ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 687, 31 May 1869, Page 4

ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

[rROM PAPERS BY THE MARCH MAIL.] ELOPEMENT IN HIGH LIFE. THI3 event, which has been a subject of conversation, was mentioned in obscnre teims in a London evening paper, but the absence of Captain Vivian during the discussion on the army estimates, on an oceaBion when of all others he might have been expected in his place in Parliament, lent confirmation to the rumour that he was the victim in the unhappy affair. Captain Vivian was born in 1818, and is, therefore, in his fifty first year, but to judge from his appearance no one would suppose him to be more than forty at the outside. He is a handsome and very gentlemanly-man-nered man. He served in the 11th Hussars, but retired from the army so long back as 1848. For several years he has given constant attention to his Parliamentary duties. He has not been a frequent talker j but whenever he does speak he speaks well, and is listened to with attention. .As War Lord of the Treasury much was expected of him, but whether the terrible blow he he has received will incapacitate him from official woik for some time to come remains to be seen. The hon. and gallant gentleman's first wife died in 1855. He was manied to his present wife, the lady who has just eloped, in 1861. She is daughter of Major Rowley, of the Bombay Artillery, and it is stated that her age is about twenty-e;ght or thirty. The Marquis of Waterford, with whom tin; lady has eloped, was born in 1844, and consequently, is in his twenty-fifth year. He is son ot the late Marquis, who was a clergyman, and uncle to that Marquis of Wateriurd so well known in the night-houses of the Haymarket, and who broke his neck in the hunting field. It is stated that Mrs Vivian has carried off her children with her. Much sympathy is felt with the hon. and gallant captain. In many cases it is not easy to account for elopements. One would imagine that Captain Vivian was a husband ot whom any wife might be proud. Some further facts in connection with the elopement of the Hon. Mrs Vivian with the Marquis of Waterford (says the Freeman's Journal) have become known. It teems that for some time past the lady's name has been mentioned in circles in connection with that ol tiie partner ot her flight, and that her disappearance was not wholly unexpected, bhc left her home on Monday morning, March 1, alleging that she intended to proceed to B ighton to see her mother, and would return the same evening. As, however, she failed to make her appearance, Captain Vivian proceeded to the Victoria Station, and there ascertained that the Marquis of Waterford and Mrs Vivian had tne previous rnorniug taken tickets for Paris by way of Lover, accompanied by a friend, lie followed them to the French capital, and soon found the object of his search at a well-known hotel. Mrs Vivian heard of her husband's arrival, and locked herself up in an inner chamber. Captain Vivian, however, succeeded in obtaining assistance, aud burst open the doors. He then ascertained that Mrs Vivian had attempted to commit suicide by swallowing chloroform. The quantity taken was not, however, sufficient to cause more than partial insensibility. Captain Vivian is understood to have implored his wife to return for the sake of her children, of whom there are four, but tha' she peremptorily lefused, although her husband assured her that her escapade should be kept a profound secret. The lady, however, remained firm iu her determination not to return to her home, but pleaded that sue might be might be allowed to retain her yuungest child. This request Captain Vivian declined to comply with, and returned to London without having encountered the Marquis of Waterford. The latter has, it is said, caused a communication to be made to Captain Vivian that when the Judge-Ordinary ol the Divorce Court shall have dissolved the legal ties which now prevent his marrying Mrs Vivian, he will, as a man of honor, make her the only compensation in his power. Meantime, Captain Vivian has left London, and will not return to his place in the House of Commons until his presence is required for the division on the second reading of the bill for the a bo lition of the Irish Church. REPORTED DEATH OF EX-PRESIDENT JOHNSUN. The following telegram appears in the European Mail:— " Philadelphia, March 25. .Ex-President Johnson is very ill at his home, Grenville, Tennessee. There is a rei/ort that he died this morning ol paralysis." REMARKABLE RECOVERY PROM A FLOODED MINE. • The incessant strenuous exertions which have been put iorth by the agents of the Earl of Duuley to recover the 13 men and boys who were buried alive by the inflow of water at his lordship's Nine Locks Pit at Brierley Hill, on Wednesday, March 17, have been attended with success beyond anticipation. Four men and a boy have been got out, in whom a lew sparks of life yet remained, and it is hoped they may be restored. They were reached at about 10 o'clock on Sunday morning, March 21, and therefore been Cut off from all intercourse with the air, with the surface, and from fitting food more than four days ; or, epeakmg precisely, 113 hours. These, and one other, who is believed to be dead, formed one of the two parties into which, at work, the thirteen were divided, and they were engaged at a higher level than the other company, consisting of five men pud two boys, for whom search is still being made. The difficulties to be overcome

in reaching the men may be inferred from, the fact that to enable the first lot to be got at, more than 25,000 tons of water had to be lifted from a depth of 200 yards and] and this at a rate of 300 tons an hour.—• Three other men have siuce been recovered. One man called Higgs, who was thought dead, was found lying in a puddle, after having been in the mine 140 hours. Three men yet remain in the hovel at the pit mouth. A PEER WITHOUT PROPERTY. The late Lord Brougham, strange as it may seem, died without assets. Long before his death he had, by deed of cift, made over everything ex-Chancellor's pension, house and land, books, plate, furniture—to bis brother William, the present peer, who in return provided for all household and personal expenses. The great statesman's aversion to trouble about money matters is said to have suggested this arrangement. The Inland Revenue authorities, at fi'st incredulous, satisfied them selves by private inquiry as to the bona fides and validity of the deed of gift. But it is a curious fact that Lord Brougham, as exLord Chancellor, who for upwards ol thirty years received a pension of £SOOO a year, died without paying a shilling of probate or legacy duty. STRANGE STORY PROM CARMARTHENSHIRE.

A PAKAGHtAPH has been going the round of the papers under the above heading, .stating that a young girl has lived for 17 mouths without food. The Lancet quoted the paragraph and ridiculed the credulity ol the vicar of the parish, who has written to the papers expressing his belief in the story. In consequence of this, the father of the girl, Mr Evan Jacob, of Llanfihangelap Arth, has called in several medical men to examine the child, and a committee has been appointed to investigate the matter. A subscription list has been opened to de fray expenses of men who are to watch the girl, two by night and two by day. The test was commence at 8 o'clock on Monda) March 22. The story is implicitly believed in the neighborhood, and the father is a respectable fanner. It is difficult to understand what motive there can be for deception, as the lather will not al low the chiid to receive any money from visitors.

MEDALS FOR ABYSSINIA AND NEW ZEALAND. The Adjutant-General, Lord W. Paulet has issued a general order to the armj stating that the Queen has commanded a medal to be prepared to commemor ite the services of the forces engaged in the various military operations in New Zealand during the years 1845, 1816, 1847, 181)0, 1861, L 862, 1863, 1564, 1865, and 1866, and directing that one of the medals shall be conferred on every surviving officer, non-com-missioned officer, and soldier of the regular forces who actually served in the field against the enpmy during the periods al luded to, excluding deserters and those dismissed for misconduct. Another general order states that the Q,ueen has commanded that a medal in commemoration of the successful operations in Abyssinia shall be conferred upon her Majesty's British and Indian forces who served in that country between the 4th of October 18i>7, and the 19th of April, 188 S, including those who were employed on board ship, in transports, or in hospital on the coast. TERRIBLE ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA RAILWAY. The Bombay papers contain long account.of a terrible accident on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway on the 26ih January, an accident which is described as the least expected and most alarming ever recorded. The following condensed account of the calamity is from the Times of India of the 30th December: — The through passenger train from Shola pore left Poona on the night of the 25th January at eleven o'clock, and reaehpd Lanowlee at one o clock on the morning of the 26th. Here, as is always done, one of the powerful ghant engines was attached, as also four ghant brake vans, that number representing more than the amount of force believed to be necessary to control the speed of the train on the steepest inclines. All went well till Ehandalla wa* reached ; the driver had, however, found the train "somewhat unmanageable," that is to ?ay, he experienced some difficulty in regulating its speed. Before starting again, therefore, additional precautions were adopted, as the section of the Bhore Ghaut between Khandalla and the reversing station is the steepest and most perilous portion of it. Several wheels were " spragged," and a start made. Hardly had the train left the station when its speed began to be accelerated every moment, defying every exertion of driver, guard, and brakesmen combined to stop it. These men foresaw the danger that was unavoidable; unless che speed of the train was arre.-ted and that instantly, it must dash the embankment at the end of the reversing station. The driver therefore reversed the engine, putting the handle "hard over;" but to no purpose. Seeing that nothing further they could do would be of any avail the driver and guard jumped off, and the ill-fated train flew into and over the embankment, at the rate it is said, of sixty miles an hour. Sixteen passengers were killed, all natives. The most disquieting consideration is that it might apparently happen any night; indeed one wonders that it should not have been a weekly oc currence. The coroner's jury declare it to have been caused solely by the slipperiness of the rails, owing to the heavy dew. With this neither the Government nor the public can possibly rest satisfied. The

s afety of valuable lives must not be allowed to depend on a little dew, more or less; and a most searching investigation has been ordered by th« Government. The mere fact tnat the killed were natives mostly coolies and lascnrs, will not be allowed to make the investigation Irs* thorough than it should be; for valuable lives are constantly exposed to precisely the same risk as were those in the train of the 26th instant. Heavy dews fall on the Ghauts every n'ght during eight months of the year ; and some means must be found for rendering railway travelling on dewy nights safer than it has hither o been, or travellers must be distinctly advised of the terrible risk they might run. In*' result of the investigation ordered by the Government will be awaited with the [greatest interest.