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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 264, 7 November 1877, Page 2

The Post of Monday says;— The Observatory anemometer shows that no less than 1880 miles of wind passed between Friday and this morning, of which 700 miles were registered in the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. yesterday. With reference to the report of the Privilege Committee the Post of Monday aays: It is uuderatood that Messrs Stafford Moorhouse, ltolleston, Walter Johnston, and Harper were the live dissentients, their grounds being nminly that although there had been a breach of privilege, it consisted — not in his Excellency's confidential communication to his Executive, who were sworn to secrecy— but in the communication of the correspondence to the House, which was the act of Ministers themselves. This introduces a new aud curioua complication. r The Wellington correspondent of the New Zealand Herald tells the following good story: — " I must relate one little anecdote which I heard in the Government whips' room. It appears that on the night the late Government were beaten, Mr Thomson, of the Clutha, produced his fiddle and commenced that classical selectiou, 'See, the Conquering Hero comes." It was resolved, however, that one fiddle was not nearly adequate to celebrate the occasion, so a messenger was despatched to Bellamy's cook for his fiddle. The messenger knowing that said cook had, in an unguarded moment, sold his instrument, sent up Mr Sheehan's compliments to Bishop RedWood, and asked the loan of his fiddle. The Bishop readily agreed, and high jink3 were kept up all night. Mr Sheehan was perfectly innocent of having sent for the Bishop's fiddle, aud his surprise can easily be imagined when his Lordship told him he was quite welcome to it on any division. Tableau."

Uncle Sam ia monarch of millions of unsurveyed acres, and is that much better off than Alexander Selkirk, who was only monarch of what he surveyed. At a Sunday school in the East, a teacher asked a little boy if he knew what the expression ' sowing tares ' meant. 'Courth I do,' said he, palling a part of his trousers round in front, « there's a tear my ma sewedI teared it when I was sliding down hill.' An old colored preacher was lecturing a youth of his fold about the sin of dancing, when the latter protested that the Bible plainly said 'There is a time to dance.' ♦ Yes, dar am a time to dance,' said the dark divine, • and it's when a boy gets a whopping for gwme to a ball.' In a private letter received in Wellington by the present mail from London, the writer states « that quite a gloom was created in London when the news was received of the running down and loss of the Avalanche." He further mentions " that four olerks in th j eniP l °y mßnt of Messrs Shaw, Seville, and Co. had gone in the Avalanche down Channel, intending to return in the pilot boat They were on board at the time of the collision, and went to a watery grave with the rest." General distress prevails at St. Petersburg, and more than 3000 apartments are vacant. The subscription to the Russian Home Loan of 200,000,000 roubles is closed, and the Government does not dare to publish the result, as jfc would show such an utter I failure. i The issue of paper roubles in Russia progresses at a ruinous rate. Since the commencement of the war they have been emitted to the amount of 126,000,000. Three hundred and twenty newspaper correspondents are said to be in Roumania. The principal English, American, French, German, and Austrian newspapers are represented. Many of tbe correspondents, it is stated, are paid a3 large salaries as Ambassadors at the Courts of the Great Powers. It is estimated the war news cost at the rate of over £500,000 per annum. It is stated that a ton weight of whitebait has been caught in the Waimakariri and Styx rivera for the Christchurch market alone. On Monday afternoon some fishermen at the Styx in a few hours caught about 2±cwt, and that stream was quite alive with this delicate fish during the afternoon. The Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Herald makes the following referance to members of the late Ministry:— lt is sa ; d that Mr Whicaker would not accept office again, and Mr M'Lean declared that a bullock team would not draw him into a seat on the Government benches again. Dr Pollen does not care for any more Upper House work, and should the Opposition once more get in Mr Bowen is named as the new "lord." The following is from the Post of Saturday: -Truth is said to lie at the bottom o£ a well -a saying which of course implies a watery and diluted medium for its discovery or recovery. And so a posse of lawyers, headed by Messrs Travers and Stout, — very determined, but with countenances as woeful as that of Mr Moddle, the erratic young man, so fondly attached to Miss Pecksniffhave gone down into a well to get at the truth about the Governor's powers in the nomination of a member for the Legislative Council. Not a very deep well, but a great question, no doubt The public will get it all on Monday— probably it will take till Tuesday (time of no consequence)— and we hope they will be somewhat better although a good deal poorer for the interesting search. Seriously this whole affair is a sham. We are astonished to find Mr Stout in it. Some of the others do not astonish us. Privilege indeed! Privilege of gullibility, of which we have had too much in these last months.