The Northern Guardian. — 1897-12-17 (Hartlepool, Cleveland, England)

TRAGEDY AT A LONDON THEATRE.  ASSASSINATION OF AN EMINENT  ACTOR.  A great sensation was caused in don last evening by a report, unhappily rlj too well founded, that Mr William Terriss, one of the beat known and most popular of the baud of actors w!to serve the pleasure of the metropolis, had been assassinated whilst entering the Adelphi The Irrl. Mc Terris, it appears, arrived at the priv tie stage entrance of the Adelphi a few minutes after seven, with the intention of filling, as usittl, the leading part in the drama ''Secret Service,- whi..ll is being played there. He  _ Drove up to the Door in a Cab, and was stepping across the pavement when a man of foreign appearance and clad in a long cicak rushed at him and plunged a stiletto into his left side just below the heart. Mr Tertiss immediately fell, shouting, "My God, he's si bbed me; don't let him escape." The asesilailt, it is stated, withdrew the blade and made a second rush at his victim, but his intention was frustrated, and a number of persons who usually crowd around the stage entrance of a London playhouse seized whilst the dying man was conveyed inside the theatre and placed on the stair landiag. Medical aid was summoned from Charing Cross Hospital and elsewhere, but from the first Mr Terriss's condition was regarded as hopeless, to,. ine wound was a deep one, and the resulting flow of hi. od was very great. He Was semi-coned .us and groaning loudly. Once or twice he feebly attempted to speak, but could not. Life fast f.bbed away, and  The End Came Within a Few MiLetr6  of the fatal blow, to the inexpressible gild and sorrow of the other members of the Adelphi Staff who stood around him. Miss Millwarl, the pmcipal lady in the drama, was amongst th me rho were with Mr Terries when he died, and she bore up bravely during his dying moments, but Act: the ternible denouement to the brief but r.witii tragedy was first realised, she, as well as her c,,fflpantons, completely broke down, and grf reign id alone where only a short time before 'hoe had been the busy preparation for the evening's entertainment. The theatre was at once cioett, and as the tidings, first of an attempted murder of the popular actor, and later of his death, beealue known amongst the theatre-going people, by whom the Strand and the Adelphi appropaes were crowded, consternation and bewilderment were general. The Alleged Assassin 1  had meanwhile been secured by the police. Ofkring little or no resistance, and followed by all aagry crowd, he was conveyed to Bow Street Police Station, where he remains pending the magisterial proceedings. His name is given as Archer, aid h?. is said to have been a super at the Adelphi during the run of "In the Ranks," in which .dr Terries sustained the principal part some years ago. When the facts of the crime became nown in theatrical circles, rumours wele current ca to its possible motive, but as yet little importance can be attached to them. The deceased I.ctor-: genial nature made it incc.nceivahle that anything like personal vengeance can have prompted 'itch a tragedy. A later te!egram says there is no doubt as to The Cause for the Crime.  Richard Archer Prince—or Archer as he is known in the district—is a super, and had been employed off and on at the Adelphi for some years. [Hs wife is also a dresser at the same theatre, and many months ago they quarrelled. The cause of their estrangement, Archer maintained to his friends, was the familiarity shown to her by Terris. He on more than one oecasion spoke to Terries on the matter, but from the first Terries refused to hold any communication with the super, and this indifference weighed upon the mind of Archer. He was dismissed from the Adelphi owing to his importunities, and this further Pmbittered him. Since the first excitement of the commission of the crime the prisoner has been quite calm, and shows no sign of insanity. He has been placed in a special room at Bow Street, and is carefully watched in case he should attempt to commit suicide. A Large Audience Had Assembled inside the theatre, but they were in ignorance of the tragedy which was being enacted outside. Rumours, however, began to get into eirculaiim, and as the raising of the curtain was delayed, it was generally believcd that something unusual had occurred. Ultimately the manager came to the footlights and announced that as Mr Terriss had met with an accident, no performance cou'd take place, and that the money would be returned. For some time after the half hour had struck, gay carriages dashed up to the front 0' the theatre, and their occupants walked to the entrance hall, only to be t)ld that there would be no performance owing to something that had happened to William Terries. Extremely painf,ll was the scene as one group after another turned away, and it was evident that in the majority of cases the disappointed playgoers were filled sith deep sympathy and regret at hearing of the actor's death. Mr Terries, as well as being the :nost popular London actor in the realm of melodrama of the higher class, was also well known and admired in society, and the news of his death, wh'cli leaked out at a late hour, was received w'' h general consternation and regret.