The Forrest City times., 1893-09-22
A DEAD CITY OF THE BALTIC
The Modern World Knows Little Of yisby
 Once a Queen of the Sea-

".
 Once Queen of the Sea-"
 It's silent, grass-grown streets and the blacked ruins of it's once stately churches suggesta mournful retrospect. Yet the Visby of to-day merits more at tentlon than it obtains from visitors to Sweden and the Baltic It's once fabu- lous wealth has departed from it. The housewives no longer, as in the old tra- dltion, use golden spindles, nor do the hogs eat from silver troughs. while of the eighteen churches of which the town once boasted seventeen now lie Tn irretrievable ruin. wrecked. it would seem, rather by the ruthlessness of man.
 Stlll Nisby, even in ruins-we may say, indeed, because of its ruins and the associations that cling to them-is full of interest. It's early prosperity was largely due to the convenient posi- tion of Gotland in the Baltic. mid way between the Swedish and Russian coasts. Until the routes by Genoa and Venice and by the Cape of Good Hope were esta ablished, most of the com merce with the east passed through Russia, and Visby as place of call be- came so prominent as to gain the name of Queen of the Baltic" or the Eye of the Baltic" Old chroniclers assert that even Solomon in all his glory was poorer in gold and silver and precious stones than was this small city.
 Nisby was one of the first to be en- rolled among the Hanse towns, and took leading part in the famous league. It's maritime code has served as model for most of the European navigation laws From the first the eye" of the Baltic was mainly direct ed to business Its prosperity received royal recognition when Henry III. all lowed the merchants of Gotland the privilege of free trade as regarded pur- chase and traffic in England. The en- terprise of the traders enabled them to secure a double profit.
 They betook themselves, with other representatives of the league, to Lon don, and established close to Thames street house called the Steelyard. which flourished for upward of three centuries. Meanwhile the popula tion increased very rapidly in Visby and the variety of religions called for the erection of numerous churches and re- ligious buildings. Charitable guilds and hospitals were also established. The monks. after their wont, helped to beautify the town by planting walnut, chestnut, lime and mulberry trees, some of which still thrive. But the chief charm of Visby lies in its gray walls, which. as a specimen of ancient fertilization, are almost unique.
 Gotland in the old days was pros porous and important center, but little remains of its early greatness. The sole existing trace of former inde- pendence is standing army which be- longs exclusively to the island, and can be employed only in it's defense. Every Gotlander. from the age of eighteen to fifty or sixty, may be called upon to serve. The active services of the army are unlikely to be called upon. Yet of so much importance is the island from :ts geographical position and natural defenses that from strategic point of view it might readily be made pad- lock upon the gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. It has even been declared that bv means of Gotland the Russian navy could be locked up and the naviga- tion of the Baltic commanded. ed.-Temple Bar.