Evening star., 1914-10-04

the war spirit, became the arena of
the greatest combat in the worlds his
tory. There were 5.962,306 men of
Slavic blood ready to respond to the
call to arms, the full war strength of
that vast country.
By far the largest connected empire
of the world, Russia represents one
twenty-sixth of the earth's surface. 1t
covers an area of 5000 miles by 1900
miles, irrespective of the islands Its
rivers are many and large. To the north
are the Dwina and Omega; the Neva and
the Narva flow into the Gulf of Finland,
while the Nieman changes its name to
Memel before it enters Prussia. The Wis.,
tula has its source in Austria and partly
belongs to that country, its most impor-
tant branch being the Bug, rising in
Galicia, about which much is heard now
in connection with eastern hostilities.
The Volga, emptying into the Black
sea, is the largest river in Europe.
Other rivers of Importance are the
Dniester and the Dnieper. Eastward,
the Ural mountains, and southeast
the boundary line between Europe and
Asia.
It is. however the western part of
this vast dominion, on Russian Poland,
cused, for there Russia and Austria the
latter the first nation to start the awful
maeistrom have locked arms IN the trag-
edy of the ages Anciently. an independ-
ent kingdom. Poland, after its unsuccess-
ful insurrection in 1868. passed its SOW
ereignty to Russia, with which it became
fully Incorporated in 1874.
Car Nicholas II, who presides over
the destiny of this mighty nation. is
described as a scholar and a man of ar
f0r 1ay1f tha-
of action. 1t was by his order Septem-
ber l. that the name of the capital of
tho empire, borne since 1872. when it
was founded by Peter the Great was
changed from St. Petersburg to Petro-
grad. thus eliminating all trace of Teu-
tonic origin and giving the Slavonic
derivation.
Poland is divided into ten govern
ments. each bearing the name of it's
chief city, Warsaw being the capital of
its government and of the kingdom.
VfstuIa and numbers among it's popu-
lation,, Roman Catholics, Jews, German
Protestants and a large membership of
the Greek Church. With Praga its sub
early in September. the kaiser thus
hoping to offset Russian victories over
the German army in Galicia. Ten miles
from the Russian border the German
forces were repelled and driven on by
Russian cavalry. after the city was Sc
verely bombarded.
the thirteenth century. Until 1926 it
passed through many vicissitudes, when
1t became the kingdom of the dukes of
Masovia. Later it was the residence of
King Sigismund II. In 1909 Sigismund
III made it permanent capital. 1t
surrendered to Charles x of Sweden,
but was regained by John Casimir, a
native of Poland, in 1856. Charles XII
occupied it for a short period before
comforting the crown of Poland on
Stanislas Leszczynski. Under the elect
ors of Saxony, it was one of the most
splendid capitals of Europe. From this
time until its incorporation by Russia,
Warsaw was the scene of many his
toric events.
The city has about a dozen squares,
the finest, Saxon Square. having an
obelisk to the memory of the Poles
who continued faithful to Russia in the
insurrection of 1880. One of the most
famous avenues is Cracow Suburb, with
Thorwaldsen's equestrian statue of Jo-
seph Poniatowski and the new world.
Among the chief attractions of Warsaw
are the splendid gardens laid out in
1721 by Augustus II, the Krasinski
palace and garden, Constantine Square,
the Royal and Bruhl palaces and the
oil hSh Do