Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-10

jsot, which l will state as brit fly as
possible.
"Chrstopher Columbu. died and
was buried In Spain IL 1876 His son,
Don Diego, died in 1926 In the
year 1886 the remains Of Columbus
and his son were removed to theisland
Of San Domingo and inferred In the
principal cathedral In that city.
sd the past 800 years that
island has been one continued tcene OF
and bloodshed. Few, II
any, records Of the government have
been preserved. All history or writ.
ten record Of passing events these
many years hava been lost or carried
away. Tas population has sank into
Ignorance, poverty and superstition,
and all knowledge Of past history be-
came traditional, existing only In the
minds Of the people. Yet they W.
lost sight of the fact that S IN Dom
lingo city was the last resting place Of
Columbus.
"1hey had forgotten that his SOD,
Don Diego, was also buried with him
under the altar of the cathedral. So
when Spain rslinquished control of
the island and came to remove the re.
mains OF Columbus to Havana, the
fact had been forgotten that two
bodies we're deposited there columbus
and his sony, so that when the disinter
ment was made by the panish author.
ities, they, through mistake. took up
the remains of the son and, with a
great deal of pomp and ceremony,
buried them at Havana as the remains
of the ~discoverer Of America.
"The mistake was not discovered
until 1873. 1t became necessary to
make some alterations in the old
o cathedral, and the workmen came upon
q leaS box. which, being opened and
examined, was found to be the true
remains Of Christopher G 1lumbusfrom
the Inscriptions or the box and his
name on q silver plate on the
inside of the lid. The dominican
authorities at once summoned all the
resident consuls to examine 1t, who
gave it al their opinion that the box
contained the remains of Christopher
G Jlumbus. The box was then closed,
and each consul put his seal upon 1t.
1t wal then transferred to the bishop
OF the cathedral for his safe keeping,
'Iu January, 1879, an italian war
vessel arrived In port with instruo.
tIons from the italian government to
investigate the matter, as Columbus
was q ratlve of Italy. The several
oonsuls were summoned to break their
seals and open the box to # ,rd oppor.
tunity for the fullest Investigation.
By invitation of the United States
consul l was present and msdeAs per
sonal inspection Of the box and re.
mains, had the silver plate on which
the name of Christopher Columbus
was engraved lin Spanish) In my
hands. The two holes In it GORE
spond with the two In the lid
of the box, the rivets having
given away. The box is about
sixteen inches long and about
eight or ten inches tguare, and made
entirely Of heavy sheet lead, and bore
marks of great age. The remains had
all mouldered into dust. When we
consider that Columbus had been bur
led thirty years before his remains
we're removed to San Domingo, q box
of that size would be sufficiently large
to hold all that remained of the body.
"The italian naval officers were
thoroughly convinced that the re-
msins we're really those of the great
navigator, and &C reported to theil
government. As for my own impress.
sions, I have not the least doubt
Three month"; s%ojourn on the island
gave me every opportunity to inquire
Into the matter. Tradition has 1t thai
when the Spaniards came to remove
the remains to Cdba Q sly old monl
purposely pointed out the location
that led them to take up the remain
Of the son instead of those Of Christie.
pher Columbus.