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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 152, 2 July 1867, Page 3

We regret to state that, as is usual at this period of the year, a large amount of sickness exists at the present time in this •city and its suburbs, more especially amongst the more juvenile members of the 'community. Measles and whooping-cough are especially prevalent, but, generally speaking, in very mitigated types, and very rarely attended by fatal results. ( It would seem that our neighbours at Wellington have not been more fortunate. Dr Knox thus writes to the Independent: "During the month of May the Porirua district has been visited by the measles, and, indeed, the disease still continues to find its victims, appearing determined to leave no one unscathed (one case in an adult male occurring iv which the individual is distinctly clear in having suffered from a previous attack). The present epidemic, in by far the greater proportion of cases, presents all the typical symptoms described by Sydenham in 167o s when it first appeared in London. The first case in this district occurred on the 26th of -April in a boy, aged eleven years, and upon enquiry it appears he had not been exposed to contagion in any way." The Lyttelton limes of the 14th instant publishes a correspondence between the •Colonial Secretary and the Superintendent of Canterbury, respecting the conversion of Provincial loans into colonial stock. The following is the substance of the -correspondence: —The Cabinet has definitely determined to introduce as a part of its financial policy a bill to authorise the issue of colonial bonds to an amount which w'U cover the entire amount of provincial loans hitherto authorised, including those •already raised, and those not yet raised (wholly or in part) respectively. In all probability the interest will be fixed at 6 per cent, and the colonial debentures so to be raised will be secured on the entire revenues of New Zealand, territorial and ordinary. As to the inter-provincial arrangements and guarantee for re-pay-ment, which it may be necessary to introduce, the Government is unable, at present, to furnish the particulars. A long letter from Mr. Moorhouse, the •Superintendent of Canterbury, appears in the local papers, on the agricultural depression which at present prevails in that province. The letter gives evidence of having been very carefully considered, as well as proof that the author is intimately acquainted with the subject on which he writes. After giving some very good advice to farmers about cropping their ground, he suggests the formation of a a company for the purpose of exporting grain to England in a marketable condition. He enters into figures to shew that such export may be conducted w ith the reasonable hope of yielding a fair profit to the company, and a remunerative price to the farmers. The letter has been well received by all classes of the community. Two meetings have been since held at Kaiapoi, with reference to the exportation of grain and other farm produce, and at the latter it was resolved to establish a company, with a capital of •£3o,ooo>in shares of £5 each The meeting was largely attended, and -was addressed by his Honor the Superintendent, who advocated the project at some length and with consid erable force. The Dunedin papers mention in ;highly favorable terms a new hose-reel just

completed by Mesrs. Hoyt, Chaplin, and Co. for the Invercargill Volunteer Fire Brigade. This machine is said to be constructed upon the same principal as the one which the firm recently supplied to ihe Nelson Brigade ; and it is, if anything, still more finished and perfect in its construction. It is built entirely of the best American timber, is made to carry from five to six hundred feet of hose ; and as a specimen of light yet endurable workmanship it surpasses anything of the kind previously manufactured in the town. The Sydney papers are filled with accounts of the floods which have taken place in various parts of the colony. On Friday the 21st ult. it rained heavily all the night and the river Nepean at Penrith and Windsor rose three feet higher than tbe great flood of 1864. Communication by railway was stopped, and the authorities telegraphed to the Government for six boats, by which numbers of persons who were in imminent peril, were taken off the tops of houses and trees into the town, where they were lodged at the School of Arts and other vacant buildings. At Araluen, Goulburn, Maitland, and Wollombi, ihe whole districts were flooded, and immense damage has been sustained, though, happily, no loss of life is recorded. It appears by a return recently issued that in the year 1866 the Bank of England purchased £10,093,003 worth of gold bullion, and sold £2,872,439 worth. In the same period the excess of payments to the public in British gold coin amounted to £4,385,264, and the excess of receipts £2,473,080. Gold coin to tbe amount of £5,075,654 was received from the Mint. It is proposed to give a banquet to Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Brand. There has just been established in Paris a gourmand's club, the members of which dine together at stated intervals off the rarest dishes, at a minimum cost of two Napoleons a head. It is presided over by the well-known Baron Brisse, the author of the daily bill of fare which has become so popular a feature in M. Emile Girardin's paper La Liberte, and which is looked for so eagerly by all the "gastronomes" of Paris. The club has its bureau and paid secretary, and notifies that it will give advice and reply to questions on the great art of dining, for a fee of five francs, paid in advance. Before the institution of this club, the baron was beset with inquiries as varied and numerous as those which are addressed to the editor of a popular penny journal. Certain old gourmands who had ruined their digestions and" lost their apetites made pitiable appeals to the Baron. "It is all very well," said they * for you to give us artistically arranged lists of choice dishes , but tell us, we beg you, how we are to find the requisite appetite for their consumption." Whereupon the Baron seizes the pen and issues the following directions: — " Take," says he, * c a bath the first thing in the morning, after which, while walking about your room, drink two or three glasses of of mineral water, that of Neiderbrun on on the Lower Rhine is the best. A couple of bours afterwards take a basin of bouillon with some bread in it, and a glass of wine. Then go out and visit your friends. At 4 o'clock eat a biscuit and drink a'glass of Madeira, resume your walk and at 7 dress for dinner, when you find yourself able to eat an entire leg of mutton and more." Mr. Peabody has received from the Empress Eugenic an autograph letter complimenting him for the munificent liberality he has displayed on both sides of the Atlantic, and characterising him as "the great benefactor of humanity." Au Irish school girl was recently asked at the. examination by the clergyman to tell him what Adam lost by his fall ; and when pressed, her ready wit supplied her with the answer, •' Faith, it may have beeg his hat he lost, your riverence !" The dog " Snob " a Crimean hero, who was present at no less than four battles during the campaign, died recently at an advanced age at Chatham. The animal was of Russian breed, and was well known to all frequenters of the headquarteis of the Royal Engineers, decorated as he Was with a blue ribbon and medal.

' • „■■■-■/- ----- ■• A ruined debtor having done his utmost to satisfy his creditors, said to them, "Gentlemen, I have been extremely perplexed till new how to satisfy .you; but having done my very best, I shall leave you to satisfy yourselves. " Well," said an old gentleman the other day, '-I have been forty-seven years in the business, and can say what vtry few can, after such experience; in all that time, my friend, I never disappointed but one single creditor." — "Bless me, what an example for our young mercantile commuuity!" replied the person addressed. " What a pity that one time occured !" " How was it?'' — "Why," responded tbe old gentleman, "I paid the when it became duej and I never, in all my life, saw a man so astonished as the creditor was."