Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-23
TRAFFIC At A STANDSTILL
Seven Of Nine Lines Out Of KOssOw Ar,
Tied Up by Strike.
CITY LIKELY TO Be SHORT OF PROVISIONS
Shipments of Grain Delayed and
work Hardship to Those sections
as Well as 20 the Famine
Stricken Districts.

MOSCOW, oct 22.-Trafic on seven OF the
nine main trunk arteries OF commerce ra-
dating from Moscow was completely par
alyzed today by the railroad strike and the
commercial heart of Russia has been shut
of from all communication with the rest
of the empire except the narrow section to
the northwestward, including st. Peters
burg and the Baltic provinces Though the
government has ordered the railroad battal-
ions OF the army to proceed to Moscow and
take the places of the strikers for the pur-
pose Of restoring traffic, the revolutionists,
by a sudden and unexpected blow, have
shown their ability to lay their hands on
the throats OF the nations commercial life.
The employees Of four railroads struck to-
day and only the lines running over the
Nicholai road to st. Petersburg and over
the windau & Rybinsk road to Riga and
other Baltic ports are open. Traffic is at
standstill on the Kazan line and the line to
Yaroslav and Archangel. The strikers to-
day forced the employees Of the general Off
ces and financial departments of three lines,
the windau Rybinsk, the Moscow &
Brest-Litovsk and the Klein & Voronezh,
to quit work.
City short of Food.
The city is feeling the effect OF the fam
strike will cause serious embarrassment
and even suffering to the population. The
renewal of the factory strikes is not i'm
| probable.
An important development today was the
strike on the Brest-Litovsk road, which
| runs to Smolensk, Minsk and Warsaw, and
| carries international traffic from Moscow to
| Germany. Austria and other parts Of Eu-
| rope. Though the workers in the shops of
this road struck yesterday the trains con-
| tinued to run until o'clock this afternoon,
/ when the engineers and firemen drew the
| fires and deserted the engines. Commune
cation with points abroad. however, is still
open by way of St. Petersburg and Pakoff
During the morning crowd Of strikers
proceeded to the freight station of the
Kursk road and let off the steam of eight
engines, drove away the guards and forced
the employees to cease work. Traffic over
the road thereupon stopped Later the
strikers were attacked by a crowd COM
posed of the rougher elements of the popu'
lation, but order was finally restored by
Cossacks. Otherwise no special disorders
have been reported.
Impedes Grain Movement.
The strike coming at this tisle. is apt tC
seriously cripple the work of relief in tbs
famine stricken provinces and also to i'm
pede the movement of this years grair
crop as the railroads. even under norma
conditions. are not able to oskeep the grail
crop moving promptly. Official reports
show that ,9s4 loaded cars were awaiting
removal on October ~, in various soction
and that the grain and coal handling dis
tricts are daily increasing their accurnula
tions at the railroad stations.
Great suffering is certain IL the requisit
supplies of grain and other provisions can
, not be forwarded into the famine-strickel
districts where up to the present the worl
of relief has not been carried out success
fully.