Arizona republican., 1917-07-13
v|B0RC, PLACE
 IF ANARCH II, |S
 STRIKING SPOT

WASHINGTON, D. C., July 12.-I Viborg. the scene of recent serious an- archistic disorders in defiance of the authorities at PetrQgrad, is the sub ject of the following informative war geography bulletin issued today by the National Geographic society from it's Washington headquarters:
 "The third city of Finland. and the capital of the province of the same name, Viborg is one of the most inter esting and picturesque centers of pop ulation in northwestern Russia. It is situated at the head of the Gulf of FibOrg, on the important Saima canal, a waterway thirty seven miles long connecting Lake Saima (the lake of a thousand iSleSD with the sea It is eighty miles northwest of Petrograd, | on the HelsingfOrs- Petrograd railway, express trains making the trip from the Finnish capital to Viborg in seven | hours, and from Petrograd to Viborg | in three hours.
 The city has a population of 5000, and the principal commercial activity | is the export of lumber. There are also l important foundries, machine works, and saw mills here.
 From an historical standpoint Vi- DOTS IS One Ol tfle most interesting l communities in Finland It owes it's | foundation to Marshal Torkel Knutson, | the Swedish general. whom 1293 built | a castle here on a granite isl8 in the | natural harbor Around this castle grew the city. and the ruins ofthe old stronghold are still preserved, although l it's tower. from which the former gov ornors were accustomed to watch for the sails of the enemy Russians, has 1 begun to crumble. This was the first | center for the spread of Christianity ! throughout the medieval province of | Karelia, of which Viborg was for many years the capital
 Many are the legends which have grown up around this old castle. and | of these none is of more fascinating | interest than the story of Knut Posse
 and his heroic defense of the town i against the assaults of a Russian army | reputed to have numbered 60, 900 men l under Ivan Wasiljevitsch. According i 10 some chroniclers the garrison num- bered only twenty men. but it must be recalled that Posse, according to the
 legend, could always increase his forces | by going to the top of his tower. and l opening bag of feathers to the wind, | whereupon each feather became a fulAy | armed soldier.
 l When the garrison was about to Yield Posse determined upon a desper, ate course. He undermined one of the | towers of the castle and placed great l store of explosives beneath it (con- | cocted, says legend, in a great sauce- | pan. the ingredients closely resembling l the noxious brew of Hecate in Mac | beth'-frogs, serpents, quicksilver and 1 chalk.) When all was ready the little garrison sought safety in the lowest l dungeon of the castle, leaving one old
 man, who volunteered to give his life, ! to set off the blast Sixteen thousand
 Russians are supposed to have per | ished when the 'Viborg thunder was discharged, and the remainder of the
 besieging army fled as one man. AZ | this Is supposed to have happened just three years after Columbus discovered
 America. And to prove the truth of | the account the custodian of the old
 castle will show you the gigantic
 saucepan in which, by black magic
 Posse mixed the explosive
 Tn this period of Viborg's history
 he governors Ofthe castle possessed
 limost kingly powers, being permi: ca
 to ennobie their subjects, and perform | ng other royal functions It is said
 that when Governor Karl Knutson
 Bonde sailed for Stockholm in 144g to
 pay homage to his sovereign he was
 accompanied by eight hundred knights.
 "Vlborg was captured by Peter the
 treat in 1710 and was formally ceded
 to Russia by the treaty of Nystad
 eleven years later. At the close of
 hat oAltury it was Iblockaded by the
 .ieet Of Gustavus III, but the Swedish
 <lng was in turn blockaded in the Gulf
 # Viborg and it was with difficulty
 that he ran the gauntlet of Russian
 'hlps and saved his forces In 1872
 he province and city were reunited to
 he grand -duchy of Finland
 The Saima canal, which was built
 in 1S45-56, is one of the most pictur-
 esque artificial waterways in the
 world. Lake Saima, the largest lake
 n Finland, with an area of 600 square
 miles, is 250 feet above sea level so
 that twenty-eight locks are required to
 Tt ships from the gulf to the great
 niand waterway. Numerous falls and
 'ascades fringe the forty-foot wide
 commercial channel all the way.
 All tourists visit the magnificent
 country estate of Baron von Nicolay