The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-04-08
EAvANA cATHEpRAL.

bus It's grandiloquent inscription. be-
ginning, och. likeness of the immortal
Columbus ~ has been copied a thousand
times by wondering tourists. 1t is, in
truth, a h0ly spot, and many pilgrims
have approached it filed with thoughts
Of him who first penetrated the mystery
Of the western seas and gave to Spain
possession of the western world. Tt
might seem d sacrilege to destroy this
illusion, and only stern regard for the
verities Of history would impel one to
even entertain the suggestion that this
was not IN reality the depositary of the
ashes of the great disCOverer.
But let Us see. There is one thing GER
tain, to begin with = that Columbus
died. Even his enemies admit that.
He departed this life IN the year 1906.
in the city Of Valladoid, in old Spain,
whence his body was taken to Seville
But about the year 1910, in accordance
with the provisions Of bis last will and
testament, he was exhumed and taken
across the ocean to SantO Domingo, and
there inferred beneath the pavement Of
the presbytery in the cathedral of that
city
This much has been authenticated,
and it might seem an easy matter to as
sert that Columbus, having been laid
away in the place of his own choosing,
would be allowed to remain there for
ever. But, no. One hundred years ago,
IN 1875, and $50 years after the second
interment, the island Of Santo Domingo
was coded to France, and Spain, very
solicitous for the glory attaching to the
name and fame of him who had bestow-
ed so much upon her, wished the re-
mains to rest beneath the flag he had
made so famous and respected. So a
Spanish admiral was sent to Santo Do
lningo to effect the transfer Of whatever
might still remain pertaining to the con
queror Of America.
But during the centuries that had
elapsed all memory of the first event
had been lost, and it was only with
vague tradition as guide that Spain Is
representatives sought for the vault in
which the ashes were supposed to lie.
Blindly cropping, however, they found a
vault beneath the pavement of the pres
bytery containing fragments of a lead
case and some moldering bones. Moth
ing else; no inscription nor tablet was
discovered, but. accepting the scanty
evidence as conclusive, the relics were
carefully carried on board the flagship
with great ceremony and transferred to
Havana. There a niche was opened in
the wall of the cathedral at the right Of
the altar, and within it were deposited
the treasured remains, with a mural
tablet in front, having carved bust and
inscription.
Here, it was thought, Columbus wonld
remain in perpetuity. But there is a Gu
rious sequel to the story of the exhuma-
tioD, which has led many to believe that
somehow some body made a mistake and
: mixed those ashes up Eighty years
after, or in 1877, while wOrkmen were
engaged in making some repairs in the
cathedral Of SantO Domingo, another
vault was found adjacent to that one
opened by the Spanish admiral in 1895
and less than a foot distant from it.
This vault contained a 1eaden casket in
a state of complete preservation, and,
with inscriptions stating that
it held the last remains Of Colum bus.
admiral Of the Indies, disc0verer of
America = Within the casket were
found not only bones, but a silver plate
inscribed with the name and dignities
Of the occupant and a bullet which Co
lum bus is supposed to have received DUR
ing one Of his campaigns in Africa.
This discovery of course created a great
sensation in Santo Domingo, in Havana
and old Spain The Royal academy sent
out a commission to investigate. which Of
course reported ia favor of Cubs, and a
local council sat ON the remains, which
declared unhesitatingly in support Of
the claims of Santo Domingo. All the
island was in a ferment, pilgrimages
we're made to the cathedral az to a shrine
Of Holy Land and devotees fought for
fragments of the stone slab that had
covered the casket and treasured them
as sacred relics. The conviction finally
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