MISCELLANEOUS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2216, 8 June 1865, Page 5

MISCELLANEOUS.

On the site of Sodom and Gomorrah, English enterprise is about to establish a factory for the extracting of bromides from the waters ! iNnoEuiioricAN Telegraph. — A message for Mitchell's Maritime Register was placed upon the wires of the telegraph at Kurvachee at the mouth of the Indus, at eighteen minutes past 5 on a Wednesday evening and received at the office of tlie paper above named in London, at twenty-five minutes past 3 on the following morning-. The editor, referring to the new line, writes ; — " This magnificent achievement brings us within fifteen hours of Western India."— S. A. Register, March 15. Revenue op tiie Pkovince op Maklboroogh. — The revenue! of this province for the ensuing year, as estimated by the Superintendent, will amount to£>4,G3o. of which £1,230 will be ordinary revenue, and the balance of £20,400 territorial revenue, Horrible Destruction of Chinese Pirates. —The following is an extract of a letter from a young gentleman on board her Majesty's gunboat, Grasshopper. It is dated St. Swatow, 13th. December 186-i :— When wo left St. Swatow in search of pirates, and were going to Amoy on a little business, we wore steaming at full speed, when we sighted six small junks. As soon as they saw us, they set all sail and made off, but we lay-to and gave them some grape shot, and all the men in the junks leaped overboard, and we picked up seventy-six of them naked. It waa a horrible sight to see, when we brought thorn on board, some with their arms and some with their legs off. We ( then stowed them away like as many pigs, and brought them to the Supremo Court of Mandarins, to whom we g/ive them up. After we were at Amoy we returned in the course of three days to the same place we had left the pirates, and there was a sight — there were twenty of them crucified, with nails in their hands and their feet ; twenty drowned witli stones to them ; twenty hanged ; sixteen tortured and burned to death." A Ladies' Duel. — Madame de Nesle. irritated by the attentions of the Due de Richelieu to Madame de Poliynae, wrote her an insulting letter, concluding "Si, dv reste, madame, cea I'uisons ne vous pemiadent pad, je vous attendra domain, dix heures dematin.au Oois de Boulogne. Mon amie eat le pistolet." They met, attended by their lady's maids, and it was arranged that they should fire on reaching a scarf placed half way between them. Madame de Nesle fired fiist and missed. Madame de Polignao fired mor deliberately, and wounded her rival in the shoulder; but Kichelieu, lor onco in his life, acted like Cato, and preffored the conquered to the conqueror Breach-Loaders for the Aimy.— The Times of 4th March says:— 1 The Government have now detei mined to arm the whole of the cavalry with carbines on the breuch -loading principle, and have selected the Wustly Richards arm as the arm of the service. Its weight is about six pounds, and the barrel, whLli is rifled on the Wliitworth principle is twenty inches in length, and is sighted up to 800 yards, at which distance it makes most wonderful "practice. It has also a hardened projectile which gives it greatly increased power of penetration. Two thousand of these aims are already in the hands of the troops ; they are much approved, and 20,00tt more are now in course of manufacture nt Enfield ; they will be finished this year. Two thousand infantry muskets on the same principle are also tn-ing manufactured for the Government l>y the inventors. These will be served out to the infantry ibis year for an extended trial. This ami like the carbine, is rifled on the Wliitworth piinciple, and is sighted up to 1000 yards, at which disianee it gives an average mean figure of merit under two feet " Hokiubije Traoedy ih America The Cleveland (U.S ) Leader, of the 4th March contains the following almost incredible narrative. A young man named D.ivid L Divins made his i appearance a few weeks since at Graftoii, Lorain country ami established there a recruiting office for one of the regiments now being raised in this State, in which he held a recruiting commission! He passed as a single man. Soon after coming to Grafton he formed a marriage engagement with . the daughter of a giocery keeper who had accumulated some property. Whether because he was in : love, with this girl or merely because her father , promised to sot him up in business, this scoundrel , deliberately formed the diabolical purpose of re- ■ turning to Coldwatei, Michigan, whore his wife i was living and killed her, in order to be freo to ; many the young lady in Grafton. On Monday • last ho left Grafton for Ilia former home, arriving ' there the same day, and being cordially received by his young wife, who was living with his father and mother. On Tuesday morning ho hired a horse and sleigh, and drove out of town. During ' the absence of Bivins in the evening. Ilia wife wag i suddenly seized with the pains of child-birth and, : «s his father was spending the evening at aneigh- , bor's the old lady wont out to find him, and sent ■ ' for a doctor, leaving the sick wo. nan entirely ' alone. During her absence the husband entered I tho house and unmoved, by the delicate condition > of his wife, deliberately killed her. While eni gaged in consummating the crime, his father and ■ mother entered, and the fiendish villain shot both ' his father and mother, killing both. He then hid - their bodies in the cellar, set the house on fire, and 3 hurried to tho railway station, forgetting his horse f and sleigh, which he left standing in front of the . burning house He took the night train, then due ' from Cold water arriving in Grafton on Wednesday . ■ Tho neighbors, having been alarmed, the fire was fc got out, and the bodies svero then found in the c cellar. Bivins waa followed to Grafton, and taken n into custody, when he confessed tho crime, He c coolly confesses the crime and seems astonished at 1 the excitement which it causes lie distributed '. among the crowd who gathered around him a o number of his authographs, written as follows; — o David L. Bivins murderer of his wife, father, and mother.