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Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 291, 7 December 1900, Page 2

A two-storeyed house at Mt. Albert, owned and occupied by Mr IT. F. Knight, .dentist., Avas destroyed by fire at an early hour this morning1. Mr \ Knight, who was alone in the house at the time, was awakened by a smell of burning-, and on going- downstairs he found the lower part of the house :in flames.' He had only time to .snatch up one or two odds and ends and get out of the building- before the flames took' complete command. The building' was completely destroyed, and practically nothing- was saved. Fortunately, the wind was not in the direction of the stable and coachhouse or they would have shared the; fate of. the house. The fi'rc evidently started in the kitchen, but what caused it is .not known. The house -was insured for £510 and the furniture for £350, both policies being in the Manchester Office.

Two interesting tennis fixtures will take place at the Eden and Epsom lawn to-morrow afternoon, when Parker meets Hooper m the semifinal for the Auckland championship, and Miss S. Puce and Miss Nicholson play oft" for the Ladies' Championship. There is some possibility of the men's final also being played, as Ruddock and Eice, who are both in the semijinal, meet earlier In the afternoon, and the winner may meet the victor of the Hooper-Parker match later on -in the same day. The two cracks are both in fine condition, and a very ikeeh contest may be expected. A notification appears elsewhere in our advertising columns.

'Alfred John Hore, bush contractor, of Waiuku, to-day filed a petition to be adjudged a bankrupt.

A poison-proof American is the latest lion in scientific circles in Berlin. Lately he gave an exhibition of his powers before a select audience. There were present only Government officials and doctors. The show took the form of a dinner, and the dishes sat before Captain Vetrio consisted of a plate of verdigris, a, quantity of ultramarine, and a mixture of sulphur and borax. The drinks consisted of • solution of strychnine, a bottle of patent rat killer made of pulverised glass, arsenic ana atroplne. Dessert ■was also provided in the shape of a large piece oi white sulphur.