The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-11 00:00:00

11'1E SMIILIFIELD CATT LE SHOW FOR

1862.

The opening of the New Agricultural Hall a
Islington, the future home of our great annual me-
tropolitan Christmas cattle shows, and the six-
teenth anniversary of the Smithfield Club, is ap-
pointed to take place this year on Monday, the Bth
of December, and four following days. • The ar-
rangements for this purpose are now so rapidly
approaching towards completion that even the stalls
for the cattle and the pens for the sheep and pigs,
&c., are in course of erection, and the space appro-
priated being something like three times the
amount of that obtained at the Baker-street Bazaar,
opportunities will be afforded not only for a great in-
crease in the specimens entered for competition, but
also for the accommodation and convenience of the
public.
The Agricultural Hall occupies an area closely
approaching to three acres. It has two entrances,
the grand one being in the Liverpool-road, and the
minor one facing Islington-green, nearly opposite
the newly-erected fountain and statue to Sir Hugh
Myddelton. The western fagade, which is very
bold, is in the mediaeval style of architecture. It
has two lofty towers, and capacious central and
side entrances. The main hall is 384 feet in length
by 217 feet in breadth, and the span of the cen-
tral portion of the glass roof, which is 76 feet in
height, is about 125 feet. This hall is surrounded
by galleries 36 feet in width, approached by
five sets of double staircases, each 10 feet wide.
There is also a minor hall 100 feet square. One
thousand tons of iron were used in its construction,
and the roofing contains nine miles of iron sash
bar, upwards of one acre of glass, and two acres
of slating, whilst the space afforded by the
galleries is considerably above an acre. There is,
therefore, no lack of light during the day, whilst
at night the area will be illuminated by 14 large
central gaseliers, of 48 lights each, and 60 smaller
ones of 24 lights each. The ventilation and drain-
age are two points to which the greatest attention
has been paid, the towers referred to being con-
structed with a view to secure perfection with re-
gard to the former point, and as respects the latter
the iron pillars which support the central portions
of the fabric, form draining tubes from the roof to
the basement, and the drainage appliances beneath.
A reservoir, capable of containing 50,000 gallons
of water, has been erected, with which hydrants
are connected in various parts of the building, so
that in case of fire, or any other requirement, they
can immediately be mado available. C pacious re-
freshment rooms are provided in various parts of
the building, where refreshments are to be supplied
at a fixed tariff; and, amongst the other accomo-
dations there will be a letter-box, lavatories,
&c., for ladies as well as gentlemen, with a room for
depositing parcels, coats, and other articles. The
architect is Mr. F. Peck, of the firm of Peck and
Stephens, of Maidstone. So far as the building
itself is concerned, it is in every way adapted for
the purposes for which it is intended, and the only
doubt which had been raised as to its success as a
speculation, is the locality in which it is situate.
Objections have been raised that the show of tne
Smithfield Club will not obtain that popularity
amongst the upper classes of society which it en-
joyed (and that increasingly year after year) during
its sojourn in Baker-street, on account of it being
so far away from the West-end. In reply to that,
the promoters point to the late metropolitan dog
show, at which, notwithstanding the then un-
finished state of the building, and all the drawbacks
attendant upon it, upwards of 60,000 or 70,000
persons visited the exhibition, and on the five shil-
ling days the carriages of the aristocracy d
are stated
d
to have crowded the Liverpool-road an block
up many of the adjacent thoroughfares. Besides the
increased accommodation for the public, in other re-
sts ets the convenience of the avenues, especially for
ladies, is far greater than at Baker-street, the cen-
tral avenue being 23 feet wide, and the others in pro-
portion. With regard to the facilities for the pub-
lic to reach the show from all parts of London, it is
stated that omnibuses going to and from every dis.
trict of the metropolis, and the site of the Agi icul-
tural Hall make no less than 1,600 journeys daily.
It is also understood that arrangements are likely to
be made to put on special omnibuses to and from