New-York tribune., 1909-03-18
PARIS GETS NO NEWS
LETTER CARRIERS JOIN
RANKS OF STRIKERS.
Troops at Versailles Held Ready to
Enter CdWtaLBuSin6SS
Suffering.

Paris. March 1.-THE letter carriers have
Joined the striking telegraphers, telephone oper-
ators and mail clerks employed by the Post
Office Department. At meeting to- night they
voted by large majority to begin a strike to
morrow after the first delivery Eight hundred
postmen. employed in the delivery Of news
papers an9 osrce's. wsrg. out after the lasr uis-
tribution tonight.
NJ. .Barthou, Minister Of Public Works, after
a long conference with the strike leaders.
nounced that all strikers who did not resume
work within twenty-four hours would be con
sidered as having resigned Examination Of ap-
plicants to replace them will be opened AT noon
In the mean time, all the telegraphers who can
he spared from the provinces viii he drafted
into Paris
only two men are now working on the trunk
telephone line to London. II is expected that
within a few hours all Of the employees OF the
post. telegraph, telephone and pneumatic sys-
TENS will be out. Telephone service to Italy
ceased last night It is estimated that through
out the country not fewer than ten million let
ters and two hundred and fifty thousand dis
patches are held up.
The strike movement gained greatly through
out the day. Paris being practically isolated
from the rest Of France and France from the
outside world. Eight thousand strikers met to-
night and passed a resolution TO maintain the
struggle to the bitter end. Premier Clemenceau
says that the government is ready for tight
and will not recede in its determination to force
the strikers to the wall A serious situation
however, has arisen through the inability of the
government to communicate with its foreign
representatives. and tonight the strikers cut
the private telephone wire connecting the Elysee
Palace with the various ministries. Troops are
held in readiness at Versailles to reinforce the
IL ,fs,r- nf q
serious nature occur tomorrow which is a
holiday. There was an alarming rumor late to-
night that the secretary of the Railway En-
ployes Union had promised to order out these
men in a sympathetic strike.
The country for time tonight was practi-
cally completely cut off from telegraph and
telephone communication with the remainder
of the world. After a few hours. however, tele-
nhone communication between this city and
London and Berlin ~as restored by means OF
volunteers from other branches of the public
service. About one hundred and fifty military
telegraphers are now at work in the central
station. and naval telegraphers are on their way
here from Brest.
GOVERNMENT REFUSES CONCESSIONS.
Premier CIemenceau told the Justices of Paris
who called on him tonight to find out what the
go,ernrnAnt intended to do to- and suggested
hill creating superior COUNCIL u tilS dHiHHi0
tration which could consider the employees
grievances that the government would promise
nothing while the employees remained away from
their posts The Premier said that :he strike
was senseiess entaing the gravest conse-
ouences not only to the business of France. but
to the country itself from an international point
of view He pointed out that the government
was now without the highly important diplo-
matte communications and concluded b. say
ing: The employees want to fight: We accept
we will not yield, and l am confident that the
government will win
The strike extended rapidly throughout the
dav and at o'clock the operators at the Bourse
station. who remained at their posts long after
the central station was paralyzed. marched out,
severing the last strands. which included the
French cable Companys New York Brest COM
munication simultaneously the failure of the
night shift of telephone operators TO appear
ended means of quick communication.
The situation in the provinces cannot be con-
sidered much better. the public service en-
nj ves in most of the larger cities following the
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