v NEW-YOKE TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT. SIGNALSTOAXDFROM MAKS A NEW DICKENS PLAY.

K. 3. WILLAUD AS T^M PINCEL IS THE lU'DDY PLANET INHABITED?

THK OPINIONS OF FI.AMMARION. LOWELL. MISS FDNAMAY RETURNS INA MUSICAL ni:CS- SCHUOLL, GALTON AND OTHER AS- BILLS AT OTHER THEAT!.i:3. TRONOMERS. K. S. Wi'.lard will !'-in th« second week of The recent fable dispatch from Paris, briefly iiis r.sas-r: at it :'.•¦ Hur! n Th atre :> mor- announcing Oamille Fhimmarion's opinion re- row evening. Allthe m ' - I'h; w -«k win garding the interchange of signals between be devoted to "Ton Pinch." which Air welard Mars aii'l the earth, directs attention afresh to has never before played In Manhattan it had ;i i> issibility which is peculiarly fascinating to a few performances some time ago te Brooklyn. a good many people. The topic is one, like the At the matinees, on Wednesday and Sac: r Jay, theory '>f evolution, which appeals not simply "David Garrick" win be repeated. Next week to the devotees of one department of science, wiU be devoted to "The Middleman." with mati- but to intelligent humanity in general. The nee performances of "Tom Pinch." and the week planets may > suggestion that another of the be . Bjfsjßj :¦.. :tst of the engagemer.:. : Toe inhabited l>y creatures endowed with the same Rogue's Comedy." faculties as man, and that communication may be established between them and the Inhabitants After a considerable absence from the city. of the earth, captivates the fancy the instant it Miss Edna May will return to-morraw night, is put forward. and will appear at the Herald Square Theatre There is this much to be said in favor of any la a new musical farce called "The Girl from Up such idea. Mars Is one of the two nearest There." The piece has a book by Hugh M rtoa neighbors of the earth in the solar system. and music by Gustave Kerker. It has been Venus, whose orbit is next Inside that of the played for a few weeks out of town, by way of earth, seems to be almost completely shrouded getting the company used to it and of discov- ir. clouds, which would interfere with observa- ering any weak spots which may be strength- tion and communication by her inhabitants. If ened or removed before it is seen in New-York. she had any. Mars, our neighbor in the opposite direction, is differently conditioned in this re- Miss Ada Rohan has been welcomed back IB spect. The very complicated markings on her Xew-Tork at the Knickerbocker Theatre with Burfac?, although not any too distinct, are fairly an enthusiasm seldom manifested in the greet- di finite, and. what is more, are substantially Ing to an actor long absent. To-morrow night permanent. The astronomers are satisfied that she will begin the second week of her engage- they see the solid structure of the planet, not ment in "Sweet Nell of Old Drury" an opaque envelope. Moreover, there are indi- only of run "The Gay cations tliat the climate on Mars is pretty much One week remains the of like ours. The appearance and disappearance of Lord Quex." with John Hare in the title psjsjt white caps at the poles leads to the belief that at the Criterion Theatre. Mr. Hare will *••¦ fol- there, frequently announce*). there is a succession of winter and summer lowed as has been Marlowe, there, closely imitating terrestrial phenomena. by Miss Julia who illappear as Mary Tudor, Indeed, it is conceded that Mars affords better in "When Knighthood Was in Flower." a condition of habitaMlity than any evidence of eer of "The House That Jack other planet in the solar system. Further than S. PIXfH. E. NiI.LAUD AS TOM Built" sed at the Madison Square The- this the thoroughly scieiitiiic man cannot go. Garden Theatre. atre, and that theatre will ccupied on Tiics- Ind I, he is obliged to note Professor Camp- plainly on topazes and garnets. The garnet venin? i.y Herbert Kelcey and Miss Kffle lull's >i troscoplc researches, which show that the rainbow, and many facts. other well known turns much paler ina short time, while the topaz Shannon. They are to appear in a new by Mars has a much more attenuated atmosphere assumes darker and even loses the r'a> In the recent Paris dispatch Professor Flam- a shade Mrs. Lucette Riley, called "My Lady than earth. So that if our ruddy neighbor is brilliancy possessed by it when freshly cut. Madeleine the marion was represented as commenting on a the Dainty." really peopled all it must be with creatures The most sensitive stone in this respect is at scheme of I>r. Schmoll for opening up communi- opal. This stone draws its marvellous tainbow that can get along with a good deal less air cation. The latter has suggested the outlining reflections from numerous little clefts, which This week at the American Theatre will fee than need. on the earth's of certain well known allow the light to pass and reflect it in different we surface directions, devoted to a production of "Quo Vadis?*" New Thf drawn from th<* often the opal stands the manipu- Inferences so-called constellations like the Great Hear and Orion. lation of cutting and polishing well, and all of scenery and costumes have been provided. The canals <n<- Should these !»• imitated on Mars, it would l>e a sudden it splits. It suffers always by excess cast will include Ralph Stuart. Miss KMBi must look at them as pure speculation, not as evident that the ruddy orb was inhabited by of he.it. Owing to its chemical comj>osition. it is L. Miss Georgia Miss sensitive to all the changes of Kvesson. E. Snader. Wells. scientific evidence. When Schlaparelll tirst dis- people as smart as we are. The Frenchman ex- temperature. every Pearls deteriorate very easily. In the fire they Julia Blanc. Thomas J. Keogh and other singular markings pressed favorably regard covered these be named them himself in to the are transformed into a piece of lime. Placed in member of the stock company. The rra".;iKe- "canals," scheme, because that term admirably described and announced a lecture to be given contact with an acid they behave as lime or inent of the American Theatre has arrarged their appearance, but be took pains t" disavow on the subject next month. Inasmuch as the marble would under the same conditions. It Foster, managers, happens that during the work, if the 11 & vaudeville to any opinion as Alm> st only sometimes to their nature. the earth will pass Mars on the celestial racecourse hand touching them is very sweaty, they lose of Sunday ni'ht concerta at that man who has been at all active in astronomical In February, this Is the best time to display their lustre or l>re.»k. being attacked by the acid house, beginning to-night, when several artists work, and who opinion thai of the perspiration. entertains the these signals if the attempt Is to be made at all. new- to this country will make their appear- are of artificial origin, is Percival Lowell Since pearls are composed of concentric layers lines of mother of pearl, it is sometimes possible to ance. tit Boston. He has a private observatory at DECOLORATtOS OF JEWEL*. repair them by taking off the outer layer, hut Flagstaff. Ariz., and is that Mars is this operation is extremely difficult and delicate. Tv other production of "Quo VadisT* with convinced From The Jewellers' Circular- Weekly. Inhabited by creatures endowed with sufficient I!" the interior colors are injured there is no iaded by Wilton Lackaye an-i Miss Th<* decoloration precious stnnes they remedy. intelligence empl irrigating of when Proctor Otis; continued the Acadeasy to canals to raise have been exp< sed t" the air for a loi;g time is Diamonds .ire ;..e best Nevertheless, they are not exempt from I VOSTIXVOUS PERFORMAM'E Dlt.L. een at the New-York Theatre la^t effected at any time, the subject would instantly changes, as has been proven t>y many experi- season. Tlie Belgian assume a new i>hase. ments recently made in Paris. Two rubies of Prom Star. the same size and shade were kept for two years, At Venice this week there was a with Chauneey Oteoti willbegin his annual engage- A suspicion that the hypothetical Martians duel one in a showcase• and the other away from all swords between two non-commissioned «>fiicers at the Fourteenth Street Theatre to-mor- w<-re attempting to open communication of this liuht. At th end of this term a comparison of the engineers. There were no less than twen- ty-seven assaults, row night, and will present a new play entitled kind was excited several years a^.> i.y the sud- revealed that the first had become somewhat with short intervals between lighter them, and the duel lasted nine "tJarrett O'ilash." which aas been writt. for den appearance of a particularly bright spot In color. hours. Finally n on The Influence of light makes Itself felt more one of the sergeants was wounded in the face. him by manager. Augustus tli>- ruddy planet. One of the Interpretations his Pitou. The story put upon the Incident was that artificial illu- mination was being employed on a scale grand enough to attract attention millions of miles away. Another conclusion regarding that iiiri- dent and Beveral others of the same kind, which have occurred more recently, is that some large mountain top on Mars caught the sunlight at just such an angle as to produce an especially brilliant reflection. The rotations of the planet on its axis, however, would make the phenome- non temp< rary, bo that its appearance could be easily explained. This latter theory is now pretty generally accepted. The great trouble with the flashlight doctrine was that the alleged signals took no intelligible form. There was simply one prolonged glare and nothing else. Still, the incident set people talking and think- ing about the subject. Obviously, the question of the best mode of estahlishing a system of signals is not an astro- nomical one; at least, not to any great extent. It is a psychological problem, rather. Assum- ing lor tin* moment that Mars was inhabited by beings possessing minds like ours, it becomes necessary to inquire just how their minds would work in an undertaking of this sort. Francis Gal- ton, the venerable ami eminent Knglish anthro- pologiat, outlined an ingenious plan in The Fortnightly Review" six <>r seven years ago. He did not enter into mechanical details at all, but considered merely the code which might be em- ploye.|. He believed that by combinations of light Hashes of three different lengths an almost unlimited vocabulary might be built up. The first messages to be sent should be reiterations of certain elementary facts supposed to be known on both planets. Those might include a table oi addition and other mathematical state- ments. Thus the observer would get the signs for the numerals. The distances of the planets from the sun ami their radii would open the way for giving the names of those bodies. And a de- velopment of the sain.- general system would lead to an identification of the words for circles, triangles, polygons and irregular forms, the HERBERT KELCEY. K|,,, SHANNON. ii.i.-ii-s .v.d I'f-'ji it..., ul in v;.-., tin (.olura of la "MvLady Dainty.**Madison Square Theatre.