New Britain herald., 1917-09-04
Riga Important Commercially.

Riga Important Commercially.
 Washington, D. C., Sept. 4.--"Not even the greatest optimist can fail to realize the seriousness of the blow to Russian arms in the fall of the Bal tic seaport of Riga, says a bulletin issued by the National Geographic so- ciety from it's Washington headQuar- tors.
 With an import and export trade totaling s16O,O00,OOO two years before the outbreak of the world war. Riga became the third seaport of the Rus sian empire, and the second seaport of the Baltic, being surpassed in vol- ume of business by Petrograd.
 ''The city is divided into several sections. The old town has narrow. winding streets, while the Petrograd and Moscow suburbs are well-built, modern sections. All three of these divisions of the city are situated on the right or east bank of the River Dvina, while the Mitau suburb is on the left bank. The two banks are connected by long floating bridge which is removed during the four months in the year when the river is frozen over.
 Riga is situated ten miles above
 
 miles by rail southwest of Petrograd. Vessels of light draft reach the city proper by means of a canal, but the chief harbor is on the shores of the Baltic.
 "The importance of Riga as a sea- port is due in very large measure to the fact that by means of the Dvina and numerous canals it is connected +or hoc nf which flows into the Caspian, and the Dnieper, which enters the Black sea- Thus, practically the whole of South- ern, Central and Western European Russia can find an outlet into the Baltic through this port. In addi- tion to the cheap water transporta- ton, a railroad runs across Russia from Riga to Smolenek and Tsaritsyn, almost bisecting the empire. Riga is a great store house for Russian wheat oats and hemp, three items which constitute a large por- tion of the city's experts. It is also the chief port for the vast timber products of the province of Volhynia, Flaxseed, eggs, hides, and skins are shipped from here in great quantities. The chief articles of import are ma chinery, cotton goods, coal and gro- ceries "The shipping industry did not constitute Riga's sole activity before the war, however. It's manufactured products included machinery. leather, railway cars. candles, tiles, and glass mounting in value to $30,000,0O0 an- nually.
 "The growth of Riga during the last 35 years has been phenomenal. In 1881 it's population was 169, 900; today, it has more than half mill lion. Of this number AZ per cent. are Germans, 23 per cent. are Let's, and only 25 per cent. are Russians. It is not hard to imagine, therefore. how difficult has been the problem of the citizens loyal to the new republic during the last few months. It is also worthy of note that the Germans of Riga are on the whole of the most prosperous merchant class together with a considerable number of the Prussian aristocracy. The Let's are an Indo-European people, about l. 3OO,OOO in number, dwelling in the western provinces of Russia and northeastern Poland and Prussia. Lit tie is known of their origin nor is 1t known when they migrated to their present home.
 "At the time of it's fall Riga was the capital of the province of Livonia and the seat of the governor general of the Baltic provinces