Evening star., 1915-05-20
RIGA, RUSS|A'S SECOND
CITY, REALLY GERMAN
ra-Western Metropolis of 500 600
Is Very Modern in Architecture
and Sanitation. 2

Riga. the most ultra we 81 ern town
in the whole Muscovite empire. q city
OF merchant princes. of bursting ware
houses and miles OF crowded docking,
of vigorous Teutonc architecture and
cosmopolitan organization. with o hur-
rying. tense business life that fiuds Its
counterpart in New York and Ham
burg. lies near the head OF the Gulf OF
Riga, a few miles northeast Of Mitau.
or just back OF the struggling Russo
German lines in the Baltic provinces
Riga is a great commercial city. II
stands third among Rursia's seApcrts
and second among all the ports upon
the Baltic sea, where commercial cieies
have been growing and building fot
centuries. The city IL 3Ss miles south
west of Petrograd and is filled with the
spirit OF modern business. It IL .
main gateway into vast Russian hntef-
lands, and is. probably. the most up-to-
date city to be found from Vladivostok
TO Libau."
So begins the National Geographic
Societys description OF the great Rus
sian port that has sprung into prom
inence with the most recent German
campaign. whose direction lies through
the Baltic provinces. The war primer
continues:
Really German City.
Riga is second only to Petrograd in
population and industry. German mer-
chants of the thirteenth century laid
the foundations of its commercial re-
nown. 1t was founded in 1901. and
many German colonists soon found
their way to the new city, attracted
thither by the many commercial priv
yy.lf ted nv lfc dar iOp
came a powerful, iourishing member
of the Hanseatic League. the great NOR
chant trust of the middle ages. With
Hamburg, Bremen. Lubbock. Stral
and scores of its ellowbanded cities,
Riga grew in wealth and trade connec-
tions; boats from all parts of the world
ran in and out of its river barber, and
it enjoyed the proud development Of a
German free city,.
Near the middle OF the sixteenth
century. Riga passed into the power
of the King of Poland. The headlonS
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden brought
up in his course of conquest with
shock before its walls in 1901. and.
only after long, hard siege. was he
able to take the city. Riga passed to
the control of the Russians in 17l0, and
has since played an important part in
the development of the mighty north
ern empire.
Riga has the appearance of a Ger
man port. The older part of the port
looks like a medieval German town.
while new Riga might be Bremen. IL
has none of the happy-go-lucky Sla-
vonic air about it, and, SO. for the tour
ist, it is disappointing. Before the wa
German was the language of its husi-
ness and German was the idiom of its
streets and homes. Official Riga was
Russian, and, as Riga is the seat OF
the governor general of the Baltic
provinces, this official element was oI
much significance.
Very Modern City.
For the most part, Riga is very
modern city. Its older buildings have
been torn down to make way for struc-
lures more up-to-date, more suited to
the prosperity of a business city. IT is
situated on the River Duena. ten miles
above the mouth of the Gulf of Riga,
and il is bound to the Baltic by canals
Riga has princes of finance and trade,
and they have lined many Of its ave-
nues with modern villas and palaces. As
an example of the citys growth, it
may be mentioned that Riga erected
more than fifteen hundred new busi-
ness and apartment buildings during a
recent year and that most of these
buildings were equipped with elevators
open plumbing, vacuum cleaning, cen-
trail refrigerating and steam heating
plants.
a SiTOuR anu varied INDUSTRY mas
grown up in the port city. Machinery.
railway cars. lumber. leather. candles,
tiles. glass, tobacco and other products
are turned out in its numerous fac-
tories. The annual value Of the articles
manufactured in Riga exceeds 100000
900. AS AN industrial center. Ii has
been becoming more and more promi-
nent year by year, and its future seems
to be one of an almost unlimited prom
Use.
..rrl,
is well over $35.Oo0000. Its imports
total about $50, 900 each year The
exports include cereals, flax, flax seed
eggs lumber and butter. Its chief i'm
groceries. II has a thrifty, well-to-do
population of more than 900, ,0OU''