Northern Times. — 1859-11-02 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

DIABOLICAL ATTEMPT TO MURDER.  On Sunday evening an attempt was made at Oldham, by means of a hand grenade, to murder Mr. Isaiah Greaves, master brickmaker, of Broadway-lane Oldham, but most fortunately the attempt was not successful. Mr. Greaves resides at the-end house of a row in Broadway-lane, some distance from the town of Oldham, but within the borough. The back of his house looks into a field, from which the yard of the house is separated only by an ordinary hurdle-fence, so that any person standing in the field can easily see into the yard. On Sunday evening, about halfpast seven o'clock, Mr. Greaves, having been out for a short time, returned home, and just as he placed his hand on the latch of the back door an explosion occurred sounding like the report of a cannon. He rushed into the house,and told his wife that he had been shot at, and Mrs. Greaves, going to the door, saw something burning on the ground, which she imag,ined vas the wadding of a gun. Mrs. Greaves's sister went for the police ; and Police-constable Buckley, and subsequently other officers, came to the place and made a search. An exploded gun cap was first discovered, and then several small pieces of cast iron, about a quarter of an inch thick, being apparently portions of a hollow ball of iron of about four inches diameter. One piece of iron was about 21 inches across, and had five gun nipples screwed into it ; another piece, less than the first, had three nipples, and ,1 from an examination of smaller pieces, it was evident that nipples had been screwed into the ball all I over at distances of about of an inch. The grenade is of a similar description to those used by Orsini and his fellow conspirators in their attempt on the life of the Emperor of the French. It appears to have been made in two parts, then to have been filled with powder and old. nails, screws, and bits of iron (several having been found in Mr. Greaves's yard), and then fastened together so as to make a perfect globe. Mr. Greaves received no injury, but one of the pieces of iron cut open his trousers just beneath the calf of his right leg. From the marks in the yard made by the explosion, and the imprints of feet in the field, it is supposed that some person or persons watched in the field and tossed the grenade i)-ito the yard when Mr. Greaves was at the door. The explosive missile struck the wall ipurediately behind him at his right side, and it /is perfectly astonishing how he escaped without very serious injury. Had the missile struck the wall between him and the door, he must inevitably have been killed. Some time ago Mr. Greaves refused to discharge a non-society man and employ a unionist, at the request of the lirickmakers' Society at Oldham. The union men turned out ; the rest of the employers took the matter up, and locked out all the society men whom they refuse to employ. It is supposed that the firing of a haystack belonging to Messrs. Brooks, Broadwaylane; the burning of a shed and implements belonging to Mr. Wrigley, Frankhill; and the attempt on Mr. Greaves's life (all having occurred since the lock-out), have all been the work of union brickmakers ; and in the latter case the supposition is strengthened by the fact of some members of: the union having been seen about Mr. Greaves's .house not very bag before the explosion occurred.  We ( Worcester Chronicle) understand that it has been arranged by the committee entrusted with the arrangements connected with the Pakington Testimonial, that the banquet at which the ceremony of presentation is to take place will probably be held some time about the 21st December next. -  EMBEZZLEMENT OF £23o.—At the Leeds Sessions, on Friday, William Greaves Chadwick, lately an out-door collector in the employ of the North-Eastern Railway, was found guilty of embezzling £230, the moneys of the company, and sentenced to twelve months' hard labour.