t is now realised that Bristol has fully
awakened to her vast potentialities. The eyes of the populace of Great
Britain, and, it may be, of many of the dwellers in the King's dominions
beyond the seas, were in March, 1902, cast in the direction of the
ancient city of Bristol, erstwhile the second port in importance in the
British Isles. This national looking to what Bristolians proudly call
the "metropolis of Western England" was occasioned by the visit of the
Prince of Wales, with H.R.H. the Princess, to turn the first sod in
connection with the great works then about to be undertaken for the
extension of the docks at Avonmouth, so as to render them capable of
accommodating and berthing steamers of a magnitude greater than any yet
built--a work then expected to be completed in four or five years. The
function was a notable one, and the occasion may be briefly summed up as
"a grand day for Bristol." Two millions are being spent on the dock,
which will have a water space of thirty acres, with room for further
extension. The lock will be 875 feet long and 100 feet wide. There will
be 5,000 feet of quay space, with abundant railway sidings and other
appointments of a first-class port.

[Illustration: (signed) Yours faithfully Alfred Jones]

[Illustration: R.M.S. "PORT KINGSTON" (7,584 TONS),

_of the Imperial Direct West Indian Mail Fleet_.]

In Feb., 1902, Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G., the chief of the Elder
Dempster steamship line, set out from Avonmouth in the "Port Antonio"
for Jamaica, with the object of promoting further developments between
Bristol and the West Indies by means of the Imperial Direct West India
mail service. The occasion of his departure was unusually interesting,
as it took place on the first anniversary of the sailing of the first
boat of the direct service carrying H. Majesty's mails to the Island of
Jamaica from Avonmouth. The picture portrays the mails being embarked on
the "Antonio's" sister ship, the "Port Royal," which arrived at
Avonmouth on the day before the royal visit, and was inspected by Their
Royal Highnesses, who were much interested in her banana cargo. The
"Port Kingston," a steamer of larger size and splendid construction, has
now been added to the Jamaican fleet, and she makes the passage from
Kingston to Bristol in ten-and-a-half days. By a coincidence, when
Bristol was "feasting" on the 5th March, 1902--the Red Letter Day--and
its senior Burgess, the Chancellor of the Excheque