TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Issue 66, 19 March 1900, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

'Frisco mail gone. R.M.s. Moana left for Ameiica. . More plague cases at Sydney. , S.s. Westralia arrived from Sydney* Shocking mine disaster at Batmaia (N.S.W.). , Licensing committee election next Wednesday.

Sixty-three British were killed at Dreifontein.

The Boers are in strength at Vail Keenan's Pass.

The steamer Westralia was sent into quarantine to-day. Plumer is approaching MafekingThe railway is clear.

A N.S.W. volunteer was killed itt the Dreifontein fight. The railway is now open from the' Cape to Bioemfontein.

Free Staters are returning- to their farms, tired of fighting. A skirmish has taken place in tha vicinity of De Beer's Pass.

More Australian troopers in South! Africa have died of fever.

New Zealanders repelled a Boer aU tack on a convoy at Driefontein.

The Fourth Contingent is to leave' Dunedin next Saturday, for Capetown.

President Kruger has "annexed" the Free State, making Kroonstad its capital.

Nearly five millions of famished people are being fed by the authorities in India.

Thirteen train-loads of Boers left Bioemfontein just before the town; surrendered.

So far the patriotic and "more men"1 funds collected in New Zealand total some £50,000.

Lieut.-Colonel Newall is to go ia command of the Fifth Contingent as far as Capetown. Lieut.-Colonel Francis is to take command of one of the sections of the Fourth Contingent. Mr J. J. Holland is a candidate __oi* the Parliamentary vacancy caused by] Mr Crowther's death.

The Bough Eiders' camp at Epsom' was visited by large numbers of people yesterday afternoon. General Gatacre has been officially! censured in connection, with the Brit« ish reverse at Stormberg.

The West, End Rowing Club won! four out of five of the gig races at the Ngaruawahia regatta on Saturday a_> ternoon.

The R.M. s. Moan a arrived here'from Sydney yesterday, and after landing her mails at M.t'luihi anchored off; the Calliope Dock. ~. The men who were* rejected for tha Fifth Contingent on their shooting tests were being given another trial this afternoon.

Only 27 passengers arrived by the s.s. Westralia from Sydney to-day. They will have a week's schnapjtierfishing at MotuJhi. At the Public School Sports the afternoon tea was provided solely,.by the lady teachers, who were assisted! by others, among whom was Miss Ivy, Squirrell. Nine members of the Legislative Council and two members of the House of Representatives have sons in the New Zealand contingents who are serving or' are accepted for service ia the Transvaal.

' The North Island portion of the Fourth Contingent had a most enthu-« siastic send-off at Wellington' ort Saturday afternoon, though the public did not attend so well as might have been expected. Mr J. Oakenfull, formerly of Hastings, Hawke's Bay, has arrived in ~Ro« torua for the purpose of starting a flaxmill _n the neighbourhood of Waiotapu. Mr Oakenfull's arrangements are so far advanced that the conveyance of the timber to the new'mill site has commenced.

The'Otaki "Mail" reports that at an entertainment at Te Hioro a kiss was put up for sale. The kiss was offered 'by the worthy chairman, Mr J., It. Stan-ell. The first lady bid 2s 6c_ amidst thunders of applause, ■' Jra_ when the kiss was knocked, down by, the auctioneer to Mys Dalzell at 3s the building* rang again with cheers,, and the audience laughed till their sides ached. • •

The Maori Kotahitanga ("Union" or Parliament) is to open at Botorua this week, and already, the natives are flocking into the town by road and rail from all parts of the outlying, country: It is impossible to gauge yet how many will be' present (says the "Hot Lakes Chronicle"), but it "will amount to several hundreds. The meeting will take place in Tama-te-Kapua, as on the former occasion some years ago, and Ohinemutu will, therefore, be the principal rendezvous for the natives. A building has been erected there for the accommodation; of visitors. . - ' ."

Mr Peter. Bice, the contractor for, the drilling of th*. Ngaroto _a,kejs> near Ohaupo, Waikato; is; making »■ first-class job of his contract. It is considered by those who are com» patent tio judge, to be one of the best bits of drainage work done in the Waikato for many years, past. The total length of the canal from the* mouth at the lake to where the creeki takes a fall of some feet is 22S chains, ' the drain being made in the bed of the old water course. The width on top is 12 feet, from six feet to eight. feet deep, according to the ground^ and eight feet wide at the- bottom. This will have the effect of lowering, the Nga.roto Lake several feet. The San Francisco "Call" of a recent date makes the following reference to the old whaling barque Alaska, whicli!. visited Auckland some years ago:— "The whaling barque Alaska will be got ready as quickly as possible fort a voyage to Cape Nome goldfields and,1 the frozen north. She has splendid! accommodations for about 100 passengers, and after landing these she!' will go on a cruise after whales.. Capt* Cogan expects to leave here early in' April, and as he is an old and experienced whaler he expects to land! his passengers and supplies at Nome at least a fortnight ahead of the first steamer and be away on a whaling cruise before anything else is in. sight," lj