FRENCH STRIKE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14324, 14 October 1910, Page 5

FRENCH STRIKE.

STILL EXTENDING. PARIS SHORT OF FOOD, MARTIAL LAW THREATENED. Press Association —By Tel.—Copyright. PARIS, Oct. 12. In conaeqquenco of ths railway strike, the provisioning of Paris has already become a serious question. Only half the usual supplies were received to-day. The strike delays all European mails, and the cutting of the wires has disorganised the Paris northern telephone service.

A train was approaching Paris at a high speed" when it was found that tlie Westinghouse brake hud been tampered with. It dashed into .Vusterlitx station, but fortunately the line was ciear, and an accident was averted.

Troops guard the chief bridges aud stations on the Northern railway. "L« Matin " says that the lines in the vicinity of the Belgian frontier have been torn up.

STRIKE EXTENDING. The men on the Eastern, Western, Lyons, and Mediterranean railways have decided to strike to-day. The

:• nication with reference to the high prices of food accentuates the strikers' determination to obtain an increase of wages. If ail the western men strike, an additional 42,000 will be affected. One hundred an dtwenty thousand dwellers in Paris suburbs use the railways dailv.

EN GLAND AFFECTED. LONDON, Oct. 12. Tho English passenger traffic to the Continent is demoralised, and the route to Ost-end is now being utilised, as not a single passenger crossed in the Calais Dover boat.

STRIKE EXTENDED. WIDESPREAD EFFECTS. Received 10.25 p.m., Oct. 13tli. PARIS, Oct. 13. Tho mobilisation order affects all railways except tho Midi system. The men are summoned for twenty-one days' service, beginning to-morrow. Four hundred railway men at Lille resolved to disobey tho order. Partial strikes have occurred at Versailles, Rouen. Rennes, and Havre. Troops have occupied these stations.

Strikers blocked the Parisian suburbs, and held up trains at Bois de Colonies. They threatened to shoot the drivers, and destroyed the signals. They stopped cattle trains near Asniares, opened the trucks and allowed the cattle to escape. A boat train for Dieppe, crowded with passengers for England, was unable to get beyond Acheres, and returned to Paris. TRAFFIC AT STANDSTILL.

Traffic at the western stations in Paris is at a standstill.

A driver, for leaving his engine outside Pontoise, was sentenced to two months. The Public Prosecutor is prosecuting the ring-leaders. Heavy goods from Paris for Britain are being forwarded by barges oil the Seine. The parcels traffic is suspended at several stations. The stall' at Kouen, with 3000 workers in the railway workshops, have struck, and 300 out of 700 at Boulogne, including many drivers and stokers. Those still driving are escorted by gendarmes.

ELECTRICIANS GO OUT. PROJECT OF DARKNESS. The Paris metropolitan electricians have proclaimed a general strike, r.n.l the city will possibly be plunged in semi-darkness.

Dover mails for France go to Ostend. Passengers from Calais are few. No French flowers or vegetables now reach Covent Garden.

Tickets from London to Paris \:a' Calais or Boulogne are being issued at the passengers' risk. Very few [.''ople arc crossing in either direction. No bookings are made via Newhaven beyond Dieppe except at passena «'s' risk.

The service Berlin to Paris, via Boulogne, is completely interrupted.

The strikers attacked a man with an automobile who was bringing passengers to Jcumont. ■

Freight is accumulating at the frun tiers.

The Eastern Franca railway lia-3 conceded some of the men's demands. M. Millerand, Minister of Pose and Telegraphs, has announced that tho mail service to England is assured. Ho adds that 12S trains entered and left the northern terminus in Paris yesterday.

IMPROVEMENTS NOTED. MEN RESUME V/OSIK. A noticeable improvement is reports J at Lille. All the eastern trains left the terminus in Paris, and tho service thence is now normal. Of 200 strikers 110 have rcsinicd work. Seven hundred sacks of letters i'f i lie last United States mail were strandc-i at Havre, but have been brought to Paris via the Seine by a tug. A number of strikers on the Northern railway have resinned. POOD PRICES RISING. Received 12.30 a.m., Oct. l<lth. LONDON, Oct. 13. The " Times's" Paris correspondent says it has been suggested in some quarters that tho agitators should bo tried by tho Senate as a High Court of Justice, on a. charge of conspiracy against tho safety of the State. Paris is dependent on the Northern, railway for coal and flour; on the AVostorn for meat, fish and milk; on the Lyons-Mcwlitorranoau for fruit and vegetables. The prices of perishables have risen 20 per cont.

1B ..Bourso is firm, bolieving tho situation to be untenable, and oannot last.

STONING- A DRIVER. PARIS, Oct. 13. Pnssengora by tlio first train running tho gauntlet from Pari ß to Coft fa«

the drivci'. He has been twentyeight years in the Company's service. Strikers at Amies stoned Charlet's engine.

There are 500 strikers at Calais, mostly handlers of coal and carriage cleaners.

Mobilisation will bo stringently enforced, and men are liable to be courtmartialled as in war time for insubordination. MEN WILL NOT MOBILISE. PARIS, October 11. A large meeting of railway men, held at the Labour Exchange, resolved to disobey the mobilisation order directing them to work tlie trains.