Serious Assault at Sheffield. -- A Sheffield fork grinder named Patrick Slavin lies at the Sheffield Infirmary is danger of losing his life from injuries inflicted by William Murray, a blacksmith, who is his brother-in-law. Murray, who lives next door, came home drunk, pulled his wife out of bed and jumped upon her, exclaiming he would soon murder her. Murray ordered his daughter to go down stairs and fect the hatchet, that he might finish her. The girl ran for Slavin, who from the bottom of the stairs called to Murray to desist. Murray told him to come up and take his sister away. The moment Slavin got up to the bedroom, Murray hurled at him a heavy lamp, which knocked Slavin senseless to the ground. Murray, not content with this, pummelled Slavin's face with his fists and jumped on him. Slavin's mother, aged 63, rushed to her son's rescue, and Murray pitched her headlong over the stairs. She is fearfully injured. Murray then lept out of the window, and has not been seen since. The wife and mother are expected to recover, but Slavin's state is very serious, as the frontal bone is fractured.
Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland), December 10, 1881.