TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 64, 16 March 1900, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

Bloemfontein taken. Free State conquered. i St. Patrick's Day to-morrow. Lord Roberts welcomed at Bloemfontein. sign of the enemy round Bloemfontein. i Hibernian Sports in the Domain to- , morrow. Two more plague cases are reported i from Sydney. ! Krugev says Transvaalers will ftelit to the death. Banks and public offices will be closed to-morrow. I Mr W. Crowther, M.H.R., died vesteri day aiternoon, aged 60! i To-morrow the IS'garnawahia Annual ,lveg-atta will take place. ! The steamer Mararoa will be released^ from quarantine to-morrow. | Twenty-one cases of plague have so !t:u- occurred in New South Wales. Another Chinaman has been found murdered at Eeefton (West Coast). The British troops marched into Bloemfontein to the music of bagpipes Horses for the Fifth Contingent are being- brought into the Ensom camp daily. ~ LCaptain Russell's fourth son has received a commission in the Imperial Army. The Transvaal Secretary of State ■ says the war will be fought out to the bitter end. . Twenty-eight British gnus are bombarding- the Boers across Orange River, near 2s'orval's Pont.. A peculiar case of poisoning- from ■ eating wild honey is reported from Onewhero, Lower Waikato. The public offices throughout the " colony will be closed on Saturday: next, being St. Patrick's Day. " ■ The Edison Kineinatograph Company give a performance this evening \ in The Central Hall, Albert-street. Lord reply to the Boer overtures for peace has given great , satisfaction throughout the Empire. A grand Irish national concert in : celebration of St. Patrick's Day is to take place this evening in the Opera House. The people of Bloemfontein gave ..- Lord Roberts a cordial welcome, cheering and singing "God. Save the Queen.*' A conference of the Auckland Board. - of Health and delegates from suburban bodies re the plague is to be held next , Monday evening. More men are being taken on at the Fifth Contingent camp at Potter's Paddock to replace the thirty men dis- " missed this week. General French threatened to bom- ' bard Bloemfontein Unless the town' capitulated and the white flag was hoisted by the Boers. The Levin State Farm will be taken: over by the Agricultural Department, and will probably be devoted to exr perimental dairy work. Captain Edie has been appointed chief superintendent of the Depart* chief superintendent of the New South Wales Department of Naviga-' tion. Lord Roberts cables from Bloemfontein tl;at he is grateful for further, assistance from New Zealand, and hopes to get the New Zealanders to: the front. ' ' ' All the remains after the tea. party at Fir Grove, Gladstone Eoad, Parneli; (Mrs Chamberlain's residence) on" Tuesday were sent out to the Contingent at the camp. There is now a vacancy in the representation of the City of Auckland in Parliament, caused by Mr Crowther's death, and an election will be held shortly to filll the place of the late member. . . Messrs Albert Parkinson, John Appleton, and Eobert Gill left Opotiki a few days ago by the Fingal, en route to Auckland, with the intention, if possible, of joining the Fifth Contingent' now being formed. . With reference to the proposals regarding the colonies., participating1 in the defence of the Empire, and other questions, the Australian Federal delegation will hear the • views of . the British authorities on the subject, and report to the respective colonies. At Cambridge this week Mr Clifton, head of the Stock Department, and Mr Clayton, veterinary surgeon,. inspected a mob of horses, passing- some of them, for the contingents. They were collected by Messrs McNicol and Co., and are on the whole a very useful lot. At the annual meeting of the New Zealand Drug Company, held in Dunedin yesterday, the report declaring a dividend of 7 per cent, was adopted. Mr B. Sievwright was re-elected director, and Dr. Brown was elected to the vacancy caused by Mr J. Scoular's retirement. Capt. Gilbert Hair, Land Purchase Officer, had a nasty fall from his'horse last week at the-Thames, and was in consequence detained there, having to postpone for a few days his contem* ■plated visit to Katikati in connection: with certain1 blocks there which Government is purchasing. An elderly man named George Auckrani- had the misfortune1 to have his right-hand cut off at the Kauri Timber Company's Sawmill at Onehunga yesterday afternoon. He was engaged in cutting- timber at the time, with a circular saw. Auckram, whose hand was severed at the wrist, is now in the Hospital. One of the candidates for the position of second engineer to the City Council stated in liis , application that he was an orphan, and' had been a ratepayer for twenty-sevens years. The cotmcillors considered, that, he had too much— or too little— humour in his composition, and struck his name out. A consignment of 400 Virginian quail arrived, here yesterday from San Francisco by the K.M.s. Alameda for ithe Auckland Acclimatisation' Society, 'and also for other similar societies in j the colony. A considerable number of jthe birds died on the voyage. The Auckland portion of the quail will be ; liberated in various country districts. I It is suggested that the reason the Boer forces cleared out from Bloemfontein at the approach of the British' | forces was because General, Macdonald set the Highland pipers to work play- | ing the bagpipes for sixteen miles on the march into the capital! The Boers will probably complain that the use of the bagpipes is contrary to the rules; of civilised warfare. Auction sale of unredeemed pledges by- Arthur & Gorrie Monday next.