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Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 70, 24 March 1887, Page 3

On 'Change to day there were buyere of N.Z. Land Mortgage at 21p, and sellers at 21s 6d. Nothing doing in other stocks. Tho Arawata is due to-day ; there was no sign of her when we went to press. She does nut call at Kuaeell.

The Admiral and officers of the French warebip Duquesno have been invited to be present at the Choral Society's concert on Tuesday eveniDg next. M. Garnior's tent of his first sample of city water has resulted, like Mr Pond's, in the discovery of great impurity. Mr Cliffe,| the curator of the Acclimatisation Society, brought into town thia afternoon a splendid specimen of the English trout It was between 71b and Sib weight, and had apparently diad from tho excessive heat. Unfortunately, owing to the parsimony ot the powerß that be, Mr Cliffe was unable to get a sufficient supply of water for his fish ponds in the Domain, and the result has been that one by one all his fishes have died off, just as they were coming to maturity. Mr Cliffe calculates that, bad all gone well, next season his fish would have supplied fully 20,000 ova.

The rainon d'etre of the sudden appearance of the French war-chip Duqueene in Auckland harbour is supplied by a correspondent at Tahiti, who alleges that the burning of the mail steamer Raiatea is the direct cause of the visit. A month'B despatches from the French Government to the Admiral were destroyed with the other mails, and the Admiral, on learningof the loss, at once got upsteam and made for this port, in order to place himself in immediate communication with headquarters. This is a significant indication of the critical condition of European politics.

Just before half-past twelve o'clock today three 9 pounder Armstrong field guns wore got into position at the Albert Park by men of the "A" Battery for the purpose 'of returning the salute of the French man-o'-war, Duqueene. Captain Page commanded the citizen soldiers, of whom about 30 turned out in mufti, which action is highly commendable, as they had to give up their dinner time for the came. Sergeant-Major Lipscomb commanded No. 1 gun, Sergeant Fayno No. 2, and Gunner Payne No. 3. The firing began at the halfhour, the twenty-one shots being fired at intervals of from 6 to 8 seconds. JJoa. 1 and 3 guns were in every instance up to time. The French colours, which were hoisted at the masthead over the guns during the firing, was at its close dipped thrice, and the English red ensign then again hoisted. We understand that the reason of the salute not being fired from the first was that firstly, although there are plenty of guns, there is no powder at Fort Cautley, and that Fort Resolution was rather far off for the men.