The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-04 00:00:00

TRADE AND NAVIGATION RETURNS.

The official trade and navigation returns for the month
ending Dec. .5, have been issued.

Th© declared value of some of tho principal exports,
compared with that for the same articles during the cor-
responding month of last year, was as follows :

_ .
1852. 1853.
Beer and Ale £72,208
Coals and cuhn 92,088
Cotton manufactures 2,045,735
Cotton yarn
Earthenware 92,171 ...... 130,976
Haberdashery and millinery 161,359
Hardware and cutlery
linen manufactures
_ .

Linen yarn
111,460
90,358
Machinery 116,514
Metals 837,422 ..... 1,239,88$
Silk manufactures
Silk thrown 31,314
S Dap
Wool
Woollen manufactures
Woollen yarn
The comparison of imports for the 11 months is aa
under :

1852. 1853.
Oxen no. 37,499
Sheep no. 19!,771 . 214,378
•
Wheat qrs. 2,820,100
Barley qrs. 575,085
Oats qrs. 916,249
Flour cwt. 3,f51,081
Coffee lbs. 51,316,878
Cocoa lbs. 5,808,608
Flax cwt. 1,270,309
Currants cwt. 290,313
Guano tons 118,601 ...... 97,578
Hemp cwt. 988,764 ...... 1,114,500
Oil, palm cwt. 420,218
Potatoes cwt. 455,871
Bacon, pork, and beef....cwt. 262,677
Silk, raw lbs. 4,833,932
Rum proof gallons 4,952,352
Brandy proof gallons 3,127,306
Geneva proof gallons 158,369
Timber loads 1,795,873
Tobacco lbs. 25,331,709
Wino gallons. 5,375,334
Cotton' cwt. 7,082,503
Sheep's wool lbs. 78,119,928 103,364,235

, -
The total declared value of all the exports arctounted
to 7,628,7601., which, as compared with the lik© month
in 1853, shows an increase of 1,595,730/.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.

eZ.

LONDON AND SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.—Tra lac re-
turn for the week ending Dec. 31, 1853 £15,594.: 10 10
Corresponding week last year 15,07f; 12 5

Increase in 1853 £5lT 18 5
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILIVAT.—
Traffic return for the week ending Dec. 31,
1853 £10,531 0 7
Corresponding week last year 9,971 2 8
Total of the half-year to this date, 1853 369,755 910
Total of the half-year to this date, 1852 336,538 611

GLASGOW AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAlLWAY.—`lraffie To-
turn for the week ending Dec. 31, 1853 21,876 17 3
corresponding week last year 4,754 9 10
Increase in 1851

£122 7 5

BELGIUM.—The official journal publishes a decree o
the King, dated the 31st December, suppressing the im
port duty on foreign coal.
MORE DESTRUOTIVE FIRES. Yesterday afternoon,
between 1 and 2 o'clock, a fire, which at one period
threatened most serious consequences, broke out on the
premises of Mr. Crane, oil and colourman, situate at the
corner of Ryder's-court and Lisle-street, Leicester-
square. The flames commenced from some unexplained
cause, in the basement floor, in which a valuable stock
of oils and other goeds were deposited. The engines of
the London Brigade and West of England quickly
attended, and two of the powerful machines were set
to work • but the fire could not be got out me til the
flames had penetrated into the grand cigar depot of Mr.
Micholeske, No. 21, in Ryder's-court. Fortunately, the
damage done at each place, although considerable;•will not
prevent business from being carried on as before.
Both sufferers were insured. A fire broke out, at a late
hour on Monday night, on the premises of Mr. J. Coles,
No. 1, Brett's-buildings, Hoxton. The building was
occupied as a trimming manufactory. The flames i when
first discovered were raging in the ground-floor, and so
rapidly did they extend that at one period there sseemed
not the least chance of saving any portion of th e pro-
perty. The engines of the London Brigade were soon
on the spot, and a plentiful supply of water having' been
obtained from the mains of the East London Com.pany,
the engines were set to work ; but the fire was not: sub-
dued until the premises were partially destroyed. The
loss will fall upon the London and British Empire
Mutual Fire Offices.

ACCIDNNT AT THESOUTHAMPTON DOCKS.—Yestcrday
morning, between five and six o'clock, the various per-
sons in and about the vicinity of the docks were some-
what startled by a loud crashing nose, and upon discovery
it was found to be caused by the falling of the immense
"shears" (or in plainer terms, "crane"), which were
erected at the south side of the docks for the purpose of
raising boilers in and out of ships, &c., and other dead
weight. So strong was the construction of' this
machine, that as much as fifty tons could be raised at
one time by its beautifully constructed levers. The
exact cause of the accident has not yet been satisfac-
torily ascertained, but it is conjectured that the
foundation could not have been sufficiently strong to
boar its immense weight. In its fall it carried away
a very large poition of the dock wall adjacent, and had
it not happened that the shears fell inland, and not into
the dock, there is little doubt but that the Peninsular and
Oriental Company's steam-ship Madrid, which has been
undergoing repair for some time past, and which is
placed directly beneath them, must have been partially,
if not wholly destroyed, as well perhaps as some lives
have been sacrificed. The " pair of shears" was erected
some few years ago by the Dock Company at an enor-
mous expense, and from their now damaged appearance
there is no doubt that they must be replaced by new
ones, which will incur an expense of some few thousand
pounds. The noise of the crash was heard for more than
a mile distant.