TABLE TALE

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 113, 14 May 1902, Page 1

TABLE TALE

Stormy weather. • Blowing hard on the coast City Mayoral installation to-day. Outward 'Frisco mail next Saturday. Miss Amy Castles' second concert will be 'given to-nig-ht. A valuable find of ancient Maori carvings, etc., has been made in a cave in the Hokianga district.. The wind-gauge at the Auckland Museum broke down with the force of the wind last nightBullion to the value of £6,900 was shipped to Sydney by tbe s.s. Elingamite last evening in transit for London. •An American report states that the skeleton of a man 12ft. long has been discovered in a large cave near Mesa Reeo, New Mexico. Quit on the minute.—Pat: "What caused the big explosion?" Mike: - "Riley wus carryin' a case* ay dynamite when the whistle blew." ,In an editorial (which proved to be prophetic) on October sth, 1867, the Taranaki "Herald" said: fTo dairy fanning we fully believe that this province will sooner or later have to come."' The severe thunderstorm this morning was experienced in the Waikato as well as in Auckland. At Cambridge the lightning . played some alarming pranks in the telegraph office. The following have passed the standard examination of the New Zealand Pharmacy Board: —-Section A: Messrs De Montalk and Gifford (Auckland). Section B: Messrs De- . laney, Haslett, and Neill (Auckland). The Boer prisoners at Tucker's land, Bermuda, are provided by their American sympathisers with the latest popular games down to ping-pong, writes an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, which is guarding the prisoners. The jewellers (says a Southern paper) report quite a phenomenal demand for greenstone ornaments and trinkets during the past few weeks. They are being bought by visitors to the Coronation celebrations in London, and are intended as' presents to their friends at Home. When the salmon-netting season waa opened on the Tweed the hour, was made the occasion of a quaint ceremony, conducted by the vicar of Norham (Rev. Mr Greene, M.A.). The vicar proceeded to Pedwell fishery, and offered up prayer in the "shiel," asking for a Divine blessing on the work. This was followed by a hymn jmng by the audience of salmon-fishers. Private letters received in Dunedin' from Australia state that the Commonwfcalth is suffering from a bad season. One writer says:—"We are': having a, drought here such as no white man has before experienced, and ere it is over the flocks of the State will have been reduced numerically tp the level of those in Sew' Zealand, to give you an idea of how bad" it is, on£ man is contemplatingfeeding 30,000 lambs--with oatmeal: gruel." The Makohine viaduct (says a Southern paper) is a far greater work than, most people imagine. To give anyono who has not seen it some idea of its size and height, take the mstaace ftf the girder that fell from the top the other day. This girder, Judging from the bridge below, is about 23ft. long. For some reason it slipped while being placed in position and fell end on into the solid' ground, or until its tfcp end > was covered Bft. There are 8424 yaras of shingle in the concrete work, and about 10,000 casks of cement. A very old soldier died at Timaru 4he other dsly in the person of Sergt.Major Richard Pelvin. When a mere lad of 16 he enlisted, and at one time or another in his long career had served in '\ Norfolk Island, India (where he *ya's stationed in the stirring times of the forties), Malta, and Ireland. After five years' service in the West Kent Militia at Maidstone, Sergeant Pelvin decided to migrate to New Zealand, and landed at Timaru ia ■ 1863, and as a colonist he proved himself to be as valuable as he was a soldier in the armies of King George IV. and of Queen Victoria. One of the pioneers of Balclutha (Otago), Mr John Finn, died recently. The deceased came to this country as one of the crew of a Nova Scotiau whaler, in the year 1852. He was thin in his teens, and after being engaged' as a seaman in the coastal trade arrived at Balclutha. Deceased first found occupation as a pit-sawyer on Totara Island, the sawn timber being conveyed to Balclutha in boats. Later he was employed in boating on the river, conveying goods from the schooners that at that time used to come in at the Port Mofyneux mouth of the river (obstructed by the flood of '78). A Southern member of the Sixth Contingent recently wrote that the country around Wakkerstroom "is splendid —something quite equal to if not better than anything I have seen in New Zealand. As far as the eye can see grass, up to the knees, on gently undulating plains, and abounding in water. In fact, you can't help wondering at the splendid opening there will be for capital when this war is settled. There is no doubt about it," he adds, "the Boers are pretty cool. Fancy them shearing their sheep tind planting oat and wheat patches. We got a mob of 2030 SweH with lambs the other day, the former all shorn and freshly branded." Opportune and seasonable.—Special for week commencing Monday, May 12. A table of exclusive fancy black dress robes, forty-eight to select from, one of a kind only 25/, 27/6, 32/6 to 85/ each; also a table of fancy blouse silks (British), all at 1/lli y|d.—Smith and Caughey's dress department.—Ad. Mackintoshes, rain cloaks, threequarter jackets; large assortment and special value; inspection invited.— McCullagh and Gower. —(Ad.)