Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-07-25
RELICS OF COLUMBUS

MLlN W WLUhlDUA
What IL To Be Seen In La
Rabida Convent.
HISTORICAL EXHIBITATTHERAIR
Captain Csssas % the Cassvsis ssv
Something 10 surpriss Hin whea He
Landed ss the worlds ceiunbisa M.
positio.-Chart Showing ths Cesrss Fol.
lowed By Erihses.
WORLDS FAM, July 70 fspeciall -
When Captain Concas, commander OF the
iaravels, landed at the opposition week
,r 20 ago great was his surprise 10 hnd
here . reproduction Of the famous Convent
Of La Rabida. A he drew near the shores
Of the White City and saw the duh grey
walls Of the old pile rising from the rocks
at the waters edge, he says Il seemed TO
him ~ II soms magic had bodily lifted The
ancient monastery and set II down here In
the midst Of the highest manifestations Of
modern civilization. II Captain Concas
was surprised and delighted With the ex.
terror of the convent, what must have
been his anazement when he passed
through the clumsy doors Of dark wood
and stood within the gloomy interiors.
There he found instead Of the rigid ascot
lcism of monsstical life such museum Of
Columbian relics, pictures and manu-.
scripts a. no other country In the world
Possesses. Not Italy which gave birth 10
the dlscoverer. nor Spain which sent him
on his momentous voyage, has amassed
within its borders collection Of Colum.
biana worthy comparison with that which
these old walls hold. Il remained for
America and the exposition given In the
navigator's honor TO present under one
roof graphic history OF the man and the
event which together filed the greatest
and momentous page In all human rec
ords.
This Convent Of Rabida, with its wealth
Of relics Of the career and voyages OF Co
lumbus, has proved one Of the most at.
tractive features Of the exposition. AL
day long streams OF people pour In and
out the low. square dcors, and jostis each
other In the narrow passages where there
are 90 many things 10 rouse their Interest
and their admiration. Foreign viJtos
are particularly delighted with IL. Tfrrs
the Duke Of veragua spent half his time
while at the exposition. and there the
Princess Eulalla passed many hours.
Captain Concas, too, IL enthusiastic In his
praise for the happy manner In which this
exceedingly happy idea has been carried
out. Credit for all this must be given
William Eleroy Curtis, who as chief OF the
I.atin-American department Of the expOsi.
tion had full charge Of Its preparation.
Indeed. the Idea itself was his. and with
what energy, skill and success he performed
his work the result Ia ample witness.
| To write the story Of the convent II to
write the history OF Christopher Columbus
and his voyages TO the western world.
Nothing that In known In connection with
the life of that man II absent from these
walls. Everything authentic pertaining
TO the history OF the discovery Of America
Is shown here In one way or another.
Even Captain Andersen, commander OF
Il
when he visited the convent the history Of
which dates back to the era of those Morse
men whose supposed achievements he has
crossed the ocean In his strange craft to
celebrate. For with unexpected Impair
tiality this museum Of the history OF de
covary, though intended principally to
glorify Columbus. shows by the aid OF
graphic art all that Il known OF believed
OF the discovery Of this continent by Left
Erikson and his fellow voyager.
There Ii here model Of Viking ship
such as Erikson Is supposed to have used
In his voyage to America. and OF II Mr..
Curtis says: "It Il not improbable that
the Norsemen cruised along the coast Of
North America centuries before Columbus
was born, but their claim to discovery Of
the continent rests entirely upon tradition.
poetic legends, and some slight circum-
stantisl evidence"
Since the presence In the harbor Of the
Worlds fair. anchored within pistol shot
of each other, the three Columbus cara
yels and the Viking ship from Norway,
has revived interest In the question
whether or not the Norsemen did discover
America In the tenth century, this part OF
the Rabida museum will prove OF extra.
ordinary interest to visitors. Here Is .
chart showing the course followed by Erik.
son In his voyage from Greenland to the
coast Of Massachusetts,. IL was prepared
under the direction Of the late Professor
Z. N. Horsford, Of Cambridge. who has
done more than any one else to establish
the Morse claim. In brief the storyis that
Eric the Red. p outlaw. established a
colony I'm Greenland In 94. In go Q vik.
ING named Bjarns, while seeking the
Greenland colony, was driven by north.
easterly gales a. far south as Nantucket.
On returning to Norway he sold his ship
10 Lief Erikson, son OF Eric the Red, who
set sail with crew Of thirty-ave men and
found the lands which Bjarns had de-
scribed. Lief returned to Greenland In
the spring, when his brother Thorwald
took the ship and went to vinland (Massa-
chusstts) there remaining three years. lie
was killed by Indians and buried near
Fall River, with crosses tomark his grave
In ls36 there was exumed near Fall
River a skeleton clad In broken armsr,
which was made the subject Of ono OF
Longfellow's most beautiful poems, II
Was Viking Old" The remains were
t0OuRut W uhNr OSoti tuoso w oh Ahusoh
until Professor RAIN, Scandinavian, pro-
nounced them those Of q Morse chief and
insisted that the burial place OF Thorwald
Erikson had been discovered. We find
here charts Of these voyages, more or less
imaginative, and also pictures OF the sites
Of the villages which the Norsemen are
said To have established near Boston. A
picture Of the old mill ut Newport, X. l.,
suggests one Of the strongest links In the
rhain Of evidence welded by the supporters
Of the Morse theory, now. alas. broken; for
while It was claimed the old mill afforded
proof Of the occupation Of New England
By the vikings, subsequent investigations
have shown that 10 was erected BY Gov.
ernor Arnold, OF Rhode Island. foy o wind.
mill some time between 1870 and 1850, and
Il copy Of tower OF mill at Chester
ton, England. whence Arnold had come to
America.
There arc other pictures, manuscripts
and printed books bearing on the viking
theory Of discovery, among them fac
SMILES Of inscriptions on the Dighton
rock, near Taunton, Mass, said TO have
been carved by the Norsemen. But
these inscriptions are now believed TO have
bssn executed by the Algonquin Indians.
Mr.. Curtis shows facsimile Of an old saga
or manuscripts written In Iceland 600 years
after the discovery BY Enkson, and max
Ing allusicn 70 that discovery. A picture
is given Of che Lief Erikson monument In
Boston, which also has duplicate In Bos-