STAFF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. 485 STAGE. England officers desirous of qualifying for stafT appointment must have had five years' service in the army, undergo the two years' course at the StatT College at Sandhurst, and serve at least four months at Aldershot in some arm of the service other than the one to which they belong. The rule in Germany is to select officers for the general staff from among the graduates of the military colleges having the best qualifi- cations and the highest percentages in exaniinii- tion. The training is received at Berlin and Munich. In France staff officers are educated at the Higher War School at Paris, which was first organized as a stafl' college at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and reorganized in 1875 as the permanent college for general stall' can- didates. Austria-Hungary sets apart the Kriegs- schule at Vienna for instruction in staff" work. The Italian general staff school is at Milan, where about 24 officers graduate each year. The Saint Nicholas Academy at Saint Petersburg is the staff school of Russia, entrance to which is competitive to all officers of three years' service and upward. See Staff. STAF'FORD. The county town of Stafford- shire. England, on the Sow, 29 miles northwest of Birmingham (Map: England, D 4). Tan- ning and the manufacture of cutlery and of shoes are the chief branches of industry. Population, in 1891, 20,270; in 1901, 20,900. Stafford was of importance before the Conquest, is mentioned in Domesday, and King John confirmed and en- larged tlie privileges of an old charter. STAFFORD. A town, including the borough of Stafford Springs, in Tolland County, Conn., 20 miles north by west of Willimantic, on the Willimantic River, and on the Central Vermont Railroad (Map: Connecticut, F 2). It is a sum- mer resort, with mineral springs. It manu- factures woolens. There is a public library. Population, in 1890, 4535; in 1900, 4297. STAFFORD, Henry, second Duke of Buck- ingham (c. 1454-83). An English nobleman and political intriguer. He was the grandson of the first Duke and succeeded to the title in 1400. He was a prominent adherent of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., while the latter, then Protector, was conspiring to seize the throne, and assisted him in his efforts against Earl Rivers and Lord Grey. After the downfall of those noblemen he received as a reward for his services the office of Chief Justice and con- stable of the royal castles in Wales, and later that of Lord High Constable of England. A few months later, however, he joined the Lancastri- ans in an effort to overthrow Richard, but his projects were frustrated, and he was sum- marily tried and beheaded at Salisbury in 1483. He is "'the deep revolving wily Buckingham" mentioned in Shakespeare's Richard III. STAFFORD, William Howard, Viscount (1614-80). An English statesman. He was the fifth son of Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and was educated as a Roman Catliolie. In 1634 he married a sister of the thirteenth Baron Staf- ford, and on the latter's death assumed the title. This marital claim was afterwards disputed, but finally decided in his favor, and a new crea- tion was made by the King, declaring him Baron and afterwards Viscount Stafford. During the Civil War he was a firm adherent of the King, but after the Restoration (q.v.) frequently op- posed the royal will from his place in the House of Peers. In 1678 Stafford was one of those denounced by the infamous Titus Gates (q.v.) as a conspirator in the pretended popish plot. He was impeached on a charge of high treason, and, despite a spirited defense against suborned testimony, was found guilty and publicly executed on Tower Hill. In 1824 the act of at- tainder was reversed by Parliament. STAF'FORDSHIRE. An inland county of England, bounded on the -west and northwest by Shropshire and Cheshire (Map: England, D 4). Area, 1128 square miles; pojtulation, in 1891, 1,083,408; in 1901, 1,234,382. In the north wild moorlands in long ridges, separated by deepiv cut valleys, extend from northwest to southeast. The surface is low and imdulating in the mid- land regions, but becomes hilly again in the south. The Pottery coal field occupies the north, and the Dudlej' coal field, remarkable also for its abundant and rich iron ores, occupies the south. The Trent, flowing first southeast through the county, then northeast along its eastern border, is the chief river. The climate is humid, much of the soil is clayey, and agriculture is in a back- ward condition. The manufactures, however, are extensive and varied, including cutlery and iron- ware, pottery, shoes, and glass, and cotton, silk, and leather goods. Stoke-upon-Trent and Burs- lem are the chief seats of the pottery industry. Capital, Stafford. STAG, or Red Deer. See Deee; Antlers. STAG-BEETLE. Any member of the Luca- nidae, a family of beetles including 500 to 600 species. The common name is derived from the shape of the mandibles of the males, which are developed in some species so as to equal in length nearly that of the entire body, and are armed with spines or teeth. The males are of varying size and exhibit remarkable differences in the development of the head and mandibles. In each species in which these extraordinary variations occur there are no subtle intergradations, so that distinct 'forms' or 'states' occur, the largest be- ing termed 'teleodont,' the smallest 'priodont.' and two intermediate forms 'mesodont' and 'am- phiodont.' Lucaniis cervus is the common English species. Lucamis dama is the commonest North American species. In the Southern States Lucamis elaphus, the giant stag-beetle, occurs. See Colored Plate of Beetles. STAGE, The (OF. estage, Ft. Hage, stage, floor, loft, from Lat. stare, to stand; ultimately connected with Eng. stand). A term frequently employed to designate the profession of the actor. This will accordingly be discussed in the present article, with reference especially to the life and training of actors, past and present; while in the article Theatre will be found details of the construction and management of theatres as they affect the audience. Until the beginnmg of the nineteenth century the actor was classified by English law with vagabonds. In the Middle Ages actors, like poets and musicians, were more or less upon a footing with the household serv- ants of the great; in fact, often were the servants of the nobility. Until 1875 in great Eng- lish houses it was not uncommon to see a silken cord placed somewhere in one of the draw- ing rooms to separate the artists or performers at a formal soiree from the invited guests. If this
