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ACTORS AND ACTRESSES. Adventure with a Porcupine. We passed the night on the Witten- Worklns ror starvation Watos-stamy ! bur S> sleeping on the moss, between two shir stage Life. decayed logs, with balsam boughs thrust Under the supervision of Albert Ellery i - nto ®*° 8Tound and meeting and form- Berg, the dmuado critic, a series of in- I * n S a canopy over us. In coming off the teresting investigations have been made ’ mounta in in the morning wo ran upon a this summer of the condition of the mem-' bu S° porcupine, and I learned for the bers of the tlieatrical profession. The re- 1 " ret tbo tail of a porcupine suits of the work are extremely disap- w,t “ a spring like a trap. It seems pointing to ail lovers of the stage. It i to ., ® set lock, and you no sooner touch appeal s that during at least three months i WI “} the weight of a - hair one of the of eacl i year three-fourths of tbeprofes i quilfathan tho tail leaps up in the most sion aro either idle or gaining a bare sub- j Bur P ns ' n S nianner, and the laugh fa not sistenco in other industries, and that the ' ° n 3 rour ®’de. The beast cantered along other fourth find employment in such I tho path inmy front, and-1 threw my- liuge spectacles as “Nero’ ’ in Staten Island and “The Fall of Babylon” in Cincinnati; in “summer snaps” and in tho numer ous low concert hails, dime museums and music gardens of tho larger cities. All of these classes were carefully in- vestigatdll by Mr. Berg and his col leagues. Nearly every case presented the most pitiable features. A majority of the profession lived with, or rather upon, parents, relatives and friends. But few were content with’ tho enforced idleness, and tried to make n livelihood during the dull season. Among the vo cations temporarily pursued were wait ing in restaurants and saloons, bartend ing, horse car driving and conductoring, “running privileges” at excursions, pic nic groves, baseball grounds and country fairs, button covering, making ladies’ underwear, “sweat tailoring,” barber - business, nows stands, canvassing, em broidering, laundering, dressmaking and housekeeping. Hardly ono of these paid more than enough to keep body and soul together. In ono caso three actresses rooming together in a single largo apart ment supported themselves by making pett icoats and chemises. Working twelve hours a day, the three combined mado only §11 a week. Their room r>*>- • was $5 per week, and tho remainder. had ' to supply food, needles, thread, car . res and medicine. A number who support themselves by “sweat tailoring” during the summer made a slightly better report, earning on an average $3 a week. Waiter girls in both restaurants and saloons d<> I jotter, receiving from $3 to $5 as wages ne at least us much moro in tho form tills. Those who obtain employment ir dramatic work make a very bad showing, Of those employed in “Nero” nt Staten . Island and "The Fall of Babylon” in Cin cinnati, four-fifths liqvo lmd more or less experience upon the boards. A few have held prominent places; these includo women who have been unsuccessful stars, leading ladies in very bard luck,and young actresses who have neglected or failed to save any moniy during tho season, and who aro too proud to beg or borrow and too moral to use other means to obtain an income. Tho great majority are chorus girls, members of tho ballet and women of ono year’s dramatic experience. Tho general salary paid is $3 a week. Tho average, $3.75. Of thoso who go out on what they term a “summer snap,” but fow do well enough to pay for board and transporta tion, mucli less have a clear profit. To this class “walking railroad ties” fa no figure of speech, but a horriblo reality. Of thirty companies which left New York in July twenty-eight, numbering over 400 souls, were stranded on tho road penniless, and begged or borrowed their faro homo or were sent thoro by the generosity of kindly strangers. Tho fow concerns that succeed (if success •can bo applied to their efforts) aro those which play “commonwealth" (i. e., aro co-operative in character) and mako some town their headquarters where country board is cheap and where no legitimate companies over come. By playing n night in this village and that, by “assisting - 'churches, lodges and other societies in benefits, they manage to pay their board and washing bills and get home in time for thu regular season. Perhaps tho liardest lot of all is of those who play during tho summer in concert halls and dime museums. Hardly a watering place exists upon tho conti nent but what has its “freo and oasies,” e “open air theatres” nnd freo variety shows. Here tho romance and- pictur esqueness of stage life disappear nnd ull the brutalizing features arc multiplied and magnified. The performer is an adjunct to the bar; his or her art a spir itual freo lunch to tho drinker. In nearly every ease they aro expected to drink with patrons, to lie introduced to nny one who knows the proprietor or bartender, and to listen in silenco to tho reeking vulgarity wbicli alcohol pours from human lips. The jiny in these places ranges from #5 to $13 per week, mid (ho performance runs from noon to mid night. Tho placo being "open nir,” tho strain upon the voice fa far greater than in closod buildings, and finally produces that huskiness or painful fal setto so familiar to patrons of the circus. If tho dime museums are better than tlio open air concerns so faV as the behavior of the audience and tho work of tho vocal organs aro concerned, they uro more de structive to tho health of the performer. Tho performances aro usually given each hour from 11 a. m. to 11 p. m. Tho halls aro close, poorly ventilated, hot und dirty; tho dressing rooms vile, and the ■ Conveniences for tho actors nil. Tho wages paid aro tho samo as thoso in tho open air temples'of amusement. Mr. Berg shows that tho mutual help fulness and generosity which so charac terize tho dramatic profession fa an or ganic necessity, and that without it, under tho circumstances above detailed, hundreds, if no: more, of actors and ac tresses would be starved every summer or forced into the almshouse. Even ns it fa, their condition during never less than one quarter of tho year verges upon pauperism. Mr. Berg's investigations will destroy the last vestige cf the uace . popular belief tlJlt mi actor’s life is a happy one.—New York Cor. Globe-Dem ocrat. self upon him, shielded by my roll of blankets. Ho submitted quietly to tho indignity, and lay very still under my blankets, with his broad tail pressed close to the ground. This I proceeded to in vestigate, but had not fairly made a be ginning when it went off likoa trap, and my hand and wrist wero full of quills. This caused mo to let up on tho creature, when it lumbered away till it tumbled down a precipice. Tho quills wero quickly removed from my hand, and we gavo chase. When wo camo up to him he had wedged him self in between tho rocks so that lio pre sented only a back bristling with quills, with the tail lying in ambush below. He had chosen his position well, and seemed to defy us. After amusing ourselves by repeatedly springing his tail and receiv ing tho quilfa in a rotten stick, wo made a slip noose out of a spruce root, and after much maneuvering got it over his head and led him forth. In what a peevish, injured tone the creature did complain of our unfair tactical Ho pro tested and protested, nnd whimpered and scolded liko somo infirm old man tor mented by boys. His gamo after we led him forth was to keep himself as much as possible in tho shape of a ball, but with two sticks and tho cord wo finally threw him over on his back and exposed his quilless and vulnerable under side, when lie fairly surrendered and st-emed to say, "Now you may do with mo ns you like.” His great chisel like teeth, whicli aro quite as formidable as those of * ho woodchuck, ho does not appear to use at all in his defense, but relies entirely upon iiis quills, and when thoso fail him lie is done for.—John Burroughs in Tho Century. ltow Thread Is Numbered. Everybody knows tho sizes of thread. Every seamstress knows whether she wants No. 30 or 00 or 120, nnd knows, when she hears the number, about what fa the size of tho strand referred to; ia t how tho numbers happen to lie what they nre, nnd just what they mean, not one person in a thousand knows. And yet it is a simple matter to explain, was the in formation accorded to a reporter by an employoof ono of tho largest spool cotton manufactories in the United States. When 840 yards of yarn weigh 7,000 grains, a pound of cotton, the yarn is No. 1. If 1,080 yards weigh a pound, it will bo No. 2 yarn. For No. 30 yarn it would tako 50 multiplied by 840 yards to weigli a pound. This is the whole of tho yarn measurement. The early manu factured thread *'ns three cord, and tho thread too!; its number from tho number of tbo yarn from whicli it was made. No. 00 yarn mado No. 00 thread, though in ]joint of fact tho actual caliber of No. 00 thread would equal No. 20 yarn, lining threo 00 strands. When the sewing machine camo into tho market as tho great consumer, un reasoning in its work and inexorable in its demands for mechanical accuracy, six cord cotton had to bo mado as a smoother product. As thread numbers wero already established, they were not altered for tho new article, and No. 00 six cord nnd No. 00 tlireo cord aro iden tical in size ns well as in number. To affect this tho six cord lias to lie mado of yam twice ns firm as that demanded by the three coni. The No. 00 six cord would lie six strands of No. 120 yarn. Three cord pjxiol cotton fa the same num ber ns the yarn it is made of. Six cord spool cotton is mnde of yarn that is double its number. As simple a thing as thread is there aro 2,000 different kinds made.—New York Mail. .Coal la Ancient Times. Pliny, in liis natural history, describes anthracites found in Africn as a black schistose useful in medicine, hut no men tion is made of its inflammability. Jet was called black amber—succinium nigrum. When Roman traders told of thu burning of amber for fuel by tho natives on tho shores of tho Black sea, it is supposed the material was a variety of lignite, and not amber as reported. Coal was probably used in China as fuel long before it was known in tho western world. About tho middlo of tho Thirteenth century a Venetian traveler and writer, Marcus Paulus Venetus, gives tho following account: ‘Through tho whole province of Cathay, black stones aro dug out of tlio mountains, which being put in tlio llro bum liko wood, and when kindled con tinue to bum for a long time. * * * If lighted in tbo evening they keep alive the wiiolo night.” Tbo ancibift Britons mado use of coal a certain extent Stone hammers have been found ins coal croppings, and tho name—formerly “colo”—is of British origin. After tlio conquest tlic Romans began to uso it, for coal cinders lrnvo been found in Roman walls, and Roman coins in beds of cinders. But coal was not brought into general use until the reign of Charles I. in 1035. * • " ropular Froverhi and Sayings Concerning the Oeesn—Maritime Expressions. Improvements Jn the vehicles, instru ments and modes of navigation have robbed the sea of much of its terrible character, but we shall, nevertheless, find existing among the peoples of both con tinents, as shown by their popular pro verbs and sayings, a wholesome fear of the sea, a recognition, of its terrible power, as well as many curious notions about the watery element, its inhabitants and its characteristics. Tho saying of Dr. Johnson, “No man will bo a sailor who has contrivance enough to get him self into a jail,” is more tbita par alleled by proverbs current among European nations. An old French maxim was: ' “He who trusts himself on tho sea fa either a fool, or he fa poor, or ho wants to die.” Oneof the alternatives seryes as a poor excuse to tho Spaniard, tvho says: “Better walk poor than to sail rich.” In the same spirit fa conceived tlio Italian proverb, “Praiso thp sea, but stay on shore.” “He who would learn to’pray should go to sea," says a well known proverb, and “He who does not venture upon the sea, knows not wlmt God is," replies that most hardy and adventure some of maritime nations, tlio Dutch. Tho Russians say, “When you walk, pray once; when you go to sea, pray twice; when you go to bo married, pray three times.” Theso sayings outline in a general way tho dangerous character of the sea, and its treacherous nature, its insatiability and its immensity, are pointed out by other proverbs and aphorisms. “Tho sea makes somo rich, others poor,” fa a general proposition enunci ated in a Provencal adage, but the Amer- can proverb, “Work with mo nnd I will nourish you; look out for mo or I will drown you,”teacliesthtuncortoin nature of tho sea life, and wo may bo disposed to heed the warning embodied in tho Turkish maxim, “Trust not tho discourse of tlio great, the duration of a calm at sea, tho lucidity of tlio fleeting day, tlio vigor of thy horse, or the speech of woman." The gentlo sex fa classed with tho treacherous element in other proverbs, current among many nations. Woman, however, is often tho greater sufferer from tlio dangerous nature of tho sailor’s calling, and a Tamil proverb says, “Tho wife of the shipmaster is in a lucky situa tion so long as tlio ship is safe; if it is lost, she must i>eg. “Tho sea has no launches (to cling to), therefore it is bet ter to stay on shore." said tlio German woodsman, and tlio French rustic agrees with him: “Admire tho sea ns much as you will, I Jilt don't stir from tho cow sheds.” The Arab fears tlio sea today much as lie did in the Fifteenth century, when lie declared that the l^nncl of Satan rose from thu bosom of tlio “sea of dark ness" to .seize his frail bark. "It is bet ter," says lie, “to hear the belchings of tlio camel than tho prayers of tlio fish,” and lie declares the obstinate and danger ous character of tlio stormy sea in tho adage, “Tlio sea lias a tender stomach, but a head hard as wood.” “In travel ing,” says an old French proverb, “tako the sea, liut creep to tho shore,” and an older saying from a facetious work a century old concludes thus: “Tho ship is a fool, for it moves continually; tho sailor is a fool, for lie changes his mind with every breeze; tho water fa a fool, for it is never still; tho wind fa a fool, for it blows without ceasing. Lot us make an end at onco of navigation.” Concerning tlio tides, waves and salt water, there liavo been many curious sayings as well ns strange supersti tions. “That which goes with tlio ebb comes back with tho flood, ” is an other way of expressing a well known sailor adage that “What cornea by star board goes by larboard. ” Another French proverb is expressive of extreme defianco of difficulties: • ‘To brave dangers ns tho leeward tido docs tlio wind." Wiiat a beautiful idea is that convoyed by tlio Sanscrit sentence: “It is thu poets and not tlie ordinary men who rejoico in beautiful metical expressions; the influ ence of the rays of tlio moon swells tho sea, but not the brook." The use of maritime expressions fa much more common even among lands men far f rom tlio sound of tho sea thail it is usually supposed to bo. Tho Dutch are proverbially addicted to tlio uso of sea language, their inheritance from tlio sea robbers of tlio Sixteenth century, and Mr. Clark Russell has shown that tho English language borrows many of its most expressive phrases from tlio sailors. Wo say a couple are “spliced,” a young man is tlio “main stay" of the family, an interloper "puts his oar in,” tlio member from Podunk “steers through," a man is "hard up,” wo aro frequently “taken aback,” a toper is “slewed," a loafer “spins a yarn," you must "try tho other tack,” etc., etc., all sea expres sions beyond a doubt. “Under fnfao colors” would bo said of a ship, as well as of a traitor.—F. S. Bassett in Globe- Democrat. SERVANT GIRLS FROM INDIA Queen Victoria Delighted with Them. Factory Versus Kitchen. Queen Victoria, according to Truth of London, has become perfectly delighted with the female domestics that one of the ladies of the royal household brought to hbr from Bombay several years ago. She has recently sent orders for servants enough to perform tbo work in Osborne, Balmoral and Windsor castles. It is said that these girls from “India’s coral strand” represent all the virtues and non© of the vices common to the average city domestic. They entertain no beaus in the kitchen, eat none of the choice meats left over from a meal, have no impe cunious relatives to supply with sugar and spices, do not $vant to go to a plcnio every week, and never give notice that they aro going to leave just before house cleaning time. They are-represented ns quick to learn, while they .con sider obedience as a virtue. They soon acquire enough of the English lan guage to enable thorn to understand all that is said to them about their work, but never learn tlio words necessary to uso “in jawing back." They aro scrupu lously neat and orderly in doing their work. When it fa completed thoy go to their own apartments and nothing fa heard from them. It is thought that the fashion of em ploying Indian servants will extend from palaco to mansion and from there to smaller houses. Witli all the complaints about tho difficulty of obtaining employ ment in Great Britain, most housekeepers liavo trouble in securing domestics. As a rule no girl will accept domestic ser vice if sho can obtain employment in a store, shop or factory. There has been so much said and written about higher occupations for women that few aro willing to work on tho ground floor of a house. Femalo human nature is tho samo in America as in England. Tho disposition in both countries is to leave tho occupa tions that arc fairly remunerative and which offer constant employment for thoso where the pay is small and the tenure uncertain. Housework is con sidered ns menial, whilo doing piece work in a factory is regarded as elevat ing. It is claimed that there fa a certain independence about work in a factory that docs not pertain to employment in a private house. The sort of independence that girls have in establishments where cloth fa mado into garments that ore to be sold to a great clothing houso lias been shown in tho various articles now being printed in tho newspapers. An exhibit has also been mado of tlio pay they receive. A better state of things exists in factories where wool and cotton nre converted into cloth, nnd even in places Where cloth is mado into garments by tho firms that sell them directly to customers, but in neither case is there as largo pay, ns good treatment, or ns much loisuro as can be found in a private houso presided over by an intelligent woman. In a factory a girl learns scarcely any thing that will bo of benefit to her if she over lias a houso to keep of tier own. In tlio house of another, managed as tho homo of a refined family, sho will have an opportunity of learning almost every thing that will bo of advantage to lier in after life. She can acquire tho art of cooking, if sho is deficient in it, learn how to tako care of furniture ami how to receive and entertain company. A man and a woman who have a fow do mestics take an interest in them and nro ordinarily good friends to them. It is hardly to lie expiated that the overseer of fifty persons will take nil interest in any of them.—Chicago Times. ORIGIN OF ASTRONOMY. Older Than the First Records of any Na tion—Interesting Data. When did astronomy have its begin nings on the earth? There have been many learned attempts to answer this question. They nil have led to the con clusion that long before tho historic period there was a large common stock of knowledge; so large, in fact, that one distinguished writer finds it simplest to ascribe the origin of'astronomy to the teaching of nu extinct race: “Co people ancien qtii nous a tout appris—excepte son noni et son existence,” his commen tator adds. Astronomy Is older than tho first re cords of nny nation. J[p order that the records might exist, it was first necessary to divide tlio years and lime^ by astro nomical observations. On the other hand. I believe the travelers of today have found no tribe so degraded as to he without some knowledge of the sort. It fa extremely doubtful if animals no- tico special celestial bodies. Birds seem to be inspired by the approach of day and not by the actual presence of tlio sun. It fa n question whether dogs “hay the moon” or only the moon’s light. A friend maintains that her King Charles spaniel watched the progress of an oc culta tion of Venus by the crescent moon with tbo most vivid interest. This fa tho only case which I have, been able to col- loct in which the attention of animals has been even supposed to have b?en held by a celestial phenomenon. The actions of tho most ignorant savages during a to tal solar eclipse, compared with those of animals, throw much light on the ques tion of whereabouts in the scalo of intel ligence tho attention begins to be directed to extra terrestrial occurrences. Tliesav- nges are appalled by tho disappearance of the sun itself, while animals seem to be foncerried with tlio advent of dark ness simply, v I am told that the Eskimos of Smith’s sound have names for a score or more of stars, and that their long sledgo jour neys aro safely mado by tho guidance of these stan alone. I have myself seen a Polynesian islander embark on a canoe, without compass or chart, bound for nn island three days’ sail distant His course would need to be so accurately laid that at tbo end of his three days lie should find himself within four or five miles of liis haven; if ho passed tlio low coral island at a greater distance, it could not ho soon from his frail craft There can bo little doubt but that ho used tho sun (by day and tho stars by night to hold liis courso direct. There must have been centuries during which such knowledge was passed from man to mail by word of mouth, woven into tales und learned os a ]Kirt of the loro of tho sailor, tlio hunter or the tiller of tho soil. No ono can say how early this knowledge of tho sky was put into tho formal Bhape of maps, globes or cata logues. Eudoxus fa said to liavo con structed a celestial globo B. C. 8G6. Globes would naturally precede maps, and maps mere lists or catalogues. Tho prototype of all sidereal catalogues fa tho Almagest of Ptolemy (A. D. 100), which includes not only tho observations of Ptolemy, but thoso of tho great Hip parchus (B. C. 127). It contains the description of 1,023 stare, their positions, and their brightness. Hero wo meet for the first timo tho namo magnitudo of a star. Ptolemy divides all tbo stars into magnitudes—degrees of brightness. Sirius, Capelia, aro of tho 'first magni tude; tho faintest stare vfaiblo to tho eye aro of tho sixth. But Ptolemy has gone further, and divides each magnitudo into three parts. Tho moderns divide oaoh class into ten parts, that fa, decimally.— Edward S. Holden in The Century. The English put- machinra have got so give a chow of totaci drops in a penny. Securite, tho now flameless explosive, fa tho invention of Herr Schoemveg, and has boon used in Germany for two years past. It fa composed of a nitrated hydro carbon in combination with certain oxi dizing agents, which fa rendered flameless by tho addition of a certain proportion of an-organic salt. It emits a spark in ex ploding, but this spark fa harmless, not •possessing sufficient energy to explode inflammable gases or coal dust. By tho action of tlio organic salt tho spark fa almost instantly extinguished. In tho lests mentioned, tho flameless “securito” was exploded in vessels containing the most highly explosive mixture of gas mid s-nickel-in-thc-slot 1 air. and, in some cases, this combined far tliat they muv with coal dust, but while gunpowder In i' to any one who , variably causes their explosion, tho flam's less “securito” did not ignite tho gas or the coal dust, and it was demonstrated Memphis is the j rwitest inland cotton j to be safe, even under more severe market ia tin 1 world, utuvi:.; mini 7uo. j and conditions than_a^^vi‘r_preset 000 t>> l.uOO.OOO bales >.-arli ‘ mining operations'. Optimistic View of'Llfe. Putting aside the question of revealed religion, pow.s nnd piiilosophers liavo be gun to see a dignity in human nature, n wisdom and beamy in life as wo know it, and to abandon those dark and dan gerous simulations which most com monly lead thought into gloom and de spondency. Things exist according to fixed laws, some of which wo haVo dis covered and know to be just. Woroason, therefore, that those laws whicli wo have not yet |jenetruted, and limy never penetrate, wlnwe manifestations seem cruel and unjust, would, if projierly un derstood, be found equally beneficent. Let us, therefore, obey those laws which wo comprehend, boar with patience that which we control, hold fast to tho liappi Gotham's Chinese Restaurant. Unlike Americans, tlio Chlncso do not generally pay by tho dishes ordered, but by tlio tables or spreads, called by tho Chineso “Gzuh.” A first class spread includes about forty courses, and it takes two days to finish the feast. It costs $50. A second class spread, with twenty- eight courses, costs $40. A third class j pread, with eighteen courses, costs $25. Tho chea|>est spread contains eight courses for $8. Tills fa tlio lowest prico for whicli n man can order a formal din ner in a first class Chineso restaurant. But then tlio spread fa mado for any number of {jeoplo within twelve. If n man simply wants to cat n short meal for himself and a friend or two, ho . . , , - - can get ready mado dishes of fish, chick- ness which coines in our way, and not , , .. . „ . troubio ourselves too much about tbo . ^ ^ fn any other ^taurant, b^ “Especially H«“zo ouree.ve, as j a part of h’umnnity. Ut us bo cl.arita- ; I*f^ n £*Z n . ? ZZZfZ bl° nnd syiiqiatlietic, so that others will SSlu piStSStitartoT Wwf3forta unnecessary. Tlio Chinese tablo imple- grant us similar favors und tho sum of happiness bo increased. Lot us not curso men for faults for whicli from tlio na ture of humanity they aro not responsi ble. Let us rather study tho causes of thosoafaults and try if there bo remedies for them. Let ns consider that nations are only aggregations of single men, each of whom is bound by tlio samo ments are chopsticks, of ebony or ivory, a tiny little tea cup, and n porcelain spoon.—Wong Chin Foo in Tlio politan. Manufacture of India India pajier, whicli thG lehi, is made from hemp, mull limitations ns ourselves.—Charles Lotin co tton. bamboo, rico straw, barley nildrcth in American Magazine. i n „j f r0 m tho interior membrane of worm cocoons.. Sometimes tlio whole Tlio boiler bursting record fa a large i* 10 ®tolks of a year’s growth are used, and growing one. Over 200, all un- Tho pulp fa mixed, after it hnsbeetfpre- doubtnlly supposed safe, exploded dur- with a jjlvcn proportion of vege- ing tho past year. Tho invention of tho table gum called botong hi China. The safety scam steam boiler, which o|ien8 at l a P“' s molded in molds mado of fine the joints, and puts out The lire before bamboo filamentqF Thoso sheets, sixty the pressure reaches the bursting point, fret in length, which the Chiney are raid must save ninny lives in a year’s time, j ’ uiate. are supposed to ho fabricated Moro than 700 persons were stricken l, artfully joining several small sheets‘at * ..... . ♦' ,» I'uiin. ’it lofinff rim nniw'i’. India ilown, without warning, by Ixiilcr explo sions within our country during the past year. More Ilian half, these persona wero liiiled outright, and many of tho re mainder wero maimed for life.—Boston tho egap ti e moment of laying tlio paper, paper, b.;;;;; too thin to boar handling or any strain, fa mounted oti vellum, which serves as a l: ing to it, am! the wiiito borders of which set it off as o frame would do. The sheets are kept in a dry place, far away from the lire, nnd may ' bo preserved fcf years.—Sail Fra ..cisco • Chronicle.