The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-24 00:00:00

THEATRICAL STATISTICS.

An immense volume of statistics, collected by order re
the Chamber of Commerce by a special commission,
under the superintendence of M. Horace Say, with a
view to ascertain the state of trade and manufactures in
the metropolis, furnishes—though it seems a strange
place to look for such information—some curious details
respecting the state of theatricals, past and present, in
France. The gentleman charged with this part of the
inquiry, M. N. Rondot, has not, like his colleagues, con•
fined his researches to Paris, but extended them to the
whole of the country. The number of theatres in the
86 departments is set down at 361; 36 out of that num-
ber belonging to the small department of the Seine.
The provincial boards do not appear well supplied with
performers, 40 itinerant companies doing duty far no
less than 280 theatres, 45 only being provided with
stationary troupes. Three departments have no theatrewhatever, all three being situated in the south—Lozere,
Basses-Alpes, and Ardeche. M. Rondot concludes his
general statistics by stating that the number of actors
and actresses in France is variously estimated at from
3,000 to 8,000. We aro then shown the proaressive in-
crease of theatres in Paris. Under Loilis XIII. there
was only one theatre in the capital ; under Louis XIV.
they increased to five; there were six udder Louis XV.,
and under his ill-fated successor ten theatres were in
full play. In 1791, all monopolies having been abolished,
51 theatres sprung up all at once; but, by the year 1807,
we find them decreased to 34. At this period privileges
were re-established, and in the following year only nine
were in existence. Paris enjoyed ten theatres from 1810
to 1814, eleven from 1814 to 1819, fourteen from 1819 to
1830, sixteen in 1831, twenty-one in 1832, twenty-three
in 1846, twenty-five in 1849, and twenty-three in 1851.
These twenty-three theatres contain about 34,000 places,
and the average number of spectators every night is
calculated at 20,000. Besides theatres, there are 145
places of amusement open in the capital and its vicinity,
principally during the summer season—public balls,
such as Mabille's, CaPeconcerts,.Guinguette's, &c.; these
establishments are frequented by, it is estimated 24,000
persons per diem, thus carrying the number of pleasure-
seekers in Paris to 44,000 daily. Not the least inter-
esting part of these statistics is that which refers to the
receipts of the metropolitan theatres, which have under-
gone many variations, as may be seen from the following
account. From 1807 to 1811 their average was nearly
five millions of francs; from 1822 to 1826, nearly seven
millions; from 1837 to 1841, they averaged more than
nine millions; from 1842 to 1846, more than ten;
and in 1847 they rose to eleven millions. Here M.
Rondot discontinues his own figures, and quotes
the Government returns which stand thus;-1848,
6,747,408 e.; 1849, 7,775,5701.; 1850, 9,959,785 f.; 1851,
10,460,000 f. M. Rondot concludes his return by a
statement of the number of the personnel employed in
the Paris theatres, from which it appears, commencing
at the lower end of the scale, that there are upwards of
400 box keepers, male and females, and 750 employes,
clerks, &c., in the administrations, whose aggregate sa-
laries amount to 740,000 f. The dress-makers, carpen-
ters, scene-shifters, &c., are more than 600 strong, and
their average salaries amount to 500,0001. The
number of musicians in the various orchestras
is 630, and their aggregate income is 600,8501.
We now come to the performers, of whom, according
to M. Rondot, there are 1,152 men, and 891 fe-
males. Of these 793 are artistes, and the remainder
choristers and figurants. The emoluments of this nume-
rous personnel average per annum 3,534,990 f. At the
time the statement was drawn up (1851) the highest
salaries were 4,500 t., and the lowest 251. per month '.—
a startling difference. Formerly, in 1743, for instance,
the first singer at the Grand Opera only received 1,500 f.
per annum; in 1783, Mme. Saint Huberti's salary was
only 4,0001. a year; and the celebrated danseuse, Madlle.
Guimard, only received 4,330 f. How different at pre-
sent! when, at the same theatre, artistes, scarcely of
first-rate excellence, receive as much as 80,0001. a year!
7-nearly double the remuneration of the first magistrate
in France, the President of the High Court of Cessation!
Among the reforms now in progress, both in England
and France, is there no Mr. Hume to put a stop to this
tax on the good-natured folly of the too easy public?—
Galignani's Messenger.

DISCOVERY OF JUPITER'S SATELLITES
(From Grant's History of Physical Astronomy.)
• When Galileo first turned his telescope to the planets,
he was delighted to perceive that they exhibited a round
appearance, like the sun or moon. Jupiter presented a
disc of considerable magnitude, but in no other respect
was he distinguishable from the rest of the superior
planets. Having, however, examined him with
a new telescope of superior power, on the 7th
of January, 1610, his attention was soon drawn
to three small but very bright stars that appeared in
his vicinity, two on the east side, and one on the
west side of him. He imagined them to be three fixed
stars, and still there was something in their appearance
which excited his admiration. They were all disposed
in a right line parallel to the plane of the ecliptic, and
were brighter than other stars of the same magnitude.
This did not, however, induce him to alter his opinion
that they were fixed stars, and therefore he paid no
attention to their distances from each other, or from
by mere accident to examine
Jupitert the planet.
ag
ainiloan"in
tehneBgth of January, he was surprised
to find that the stars were now arranged quite dif-
ferently from what they were when he first saw them.
They were all now on the west side of the planet,
and were nearer to each other than they had been on
the previous evening; they were also disposed at cqual
distances from each other. The strange fact of the
mutual approach of the stars did not yet strike his
attention, but it excited his astonishment that Jupiter
should bo seen to the east of them all, when only the pm-
ceding night ho had been seen to the west of two of them.
He was induced on this account to suspect that the mo-
tion of the planet might bo directly contrary to the
calculations of astronomers, and that he had get in ad-
vance of the stars by means of his proper motion.
He therefore waited for the following night with great
anxiety, but his hopes were disappointed, for the hea-
vens were on all sides enveloped in clouds. On the 10th
he saw only two stars, and they were both. on the east
side of Jupiter. Ho suspected that the third might be
concealed behind the disc of the planet. They appeared
as before in the same right line with him, and lay in the
direction of the zodiac. Unable to account for such
changes by the motion of the planet, and being at the
same time fully assured that he always observed the
same. stars, his doubts now resolved themselves into ad.
=ration, and he found that the apparent motions should
be referred to the stars themselves, and not to the
planet.
para-
mount therefore deemed it an object of pare-
ount importance to watch them with increased atten-
tion. On the 11th ho again saw only two stars, and
they were also both on the east side of Jupiter. The
more eastern one appeared nearly trficQ to Jorge 04 the