GENERAL CABLES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 164, 10 January 1912, Page 2

GENERAL CABLES.

DISTINGUISHED ACTOR'S DEATH. By Cable —Press Association—Copyright. Ottawa, January 8. Alone and unknown, Jacob Strennet, i Edwin Booth's friend and a co-actor ' with Henry Irving, died in an obscure lodging-house at Toronto. He was 73 i years of age. Approaching blindness forced his retirement from the English < stage in 1889. 1 OIL WORKS ON FIRE. London, January S. A fire at Hess Bros.' oil works at Leeds consumed 300,000 gallons of oil. 1 Three firemen were injured by exploding oil casks. DICKENS CENTENARY. < London, January $. The Dickens Centenary gala performance took place on Sunday at the Colliseum, in which Sir J. Hare, E. S. Willard, and three hundred leading : actors and actresses appeared in Dickens characters. The performance pro- , duced £2500 for the benefit of the five grand-children who are daughters of Charles Dickens, jun. The Daily Telegraph collected an additional £3882. NATIONAL SERVICE LEAGUE. London, January 8. The National Service League has issued an appeal signed by Lord Roberts. While supporting the efforts to make j the Territorials efficient, he does not conceal his opinion that the country will ! never be able to rely upon protection | while it rests on voluntary enlistment. The force, he contends, is still fifty I thousand short of the requisite strength. | • ■ COLLAPSE OF GASOMETERS. London, January 'B. The water-tank in a gasometer at Hkestone, Derby, burst, causing the gas--meter to collapse and partially demolish a row of cottages. One girl was frowned, and others injured. The gas ignited in a second gasometer, which also collapsed, doing great damage. FIRE, QN A BATTLESHIP. J London, January 8. A fire, caused by a leaky oil fuel tank, occurred on the battleship Caesar at Devonport. Desperate efforts were made to prevent the flames reaching the magazines. The burning oil clung to everything, and was beaten out with great difficulty. A party stood in readiness to flood the magazines. AN ATHLETIC GIRL. New York, January 8. A robber at Chicago attacked Miss O'Rorke, an athletic young woman, and attempted to snatch her handbag. The 'woman knocked the man down, jumped upon him, and tore the coat off Ms back. The man fled before the police arrived. MUSIC HALL LICENSES. London, January 8. The conflict between the music halls and the theatres has been settled by the Lord Chamberlain granting dramatic licenses to halls, provided sketches are first submitted for his approval. A GERMAN SPY. Paris, January 8. Lehrecht, a German, has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment for espionage at .Chalons.