Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-19
PARIS MAIL CARRIERS STRlKE
Postal Employees Join Walkout of Tel
egraph and Telephone Operators.
FRANCE PRACTICALLY ISOLATED
Military Photographers Man Only
Wires Working TO Foreign Points
wires Are Cut and SWITCH
boards Damaged.

PARIS, March 1S.-The letter carriers
have Joined the strike Of the ~telegraphers,
telephone operators and mail clerks EN-"
ployed by the Postoffice department. At a
meeting tonigh they voted by a large
majority TO begin a strike tomorrow after
the first delivery. Eight hundred postmen
employed i'm the delivery of newspapers ana
parcels, went out after the last dis
tribution tonight.
The strike movement gained greatly
throughout the day, Paris being practically
isolated from the rest of France and
Frarce from the outside world, Eight
thousand strikers met tonight and passed
a resolution to maintain the struggle to
the bitter end.
Peter Clemenceau declares the govern
ment is rcady for a fight and Will not
recede in its determination TO force the
strikers to the wall. A very serious
situation, however. has arisen through the
inability OF the government to
cate with it's foreign representatives and
tonight the strikers cut the private tele-
phone wire connecting the Elysee palace
with the yarious ministries. Troops are
held in readiness at Versailles to reinforce
the Paris troops in case any demonstrations
" q scr NUS laAhAb
is A holiday. There is an alarming rumor
late tonight that the secretary of the Ran
road Employees VI ion has promised 10
order out these men in a sympathetic
strike,
France Practically Isolated.
France for a time tonight was practically
completely cut off from Geographic com
muncatlon with the remainder of the world
,,a D,r{g mae fcn1ataa After a few hours,
however, telephone communication between
this city and London and Berlin was re-
stored by means of volunteers from other
branches Of the public service. About lao
military photographers are now at work In
the central station and naval telegraphers
are on their way here from Brest.
Premier Clemenceau tonight fatty refused
to offer terms to the strikers. lie told the
justices of Paris. who called to see him
relative to what the government proposed
10 do to end the serious situation, and VINO
suggested a bill creating a superior council
of the administrator which could consider
the employees grievances, that the govern
ment would promise nothing while the en-
ployes remained away from their posts.
The premier declared that the strike was
senseless, entailing the gravest conse-
quences not only to the business OF France,
but to the country itself from an interns-
tional point of view. He pointed out that
the government now was without highly
important diplomatic communications and
concluded by saying: 'The employees want
TO fight, we accept, and l am confident
that the government Will win"
strike Extends Rapidly.
The strike extended rapidly throughout
the day and al & O'Clock the operators at
the Bourse station, who remained at their
posts long after the central station was
paraly zed, marched out, severing the last
strands, which included the French Gable
company's New Y0rk-Bnest eemmunica-
tons. simultaneously the failure of the
night shift Of telephone operators to make
their appearance put the final means of
quick communication out OF commission.
The situation in the province cannot be
considered much better, the public service
employees in most Of the larger cities fol-