The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-07-14 00:00:00

VISIT OF PRINCE ALBERT-ARRANGEMENTS
FOR THE COMPANY AT THE ALBERT DOCK

WAREHOUSES

The preparations for the opening of this dock, and its
magnificent warehouses, are now in progress ; and when
completed, will be in every way worthy of the occasion,
and present to his Royal Highness and suite, and to the
company who may be favored with admittance within the
walls of the Dock, one of the finest spectacles ever wit-
nessed in this or any other town. In describing the
works going on, we shall commence with the room set
apart for the dejeuner.
This apartment, a warehouse room on the first story, is
situated at the south-east corner of the warehouses, and
is 99 feet long by 88 feet wide. To the eye it appears a
perfect square. Seven massy tables run down from end
to end, with ample room between each for the ingress and
egress of the guests, and the passing to and fro of the
waiters, &c. At the bead of the room, which is the south
end, is a table raised considerably higher than the rest,
designed for the accommodation of Prince Albert, with
his suite and the officials and most distinguished guests.
At the north end are three short tables, and the sides are
to be filled up with seats for those of the company for
whom the tables do not afford sufficient room. It was
originally suggested that a thousand persons might be ac-
commodated to partake of the refreshments standing. It
has been considered better, however, that each party shall
be provided with seats, which will reduce the accommoda-
tion to that for about 600 at the tables and 120 at the side

The entertainment will be entirely cold, and will consist
of fruits of the most recherche kinds, pates, ice creams.
ices, &c., provided with his usual excellent taste and
liberality by Mr. Lynn, of the Waterloo Hotel. The
wines, provided by the same gentleman, we need not say
will be the best of their kind. For the proper storing and
arrangement of these a most convenient apartment has
been fitted up adjoining the banquetting-room..

. . -
We have already given the dimensions of this apart-
ment ; and must bestow upon its decorations, &c., a few
words of description. Bearing in mind its character as a
warebouse, designed solely for the stowage of mer-
chandise, &c., it is one of the finest, for the purpose of
any entertainment, to be found in the kingdom. To be
perfectly fire-proof-- and there is not a room in the whole
of these spacious erections in which as much timber is
used as would make a box of lucifers—it is built with
brick arches running in compartments lengthwise from
north to south, each compartment tied with an iron rod,
and the bearings supported with iron beams. The latter
are painted for the occasion a stone-colour, with the
capitols picked out in: gilt. The brick arch-work is
white, and the iron ties painted scarlet. The side-walls
are being draped in flutings of alternate blue, white, and
pink. The floor is to be covered with crimson cloth, as
is the temporary staircase by which the Royal Guest and
his suite will ascend to the chamber.

The guests are to enter the room by the middle door,
at the north end, and will enter the building through the
granite-pillared gate at the south end, near King's Dock.
The Prince will enter the room by a private staircase, as
we have already stated, after landing from his yacht at the
south-east corner of the dock. _

The accommodation for parties to witness the opening
of the dock by the Prince and his suite in the Fairy, royal,
yacht, reflects the highest credit upon the liberality of
the chairman and the members of the Dock Committee.
The sheds of the whole of the stately pile of warehouses
on the south and west of the dock are being fitted up with
stages in an amphitheatrical form, eight stages in height,
and each stage a yard in breadth. These are strong as
the warehouses themselves, each stage being floored by
timber six inches in thickness, and thoroughly rested and
secured. -One entrance is at the east corner of the
south end ; another at the south end accommodates
as well a part of the west side. There is also an en-
trance on the west side and another at the north end of
the same side. To prevent confusion, the tickets for each
entrance, which we understand are the most finished
works of art, as are those for the dejeuner, will be issued
in distinguishing colours. The seats for the dejeuner will
be numbered to correspond with each ticket. The plat-
forms round the dock, it is computed, will accommodate
easily about ten thousand persons, as may be conceived
when we state that the length of the south side of the
dock is about 150 yards ; that of the west side about 200
yards ; and that there are eight platforms in each, those;
platforms being a yard in width. In all, this will make
about a mile and a half of yard deep lineal standing space.
When the Fairy enters the dock by the gut at the north-
western end, the spectacle preiented by this magnificent
mass of the elite of our fellow townsmen and towns-
women will be a sight such as few princes or kings can
boast of in their dominions. The yacht will, on enteting,
proceed at half-speed along the quays thus lined with
spectators, and enter the breakfast-room at the south-east
corner.

We presume his Royal Highness, after the entertain-
ment, will be taken over the portion that is completed of
the warehouses themselves. Anything more calculated
to convey to his Royal Highness a sense of the energy of
his adopted fellow countrymen, and of the vast resources
of this great port, we can scarcely conceive than an in-
spection of these noble edifices.
PREPARATIONS AT THE SAILORS' HOME.—A rapid
progress is being made with the preparations of laying the
foundation stone for this building. The sides of the ex-
cavation are being surrounded with galleries, affording an
excellent view of the proceedings. The bottom will be
appropriated for the reception .of the members of tho
Council and the Dock Committee, the Sailors' Home
Committee, the Blue Coat Boys, the Freemasons and Odd
Fellows, the nobility and gentry, and the borough magis-
trates.