Scissors.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5204, 26 April 1888, Page 4

Scissors.

Mr Henry Irving closed a successful engagement at Boston recently, his four weeks' receipts amounting to £16,000. The dealings on the New York Stock Exchange in Januiirv aggregated 210,000,000 dols. against 414 In 18S7, and 750 in ISS6. The French Chamber of Deputies voted, on February 29, by a vote of 294 to 240, to restore the credit* for the Embassy at the Vatican. A torpedo boat is being built at Cowcs which is 400 ft long, with a beam of 23ft., triple companion engines, and a twin screw. It is expected that she wilf'steam 26 knots. The authorities at Washington are about to issue the 21st volume of The Records of the Rebellion. It is in two parts, and brings the history down to the end of the Stone River campaign, December 31st, 1562. The steamship Bremen, 1060 tons, was recently for five days in considerable peril among the drifting logs of the great raft which was recently broken up on the American coast. Though her rudder bocame disabled, and her propeller was injured, she succeeded in reaching J'ermuda. It has been discovered that a large and increasing proportion of the books issued by the branch houses of English firms in NewYork are printed from plates mndo in the United States, and duplicate sets of the same plates are also exported to Great Britain. Miss Gonovieve Ward has no immediate intention of retiring from the stage ; for Mr T. E. Pemberton and W. H. Vernon are busily engaged in the preparation of a play for her, which is to be performed in the country before submitting it to the judgment of a London audience. Count Tolstoi will soon publish a new work, Napoleon and the Russian Campaign, in which the writer exemplifies the fatalist theory ho preaches in War and Peace. The book will strive to show that Napoleon only obeyed the mysterious order by which his destiny was fixed beforo the world began. Last year and up to January 31, ISBB, it appears 4000 people had been attacked with small-pox in Sheffield, and 393 are kuown to have died. While 97 out of the 3198 vaccinated cases—something like 5 per cent. —were fatal, 157 out of the 352 unvaccineted—over 34 per cent.—died, and "23 out of the 148 " unknown." A leading American paper announces that an extraordinary influx of American visitors to England is expected to take place this year. Steamship agents in New York are eaid to be "talking of half a million paseeiisrere" as likely to leave the ports of the eastern seaboard of the United States, " all of them bound for Europe." A complete collection of the letters of Mendelssohn to Igriiaz and Charlotte Moscheles, some of which have appeared in Scriltuir's JLagazme, is to bo issued presently as a volume. Another batch of correspondeneo about to be published is the letters that passed between Goethe and Friedrieh Roehlitz, the musical critic and novelist. Intelligence from Manaos, Brazil, states that Colonel Labre, an explorer, has succeeded in ascending the Madeira Uiver as far as Bolivia, descending by the rivers Madre de Diosand Acre, and thus discovering a means of communication between the Amazon territory and Bolivia that is free from those impediments—that is, the series of rapids of the Beni River, which up to now have had to be encountered. A sale by auction of choice old wines belonging to the Drapers' Company was held recently in Mincing-lane, London. The sale room was crowded with buyers, and some high prices wore obtained. Croft's 1834 port brought 320s to 330s per dozen : Domccq's sherry, bottled in 1849, made 120s to 125s per dozen , Mouton Rothschild, 1875 claret, 125.-5 to 135s per dozen; Perrier - Jouet's 1874 champugne averaged 220s pur dozen. -_ great commotion was caused in the Central Markets, Paris, recently owing to a firo which broke out in one of the basements of the range of buildings whtre the poultry is kept. When the flames had been nmsteied, it was found that seven persons were seriously injured. Considerable damage was dove to pioperty, all the stock of poultry (about 100,000 birds of various sorts), as well as a large quantity of hampers, having been completely destroyed. Tho loss is estimated at about £80,000. The Panama Star and Herald reports the occurrence of a huge wave at llaracoa, Cuba, which, according to published n«counte, struck the beach, broke, and flowed inland, carrying many native huts and several good houses before it. After .sweeping iv fully lOoft. tho water flowed back to the ocean. Nearly 300 huts and houses were destroyed, but no lives were lost, for the people baw it coming and fled to tho hills. The beach was swept clear of every habitation that stood upon it. The wave was not a tidal wave, but the result of a three days' north wind. A curious incident occurred a few weeks since m the principal theatre at Baltimore, U.S., while "The Gladiator" was being performed. An elegantly dressed young lady was observed to be taking dowu tho dialogue of tho piece in shorthand. The manager, Mr Joseph Mack, went to ht;r, and asked her to desist. She refused, and then he denounced hec from the stage as an actress from Philadelphia, who was endeavoring to pirate his property. The allegation proved to be well founded, and the fair pirate beat a retreat from tho theatre amidst the hisses of the audience. Actors are proverbially long-lived, but few reach the age of 93, like Mr William West, wlio died iv London a few weeks ago. Half a century ago he was well-known to all frequenters of the theatres on the Surrey side of the Thames, and no loss than 80 years have elapsed since he made his first appearance on the boards as Cupid, in a burlesque of the period. In 1820 he was lessee of Drury-lane Theatre, and subsequently he undEHiston were joint managers of the" Surrey. The deceased was mainly instrumental in introducing the opera of " Der Freischutz " to tho English public. According to a judgment just delivered in one of the French courts a critic cannot be excluded from a theatre because his criticisms happen to be unpalatable to tho management. The case in point was tried at Aix-la-Chupelle, where a certain journalist had written several articles condemning the play, **n<l the manager refused to allow him to enter the theatre, though he had purchased a ticket. He sued tho manager for damages. The Court gave him the damages, and decided, in addition, that a manager has no right to arbitrarily refuse admission to his theatre to any respectable person who conducts himself properly during the performance. On February 25 there whs a most important discovery in tho excavations oc the Acropolis. Towards evening, near the south-eastern corner of the Parthenon, a large head of a male statue was brought to light. It is made of porous stone, exhibits traces of brilliant coloring, and is stated to be more ancient than anything yet discovered on tho Acropolis, and quite unique. It is believed to be the head of a Triton, and to belong to a serpont-like body ending in the tail of a fish discovered a few days ago. Excavations arc being vigorously carried on by the Greeks, as well as by the French, German, and American schools iv various parts of the country. The area of dry land in Holland is a million acres greater now than it was in the sixteenth century, thanks to the energetic works of reclamation which havo long been proceeding. It is computed that eight acres of land are daily restored to cultivation in the wonderful little country which lias fought so sturdy a fight against tho ocean. For forty years past butch engineers have been proposing the reclamation of the Zuyder Zee— a greater work by far even than the draining of the lake of Harlem, which occupied 12 years. The Zuyder Zee was formed in 1282 by an invasion of the sea, which engulfed 72 i villages. The iruitter is now being tuken up ■.very energetically throughout tho country. About 25 years ago a new mystical sect appeared in Russia, called the " Jumpers. 1 ' The Caucasus and the neighboring countries servo as tho plaoo of o.xilc to which Government sends hardened and recalcitrant disssf.'-itt'iv, fearing their demoralising influence on the musses of the Russian people. There arc tc be met representatives of all the Russian sects —Molokanes, Skoptsys, Vagabonds, &c. There, because at so great a distance from tho centre of government, and because the whole country is in a semicondiiiou. the sectaries find greater lib.rty to arraiifro their Jives according to the precepts uf Ihcir religion, and they take advantage of this to carry on an active propaganda amoag the natives and the Russian colonists. A Players' Club is bi-ing organised in

New York. Among its founders are Messrs Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett,' Harry Edwards, Augustin Daly, and John Drew. It will follow the lines of the Garrick Club in London, but will be essentially a dramatic club, and its primary objects will be the following:—l. To provide for social intercourse among tho members of the dramatic profession, artists, and the patrons of art. 2. The formation of a dramatic library and a house for dramatic records; and 3. To collect historical data with respect to tho stage in general and the American stage in particular. The articles of incorportion have been already agreed to by the leading members of the profession in the Eastern States.

An actor and manager who has been through Canada states that, although the nightly receipts at the country theatres do not average more than £15 sterling, and the prices of admission are only Gd, Is, and Is 6d, the business is profitable. Tho companies usually consist of 10 to 12 peoplo, including a business manager, who is doorkeeper, advertising agent, press worker, and occasionally, when his duties at the door are over and he can be used in one of the later acts, an actor. He runs on the next town during the day, "bills" and "works" it with "dodgers," banners, and photographs, and gets back to his company in time for the night performance. These companies have an extensive repertory, and stay a weed and sometimes two weeks in towns which havo not more than 6000 or 8000 inhabitants.