The industrial paralysis was at first, of course, much worse
than anything ever experienced in this country ; but day by day the volunteer services were extended and became more efficient. The railway companies slowly but continually added to the number of trains, and the number of omnibuses, in spite of stone-throwing and wreckage at first, ccntinually increased. A casual observer might have thought that an undergraduate driving an omnibus with broken windows and protected by boarding and barbed wire had not often enjoyed himself so much. There was no shortage in the food supply, and though newspapers were naturally unable to appear in their usual form, improvised organizations in the offices produced progressively better results. The Government took over the Morning Post office and produced an official paper called the British Gazette. The Trades Union Congress, for its part, produced a paper called the British Worker, at the office of the Daily Herald. The strike of the London taxi-cab drivers, which was not expected by most people, was declared on the night of Wednesday, May 5th. The position of those drivers who own their cabs was considered by their particular association and it was decided to leave them free to use their own judgment about continuing or ceasing work. A quarter of a million special constables were recruited throughout the country. • • a a •
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