There was a brilliant display of light ning in the western heavens on Wednesday evening. Some of the- flashes were particu larly bright. The cold was so severe at Ross on Friday night that several castings two aches thick flew into pieces with reports like pistol- Bhots. The North-westerly " bursters " have now set in, and the last two days have been close and muggy. The snow is fast dis appearing from the ranges, and water is plentiful for mining purposes. The roads between the Ewehurn and Hill's Creek were, at the beginning of the week, in a horribly slushy condition. Many places require a little attention at the hands of the surfacemen or contractora, which we trust will be given to them immediately. How to Get Sick.—Expose yourself day and night, lit too much without excerciso, work 100 hard without rest, doctor all the time, take all the vile nostrums advertised, and then jou will want to know How to Get Well—which' is answered in three words—Take Hop Bitters! Read. It is a somewhat remarkable fact (says, the Pott) that until Mr Stout assumed the office Otago had never furnished the Colony with a Premier. Still more remarkable is it that the first Otago Premier should be the most short-lived of the race, and he should have owed his defeat to the votes of Otago members. A RETUBN was laid on the taWe of the House of Representatives lately, giving son interesting partieu'ars regarding the late elections, from which we extract the follow ing results :—Number of rotes recorded for members elected, 42,408; number of votes recorded for defeated candidates, 32,264; total number recorded at the election, 74,672 ; number of names on roll of dis'ricts uncontested, 14,484 ; number of names on roll in districts where election was contested, 123,202 ; total number of names ou rolls, 137,686; total population as per census of 1881, 482,019. Mr Bebb, the member for Stanmore, who was elected on the Vogel ticket, has brought down upon himself the ire of some of his most prominent supporters, in consequence of his action in voting against the Govern ment. As a consequence, the defaulting; member has received a rat-trap, which was handed to him under circumstances highly ludicrous. 