In 1891 the entire roofing of the main building of Sandringham House, together with all the rooms and their contents on the two upper floors, was destroyed by fire. The bells of the various churches in the district clashed out the alarm. Gangs of men and women speedily set to work to clear the principal lower rooms of their furniture and rare, valuable, and interesting contents. Queen Alexandra was staying with the Empress of Russia, and the King was also away at the time. The amount of damage done was about £15,000. That portion of the house which was destroyed has been rebuilt in a thoroughly fire-proof fashion, with iron and concrete floors and roofs; and the opportunity was taken of making many additions to various portions of the house, in fact about eighteen rooms were added. It is very characteristic of the King that, by his orders, the general works were all carried out by local tradesmen. One of the most interesting departments of Sandringham Hall is the stables, which contain a great number of carriages. There are Russian sledges, only used in the coldest weather; a Hungarian snow-carriage, lined with rose colour; Norwegian carioles; a smart American buggy, painted bright yellow; a truly beautiful gold inlaid jinricksha, sent to the King from Japan, which is for show rather than for use; a char-à-banc, presented by the late Duke of Sutherland; and, it need hardly be said, every kind of ordinary two- and four-wheeled vehicle now in general use, from the modest Norfolk cart to the stately landau; while by the big coach is to be seen the charming miniature four-in-hand presented by His Majesty to Queen Alexandra just before his departure for India. Both the King and Queen are passionately fond of horses, and Her Majesty pays a daily visit when at Sandringham to her pony-stable, which was built in 1874 for her four French ponies, who were afterwards succeeded by equally valuable animals of British extraction. Bina, Merry-Antics, Bow, and Bell were the fortunate occupants of this model pony-stable, which is considered the prettiest building of the kind in the world, the walls being lined with white tiles, picked out in green glazed bricks, finished at the top by a green-tiled frieze and an open wooden roof. Above each manger was recorded in gold letters the name of the pony occupying the stall. Queen Alexandra at one time was very fond of driving tandem, and she has one of the best tandem teams in Great Britain. She is very fond of bay horses, and possesses also a pair of the famous greys bred in the Imperial stables at Leipzig. For many years Her Majesty always rode Kinsky, a Hungarian horse; and she was said to be one of the best horsewomen in Norfolk. [Illustration: QUEEN ALEXANDRA AT SANDRINGHAM _From a Photograph by Thomas Fall_]