The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-09-23
A DEAD CITY OF THE BALTIC.
The Modern World Knows Little of visby,
Once Queen Of the Sea-"

y,
Once Queen of the Sea-
Its silent, grass-grown streets and
the BACKED ruins of its once stately
churches suggest mournful retrospect.
Yet the Visby of to-day merits more at
tention than it obtains from visitors to
Sweden and the Baltic. Its once ia bu-
lous wealth has departed from it. The
housewives no longer, as in the old ira
dition, use golden spindles. nor do the
hogs eat from silver troughs, while of
the eighteen churches of which the
town once boosted seventeen now lie
in irretrievable ruin. wrecked, it would
seem, rather by the ruthlessness of
man.
Still Visby, even in ruins-we may
say, indeed, because of its ruins and
the asSocia tions that cling to them-is
full of interest. It's early prosperity
was largely due to the convenient posi-
ton 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 established, 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 eve
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.
Visby was one of the first to be en-
rolled among the Hanse towns, and
took leading part in the famous
league. Its maritime code has served
as a 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. al
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 double profit.
They betook themselves, with other
representatives of the league, to Lon
don, and esta blished close to Thames
street a house called the Steelvard,
which flourished for upward of three
centuries. Meanwhile the population
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 esta blished
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 Nisby lies in its gray
walls. which, as a specimen of ancient
fortification, are almost unique.
Gdtland in the old DAYS was a pros
porous and important center, but little
remains of its early greatness. The
sole existing trace of former indie
pendence is a standing army which be-
longs exclusively to the island, and can
oe employed only in its 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 uoon. Yet of
so much Importance is the island from
Its geographical position and natural
defenses that from strategic point of
view it might readily be made a pad
dock upon the CULTS of Finland and
Bothnia. 1t has even been declared
chat by means of G"tland the Russian
navy could be locked up and the naviga-
tion of the Baltic communication
bar