TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 275, 26 November 1897, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

Floral fete to-morrow. Criminal sessions proceeding. Outward 'Frisco mail to-morrow. Board of Conciliation sat to-day. R.M.s. Moana from Sydney to-day. Upolu left for the South Sea Islands. Bishop Cowie Cowie back to-daf by the Moana. Warm scene in the House of Representatives last evening. A splendid show of flowers is expected at the Floral Fete to-morrow. I The death is announced of Mr S. Y. . I Collins, an old resident of Auckland. j An examination for mine managers' cer- : tifacates will be held on January 2oth. j Bishop Lenihan is now on his way bac.lt here from Sydney by the s.s. We'stralia. ] A story of British heroism is reported iii. connection with the recent fighting in Easts j Africa. At Balclutha the charge of sly grog-sell-ing against Margaret Heney was dismissed. The British troops are harassed by the rebels on their difficult advance on the Indian frontier. ■ The Auckland Naval Artillery volunteers go into camp this evening for a fortnight ai; | the North Head. Gun drill will be held iiS the fort each evening. The " A "Battery of Artillery Volunteers paraded at the Drill-shed last evening, and were put through sword exercises and gun drill by Captain O'Brien. The West End Rowing Club yesterdayreceived a fourth new clinker gig from Melbourne-buil bby Edwards. The gig has been named the "Marama." , The Rev. Father Devoy, of Wellington, has been presented with a purse of seventy .sovereigns by his congregation in appreciation of his services during the last seven years. The Christmas tree and sale of work in aid of the Sacred Heart Church, opened in the Oddfellows1 Hall, Ponsonby, last evening, and was a great success, lfc will be continued this evening at 7.30. A petition signed by 2,000 Canterbury electors has been forwarded to the Minister of Justice, praying for a reduction of the sentences of imprisonment passed recently on persons found guilty of laying totalisator odds. The Rev. Mr Joughin, Wesleyan minister, formerly of Hokianga and Te Aroha, who has been on a visit to his relatives in the Isle of Man, has returned to Wellington from England, and will arrive in Auckland by the s.s. Takapuna at Onehunga to-morrow. The criminal sessions are fixed for next year as follows : —Auckland: March 7th, May 30th, August 29th, and November '21st. Christchurch: February 14th, May 30th, August 15th and November 14th. Dunedin: February 28th, May 30th, August 29th and November 28th. A burglary similar to that at Hannah's Boot Factory, Wellington, has been perpetrated at Masterton, when a quantity of boots were stolen from a shop. The pre< valence of house robberies botn in Welling* ton and Masterton recently leads to the belief that an organised gang is at work. He : " Do you think your father would receive me civilly if I were to go to him and ask for you ?" Sho : " Let's see—l believe you hold a mortgage on papa's business don't you?" He: " Yes, and-ifc'g about to mature." She: " You will be perfectly safe in approaching him at any time or place that may suit your conveni* ence.'' ' v-^'L^'wJawwMr***!*?!**' : At a meeting of the ChrisMiuTenTffdiife ;,■;. trial Association held last iigiit, it waS I maintained that the Masters and Apprentices Bill, by necessitating the employment of a greater amount of adult labour, would kill nascent industries, throw numbers of girls and women and others out of work, and leave the colonial market to imported goods. " It's dreadfully queer," said the housewife, " that the potatoes you bring should be so much bigger on the top of the basket than they are at the bottom." " Miss," said the honest farmer, "it comes about this way. P'taters is growin' so fast right now that by the time 1 get a basketful du<x the last ones is ever so much bigger than the first ones." Mr W. Russell, an old Victorian and New Zealand pioneer, died at Christchurch yesterday at Sydenham, at the age of 77 years. He.brought the first cargo of horse* from Melbourne to Otago in the steamship Omeo, commanded by Captain Maclean. Mr Russell drove the first dray which crossed the Fort Hills, and also the firsl team on the West Coast Road. Picanniny biscuits are specially niadfl for children and invalids by J. Bycroft and Co. Limited, sold in air tight tins. "Ask for them."—(Advt.)