The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-24 00:00:00

SHIPPING RETURNS.

The shipping returns of the Board of Trade for the
past year present the following results :
Tonnage entered inwards :-
1851. 1852.
British vessels 4,388,245 ... 4,207,815
United States' vessels 778,664 ... 863,660
Other countries 1,821,324 ... 1,598,694

6,988,233 6,730,169
The clearances outwards were :
1851. 152.
British vessels 4,147,007
... 4,4589,321
United States' vessels 788,406 ... 821,844
Other countries 1,547,731 ... 1,591,416

6,483,144 6,872,581
These totals show a decrease of 120,430 tons in the
inward entries of British vessels—a circumstance to be
attributed entirely to the detentions in Australia. In
the clearances outward there has been the large increase
of 312,314 tons. As regards foreign vessels, including
those of the United States, there has been a diminution
in the entries of 137,634 tons, and an increase in the
clearances of only 77,123 tons. Further striking evidence
is therefore afforded by the present tables of the tendency
of British shipping to gain largely in the struggle of
competition. With respect to the coasting trade, the
tonnage entered inwards was 12,394,902 in 1851, and
12,475,401 in 1852. The clearances outward were
13,466,115 in 1851, and 13,441,815 in 1852. The
figures of the previous year showed a considerable de-
crease both in entrances and clearances, consequent
upon the competition of railways, and, as this is still
going on, the present totals may be regarded as satis-
factory.

THE CABS OF LONDON.
(From Punch.)
The dirty cabs of London !
How lazily they stand
About the public thoroughfares,
Or crawl along the Strand;
The omnibuses pass them by
With a contempt supreme
E'en the coal-cart overtakes them
With slow and heavy team.
The crazy cabs of London !
How wretched is the sight
Of one of those old vehicles
That ply for hire by night !
There, cracked is every window-pane,
The door is weak and old ;
The former lets in all the rain,
The latter all the cold.
The shakey cabs of Louden !
How impotent the powers
Of one poor nervous female fare,
When fierce the driver lowers,
Swearing, with impudence sublime
And ruffianly frown,
He can't afford to lose his time ;
" His fare will be a crown."
The dear, bad cabs of London !
In vain the public call
For a better class of vehicles
That can't be got at all.
Extortion must for ever thrive,
Cabs must be bad and dear,
Till Legislation looks alive,
And deigns to interfeie.

THE GREAT NORTHERN _RAILWAY COMPANY'S COAL
TRAFFIC.—In pursuance of the notice given by the
South Yorkshire Railway Company to the Great
Northern Company, to the effect that—" On and after
Tuesday, the 22d instant, and so long as the Great
Northern Company continue to deny the validity of the
agreement of the 26th of February, 1852, and until the
same be legally affirmed, the Great Northern Company's
trains will not be permitted to use the South Yorkshire
Railway in any other manner and to any further ex-
tent than other companies and persons may be legally
entitled to use the same under existing acts of Par-
liament," a formal blockade of the South Yorkshire
line against the Great Northern Company's trains was
announced on Tuesday morning by Mr. Bartholomew,
the general manager of the South Yorkshire line, dis-
playing the stop signals to a Great Northern engine,
having on it Mr. Denniston, the superintendent of the
Great Northern, and Mr. Middlemess, the mineral
agent of the same company. The engine was stopped
at the junction of 'the two lines at Hexthorpe, about a
mile and a-half from Doncaster. Since then the Great
Northern's coal traffic on the South Yorkshire line has
been wholly suspended. By these proceedings a number
of the Great Northern Company's hands employed at the
pits—such as inspectors, train-sorters, labourers, &c.,—
are thrown out of employment; and a number of engines
are thrown
belonging to the Great Northern Company
are detained at the same place by the South Yorkshire
Company. Since the suspension of traffic, Mr. Middle-
mess has been actively engaged in making arrangements
with the proprietors of the Durham pits for an increasedliheral
supply of coal, and he has been met in the most
manner by the coal-owners of the north, who undertake
to deliver the coal at a stated price, carriage included,
at the Great Northern Company's depot at York. _ this arrangement Mr. Middlemess will be enabled to f
ul
fil his contracts and to supply the demand at the road
stations and the metropolis with almosthe as much facility
T
as by the South Yorkshire line. price of Durham
coal is higher than the South Yorkshire coal, but the
additional cost is counterbalanced by the better quality
of the article.

CYCLORAMA.—The moving panorama of Lisbon and
the earthquake of 1755, which created so much sensation
about two years since, is again produced, for a short
time, at this establishment. The recorded phenomena,
by land and sea, are given with, if possible, increased
effect and apparently with undiminished interest.