The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-20 00:00:00

THE PREPARATIONS.

All Leeds was busy through Out Menday night, and
'rom the size of the barriers erected, and the nature of the
lecorations, one would have the good town was
-.:elebrating its deliverance from some strongly pressed and
rlmost successful siege. 'Windows, it is true, did not
- ::ommand the prices which were asked when it was
;bought the Princess was coming, but still very large
mms were paid for good views of the very small proCes-
iion. Places on the line .of route were, in commercial
" much inquired for," and places from which hardly
Anything could be seen at all were in fair demand. What
t would have been bad the Princess of Wales come
it is hard to say, except that it could only have
ncreased the tariff for eligible situations, for it was not
p,ssible to fill them more densely than they were filled.
[I) the streets along the route as much was done as there
was time to do it in. Houses that had grown black and
grim with a long experience of murky atmosphere were
made to shire out clean at least; balconies were built
into structures never intended for them-, and whole façades
were made at Once brilli:-nt and odoriferous under the
influence of the brightest paints. The sky hue of the
town, made picturesque rather than beautiful in its dis-
play of houserods so variously and wonderfully con-
structed, of church-spires so changeably designed, of
long chimneys which shot up into the heavens, and
each of which seemed trying which was to be the longest,
was for this occasion relieved and made in a way attractive
by handreds of banners and flags that streamed from every
convenient and inconvenient elevation. At some places
the sight line down the streets was completely hidden by
the huge folds, and nowhere could the eye turn without
being encountered with the blazons of half the monarchies
in the world, and most certainly with those of the chief
potentates in Europe. Late and early, men were kept
hammering and sawing, restoring and improving, and
last night especially, as the effect of the devices for illumi-
nation, purposes was being tested, the light which was
obtained skewed not only a crowd of spectators, but
lit up men still working, as if under a punishment
.that
was never to end. It looked as if Leeds had determined
to alter its appearance in a night ; and, indeed, this
morning it seemed as if it had carried out such a deter-
mination. The sun rose upon the full proportions of
triumphal arches which a few hours before had been
nothing but skeletons ; upon rich colouring on house fronts
that were bare and ugly enough on Monday ; upon the
quaint terminations of the New Infirmary, and upon
the Town Hall, richer than any other building in
the elaborateness of its decorations. It showed all Leeds
to greater advantage than it has ever done before.
The decorations, as we have stated, were not so complete
as they were when the Queen came, but they
were very satisfactory. What had been left to individuals
was done so far as workmen could be obtained to execute
it; what was taken in hand by the corporation was skil-
fully executed. The members of each family gratified
their own tastes to a great extent, so that along the
route there was little, if any, sameness about private
decorations, and where, as at the Town Hall, much was
expected from professional skill, the effect was pleasing
and attractive. The great attraction of the sight, how-
ever, was not its decorations, but the vast masses of
people which were drawn together from all parts of York-
shire and the surrounding counties.