The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-10 00:00:00

Crystal Palace,

The fine spring weather with which April has
opened has had a sensible effect upon the attendance
at the Crystal Palace. Although the season is
somewhat late, the shrubs and plants in the gardens
are now advancing rapidly. The Saturday concerts
have been unusually well attended during the past
winter; last Saturday nearly 5,000 persons were
present.

Active preparations are being made for Good
Friday, on which day a great sacred concert will
be held. Madame Rudersdorff, Mr. Weiss, and
Mr. Sims Reeves are some of the principal singers
engaged. The latter will sing the celebrated war
song from Costa's " Eli," besides the two tenor
solos in Mendelssohn's " Elijah." Mr. T. Harper
will also play the trumpet obligota to " Let the
bright seraphim," which will be sung by Madame
Rudersdorff. Very extended arrangements are
being made on the various railways for the accom-
modation of the visitors. Besides the trains of the
Brighton Company from London-bridge, Victoria,
and Kensington—connecting also with the Metro-
politan and North London railways—very frequent
relays of carriages will run to Sydenham Hill from
the Blackfriars, Elephant and Castle, and Victoria
stations of the Chatham and Dover Company. The
South Eastern, as well as the Chatham and Dover,
will also run excursions up by their main lines. An
excursion by this latter company will convey pas-
sengers from Chatham to the Palace and back, a
distance of nearly sixty miles, and including ad-
mission to the Palace, for two shillings. Additional
entrances will be opened at Penge, and at the north
end of the Palace.

The railway works for the high level line, leading
up to the front of the Palace, are progressing with
great rapidity. The workmen have commenced
fixing the ironwork for the roof, and in a very short
period this magnificent station will be completed.
Great progress is being made on the other portions
of the line.

New bills were brought under the notice of the
Parliamentary Committee last week for carrying on
the Crystal Palace line to Croydon and Penge. The
formidable opposition brought against them by the
Brighton Company on this occasion proved success-
ful, and the bills were lost, but there is no doubt they
will be revived next session in an improved form.
The Thames Tunnel line, giving access from the
Crystal Palace to the Great Eastern Railway, was,
however, carried, and thus the Palace will, at an
early date, be placed in speedy communication with
the districts east of the metropolis. It is now, there-
fore, beyond doubt that the Crystal Palace will ere
long be placed in thorough and complete communi-
cation, not only with every portion of the metro-
polis, but with all the great lines of railway con-
verging thereto.

The great Flower Show of the season is appointed
for Saturday, 20th May, and the Rose Show on
Saturday, 24th June. The schedules for these two
sho n alone show prizes amounting to nearly £BOO.
The facilities afforded by increased railway accom-
modation now promotes entries from much more
distant localities than used to be the case.
The sale of tickets for the Handel Festival con-
tinues to progress in a most satisfactory manner.
The alterations in the corner galleries, from which
so much benefit is expected in an acoustical view,
will be completed before Good Friday. The public
generally will therefore on that day have an excel-
lent opportunity of testing the advantages which
will result from these improvements.