LANCASHIRE NEWS ITEMS. AN ATROCIOUS CASE OF ASSAULT has been heard before the Preston magistrates. A child, six years old, without having given any provocation, was knocked down with a stone thrown by a man, who kicked and stamped upon the poor child with his foot. For three weeks after the outrage it was hardly able to walk, being partially paralysed. The man in custody was a labourer, named MICHAEL MULLOY, who was identified by two witnesses as the assailant. ___________________________ ANNIE BROWN, a seamstress, has been convicted at the Manchester City Sessions of being an incorrigible rogue and vagabond, and sentenced to twelve months’ imprisonment. This woman commenced her career of petty crime when she was seventeen, and in the eighteen years that have elapsed since then, has been convicted upwards of one hundred times. ___________________________ T THE INQUEST upon the victims of the Manchester tragedy has been held, when the jury returned a verdict of “Wilful murder against MR. BARGE, and also found that he had committed suicide whilst in an unsound state of mind.” ___________________________ IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY SYMPATHISERS, the body of MR. HERBERT BARGE, the victim of the Prince’s Club tragedy, attended by his widow and brother, has been committed to the family vault at All Saints. ___________________________ THE THREE PRISONERS already in custody for the Tithebarn-street murder have been again remanded by the Liverpool magistrates. A reward of £100 has been offered for the arrest of CAMPBELL, who is still missing. ___________________________ A NUMBER OF SHIPSMITHS at Liverpool are at present on strike for an advance of sixpence per day wages. Several firms have acceded to the demands, but the larger employers have refused the increase. ___________________________ AN OUTRAGE OF AN EXTRAORDINARY KIND has been brought under the notice of the Rochdale magistrates. A young man, named JOSEPH WARD, has been charged with attempting to murder PATRICK ROURKE, a labourer. The two men met in a railway carriage proceeding to Rochdale, and, both being tipsy, quarrelled as to the possession of a swordstick. WARD got hold of the weapon, and after dealing ROURKE a severe blow on the head with it, pushed him out of the carriage. The train was going at full speed at the time, and on being picked up, ROURKE was insensible, and continues in that state. The prisoner has been remanded _________________________ ANOTHER ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE to put an end to the ruinous competition between the steamers running between Liverpool and New York. A meeting of the Atlantic Conference has been held in Liverpool, but nothing of a definite character was resolved upon which would lead to the settlement of the points in dispute between the companies. A correspondent states that great efforts are being made to come to an arrangement, and the prospect of an end being put to the present disastrous competition at low rates is certainly a little more hopeful than it was a month ago. _________________________ FORTY EMIGRANTS, composed principally of women and children, have left the locked-out district in Cambridge for Liverpool, en route for Canada, and according to the emigration agents, this makes a total of 800 persons during the present year, who have been induced to leave the district. On the other hand, it is reported that several emigrants who have been out to Canada have come back again. _______________________________________________________ barb, ontario, canada.