The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1915-10-07
cITYS VARIED HISTORY
WILMA HAS LONG BEEN A PLACE
OF IMPORTANCE.
Made Capital Of the Province Of Llthu~
ania In the Fourteenth Century,
Figured In the Disastrous
Campaign Of Napoleon.

They call wilma Little Paris" The
resemblance is not. however. striking
to the western eye. When you have
discovered that Wilma stands on
river, with hills rising above 1t, you
will find little more suggestion OF
Paris. les river, the Villya. can hard
ly be 200 yards wide, and flows
through many winding gorges or de-
files dense1y Swallowed by fir and
birch, The town is crowded In mar
row and not too savory streets on the
slopes of the hills. and above it, on
the summit, called Zamkooaya Cora.
or Castle hill, stand the ruins Of an
eight-sided tower Of red brick, the
remains Of the castle which Gedynim,
grand prince of Lithuania, built early
In the fourteenth century, when he es-
tablished Wilma as his capital. But
the site has much older history.
Whatever the primitive faith of the
Lithuanians may have been - and
strange are the stories in old chron-
icles-it is reasonably certain that
worshiping a sacred fire kept forever
burning, like the flame of the Roman
Vestals, at the foot of this Castle hill.
We may, therefore, assume that vii
ma, like Chartres and many another
city now forever associated with the
glories and the mysteries of the Chris
tian faith, was a shrine of an older
and grimmer religion long before its
hills had heard the message of Chris
tianity. On the spot where the pagan
fire famed stands now a place like
Greek temple, the Cathedral Of st.
Stanislas. wherein is the silver coffin
Of the great Polish saint, Casimir. But
there is sanctuary in Wilma more
honored. Above the old town gate
near the railway station there Is a
chapel which possesses an image Of
the Virgin far-famed for miracles.
You may see the street below full OF
ranks OF worshipers kneeling and
crouching in prayer. Catholics Of the
Latin and of the Greek church unite
In their faith in the Virgin of the o.
ira Drama chapel.
Wilma is the headquarters of the gov
ernor general of the Lithuanian prov
inces and Of an army corps. 1t is an
important educational center. 1t has
a large trade in timber and grain. At
the present time its population may
be estimated at 100000 people. But
its chief importance Is neither admin
istrative nor commercial. 1t stands
at the junction of the railways from
Berlin and Warsaw to Petrograd. that
is. 1t is one of the greatest centers OF
communication in Russia. From the
German frontier it is 100 miles dis
tant, from Petrograd more than 400.
From Warsaw it is 257 miles. But
these railways, though the most i'm
portant, are not the only lines which
converge on wilma. II is connected by
a line running southeast, through
Minsk, with Kieff and the great re-
sources Of southern Russia, while yet
another branch gives communication
due south with the fortress of Brest-
Litovsk and the Pripet valley and
Rovno Through Minsk on the south
eastern line runs the railway, which
by way of Smolensk reaches Moscow,
1t was wilma which Napoleon chose
as the advanced base of his famous
invasion of Russia. He secured the
line of the Niemen and made Wilma
the strategic center of the French
forces. When he advanced he left
Murat in command of his magazines
and hospitals. The greatest of French
leaders of cavalry seems an odd and
ineyplcable choice for such post.
Nor did Murat, who might have done
much for the advance and something
for the retreat, distinguish himself
at the base His men when the dis
aster Of Moscow was known pillaged
the stores and left behind 10000 sick
and wounded and 100000 francs. Ma
poleon had run away from the place
in disguise some days before. When
the Russians came back, twelve days
later they found in one hospital alone
$500 dead bodies piled like pigs OF
load ono above the other"