Evening star., 1915-06-27
.LEMBERC, METROPOLIS,
LAST GLORY Of POLAND
Description Of the Stronghold Which
Has Been Captured by Ger
manic Allies
Beautiful Country Surrounded It Be-
fore the Russians Swept Over
Its Territory,

Describing Lemberg, for whose pos
session the mightiest trial of strength
OF the war has just ended with its cap
ture by the Austro- German forces. a
statement just issued by the National
Geographic Society says:
"Lemberg. under Austrian overload
snip, has been stronghold of Polish
national consciousness. Almost unham-
pered by the imperial authorities it
mas administered. as Galicia's capital,
the last remnant of Polish Poland
W hen the Galician diet WAS formed in
1861 Lemberg had fallen from her
brave position of the days of the Polish
Kingdom. The city was poverty crush
ed, Unimproved. undrained and. hence.
unhealthy, with no schools. and, gen
orally. upon the verge of ruin. Today.
aroused by the constitution of 1866,
after fifty years of hopeful effort, the
tide of invasion swept over A beautiful
intensely modern city, full of fine, sub
stantial buildings. of lovely, well
planned parks, of up-to date. richly
stocked shops. of excellent schools and
colleges, of great monuments and eN-
pensive public works. The destructive
tide of battle rolled over careful work
OF two generations, and is now driving
back again upon it.
A Hustling Metropolis.
Before the outbreak of the present
war there was no city of Lemberg's
size in Europe upon whose streets one
might find more alert, vivacious life
The city had enjoyed u typically Ameri-
can boom for more than generation.
and its people had more of an air of
bouyant confidence than any other
Polish community. Industries Were
growing. and the commission and tran
sit trade of the city was attaining the
Importance Of this trade under the old
Kingdom. From a small, bitterly poor
community. Lemberg had progressed to
the position of wealthy metropolis OF
100000 inha bitants.
The Galician capital lies in a sharp
ly cut valley. embroidered on every
hand by wellwooded hills The parks
and promenades of the city reach out
into the hills. where some of the finest
walks and garden spots have been la id
out. Beyond the suburbs of the cap
ital. little Polish villages straggle over
the country roads. and before great
armies passed this way, fiocks of thou
sands upon thousands of ducks and
geese, for which Galicia enjoyed no
| small measure of fame. met the trav-
elers eyes everywhere. The insig
nificant little stream, Peltew. an affluent
of the Bug, flows by the city
MoSL important IdllC1du C1Ly.
"Lemberg lies 46S miles northeast OF
Vienna by rail. and 2l2 miles east
southeast Of Cracow. 1t is about fifty
miles from the Russian border. The
capital is a main station upon trunk
lines to Odessa. Czernowitz, capital of
Bukowina, Breslau. in Germany. and
Budapest, in Hungary. 1t is the fourth
city in size in the Austrian empire.
coming after Vienna, Prague and
Triest Commercially and industrially.
as well as politically and education
ally. 1t is the most important city In
Galicia. Its factories turn out ma
chinery. ironwares, matches. stearin,
candles and naphtha-
Besides being the seat of the chief
economic organizations and of the gov
ernment of the crownland, Lemberg is
an important religious center. the seat
of three archbishops, of the Roman
Catholic, the United Greek and the
United Armenian churches. The Uni
versity of Lemberg was founded by
Emperor Joseph ii in 1884. and. since
1871, it's language of instruction has
been Polish. There are number of
important museum collections in the
city, among them collections all i'm
oortant to the student of the early life
and customs of the country