Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-30
SCENES OF THE RIOTS
SOMETHING ABOUT ODESSA AND
LIBAU, RUSSIA.
Odessa to Cars Empire What New
York is to United States-Libau
q Naval Base.

Americans will best understand the situa-
! ton In ODESSA. which Is held under the
| guns Of the battleship Kniaz Potemkin. by
supposing that the United States battle
ship Ohio should lie of in the Mississippi
river and lombard New Orleans.
New Orleans as q commercial city and
in point of population does not occupy as
important position in the United States
as Odessa does in Russia, but geographical
Iy and in the Importance OF their shipping
| interests they are very similar.
Commercially Odessa Is to Russia what
New York is to the United States: and
| while there 10 no comparison between the
two cities in point Of size. population or
| the magnitude Of commerce. still one can
| readily imagine what battleship like the
| Ohio could do II, unmolested she should
come inside the Hook and shell New York.
Fourth City Of the Empire.
| Odessa is the most important city and
seaport in southern Russia and the fourth
city of the empire in population. 1t is situ-
| ated in the government Of Kherson. on an
| elevation sloping toward an inlet Of the
| Black sea- It lies about thirty-two miles
| northeast Of the mouth of the Dniester and
93s miles by rail southwest Of Moscow.
The general appearance and atmosphere
| of Odessa are rather European than Rus
| Sian. The city was built during the nine
| tenth century and is. therefore. one Of
| the youngest among the large cities of Rus
| STA It is regularly laid out around the
| bay. and has number of fine streets and
| squares, from which magnificent views OF
| the sea are obtained. The most popular
| boulevard Is the Nikolayevsky boulevard,
from which a grand stairway leads to the
| bay.
| There are many fine buildings. both &C.
| clesiastieal and secular. The chief among
| them are the cathedral, the stock ex-
| change the theater, the governors palace,
| the city hall, the municipal library. contain
| ing $1,000 volumes, and the university build
| ing. Monuments to Alexander II, Cathe-
| rtne II and Pushkin adorn various sections
| OF the town.
Many Religious Edifces.
There are about twenty-five orthodox
| churches number Of naonastertes and syn
agogues and a few reformed churches. In
| the southern and eastern parts OF the city
are situated number of parks, among
which the chief are the Alexandrovsk Park
| and the botanical garden
While Odessa is primarily commercial
| place, 1t is also of considerable industrial
| Importance In 1899 it had over 500 large
| Industrial establishments, employing about
81 600 persons and with the output of over
| $50, 600 year. The chief establishments
| are flour mills, sugar refineries. match fac
| tories, brewerieS cannerieS and iron works.
| The population increased with remark
able rapdity during the last century The
| first settlers were mostly Greeks, Italians
and Albanfans and in 1902 numbered 1900.
In 1901 the population was 10000, of whom
| nearly two-thirds were Jews The foreign
population is now about 5000
Takes Name From the Greek.
Odessa takes its name from the Greek
settlement Odessa which existed there in
ancient times. In the fifteenth century the
Turks constructed on the present site the
fortress of KhadJi-Bey, which was taken
by the Russians in 1850. In 1913 the place
was fortified by the Russians, and a year
la ter received it's present name. The growth
of the town was fostered by Paul 1 and by
the wise and beneficent administration OF
the Due de Richeleu. In 1877 it was de-
clared free port, and this decree remain
ing in force until 1889. made possible Odes-
sa commercial supremacy in southern Rus
STA.
There are about 10000 troops of all arms
at Odessa, but there are no Notifications in
which they could stand a siege If the riot
ers and mutineers got the upper hand
The Russians of Odessa comprise scarcely
one-third of the inhabitants of the city,
about 10000 of the residents being Jews
and the remainder Greeks, Armenians
Turks and people of various European ma
tionalitfes. In general the members of the
lower classes OF ODESSA are persons of the
most desperate character.
Libau Important Naval Base.
Libau is Russia's most important naval
base on the Baltic sea. It is fortified and
has large naval arsenal. Recently the
last few warships of the Russian Baltic
feet have been fitting out at I.ibau osten-
stbly for a cruise to the far east. All the
previous squadrons and divisions of the
Russian fleet which went to the far east
made Ltbau their last Russian port of call.
Since the war with Japan began there
have been reports of dtsaffection among the
sailors at Libau and of many minor Iisings
among them
Libau Is far to the north, on the Baltic
sea. II is small city of not more than
$1,000 inhabitants, but nevertheless is an
important port and easily completes with
the northern ports Of Russia.
The principal exports are grain, seed and
timber. The small water front has many
spacious warehouses There are no Ameri-
can residents of Libau.
The Black Sea Fleet.
The battleships of the Black sea fleet are
the Ekaterina II, Tchesma, Shops. OWEN
adsat Apostolof. Gorgei Pobiedonosets, Tri
Sviatitelia, Rostislav and the Kniaz Potem-
kin, now in the hands of the mutineers at
Odessa.
The three cruisers are the Pamyat Mer
kurya, a protected cruiser: the Otchakof,
an armored cruiser, and the Kagul, pro-
tected.
The three torpedo boats are the Kapitan
Saken, Kazarsk! and Griden.
The KniaZ Potemkin Tavritchesky is of
about 500 tons displacement and carries
four tweve-inch, sixteen six-inch, four
teen twelve-pounders, six three-pounders.
six one-pounders and two six-inch field
guns. There are also five torpedo tubes.
The officers and crew of the Kniaz Potem-
kin before the seizure numbered $3.50.