MISCELLANEOUS.

The enthusiasm displayed by the Irish ensidents of Sydney in the formation of a rational regiment upon the same lines as the Scottish Regiment has been met by the Governor (Lord Hampden) in a somewhat satirical vein, as he named the regiment the "Union Volunteer Regiment." As nearly the whole of the persons who have taken part in the organisation of the regiment are devoted Home Rulers, it can be understood that the title is not viewed favorably by many of them. General Ellena, who commanded one of the divisions of the Italian Army at the rout of Adowa, states that the Italians were badly organised and wanting in discipline, and the officers were not provided with maps of the country in which hostilities were being carried on. The well-bred man is he who controls himself in the interests of others. The idea of a certain amount of constraint is still at the base of Continental education. A very unusual case came before a Melbourne bench when Emma Levy sued Samuel Buchanan, North Melbourne, for £1 17s, balance of an account of £2 for professional services as a nurse. The plaintiff stated that she was engaged by the defendant as a " watcher of the dead," an office recognised by the Jewish persuasion. She said she sat at the dead-house, perishing with cold, all night. The defendant denied engaging the plaintiff, but admitted that it was an invariable custom to have a " watcher." The Bench considered the charge excessive, and gave a verdict for 14s. The 'Daily Chronicle' publishes the following from its New York correspondent: — Mr Higginson, a wealthy Boston banker, has set a new precedent by cabling 100,000 dol to his young and pretty wife, who recently eloped to Genoa with an admirer. He explains his curious liberality by saying he does not wish his wife to starve. At Chicago on February 5 an entire family of seven persons was found dead the result of murderous work and suicide the previous night of Richard Kloettke, a carpenter. The dead were : Richard Kloettke, aged 37 j Kaye Kloettke, his wife ; John Kloettke, his father, aged 73 ; Mina Kloettke, his mother, aged 71 ; Mina Kloettke, his daughter, aged 9 ; Anna Kloettke, daughter, aged 8 ; Emma Kloettke, daughter, aged 7. The discovery was made at 7.30 o'clock in the morning by a neighbor who called at the Kloettke residence to get some work done. The victims were all killed by shots from a revolver, which was found by Kloettke's side. Kloettke had been out of work for some time, had no money, and no prospects of getting work. A Chicago man has invented a harmless pipe that does not let the smoke into the mouth. He thinks that the sight of curling smoke, the perfume of the weed, and the sense of keeping the pipe going will furnish all the pleasure that a smoker wants. "But," says the 'New York Tribune,' "if he ever watched a man with a cigarette struggle to get all the smoke possible into his lungs, he would know that smoke, bitter taste, bitter tongue, bad breath, and all the other things he seeks to abolish are just what are wanted. There is no hope for the reformed pipe." A nine-month-old infant died from nicotine poisoning in Scotland recently. It was given a pipe, as a plaything, during the brie bsence of its mother. Mr Saver (to his wife) : " How horrid of you to be always looking as sour as a crab apple ! Just look at Mrs X over yonder ; the very picture of cheerfulness." Mrs Saver : " You seem to forget, my dea that Mrs X is a widow." All generous companies of artists, authors, philanthropists, men of science, are, or ought to be, societies of mutual admiration. A man of genius, or any kind of superiority, is not debarred from admiring the same quality in another, nor the other from returning his admiration. 3 Gentleness is a sort of mild atmosphere, and it enters into a child's soul like the sunbeam into the rosebud, slowly but surely expanding it into beauty and vigor. A countryman was sowing his ground, when two smart fellows came riding by, one of whom called out with an insolent air : " Well, my good man, 'tis your business to sow ; but we reap the fruits of your labor." The rustic replied : " 'Tis very like you may, for just now I am sowing hemp." A Melbourne woman who recently went on a holiday devised, as she thought, a very simple and effective plan for keeping her jewels from the voracious maw of the enterprising burglar. She place them at the bottom of a tin of biscuits. It so happened during her holiday that the husband determined on leaving his abode, and to that end he gave orders for the household goods to be sold. The biscuit tin was thrown into a large box and knocked down as rubbish. The lucky bidder soon made himself scarce, and the relations of husband and wife since have not been particularly felicitous. Several Egyptian harps have been recovered from tombs. In some the strings are intact, and give forth distinct sounds after a silence of 3,000 years. " Will the youngest girl in the room please rise?" said a school superintendent in a rural district. Every female stood up, including the teacher. "What have you got in folding-beds?" »sked the customer, addressing the furniture salesman. " Got one of our clerks in, and they are just trying to get him out." Belle : " I think Charley is just too mean for anything ! " Marie : " What is the matter?" Belle: "You remember that lovely pen-wiper I gave him ? Well, I saw it the other day, and it's all full of inkstains." Pa: "What's baby crying for, Dolly?" Dolly: "Just cos I showed her how to eat ncr cake." At Gwydir (N.S.W.) the other day a "drunk" was brought up before a J.P. Hia Worship passed sentence of death. The sergeant ventured to point out that the maximum penalty was 40s, whereupon capital punishment was commuted by the Bench to a fine of £2. ''All right," said the accused, " I'll give you ten bob. I lent you 30s last night when we were on the spree together." Fined another £1 for " contempt of Court." This incident recalls the days at Hokitika when a magistrate used to let off drunks who had spent the previous evening in hiß own company. Wifey : "Do you think there is a man that could conscientiously say to his wife 'You are the only woman I ever loved'?" Hubby : " Only one that I can think of." Wifey: "Who? You, dearest ?" Hubby $ " Oh, no ; Adam." Mr ex-President Harrison is about t* 1 marry again. Should he stand for the Presidency at the election next Novembtr, the knowledge among the American people that the White House will be graced by the presence of a clever and beautiful woman will add to hia chances of success. The lady (says ' St. James's Gazette ') is Mrs Dimmick, a neice of the late Mrs Harrison. When Mr Harrison was President, Mrs Dimmick lived at the White House, and was generally credited with giving confidential assistance as secretary to Mr Harrison. The intention to marry was declared in a curious way. When Mr Harrison was in New York he summoned the reporters to his hotel, and made a formal announcement that he would marry Mrs Dimmick after Lent.