The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-24 00:00:00

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Yesterday there was a public rehearsal of the
Christmas festivities at the Crystal Palace, and the
visitors had an opportunity of seeing the building
decked out iu such holiday decorations as render it
even more attractive than it was at this time last
year. It is no easy matter to hang the interior
so vast a structure with flags, banners, and
streamers in such a way as to secure anything like
sufficient variety in design and colour. All 00r
patterns in this mode of ornamentation used to he
taken from ships. To the Union Jack the post of
honour was assigned ; then came the flags of all
nations ; while " signals" were thrown in here
and there by way of filling up at points frota
which nothing more appropriate could be sus-
pended. At Sydenham Mr. Wilkinson, the as"
sistant manager, has tried the effect of departing
from the old practice, and adopting, to a consider-
able extent, the French style of arranging festal
draperies. The splendid flags got up for the occaci
don of the Sultan's visit are again displayed, and
there is no lack of brilliant streamers, some of which
are 50ft. long; but many of the best effects arc
produced by trophies of flags and spears, and hi t°
designing of the pendant draperies no slavish re;
gard has been paid to the heraldic traditions e'
this or any other nation. The result is very satls:
factory, both in the daytime and when the
palace is lighted up after dark. Above, ever);
thing looks bright and warm. Below, there
on all sides a profusion of evergreens ; stnl,"4
arranged in line, and filled with all sorts of Pre'
Christmas presents, occupy the centre of the 1106'0
and a gigantic Christmas tree stands close to th
further end of the building. All round beneath the
of
tree is an admirably arranged little museum
of
natural history. Swans repose in a tiny lalo
real water, supplied from a source hidden witillitt
mossy rocks ; game of various kinds are grouped.
accordance with the habits and manners of the liYll3l
animals ; rabbits seem to be darting in and out
an imitation warren, and a pair of squirrels are
making their observations from above. From tP4
outside of the Palace all unsightly scaffolding about
tarpaulin have been removed, and, though itis ahn to
500 feet short of its original dimensions, it presen
roe
a very sightly appearance as it now stands.
ea
restoration of " the Alhambra" will be counnene
immediately after the holidays.
The holiday entertainments extend from a ata
noon till 7 o'clock in the evening, and are carril
out on the great stage in the centre transePt'
h&j
would not be easy to find a better orchestra tjo
the one provided for the occasion, composed as %ti,
of the orchestral band of the company. A ig if
Inas performance without a clown would scarce -0
be allowable even at the Crystal Palace ; but ib
quite clear that the experience of former years,el%
encouraged Mr. Rowley, the manager, to
at-
regular pantomime the great feature of stag.re
ea,
traction at Sydenham. " Little Red Riding bc t
or Harlequin and Jack Horner, and a Fr°btriesi
would a Wooing Go," is a pantomime of thea to
pretensions. It is written by Mr. Nelson Lee'
scenery has been designed and painted by: Air; gr.
H. Craeknell, assisted by Mr. F. Johnson anu
the
Williams, and Mr. J. Burkett has constructed
machinery, which includes a very elaborate " trans
formation."

e,
Lord Somers has, with exemplary niunifiee"ticori
preseni ed the Castle grounds at Reigate to the corpor°;ol
of that town for the benefit of the public, and the
arty
authorities have formed a committee to make the prod,
as valuable as possible to Reigate and tlio ueighbou