Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-08-31
A POVERTY STRICKEN COUNTRY

THAT Is why 1 should like to be
such q mar as he was"
A POVERTY STRICKEN COUNTRY
Dvinsk Guards Roads to the Russian
Capital.
Duenaburg Cor Dvinsk), the princi-
pal gate guarding the road from the
southwest to Petrograd and the key
TO the defense of tine great Dvina riv-
er, through which the Germans are
apparently aiming at interior Russia
and all the line Of military industrial
bases in the west, Is described by the
National Geographical society IS fol-
lows:
"Duenaburg, on the northeastern
bank of the broad Dvina, is the heav-
lily fortified front door to Great Rus
STA, that division of Russia which
stands in the same relationship to the
empire that Prussia holds to Ger
many. 1t Is situated where the Dvina
makes a sharp angle toward the west,
midway on the rivers course from
Vitebsk through marsh and lake land
to the opulent commercial and indus
trial city of Riga upon the Gulf Of
Riga. The line between Riga and
Duenaburg is ITO miles long. BY way
Of the river, it is considerably longer.
The line from Deunaburg, east
southeast, to Vitebsk is 1852 miles.
This line roughly divides Great Rus
STA from White Russia.
white Russia, to the south of the
Duenaburg line, is probably the poor
est, most backward part Of European
Russia. While some 5000, 600 acres
Of swamp lands have been drained
within its water-soggy surface, its
general aspect is still largely that Of
marsh, swamp, lake and spongy mead
ow and forest land. In general, the
peasants of White Russia are very
poor, and nave a sever struggle to
wage for their existence. One writer
says that the memory which he held
most characteristic Of this land was
the picture Of a weather SCARED, gray
headed peasant standing waist deep in
the chill waters of the marsh cutting
sedge. This poverty-blighted country,
where no great commercial, industrial
or cultural center Is to be found, Is
that which now lies before the Ger
man armies. Beyond the Great Rus
sian front door al Duenaberg lies the
richer Industrial and agricultural
country of the central empire, while
west from Lemberg and Kholm lie
the rich agricultural lands Of Little
Russia, or the Ukraine, and the great
city of Kief.
"Duenaburg Is a fortress Of the first
class. 1t is also a fortress with ira
ditions; for here in July, 1912, Napo-
Icons headlong troops, under the
command Of Oudinot, hurled them
selves again and again in vain against
the strongly defended bridgehead. 1t
was not until some weeks later that
tho town was captured by the French
under Macdonald. The city was orig
inally founded as a fortress, in 1878,
by the Livonian knights Of the Sword.
It was mortgaged by one Of the grand
masters Of the order to the king OF
Poland; was overwhelmed by the le-
gions Of Ivan the Terrible of Russia;
retaken by Poland in 1882; held al
ternately by the Swedes and Russians
during the 18th century. and finally
incorporated in the Muscovite realm
in 1772.
1.-The city is situated at the inter-
section OF two main railway lines and
a very important branch. These are
the Warsaw-Vilna-P etrograd lines, the
Riga vitebsk-Smolensk line, and the
branch to the fortified Baltic port Of
Libau, the only port that Russia pos
scssed before the war whose roadstead
was always open. The main features
of the city are its Notifications. 1t
has 4 population Of about $4,000,
about one-half of which Is Jewish.
It's Industries include sawmills, flour
mills, brick kilns, match factories, dis
tilleries, tobacco factories and tam
neries. It enjoys a moderate degree
of importance before the war as a
commercial center, doing considerable
trade in grains, flax, hemp, tallow and
timber"