TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 210, 4 September 1900, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

,—.—» More fights reported. ' ; "'L. Criminal sittings proceeding. '^ Harbour Board met this afternoon. > A- suicide epidemic prevails in Pelda', S.s. Zealandia has arrived from Sydney. Lord Roberts has formally annexed the Transvaal. , Barque Empreza has arrived hera from Newcastle. Russia lias occupied every fortress in Manchuria except Mukden. General Baden-Powell has defeated the Boers north of Pretoria. The nominations for the City Coun* cil seats closed at noon to-day. Boer scouts have burned a British supply train near the Klip River. Botha says he will not fight again. He is running away out of shame. The Conciliation Board met again this morning in the tailors' dispute. Dredging returns for the week in the South totalled- lOIOoz 17dwt 14gr of gold. V" Colonel Plumer has defeated Com." mander Pretorius and captured a. num.* ber of Boers. At the beginning of this week thero were 163 male and nine female prisoners in Mount Eden gaol. Gold to the value of £6800 was shipped hence to Sydney by the s.s. Elinga* mite last evening for transhipment to London. A public meeting of those interested in the extension of the North Auckland railway will be "held in the City Council Chambers at 2.45 on Thursday. The schooners Awanui, Gisborne and Waiapu are to take cargoes of pumico down from Auckland to Gisborne for insulating purposes at the Gisborne Freezing Works, which are being con* siderablj' enlarged. An "indignation" meeting of Auck* land citizens is to be held shortly in order to protest against the treatment of Auckland by the Government In connection with the * North Island Main Trunk railway. Over £S has been collected at Sunday evening services of the Church of Christ, Ponsonby Road, for the Indian Famine Fund. The amount will be for* warded to Mr F. E. Stubbin, Mission* . ary Hurda, C.P., India. "The British Government," essays Mr Chamberlain, "are not at all unmind* ful of the splendid action of the colonial Governments and, depend upon it, when the time comes it will be recognised in no niggardly way." Mr* F. Freeman-Lloyd, of Sydney, left for Rotorua by the express this morning. At the request of the committee of the Auckland Kennel Club he will write a report on the exhibits of the recent show before he returns home. • The Premier, replying to the Maori deputation yesterday afternoon, r said 1 he was considering the setting up of a commission to investigate the facts concerning the liquor traffic in the King Country, with the view of improving the present condition of affairs. ■ .'. An extraordinary natural curiosity : was sent to the Wanganui Museum the other day-in the shape of a white native pigeon. The bird was shot on Mr Harre's place at iWhangamomona. • It would.be interesting to know whe* ther anything of the kind has eve* been seen before. /« .; The flaxmills at Te Pjilce (says the Tauranga, "Times") are again, in full swing, now that finer weather is being experienced, and the output of the dressed article will soon reach and sSrpass that of last summer. The price still keeps up to the payable,point, though' hardly up to the profitable extent it reached twelve months ago. Last' Thursday morning, after a long period oi quiescence, White Island exhibited a beautiful plume of steam for several hours, the column, (reports the Bay of Plenty "Times") reaching to a height1 of several thousand;feet owing" to the air being exceptionally still. ' These exhibitions are regarded generally as foretelling the approach of easterly weather. -.■;: ,-< '\ A certain peace-at-any-price gentleman was discussing, the war with a retired general. He was praising the Boer love of religion. "Ah,"'he said, "they are good men. They go-into battle with the Bible in one hand and their rifle in the other." "Our men go one better than that," , said the man of war. "They go into battle with the Bible in their heads and thel* rifle in their hands." — The Ashtmrton Railway Department' (says a recent Southern paper) •has received an order for 360 trucks. These are required for loading wheat for despatch to the Lady Isabella, at Lyttelton, to the order of Messrs Friedlander Bros. The station master is naturally proud of such an order, which deals with. 21,600 sacks, or ove* 86,000 btishels. The value of the. Una would be about £10,000. f , j ,_A little love case in. a suburb of a Southern city has attracted unusual attention,. It appears. that the youngest'daughter of a, wealthy tradesman became enamoured of a local Chow, : who daily supplied the family with vegetables, and the pair became engaged. There was trouble when the affair leaked but, and the enraged father, after nearly killing the Celes* tial, packed the daughter off to England in charge of her mater. . The Countess of Ranfurly has just added to her already- large and interesting collection of Maori curiosities a model of a pataka, or carved house. The pataka was carved for the Countess by Mr J. W. Heberley, of Petone, and it is a fine specimen of Maori caning. The modei has been named Aotea, after one of the historic canoes which brought the Maoris to New Zealand, and is surmounted by a figure of Maui, a mythical hero of the natives. A touching scene was witnessed on a recent afternoon in Timaru, on the return of Trooper Macintosh, when an anxious mother came up and questioned! Trooper Macintosh as to whether he had seen her. son at the front. On getting a reply to the effect that he was at Bloemfontein, and was in good health, the mother's feelings got the. better of her, and, clasping tne bearer of such good news' round the neck, she kissed him on the cheek. Major Rasch, M.P., is responsible for a grimly, humorous story of the war. "Here," he said, speaking at a public meeting at Springfield (Essex), "is a specimen of the value of ladles at the front. Recently, at a military hospitalAa lady sat down beside a soldier'sHped, and commenced read* ing aloira in a. very impressive manner. This was too much for a Tommy in an adjacent bed, who called out, 'You're wasting your time, miss; it'« no good talking to 'im —'c's been dead an hour,'" . ..