MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6099, 4 June 1881, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

A pretty girl may talk slang, but she ''never says to her beau, "None ofyourlip." v< Mrs. .Livermore Js. lecturing, on "The Coming Man." It is.very gratifying to know that he is coming. : The women of Calcutta are described'as very beautiful, but they fail rapidly after reaching the age of maturity. ... Whenever young ladies learn to stick a pin in their apron-strings that it wont scratch a fellow's wrist, there will be more marriages. When you ask a Bostongirl fora kiss, she replies, _" I have no objection to a Ptatonie osoulation, but permit me first to remove my glasses." Recent letters from London confirm the report than Harriet Hostuer has completely abandoned art and is devoting most of her time to the solution of the problem of perpetual motion. ' ! Tying bride and groom together with white satin ribbons is a part of "the Spanish mar- : riaae ceremony, and.it was done at the late double wedding of the son and daushter of Marshal Serrano, by the Duchess de la Torre and the Ducliess of Valencia, the latter of whom was ii Tascher de Bagerie, and of the family of the Empress Josephine. Qneen Sophie of Fweden, during the six years of, her illness, has so suffered from nervousness that, she has not been able to listen at allto music, though she is very fond of it. Upon her recent marvellous recovery at Amsterdam, her eldest son hastened to her, and his-singing was her first musical enjoy ment. He has-a Leautiftil voices and tils eyes of those present filled with tears as they saw the radiance' in the mother's face and the emotion which the son tried to conceal as he sang to that mother, restored to him almost from her deathbed.

The latest sensation in dinner-table decorations was conceived by a New. York lady. A rug of crimson velvet, edged with gold fringe, tho coiners ornattiented by peacock feathers, occupies the middle of the table ; upon this is raised a plateau of glass and silver ; in the centre an epergne of iridescent crystal, the branching arms holding baskets of flowers; gilt Candelabra, with red candles, at either end of the plateau; and on the interveningglassysurfa.ee tiny boats drawn by swans, and filled with flowers. How much or how little the institution of marriage may mean! Looked at simply in its visible form,: it is only a ceremony uniting two persons in legal and moral bonds, who afterward? form one family instead of parts of two. But what areits invisible truths,. its higher realities, its poetry ? Does it not suggest holy affection, pure delight, rich possibilities of mutual aid, improvement, and sympathy ? Docs it not hint at family life, with its responsibilities and duties, its selfsacrifice, its trials, its rewards, the inspiration it gives to energy, the sweets it confers on labour, "the consolation it has in store for sickness or sorrow, the honour it bestows on old age? What thoughthese may never be wholly realised ?. They are no less the great truths of marriage, to which some may be for erer blind, and some-may convert from beautiful conceptions to happy realities. -"Target" in Life says, "The humane crusade against -the abominable custom pf compelling shopwomen to stand through long horn's goes on successfully. I hear that the 'Universal Provider, , of Westbournegrove, has caused rests' to be supplied l throughout his establishment. This is an excellent example. The fair crnsaders do not attack the enemy en masse. Indeed, I hear that the most telling method ■is to- get up a memorial or petition" to eaeh owner of a large establishment, among his fair customers. It is rather a mode of "Ladycotting" the recalcitrant shopkeeper, but the object is so good that I hope all my failreaders will reiuforco the Ladies' League. The long hours of work, the fearful strain of standing during those hours, must be lessened and removed. Factory Acts do not touch shops or restaurants, where young lives are shortened and the constitutions of the employees broken down. ;