Evening star., 1926-05-04
STRIKE PARALYZES BRITAIN:
LONDON CROWDS In TUMULT

Continued from First Page)
mainly of strike risks" which were
taken out by owners of commercial
concerns to protect them against pos
slble damage to their property In cas-
OF rioting. For the ma jority OF these
rate Of 2 shillings 8 pence per f100
was paid, but in what are regarded as
the danger areas. the quotations on
general foodStuffS and merchandise
ranged from to 10 shillings per f100.
Private motor car owners in large
numbers took out assurances on their
cars against the risks of civil commo-
ton" at rate Of ! shilling per 800.
Food Deliveries Kept Up.
Health and food services continued,
partly because of the provisions made
by the Trades Union Congress and
partly through the great government
portation of foodstuffs and other
necessaries of life SO that there might
| be a minimum Of suffering.
Apart from emergency trains.
scarcely a wheel turned on the great
network Of railways. TramWays,
busses and other normal forms OF
transport ceased operations. Coal.
iron and allied industries closed down.
Workers supplying gas and electricity
for power purposes were idle. All
buildings. other than for housing and
hospital work stopped.
Even the newspapers as A whole
were silent this morning, and the
country therefore was dependent on
the radio for news. il the strikers do
not carry out their threat TO block its
working. Tradesmen, the banks and
the various professions were contlnu-
ing as we'll as was possible under
the circumstances.
City Has Great Bustie.
When London awoke this morning
it found itself faced with an anomaly.
1t had been expected that. with the
cessation OF traffic the metropolis
would be faif Y quiet. But not IN
wears WIS tit"r, su.,h congestion of
vehicles. for not only thousands of
strikers were abroad. but non-striking
workers came pouring into the city In
every available convenience and many
on foot
Conditions in Picadillv Circus
trafalgar Square. Parliament Square
and other points where traffic con
verges became so hopeless that pas
sengers were forced to desert their
taxicabs and motor cars and make
their way to work on foot.
All the roads leading into London
were filled with solid streams OF motor
cars of every description and OF every
vintage. including pre-war machines.
Thousands of persons pedaled along
amid the motor traffic on bicycles and
tandems Motor lorries Joined the
procession and with all came a great
r1ft
on shanks' mares.
Trudge Miles to Work.
Old and young, many Of them wom-
en- and girls. trudged toward their or
fees and shops. Some of the pedes-
trians had covered many miles. The
star turn in this medley was taken by
an energetic man who made his way
through one Of the main thorough
fares on roller skates amid cheering
from the onlookers. The reinforced
police SQUADS worked as they rarely
had worked before to keep traffic un-
tangled and crawling. And crawl was
the best il could do.
Scores Of thousands OF idlers lined
the streets watching traffic Jams or
gathered in groups TO discuss the
strike situation. Any sort of activity
of especjal interest was soldiers pa
rading at wellington Barracks near
Buckingham Palace. Long lines of
people stood with their noses between
the iron ratings of the fence watching
the lraneuvers. Strike pickets began
TO operate in various sections or Lon
don during the morning.
The largest government ammunition
factory in Great Britain. Woolwich
Arsenal. became involved In the strike
when the workers failed to report for
duty Pickets We're thrown about the
arsenal and as a precaution the gov
ernment placed troops inside 1t.
A few non-un!on busses, known
as pirates" were running this
morning and the metropolitan rail
way was managing to maintain
service on the short run between
Baker street and Harrow.
Milk supply Delivered.
The vernments iirst news bulle-
tin. issued over the wireless this
morning. was a notification from the
railway information bureaus that the
transport service for the supply of
milk was working according to
schedule.
Reports from the provinces We're
msager owing to the restricted news
services, bat conditions similar to
those in London obtained there.
Edinburgh. with the aid OF Volun-
teers. maintained a skeleton service
OF tram cars and busses and the two
evening newspapers continued TO
publish.
There was remarkable response
10 the strike call in Manchester. NO
trains are running and except for
the volunteer service the whole
transport organization OF the city is
dead =.
Rail Stations Picketed.
The principal Manchester stations
were picketed shortly after mid
night and no trains left for London.
The Manchester Guardian proposes
to give the people the news in
small typewriter sheet.
Just how many workers are ar
fected by the strike has not been
definitely ascertained, but the esti-
mates run from -2,500,000 upward TO
around 100000 4 The latest avail
able statistics 81 Sw that last Sep