Santa Claus Held Up

The Government employees in the Post and Telegraph Offices, having been refused increases in salaries and Christmas bonuses amounting to about 11,000,000,000 kronen, went on strike.

Thousands of sacks of mail were piled up in the post offices. The telgraphic and telephonic systems were paralyzed. The stock exchange was forced to close; the banks were prevented from doing business, owing to non-delivery of the foreign rate; ordinary trade in Vienna was brought to a standstill because no mail was distributed: the nation was faced with a gloomy Christmas.

The Government, cheery about the situation, held that its budget was controlled by the League of Nations and that it was under obligation not to abuse the trust in which other nations had placed their confidence.