TABLE TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 116, 17 May 1902, Page 1

TABLE TALK.

Outward 'Frisco mail." ' *." The Governor visited Howick to-day. Sierra had a * rough passage from Sydney. t v ; ; } Wirth's Circus opens in Freeman's. * Bay this evening.' Special services at St. Benedict's Church, tomorrow. Another sharp thunder-storm passed over the city last night. The thousands of dead at Martinique, are being cremated in huge pyres! ) The mail steamer Sonoma is due here from San Francisco next Tuesday. The Sj'dney water supply is in, danger of running short, owing to the great drought. The Australian drought is unbroken, and a very serious state of things prevails in thae interior. The Acting-Premier, Sir Joseph Ward, returns to Wellington on Thursday from the West Coast. Over a hnndred and eighty passengers booked at Auckland for San Francisco ' by to-day's, outward mail steamer. » An English mail of London* date May 11th arrived here by Hhe mail steamer Sierra from Sydney to-day. The New Zealand Seventh Contin-. gen.t have captured another batch of Boiars and suffered nine casualties. ' "Lord Balfour of Burleigh is mentioned as likely to succeed Lord Hopet>mn as Governor-General of Australia.' I Volunteer district orders, in connection with. General Babington's visit of inspection, are published in this issue. ; There is a reward of £1000 offered for the Queensland bushrangers, one of whom, is supposed to have reached ', A Waikato Maori troupe wil give poi dances and hak&s in the Oddfellows' Hall, Parnell, next Tuesday evening. . In spite of the bad weather there was a densely crowded house at Cinque^ valli's opening performance in the Opera House last night. Ihe condition of fixe island of St. Vincent is deplorable. The streams are : polluted" by the eruption , and pesti-> lential vapours prevail. . .fa . The Governor of Martinique and hi 3 family were attending a. thanksgiving service in; the, St. Pierre Cathedral when they were overwhelmed. ? Natives are starving in the Northern territory of Australia through the drought, and are flocking to the telegraph stations in a terrible condition. The troopship Drayton Grange, 'with the Premier and the North Island•;..Battalion of the Tenth Contingent on' ■■' board, is now about due ■ at Durban, South Africa. The West End Rowing Club have formed a Ping-pong Club, as a means of keeping the members together during the wmter months, and providing interesting sport. • . A large whale was caught m the Marlbbrough Sounds a few days ago by the Messrs. Jackson. The whala measured ?5 feet,in length, and was LiMsißempKtiied'^bv"''a--c>alf;'^whifi'h"-wirM towed over to Wellington for exhibition. It is said that colonials are showing an increasing disposition to become fishermen.. For some time; (says the Wellington "Post") the fishing "fleets of the colony have to a great extent been owned or controlled by foreigners, particularly Italians and Greeks. The development of fisheries and of native-born crews Is of interest as being the possible foundation of a future naval reserve. ' The following extract from a letter by a New Zealander in the South African Civil Service speaks for itself: "You have to live here to appreciate frozen mutton. Now'l am satisfied that it is the greatest boon that has been c onierred ;'on suffering humanity, for really the local fresh meat at Pretoria would make excellent boot soles, and, what is more, it would not require any tanning." The following extract from the "Scientific American" may be of use to householders and: others: * "We clear our premises of rats by making whitewash yellow with copperas, and coverirg the stones and rafters in our cellars' with a thick coat of it. Tr every crevice where a rat might +read we put the crystals of the copperas, and scatter the same in the corners of the f oor. The result was a perfect stampede of both rats and mice^ Every sprmg a coat*of the same yel? low wash is given to the cellar as a . purifier, as well as a rat exterminator." Care should be exercised to avoid food being 'contaminated*by the &9W0 1' ■ ■■ ■ ■ In connection with the great volcanic eruption's, a Wellington paper reminds its readers that the KrakatQ|b eruption affected the. atmosplxftre throughout the world, as shown by j barometric readings. Before the nev.s of that catastrophe (1883) was published in Wellington, Sir James Hector noticed the. pen of his barograph make a sudden movement. He remarked to two gentlemen who were speaking to him at the time that something out of the ordinary had happened somewhere in the East. Subsequently investigations were piade, and it was ascertained that.the same phenomenon had been observed- in other parts of the world. Great barg-aihs. Sample lot of mackintoshes, in many cases only one of a kind, 10/6, 14/6, 17/9 19/9 up; threequarter cravenette jackets, 28/9, 29/11 up. —McCullagh and Gower.—Ad.