TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 257, 5 November 1897, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

■ ' * Guy Fawkes' Day. Crackers and bonfires. Races at Ellerslie to-morrow. Cup cricket matches to-morrow. ; Te Anau arrived from the South. Orangemen's anniversary social to-oigbi. Children's Flower Show was oper*_e__6his afternoon. . -»<; . Charles Kiver, a very old Christ-hutch. resident, died yesterday. • A little girl was killed by a carfc_in. Lhapel-street this morning. ' ---■? Auckland heads the list of importsjinto the colony for the September quarter. At the Oamaru band contest the \Selhngton Band Avon the Meyerbeer compe-ti-tion. Auckland shows the largest returns of Customs and excise duties for the September quarter. City Council declines to permit the removal of St. Paul's, old Sunday-schoolroom to Abercrombie-street. Entries for the .Auckland Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club's spring carnival close to-morrow evening. ■*""* ** During the September quarter £232,844 worth of gold was exported from New Zealand, the Auckland district heading the list. ' The Otago Presbyterian Synod adopted an orphanage scheme as the best means of' celebrating the jubilee* of the province of * Otago. A regatta is to be held on December 30th on the Hamilton Lake, and a strong committee has been appointed to carry out . the regatta. The Free Church of Scotland will send out a deputation to. the Otago Church on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Church. in March next. The collection of annual returns under the Agricultural and Pastoral Statistics Act, 1895, will be made between the 15th. November and the 18th December. Mr Ben Tillet having consented to give addresses, demonstrations in support of the engineers' strike in Britain will be held afc Dunedin on Saturday and Sunday. At the Native "Land Court shortly to sit at Rotorua, the individualisation of titles of the Taheke Block will be gone on with as the Government is likely to purchase. A debate on the subject, ".Will Light; Railways in the Raglan District be Beneficial?" took place at the last meeting of the Raglan (West Coast) Mutual Improvement Society. The 'further consideration of the subject was adjourned till next meeting. A school is being conducted at the Karikari native settlement, near Tauranga, by Miss Brown in the meeting house, but the natives are very anxious that a proper school building should be erected at once, they having given four acres of land for school purposes. This season visitors to Rotorua will be able'to drive by the new Rotorua—Te Teko Road along the shores of Lakes Rotoiti, Rotc-ehu and Roto-ma, through very beautiful scenery, including some fine, views of bush and lake. This is expecte. to be a very popular trip with tourists. ' Material' is being prepared by Mr. Shakespeare, Government Curator of the Little Barrier Island birds! reserve, for a complete list of all the native birds found on the island, with remarks on their comparative numbers, nesting habits, etc. Afc the same time a list of the'indigenous" plants will be compiled. The second eldest son of a Maori named. Hika, and a grandson of Himiona, the prophet, died somewhat suddenly at Motifci Island, Bay of Plenty, lately. As deceased is related to the Uriwera natives it is expected that a large contingent from* Whakatane will go to the island for the tangi, which has now commenced. The Auckland Institute has suggested to the Government, according to the Crown Lands' Report, that steps should be taken to transfer to the Little Barrier Island specimens of the huia and other native birds not at present found on the island, and which there is reason to believe might be successfully acclimatised there. It is recommended in the Crown Lands and Survey Department Report for 1897, by Mr R. H. Reaney, road surveyor at Rotorua, that the road from Rotorua up to the top of Ngongotaha Mountain should be widened into a carriage drive, as it would then be a great resort for tourists, the views obtained of the lake and district from the spurs all the way up being very fine. The Government have reserved as a place of historical interest an area of 2,011 acres which has been set aside at Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound, where Captain Cook on his several voyages to New Zealand, stayed some time refitting his ships and resting their crews. The reserve is nearly. all forest, and is in much the same state as when Cook first anchored in the bay on January loth, 1770, in H.M. barque Endeavour. A new road to give access to Lake Tarawera from Rotorua by way of Lakes Rotoiti and Okataina has been surveyed. The engineering survey started from the village of Te Rauto, on Rotoiti, towards Okataina, and explorations were some time ago carried on round Lake Okataina, • both sides of which are precipitous and rocky, the intention being to effect a junction with the Rotorua—Te Wairoa Road, near the celebrated Tikitapu Bush. . " A military inquiry was held at Fort Takapuna, North Shore, the other day into certain complaints laid against a member of the Permanent Artillery force by ap pjficgr.; and a counter complaint, by'the alleged offender against the officer. The Officers Board consisted of Lieutenant-Colonel Banks, Major Pirie and Captain Grant, and evidence was taken and has been forwarded to Wellington. The member of the force who is charged was under arrest in the barracks. The following paragraph occurs in the New Zealand Lands and Survey Department report' for 1897:—" The Commissioners of Crown Lands have instructions to reserve from sale or other disposal all places of historical or scS-iic interest, with a view of keeping them intact for future generations, in the belief that they will increase in interest as time goes on. It is to be regretted that this subject was not attended to earlier, for many places connected with both the Maori and European occupation of the country have been alienated in past years." During the past few months rough tracks have been cut on the Little Barrier Island (Hauturu), which is now a reserve for native birds, to several of the highest . peaks, some 2,000 ft. above the sea level, and also to the eastern and western ends of the island. At present the northern side can only be reached by water, but it is hoped that during the summer a practicable track may be formed across the centre of the island. Mr Shakespeare, the Curator, reports that birds are plentiful on the island, with the exception of the " saddleback," he which has not yet observed, and stitchbirds, which are rare. Smith and Caughey have a full range of their celebrated French shirting cambrics in newest- designs for blouses and dresses.