The Pontypridd District Herald and Rhondda Valley, Llantrisant, Caerphilly, and Mountain Ash News. — 1893-05-13 (Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales)

ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP THE FOUR COURTS.  On Saturday night, about 20 minutes to 11 o'clock, an explosion, which was heard all over the city of Dublin, occurrsd at the Four Courts. The courts are situated on the north side of the Liffey, at Inns Quay, and the explosive substance appears to have been thrown into the area immediately behind what is known as Queen's Bench Court No. 2. The explosive substance, whatever it may have been—and it is generally belived to have been nitro-glycerine enclosed in a metallic envelope similar to that used at the Castle, and still later at Exchange-court, was evidently thrown from the quay into the area. The court gates were closed and locked, so that it must have been filing by some person passing along the quay, who carefully selected the time, and kept a close watch on the movements of the police. There were two c ,nstables on duty at the place. Nothing unusual, in fact, attracted their attention until the report of the explosion startled the citizens. A sharp crash of broken glass falling all around the quadrangle immediately followed the report, and for a few moments much uneasiness was felt as to the fate of the building and the caretakers who occupy rooms in different parts of it. The explosion was heard distinctly in Exchange court, whence nearly all the detective officers proceeded at once to the scene, quickly followed by Mr. Mallon, the Assistant-Commissioner, and several other officers. An entry having been effected, a hurried inspection of the building resulted in the discovery that about 70 windows had been smashed, the glass being scattered about in fragments. The shock of the explosion was so violent that it blew the glass out of the windows on the opposite quadrangle, about 30 yards distant. It does not appear, however, that any serious damage was done to any portion of the structure itself. A descent into the area into which looks the windows of the barristers' robing rooms, disclosed the fact that the flags of the area had been uprooted, and in the corner nearest the line of (pays a deep hole, nearly a foot in depth, had been pierced. Pounded glass strewed the area, and the walls were scratched and scraped in all directions. Some persons maintained that on going near the area they perceived a heavy, dull odour ; but this must have been very transient, for in five or 10 , minutes after the explosion it was impossible to tell of its having taken place. The search in the , rooms looking into the square and area showed , the little or no damage had been done inside the , walls. The police are said to have had reason to suspect that other outrages would follow the explosion in Exchange-court, and extra precautions had recently been taken to protect public buildings which might be regarded as possibl- objects of attack by the miscreants, who so wantonly use dangerous explosives unmindful of the safety of life or property. The explosion in this case occurred on the eleventh 'anniversary of the Phcenex-park murders. The magisterial inquiry following the Exchange-court explosion succeeded in eliciting evidence which it, is understood pointed to a small band of desperadoes, whose movements had for a lengthened period caused the authorities some anxiety, and there is a general opinion that the explosion of Saturday night is traceable to that body. It appears to have been planned and carried out very much after the same mode as that adopted in the Exchange-court case, and the explosive appears to have been similar. A portion of the metallic envelope which enclosed the explosive has been found among the fragments of glass so thickly strewn about the court area, and is being preserved by the police.