The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-12-28
VACATION CUT,
 10000 PUPILS
 GO ON STRIKE

scranton, Pa., Dec. GS-becduSe
 they did aot get their annual Christi
 raes week vacation from the School
 Board, 20,000 students of the Scran- ton public schools are on strike, and declare they will not return to their
 classes until Jan. 2.
 The mayor, local court Judges, many
 of the city's most influential citizens
 and the general public are behind the school children, and three school directors voted for the vacation, but the four other directors vetoed the proposition.
 George B. Carson, president of the local school district, declared that the
 calendar for the year had been made
 up many months ago and that 1t could not be changed. The Penn sylvania schools did not open until late in October because of the infan- tile paralysis epidemic, and Carson says the students must remain at their studies until the summer vacation. He also declared at meeting Of the board last night that to give the students a vacation now is contrary to the state school code.
 Busy With Petitions.
 Several weeks ago the students, when informed that there would be no vacation circulated petitions among the business and professional men of the city asking them to help close the schools during Christmas week. w. L Connell, IT,, son of one of Scranton's wealthiest citizens, headed the petition committee. With him were Phelps Yocum and Carl Conrad. Ae. cio od hn oofiffnn innluO- ing H. M. Edwards, presiding judge of Lackawanna county; Judge B. C.. Newconnb and Mayor E. B. Jermyn. Yesterday morning several hundred students at the Central and Technical High Schools declared a strike and refused to enter the school build ings the high school students organ ized their forces and marched in a body to local newspaper offices to give their views. At recess time they per-
 suaded other pupils to leave. their classes.
 When the board met last night young Cornell presented the petition, but it was rejected after a long and often, heated discussion. Cornell proceeded to spread the news among Ln6 IC,GVV pUp1lS Ol foS1 dIIOh. . The Strike Spreads.
 When the schools opened yesterday there were but few more than 5000 children in their class rooms. Both high schools were almost empty and some of the grade schools were com pelled to close. But 200 of the 800 stu- dents at Technical High school regis tered and only 1855 of the 750 enrolled
 at Central put in an appearance. The afternoon attendapce at the high schools dropped to 75.
 High school students, who were the
 first to strike, paraded in front of the lschools yesterday as pickets. and per- suaded pupils on their way to school 1 to join the strikers. There was no
 disorder. Of the TOO pupils registered at No.
 35 school, in the wealthiest district of the city, not one appeared yesterday and the school house was closed. Only , 35 students appeared at. 23 schol, with a registration of over 600, in North Scranton. Less than 400 pupils out of
 more than 1000 reported at No. IA
 school, in West Scranton. Only six students reported at the Snooks's Ad- dition building, and it was closed. Other grade schools reported an att tendance of 9 per cent.
 One Central High schoo. boy, who has not been tardy nor absent from a school session in six years, joined the strikers yesterday. His father said that the boy had debated the subject with himself and decided that though it would be easier for him to go to school than to stay away and break
 his record. of which he was proud, he
 would strike too The. father said the eration, and record or no record, he would do what the majority of his classmates wished.
 With the public behind the students
 the leaders of the strike are confident
 that by today every school house will have to be closed.