St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-10
COMPLICATIONS REGARDING THEM
MAY RESULT FROM THE Gu
BAN WAR.
ARE THEY T0MBED IN HAVANA?
INHABITANTS OF SANTO DOMINGO
sTRENUOUsLY ASSERT THEY
ARE NOT.
HOW THE DISPUTE HAS ARISEN.
Believed That Span1ards Made a Mis-
take When Removing the Re-
mains TO Cuba.


this city are now agitated over a curl
GUS question-namely, in case Of the
ultimate capture of Havana by the
insurgent forces, what shall we do with
the bones of Columbus?
1t is currently reported that the
Royal academy, Of Madrid, has al
ready taken the initiative and urged
that they be taken at once to Spain
before there shall be any possibility of
desecration of the sacred relics. This.
though small matter. shows that
the more intelligent Of the Spaniards
regard their tenure in Cuba as ex-
ceedingly tenuous. With that I have
nothing to do. but in their implied
assertion that Havana possesses the
"only legitimate remains Of the great
Columbus all the world is interested.
l was in the great cathedral only
yesterday, and viewed with renewed
interest that famous mortuary tablet
affixed to the wall of the chanceI and
said to conceal behind it the ashes of
Columbus. It's grandiloquent inscrip-
ton, beginning, "Oh, likeness of the
immortal ColumbusI' has been copied
thousand times by wondering tour
lists. 1t is, in truth, holy spot, and
many pilgrims have approached it
filled with thoughts of him who first
penetrated the mystery Of the Western
world. 1t might seem sacrilege to
destroy this illusion, and only a stern
regard for the veritieS of history would
1mpel one to even entertain the sug-
gestion that this was not in reality the
depository Of the ashes Of the great
discoverer.
But let US see. There is one thing
certain, to begin with-that Columbus
died. Even his enemies admit that.
He departed this life in the year 1906,
in the city of Valladolid, in old Spain.
whence his body was taken to Seville.
But about the year 1910, in accordance
with the provision; of his last will
and testament, he was exhumed and
taken across the ocean to Santo Do
mingo, and there inferred beneath the
pavement of the presbytery in the ca
thedral Of that city.
This much has been authenticated.
and it might seem an easy matter to
assert that Columbus. having been
laid away in the place Of his own
choosing, would be allowed to remain
there forever. But, no. One hundred
years ago, in 1875, and 250 years after
the second interment, the island of
Santo Domingo was ceded to France,
and Spain, very solicitous for the glory
attaching to the name and fame of him
who had bestowed so much upon her,
wished the remains to rest beneath
the flag he had made so famous and
respected. So a Spanish admiral was
sent to Santo Domingo to effect the
transfer of whatever might still re-
main pertaining to the conqueror of
America.
But during the centuries that had
elapsed all memory of the first event
had been lost, and 1t was only with
vague tradition as guide that Spains
representatives sought for the vault in
which the ashes were supposed to lie.
Blindly cropping, however, they found
vault beneath the pavement Of the
presbytery containing fragments of
lead case and some moldering bones.
Nothing else; no inscription nor tab
let was discovered but, accepting the
scanty evidence as conclusive, the rel
les were carefully carried on board the
flagship with great ceremony, and
transferred to Havana. There niche
raj at the right of the altar, and
within it were deposited the treasured
remains, with mural tablet in front,
having a carven bust and inscription
Here, it is thought, Columbus
would remain in perpetuity. But there
is a curious sequel to the story of ex-
humation, which has led many to be-
lieve that somehow somebody 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 leaden casket in a state
Of complete preservation, and, more
over, with inscriptions stating that it
held the last remains of Columbus,
admiral Of the Indies, discoverer of