelloo
flowers, It stretched nearly across the Amphitheatre, and
was appro IC):Ed by abroad incline of easy $ ens. Turough a
bnhliant throng td unhorms the procesAm passed, the
whole house rising to receive the R .yal peremagee,
who advanced to the froi.t and to k their places
amid loud acclamations. First of all the Shah ap-
p aced with the Princess of Wales en his arm closely followed
be the Pence of Walea, leading the Clesarevtia Ills Imperial
Highness the Ceserewitch placed himself on the right hand
of the Princess of Waies, and beyor,d him, Nolo, eat the
Dime of R litiburgli. On the Princess'. left sat the Shah,
and on his other side the Cesarevi.a. Ills Royal II ighnese
the Prince of Wales sat on the Cesarevnts's left. and Pelee.,
Arthur, in his ride UPHOIMI, fitly ended the line of Imperial
and Royal person eges.
Seen from all side.., and with thousands of eyes bent on
him, no one could fail to admire the Shah's easy bearing,
warm Interest, and graceful acknowleugnent of the loud
acclamations. The diem...lel-tented coat, whose splendours
hove been on every tongue, was repleced by a uniform with a
great deal of white facing completely cover-el by thickly-sewn
pantie, and studded on collar and cuff, oy rosettes of
large diamonds. ACIOill the shoulder the Shah wore •
double row of enormous pearls, divided every two Inches by
large emeralds. In his Majesty's kaftan, of plain black
Cloth, a diamond aigrette was fasteeed Our own Princes
were In the full uoLorms of their different services, and
wore, in addition to the Garter and other decoratione, a
large medallion containing the Shah's portrait set in dia-
monds.

Thoetct of the Hall Itself was beautiful to the highest
degree. The deep bands of chocnlate colour which have
superseded the white stripes in front ol the bones gave a
solidity and breadth to a glare of colour which would have
been too bright without it, while the white lines of the
column, carried the eye up to the very top of the
building, which even to its very ceiling was crowded.
When it is considered that the utmost pain, have been
taken by ever3body concerned, from the Prince of
Wales, who interested himself In the minutest details
and the Duke of Edinburgh, whose musical taste haa been of
the highest pract.cal value, it Is no wonder that everything
wet smoothly and well, and that from first to last the
whole affair proved • brilliant and triumphant success.