Gunnison news-champion., 1914-08-28
uHW WIM P|)Ml
M osWAardsd ~ ~ essmaas
Means Much 10 cxar.
= oxosis's e~ss4 Novel &c., sor the
osssie, Conssrsctsa - Sssa Ga-
Ssaos, sas Csossr ter tsse
oubaarsae e.o&itlas.

II the bonsbsrdmest of I.ibaa BY .
German wsrship Was effective. then
Russia was certainly woanded in one
Of her most important naval strategic
positions. To Russia L.ibau is q port
of very great concern and one that
normally In time OF war should be Of
prime importance ~ her especially in
the winter time.
St Petersburg is substantially Ice
bound for months each year This 10
the reason for Iibaus military sienif
canee This Baltic city lies far enough
south OF the capital to be substantially
an open port the year round, and by q
moderate use of an ice breaker eontin
NOUS intercourse by sea Is maintained
the winter through BY vessels running
to Germany England and the United
States. In fact. Libau is the home
port for the Russian volunteer feet
whose ships enter New York.
Originally Libau offered poor induce
ments for either q naval base or Q
commercial port. the town lying upon
q stretch Of low sandy coast directly
exposed to the sweep Of the Baltic
gales, while the water on shore deep
ened 80 gradually that its shallowness
induced . very nasty sort of sea How.
ever, 1t WAS . matter OF necessity and
DOney was not allowed to count.
Accordingly, the Russian authorities
adopted heroic measures and set about
the building Of an artificial harbor
With characteristic extravagance the
work WAS started and carried through
tn the faee Of many aiAculties.
To-day Lbau boasts two harbors,
and both lie behind q great breakwates
more than four miles long, pierced by
two narrow and heavily guarded en-,
frances. Once inside Of that shelter
. very large feet can anchor securely
no matter how hard 1t may blow In
the Baltic without II was there that
Admiral Rozhdestvensky assembled
his ships before setting out for the
far East and the fateful battle OF
Tsushima
Breakwaters are commonly built of
big masses Of piled rock capped with
q topping of cut stone But ordinary
practice was out of the question at Ia
bau. and the engineers were soon face
to face with serious difficulty. Rocks
were scarce In that sandy region. and
even small stones could be gathered
only by dint of good deal of search.
ing
To overcome the dearth of desirable
material OF natures making and to
avoid the impracticable alternative of
bringing rock overland by very made.
quate rail facilities, it was decided to
fashion monster blocks of concrete,
weighing 80 tons apiece, out of the
readily available sand. In this way
millions of dollars were spent in the
producing of artificial stone, and these
enormous units were dumped upon the
bed of the Baltic until they reached
above the waters surface
For some years Libau has been the
prime Baltic center for Russias sub.
marine fiotillas and an instructional
base for these craft. Indeed. the ad
miralty has been engaged for some
years in working out a general sv-
tenn of submarine defence for the pal
tic. and any grave damage to tn rsrt
will seriously affect her strategic Hro.
gram for those waters.
Although bombarded by the Ger
mans, II is doubtful II any material
damage has been done the navy yard
and the destruction of the town. unlike
the hidden naval basin and docks
would not hamper the port in a mill.
tary sense
II must not be forgotten that Jdbau
is naturally an important railway ter.
minal. with lines running both bach
toward the Bussian-German frontier
and up along the coast to the other
Baltic ports, with northern terminal
at ST. Peters burg. For purposes of
supply il is therefore OF the greatest
concern to Russia to hold the harbor
OF Libau open to her shipping and 10
other craft bringing her contrabara
The German attack was logical. hut If
is yet TO be learned whether or NOT The
results were conclusive II so tho
kaiser has scored heavily against the
czar should the present struggle run
on into the winter months.